Most Expensive Movie Ticket...Ever?

London is expensive. For as long as I can recall, it has been so and I always feel a sting when buying just about anything here. I'll happily cough up for fish & chips, real sausages or stuff I can only get here, but this past weekend I had a taste of how much pain your wallet can feel in this city.

Now, I've been here before and have been living in London off and on for the last month, but have a gander at the following and keep in mind that the pound is worth $1.997:

• A bus ride is £2.
• A single ride on the underground costs £4.
• A pint can go for £2.75 or more.
• A Ghanian multiple-entry, 6 month visa costs £40.

Okay, so the last one's not really fair to include and I'm happy to pay that. Furthermore, there's a cool discount card called Oyster for the transport bits that gets you about 50% off. Yet, there's one more I have to rant about. Movie tickets.

It's not just the ticket price, it's the whole event of going to the cinema in England that still seems so odd to me; like a fancy night out that's been stripped of its tux and ushers with ice creams. In many cinemas here, you still get assigned seats. At the ticket booth, they give you a seating chart and you have to select your seat. And not all seats are the same! Some are sold as "premium seats" and cost, at least in Leicester Square's Odeon Theatre, £15 (yeah, it really is about $30). I was seated across the aisle from them and saw no difference at all; just another way to snake an extra £2.50 out of you. So, that's just for the movie. Popcorn is like £4.50 for a medium and don't even ask about a Coke. Thank goodness I was totally full having just come from Wagamama; again, happily coughed up £7.95 for some ami udon noodles and £2.95 for an Asahi Special Black there.

So, I spent almost $25 to see Zodiac. At that price, it should be clear that I'm a sucker for serial killer flicks and I enjoyed this one. It was no Silence of the Lambs, but if it had turned out like Hannibal or Hannibal Rising, I think I would have eviscerated the ticket booth attendee.

Maybe I need to eat more fruit, or something.