Eyebrows were raised and some grumbling was heard when Famous Players Theatres raised their top ticket price to the psychological barrier of $10 on the eve of the opening of Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace. In fact, nearly all forms of entertainment have increased prices at a pace exceeding the low, single digit general inflation rate wave experienced since the '80s. As entertainment we include professional sports, which are in a league of their own where ticket price increases are concerned. But people may be more sensitive to movie ticket prices, since more Canadians go to movies than most other forms of entertainment combined. This is the case even though movie tickets are far from the top of the list when it comes to rising prices.

The Royal Alex in Toronto has gone from respectable locally-produced theatre to big musicals like Les Misérables and Chicago. Canada's Wonderland is twice the size it once was, with state-of-the-art rides and simulators. And still, expensive is how you look at it. A spokesperson for Canada's Wonderland in Toronto claims that an eight-hour visit comes to $5 an hour, which is less than a movie. Die-hards stay for 12. Apply that rationale to a film like Schindler's List, it's about $3.08 per hour, based on current ticket prices. Though a bomb, such as Ishtar, rings in at about $5.60 an hour. Audience members should have been paid to sit through that one!

Some of the inflationary factors are easy to peg - $20 million movie stars, $15 million-a-year ballplayers, $10 million megamusicals with full-size helicopters. Entertainment is bigger, and prices have tended to escalate along with these costs, as shown here in the list below which compares 1999 ticket prices with 1985.