Assigned Seats at the Movie Theater

On New Year's Day the kids and I decided to go to see a movie. I was having a difficult time finding a parking spot so I dropped the kids off at the front and told them to go purchase tickets while I parked. So when we were walking in and we handed our ticket stubs to the lady she said you're in theater five and in seats 1, 2 and 3. I was confused. I said what you mean, we have assigned seats? She said yes they started doing that about a month ago. I was frustrated because they put us in the front row. I went to see if I could exchange our seats and they told me that the theater was sold out. However there were plenty of empty seats so I'm not sure if people just didn't show up.
I guess there goes the days when kids would meet there friends at the movies or having your friends have you a seat. You will have to purchase all your tickets at the same time to make sure you all get to sit together. I thought it was weird but maybe because its a new way of doing things. What do you guys think?