Why is movie attendance down? Because the movies are bad.

That's the conclusion of studio executives and theater operators who are staring at a 20 percent drop in attendance so far this year compared with 2010. From the LAT:

"I think it all boils down to the quality of the movies," said Gerry Lopez, chief executive of AMC Entertainment Inc., the nation's second-largest theater chain. "This year we just haven't had those kind of movies that cut across all quadrants of age, race and income." Michael Lynton, chief executive of Sony Pictures Entertainment, agreed: "So far there is just nothing terribly compelling about what we're delivering as an industry."

Attention will be focused on the summer line-up that includes sequels like "Pirates of the Caribbean," "The Hangover Part II" and "Cars 2," along with the comic book adaptations "Thor" and "Green Lantern." But this is more than just a short-term phenomenon.

The number of tickets sold per person annually in the U.S. and Canada has steadily fallen for most of the last decade to 4.1 last year, the lowest since 1993. In a recent presentation, Bob Pisano, president of the Motion Picture Assn. of America, attributed the trend in part to declining attendance among baby boomers.

I'm nowhere close to the demographic that Hollywood is focusing on, but I've pretty much given up on going to the movies - not so much because of the quality of films (that's hit and miss) but because of the general movie-going experience (cell phone rings, smart phone screens left turned on, talkative audiences, late-arrivals, and endless trailers and ads). It's simply not an enjoyable way to spend two hours.