If you're a frequent moviegoer, you've probably got Fandango or MovieTickets.com bookmarked. You might even have an iPhone app to order tickets right on your phone. At minimum, you know the number for Moviefone, where a robot voice will save you the trouble of actually having to read what movies are playing nearby.
Odds are, with all of those options, you haven't checked your local paper for movie listings in years-- that is, if your local paper even still exists. Variety is reporting that that will become an even rarer occurrence, as Regal Entertainment and AMC Entertainment-- the top two U.S. theater chains-- are phasing out newspaper listings entirely.
This news shouldn't be surprising for anyone who's been following the twin trends of the internet and the decline of newspapers, but is kind of sad in a loss-of-analog kind of way. When I'm back at my parents' house, the only place I actually read the morning paper, we'll shuffle through that day's papers to find out what's playing rather than hitting the Internet. Force of habit, I guess. It's a familiar trope of the past that makes no sense to keep alive, but I'll be sad to see pass on regardless.
