Go 3D in style

As if you weren't already spending enough money when you go to a 3D movie, Hoyts Cinemas thinks you might want to fork out an additional $15 to $20, just because.

At Hoyts -- at least the one at the Highpoint Shopping Centre -- you can buy your own 3D glasses, right there through a handy dandy vending machine in the lobby.

Note I said "can." They'll still give you a pair, as a ticket taker confirmed for me -- I had to ask him because I was concerned this was just another upsell. But the pair they give you will be flimsy and disposable. You'll get to see the movie's 3D effects, but you won't be able to do it in style.

I greeted this vending machine with a chuckle, but then I decided, "Hey, why not?" Surely there are people who do think it's worth doing. Australian society seems to function on the idea that people are not very attached to their disposable income, and this is no less of an egregious example than some others I've seen. Especially since one of the most common complaints I hear from people about going to 3D movies is "I hate the glasses."

You can get something that's functional, designed to go over your existing glasses ...

(Though note that they tell you it's "designer," which justifies the $15 charge.)

Or you can get something that's whimsical, based on an existing movie franchise ...

Or you can get something that's adventurous, also based on a (no longer) existing movie franchise ...

Or something that's extra fancy ...

Or something that's extra cheap ...

(Though I guess, still better than the free ones -- or maybe they are just trying to fool people into buying something they'll give them for free, which is perhaps the most shameful upsell of all.)

And then, finally, there are just the ones nobody wants ...

Me, I'm content just paying the $4 surcharge for 3D and being done with it.