Going to the movies just isn't the same

Zander

Zander

Well-known member
I remember the good old days when you bought your ticket, got some popcorn, found a good seat and watched a few cool trailers before the film you paid for came on. Now, you go into the theater and sit through so many commercials that you think you stumbled into someone's tv room. I go to the theater to watch a great film, not get bombarded by a slew of high budget advertising.

Tonight when I saw Iron Man I think I counted around 10 commercials. Two were for Coke and there was another horrible presentation about the DLP technology they use to project the movie. I don't know if its the same video that is played coast to coast but the one we have is awful.

Enough advertising, America. Enough.

:-Cry(DBG):
 
I hear ya! Basically, it all comes down to greed and accountability. Greed made the ads and no accountability will keep them there.

As you mentioned, just a few short years ago we could pay $5 to see a movie and that's exactly what we got. No more. No less. And definitely NO commercials. I mean, why would anyone in their right mind pay to see commercials? That's like paying to watch NBC or CBS. It's ridiculous. But we blinked and now it's happened. Movie theaters started playing one commercial and then two and then, as you counted, about 10. Theater execs are laughing at us all the way to the bank. They pulled the perfect crime. Getting consumers to pay to watch ads.


If I'm not mistaken the commercials are sold by the theater chains and have nothing to do with the films distributor. Is that correct? If so it would be nice if the theaters, knowing that without us they couldn't sell ANY ads, might pass the savings onto their customers and maybe make popcorn a little less expensive.

Of course there's not much we can do. Audiences will still go to the movies (ads or not) and there's no way they're going to stop showing the ads. When was the last time a business stopped doing something that made them money? Voluntarily. I definitely miss the good ole days, when there were no theater chains and theaters respected their customers. Oh well.

Enough advertising, America. Enough.
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Couldn't agree more.
 
We have a 2nd run theater here in town that always pushes two things. They have no commercials and they have real butter for their popcorn.

I typically wait until the flick hits that theater and go watch it.
It's amazing to go see a 7:15 show and actually see the show at 7:15. Plus, they only charge $4 for any show. And lastly, their screens are a lot bigger than most of the 1st run screens here in town.
 
Okay, first of all, movies have always had commercials -- they're called "trailers." It's just that those were commercials we wanted to see, vs. the other kind.

Second, there was a lawsuit brought against theaters for airing commercials, and the settlement basically came down to that the theaters can show commercials (or whatever they want, actually) before the advertised start time of the film. But once that clock clicks over to when the film is supposed to be on, no commercials can be shown (except, of course, for the trailers).
 
PK Gillock said:
I mean, why would anyone in their right mind pay to see commercials?
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If the commercials inspired a price drop then at least there would be a logical argument for airing the commercials. Even so, I'd rather pay more for a ticket than waste 10 minutes of my life looking at products and services.

n8ture said:
We have a 2nd run theater here in town that always pushes two things. They have no commercials and they have real butter for their popcorn.

I typically wait until the flick hits that theater and go watch it.
It's amazing to go see a 7:15 show and actually see the show at 7:15. Plus, they only charge $4 for any show. And lastly, their screens are a lot bigger than most of the 1st run screens here in town.
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We have a theater like that too. Charges only $2.50 for movies and the food is reasonably priced. The trade off is a 6 week wait and sometimes the screen quality can be soft. I love going to that place but sometimes I have the "I gotta see it now!" motivation.



Barry_Green said:
Second, there was a lawsuit brought against theaters for airing commercials, and the settlement basically came down to that the theaters can show commercials (or whatever they want, actually) before the advertised start time of the film. But once that clock clicks over to when the film is supposed to be on, no commercials can be shown (except, of course, for the trailers).
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That was not my experience. The showing was 8pm and they played company commercials until at least 8:10pm.
 
I hear that some people have taken to walking in, picking their seats, taping up a sign saying "these seats are occupied; we're just outside dodging the %^#&^@%^! commercials" and coming back when they figure the ads are over.

More trouble than I'd want to go to at the theater, myself.

Caught them running an ad before a film at the ArcLight in Hollywood once, though (something they specifically advertise they do not do). Went to the manager afterwards and chewed on him until he refunded our ticket money.
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
Haven't they already made price hikes since the introduction of commercials?
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Absolutely they have.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not defending the addition of commercials here, I hate them as much (if not more) than the next person... but I think we'd be hard pressed to call theater chains 'greedy' considering that it seems difficult for most of them to even keep the doors open.

The addition of commercials may have been a way to keep those price hikes from getting out of control, which would have additionally lowered ticket sales.
 
I stopped going to theater's all-together. I used to go every Sunday... and now I'd guess I go about once a year, or less.

Last one I saw was Pan's Labyrinth:shocked:
 
ryan brown said:
I stopped going to theater's all-together. I used to go every Sunday... and now I'd guess I go about once a year, or less.

Last one I saw was Pan's Labyrinth:shocked:
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Is it just me or did they switch from film to video about 2/3s the way through the movie?
 
Luis Caffesse said:
Absolutely they have.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not defending the addition of commercials here, I hate them as much (if not more) than the next person... but I think we'd be hard pressed to call theater chains 'greedy' considering that it seems difficult for most of them to even keep the doors open.
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Well, I guess I just find it hard to believe considering how much it costs my family to watch a 2 hour movie. Really, that's why people aren't going anymore. That and the fact that Home Theaters are so affordable these days. I've had one for years.

I mean... they expect you not to sneak in a drink and snack when their prices are simply outrageous! Who are they kidding?

Still, I shelled out to go see a matinée screening of Iron Man last week so they got me. :)
 
Sad Max said:
Boycotts and class-action lawsuits might do the trick.
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True, but are you really going to do that? It's a minor inconvenience to sit through 10 minutes of advertisements.

Meh, maybe I'm wrong. I personally don't care all too much. Makes arriving late to the theater less of a worry also. :D
 
Jon Starr said:
Meh, this is the world we live in. Complaining won't get us anywhere. We can't fight it short of holding a gun to the owner's head and telling him to do something.
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Yes and no. I actually don't mind the ticket pricing. Yes, it's quite high but I'm willing to pay it for certain movies.

What kills me is the price of the food/snacks on top of the ticket prices. It's robbery, plain and simple. We all know how much popcorn and pop costs. W also know how much profit they make from it. It's ridiculous.

Jon, imagine that you have a family with a couple of children and calculate the cost of going to the movies for the weekend. I would much rather spend that money on a nice restaurant, it's actually cheaper.

And that's what we do more of lately. I look at how much it would cost for all of us to spend 2 hours of our time at the movies and then I see how that money could be spent elsewhere. There are many other things to do with the family and they are usually far more inexpensive.

I still like going to the movies but I'm pickier now. I'm sure most families are following suit.

Mike
 
The noise volume of the commercials is awful.

All those stupid commercials are ruining the romantic film experience of sitting with the curtains closed and the building anticipation until the lights go out.

Not to mention that the content is all stadium-sized junk food, military recruiting by making it look like war is a fun videogame, and d-level entertainment. Then after it is finally over, they recap for you so they can redrill their product into your brain with the deep-voiced asshole narrator.

Fun for the whole family!
 
You do realize that ever since the paramount decree theaters hardly make any money on their films. Thus the higher ticket prices. With hollywood trying to force a switch to digital cinema - saving them money in film prints - along with increasing rental fees for reels, theaters are struggling to stay open.

The money they make is in the products. You can complain about the theaters all you want. But the people you should be complaining too is hollywood itself and the studios that charge ridiculous amounts for rentals of films.

You would think product placement in films helps this. But studios pocket the money and still keep raising fees.

Blame the studios - not the exhibition systems.
 
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