Yeah I called bullshit that you got stale popcorn. Considering how fast movie theaters go through popcorn. And if you're spending $150 then you're doing something wrong. I mean that means that you spent about 50 bucks per person since it was only three of you. I see in another comment that you mentioned it was $32 each for movie tickets and you're in New york. I mean that's simply the case here is that you live someplace that's very expensive to do anything. And you chose to go to a movie theater that charges quite a bit. You could simply do something like a movie club like Cinemark or AMC's movie club or something like that which is a whole lot less per month you get free movie tickets and you get discounts on everything. I go to the movies three or four times a month and even with a family of four I typically won't spend more than $100 in my area. And that's usually buying the most expensive tickets as well which are usually like IMAX and d-box tickets etc.

Rookie mistake. The movies are still pretty affordable if you plan it right. Go to a matinee or special pricing days. Smuggle in your snacks and drinks. Hell, I've walked in with a whole ass fast food meal before.

I'm genuinely dumbfounded that you even managed to spend that much at the movies.

You need a better theater.

And you realise you chose to buy that stuff, right?
Do you need popcorn and candy?
When I was growing up, and even into adult hood, never bought theater food. Not until I found a theater that has real meals and and their own craft beers.

In 2000 the outing you described would be a little over $60 in New York (only source I can find quickly; assumptions: 2 adults, 2 kids, 2 large popcorns, 4 candies, 4 sodas). About $32 for tickets, $10 for popcorn, $12 for candy, $10-12 for sodas. [1]

Assuming my assumptions are roughly correct, that's still about $115-120 with inflation. However that means prices have increased 25-30%. The adult ticket price for Zootopia 2 for my area is $24 for an evening showing, which is about 30% over inflation. I expect the same general trend for concessions as well. Mostly this is to pay a bigger and bigger cut to studios.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/04/nyregion/survey-finds-snacks-driving-up-movie-costs.html

Edit: And instantly down voted for trying to add to the conversation. Maybe I just need to stop posting on Lemmy completely. This place has gotten a lot less friendly since I first joined (not my first handle).