Another good reason to wait for the DVD.

Sure, blame the farmer.

The farmer has been taking it on the chin for 30 years so we can have cheap food, (partly counteracted by government subsidies). He and she get the first decent prices for their crops on the open market in that time, and suddenly they are to blame for $130/bb oil.
I don’t think so. Have they gone back to flammable corn based cellulose for film? That’s the only justification for increasing movie prices and then blaming it on the farmer. Never have been able to afford theater popcorn in my lifetime.
You need to listen to the fellow who wrote and produced King Corn, and you’ll find out he has an ax to grind, no less sharp than Michael Moore’s. Like Al Gore, he is only telling one side of the story.
Oh, BTW– if you don’t want ethanol in your gasoline, write your state legislator.*THEY* are the people who have mandated 10% ethanol and cut rate prices on MFA E-85. I don’t see how you can blame the farmer for decisions being made at ADM, Cargill, and other corn buyers. Without ethanol in the gasoline, you’re looking at $4.50/gal 100% petrol right now. How does that sound?

To Teresa (above): Evidently you didn’t see “King Corn” before you slammed the directors. (And I’m guessing you didn’t see “An Inconvenient Truth” if you’re a global-warming denier.) “King Corn” is a very pro-farmer film. The two guys moved to Iowa and became farmers so they could learn about the corn industry–which is clearly effected by high petroleum prices, as is everything else in our economy.

As for ethanol, it’s my understanding is that if every kernel of corn in America went into ethanol production, it still wouldn’t make a dent in our energy needs. But clearly ethanol production is a benefit for farms–more and more of which are run by corporations, not individuals.

So if my synopsis of AMC’s press release seems to blame family farmers, that’s a simplification I’m happy to retract.

Joe W.

Mr. Williams obviously knows nothing of American agriculture in general or the corn processing method. To suggest that the surge in prices for a host of products–fuel, food stuffs, and now popcorn–shows just how little he does know.

First of all, popcorn is not used in ethanol manufacture…the corn used is an entirely different type.

Next, even with the amount of corn dedicated to ethanol production, the amount that remains after that is at record or near-record levels, the amounts produced with corn was going for $1.75 per bushel to $2.25 per bushel in the recent past.

Also, corn has a number of co-products derived from corn processing–products that are utilized in a number of products, including feed for animals.

I suggest that the rise in fuel, food, et. al. is more likely connected to the continuing devaluation of the American dollar.

Finally, if one factors in the cost in dollars and loss of life and resources of the war in Iraq, we can see what the true cost of reliance upon a foreign policy based upon a dependence upon oil truly is. It makes any increase in a bag of popcorn seem insignificant and irrelevant.

For the record, I am a former communications manager with a major corn/soybean processing company (not ADM), and worked in a consulting role for many years in the mid-1990s on projects to promote the role of renewable resources, including switchgrass, etc., in the development of energy sources. One such effort was to work to successfully restore research and development funding in this area that had been cut out of the budget by the new Republican-controlled Congress, meaning that only 14 years ago, a majority of our then-elected leaders saw now role for nor need for a new energy policy based on a host of renewable resources, but always with a significant role for American agriculture.

The cost to the movie theater of the unpopped corn in that large tub at the movie theater is less than 10 cents. The cost of the syrup, ice, and carbonated water in that large cup of soda? Also less than 10 cents. The most expensive single ingredient in each of these is the cup. The argument that the cost of popcorn is affecting the price of tickets is a LIE.

I’m not sure why the increasingly unpleasant “movie theater experience” has skyrocketed, but it sure ain’t the popcorn. I will continue to NOT go to movies, opting instead to watch on my 42″ screen, dolby 5.1 sound system, and BUYING the DVD for 10 to 15 bucks. Who cares if I have to wait 3 months to do it? It is much cheaper and more convenient to watch at home. I give up little if anything in sight and sound quality, and I don’t have to contend with talkers, cell phones, and commercials. To hell with the movie theaters.

“Global warming denier”?

Mr. Williams, are you part of a religious movement or something? The science on global warming is still in flux, at least for people with open minds. The attribution of the warming trend to man is tenuous at best. Al Gore’s movie has been shown to have several scientific flaws and misstatements in it. While you’re busy trying to put down your readers, you might want to ease up on bringing in other issues that you’re not qualified to espouse.

As for corn and ethanol, while one can see the relationship between corn prices and popcorn and soda, how does that explain the rise in ticket prices? I agree with the others who have said they’ll just wait for the DVD to rent for a buck rather than getting ripped off at the theater for $10 to $15 per person. By and large, most movies simply aren’t worth it, the theater experience gets worse rather than better ever year, and with the price of gasoline today we’re better off staying at home. Not to mention that this takes money out of Hollywierd’s pockets.

Hey, Joe,

It’s not you that I’m quarreling with but AMC using ethanol as an excuse for the real pass-along costs of movie making and showing. Sure, their costs have gone up (heating/cooling,employees, concession stand) like the rest of us. Movie production costs continue to escalate, and that gets passed along somehow in the rental costs, I’m sure. It costs more to transport non-digital films. (Postage just went up, again, due to higher fuel costs).

No, I have not seen the corn documentary. But I did listen to an hour radio interview with the directors– and the amount of misinformation they disseminated about farming and corn production dissuaded me from wanting to check out the documentary. I’m not naive. All non-hobby row crop production whether it be by a corporation or a family farm is agri-BUSINESS, which by normal methods is squarely based on petroleum for fertilizers, for farm machinery, for product transportation. That’s where the increase in cost is coming from.

As for Planet Al– I’ve got a geology degree, and had two years of climate change science interspersed with my education, reading primary research which Mr. Gore likely has not. The climate is always changing, but it is no where as warm as it has been in the past (say, the Cretaceous period) when no humans existed. Humans are adding CO2 to the atmosphere without a doubt, but the pro-global warming people are using computers to model a system(the earth) which is way too complex for even our best computers at this time. You should see the statistical error bars on their data. (Rarely reported outside the scientific literature.)

Maybe the theater people could get rid of air-conditioning, save energy, reduce ticket prices and reduce global warming (all that hot condenser air goes outside) at the same time.
Best wishes, and congrats on a good topic.

From what I understand, sugarcane is 7 times more efficient than corn for ethanol. That is part of the reason why Brazil has become energy independent and the US has not. So why not grow sugarcane (and sugar beets?) in the US, or import sugar? Brazil has apparently wanted to sell us excess sugar for some time now, but so far that hasn’t happened. Between the sugarcane lobby and the corn lobby in Washington, they have paid off Congress to put high tariffs on imported sugar. When I visited Hawaii a few years ago, all I heard was how Hawaiian farmers can’t compete with sugar growers in Asia, who have laborers who work for pennies on the dollar. So the bottom line is there are too powerful of special interests in this country making too much money for us to produce ethanol the right way.