The big screen experience is doomed.

Great thread. Sometimes you just have to vent. I love the NYC stories & Postmaster's dumping of popcorn & soda.

Just visited my parents who live not far from Hilton Head, South Carolina. Everything (restaurants, bowling alleys, gas stations, etc) down that way is out-of-the-box shiny and new. Great theaters & crowds. I saw Flight (is there a thread yet? I thought it was great) and Argo. And the matinee price was $6.50. What?

Back in the crappy northeast now with the cold weather, crowds & insanely high prices. Booooo!!!!!
 
Finally saw SkyFall with my GF last night. Again at the AMC Chesterfield 14... something very cool happened before the show... first time (maybe somebody there read this thread).

Before the show started... the manager stood in front of the theater... thanking everybody for coming out... then he gave a little speech about how rude it is for people to check texts or otherwise look at their phone during the movie... going on to explain... FOR THE DOPES... yes... if you look at your phone for even a second, I'm calling you a dope... that "even the light from your phone is visible to everyone behind you, and distracts from the movie... so please, just wait until the movie is over"...

I almost wanted to stand up and applaud... the next time I go... I probably will.

Guess what... 4 different people STILL decided to check their phones during the movie! One of them was right in front of me... it was a group of two women and two men... kind of big men, but nope... after the 3rd message I decided I'm not having it... I leaned in right at the lady's ear and said, "are you going to do that through the WHOLE movie?!"

She stared at me with "looks could kill"... and I stared right back... our faces less then a foot apart... she turned around and whispered something to the two men... they looked back, I gestured with my hands at the screen and shrugged like "WTF?"... and then I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

:)

Please... theater managers... please keep trying... for "us".
 
A few years ago I saw "Drag Me To Hell", maybe a 10pm showing. A theatre manager did say something along those lines at the top. I appreciated the effort, no doubt. But for a movie like that, especially a later showing, I didn't have a problem with a bunch of crazy kids yelling & talking during the film. Kind of added to the experience. Now cigar smoke, that I would take issue with. :Drogar-Smoke(DBG):
 
So during THE AVENGERS, I was fortunate enough to have a family to the left o'me, talkin' dad, mom, and two kids. And the youngest kid gets up every so often and starts playing in the aisle. And by playing I mean swinging on the trails, babbling, and slapping the floor with his palm. Only thing the mom says is "SHOOSH" but when the kid hears that, he goes wild.

I'm looking over at the kid and the father has the raw nerve to tell me to "Watch the movie, don't watch my kid" and I flipped the freak out on him. IN a quiet manner. Guys definitely several times larger than myself, but at this point there's really almost no sanity left in me brain. Yet STILL they let the little dude jump and play in the aisle, so I finally walked out to get someone and THEN they decide to keep the Osh Kosher wrapped. Had to miss part of the movie just because these people decide to pay money to go out into a quiet theater so their kid can play.


Skyfall about two weeks ago did it in for me, though. To my right, a couple literally playing in their seats. Tickling each other, laying on each other, talking loud on purpose to embarrass each other DURING the movie. And literally holding their phones up to check text messages. Behind m'head, two guys making comments every time something in the movie happened and then discussing/laughing about it. To the left of my girlfriend, two older ladies who were likely in love with James Bond rambling about every scene and in front of me, three teens that like to play on their phones.

This was happening throughout the entire runtime. Almost blew my damned lid.

I won't be going to the theater anymore during any time where a large sum of humans can attend. It's going to be Tuesday shows at like Noon, El Capitain special screenings where everyone paid twenty dollars per ticket and surely won't be talking, 6PM showtimes when LA traffic is too bad for the freaks to come out or midnight showings where everyone is there to see a damned movie.

It's gotten ridiculous. Why do you pay money to go out and talk in a theater????? You can stay at home and do that for free!
 
There has to be a price paid for bad behavior, like the Alamo theater story. Be courteous for courtesy's sake? Forget about it. Watch the movie, not my kid? These people look at this stuff as a right they have purchased with their ticket. Those of us old enough to remember doors on phone booths also remember people closing those doors for a conversation. When did that social contract expire? All I can say is...it's gonna get worse.
 
Ya'll got nothin'. I frequently go to the "silent movie theater" on fairfax because they show old classics I have not seen on the big screen. Plus, I love seeing movies there, because the audience is composed of cinephiles and as a result the audience is very respectful of the experience (even though the seats are horribly uncomfortable). One time me and the wife go to see Rohmer's Love in the Afternoon, and I've really been looking forward to this.

Well. The theater is packed. About 20 minutes in, people two rows in front of us start moving shifting in their seats looking around, soon the row in front of us the same, and about a minute later both my wife and I notice just a horrible stench... like rotting egg salad or something. Yes, my friends, someone cut the cheese, but BAD. It was nauseating. You hold your nose and hope it passes and feel like throwing up, try to hold your breath. Only whoever the person was, kept going on. We finally got up and stood against the aisle wall (with the old movie star photos) and watched the movie like this for awhile, and others joined us soon... except the smell kept spreading. We left after a few minutes and caught another showing of the movie - I was too embarrassed to even ask for our money back.

So yeah, noise and light is not the only danger. There's the silent but deadly too. Granted, it only happened once. On the other hand, I'm sad to report, it's happened more than once that theater seats stank or some audience members had BO problems. Hard to concentrate on the movie when you feel like throwing up - but not everyone is bothered, cause it doesn't stop the popcorn eaters.
 
Hmmm... Generally we are pretty polite bunch of movie watchers up here in Canukistan. I honestly can't remember the last time when anyone talked or acted-out at a movie.

In the 1980's, I remember seeing a $1.98 double-bill with my room-mates when some bright genius brought in a huge bucket of KFC and proceeded to stink up the entire theater.
 
TheDingo said:
Hmmm... Generally we are pretty polite bunch of movie watchers up here in Canukistan. I honestly can't remember the last time when anyone talked or acted-out at a movie.
Click to expand...

I actually noticed on my most recent trip back to Los Angeles (I had been away in Canada for 2 years) how damn LOUD Americans are in general. Just the general noise level in a restaurant was noticeable as being louder...Don't have much complaints with theatergoers here either.
 
At the theater where I live, they have a 21 and over screening of every movie that comes out. If I don't go during the day where there's not to many people in the first place... those are the screenings I go to.
 
L1N3ARX said:
At the theater where I live, they have a 21 and over screening of every movie that comes out. If I don't go during the day where there's not to many people in the first place... those are the screenings I go to.
Click to expand...

I'm so behind watching films... I usually go see a film right before it leaves theaters, and in the middle of the day. I'm usually one of eight people in the place. Usually no issues with kiddos or people talking.

That or I'm at a mid-night showing. I like those because people are really into the film and it's the only time where jokes get audibly loud laughter or dramatic scenes feel really tense. Seeing a film at midnight with the people who are most passionate about it, usually keeps everyone pretty positive and respectful.
 
Man I dont' know what it is about where you all live but my experiences have been mostly pleasant. Not a ton of crazy stuff to report. Not a chance I could stand even half the stuff some folks are talking about, especially people being loud or making out in the theater or kids playing, etc. I wouldn't have a problem telling people to shut up in a not so nice way. I remember doing it once and other folks in the theater were like "finally...somebody said something." LOL.
 
If you are over 20 your opinion about the theater experience being over is probably not relevant. The biggest demographic of movie goers is the younger crowd. They don't own big screen TVs. Even if there is one in their home, they are not the ones in control of it. They can't go to bars. Where else are they going to go after they've walked around the mall? The movies!
 
Honestly haven't experienced the crazy stuff you people are talking about. Only one time someone got into an argument with another audience member and that was it.

Maybe it's not the theater going experience that has changed but our expectations of it? I mean people have always been rude and loud and stuff, but these days we're so much less social with other human beings in person. Most of us are buried in our computers, phones, etc. Maybe we're just not used the human experience of being in a theater with other people anymore.

Or maybe I'm wrong and people have gotten worse in the last decade. I certainly don't go to the theater as much as I used to. It used to be my church in my teens and early twenties. I was there sometimes twice a weekend. Now I go maybe once every 3-6 months. But like I said, I don't really have any problems with the audience I jsut don't go cause there isn't a lot I want to see and I don't have as much free time or money now that I'm older. In fact one of my favorite theater experiences was 10 years ago when Cabin Fever came out and it was a packed house and everyone in the theater was cracking jokes during the movie. It made the movie experience a lot better.
 
Gillvane said:
If you are over 20 your opinion about the theater experience being over is probably not relevant. The biggest demographic of movie goers is the younger crowd. They don't own big screen TVs. Even if there is one in their home, they are not the ones in control of it. They can't go to bars. Where else are they going to go after they've walked around the mall? The movies!
Click to expand...

I have no problem with well behaved young people at a movie.

If they have problems controlling themselves then maybe they should stay home and play their xbox or text their bff.
 
Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
I'm so behind watching films... I usually go see a film right before it leaves theaters, and in the middle of the day. I'm usually one of eight people in the place. Usually no issues with kiddos or people talking.

That or I'm at a mid-night showing. I like those because people are really into the film and it's the only time where jokes get audibly loud laughter or dramatic scenes feel really tense. Seeing a film at midnight with the people who are most passionate about it, usually keeps everyone pretty positive and respectful.
Click to expand...

That and the series minimarathons usually cuts down the viewers who are just there for the airconditioning...

The Wife requires captioning, and when only a few theaters had open caption presentations, we would often be in a nearly empty theater, despite the popularity of the film...

Now with new and improved technology, many of the digital theaters have better individual captioning devices that allow us to go to more films at 'peak' hours... which may lead to some of the problems people have noted.
 
roxics said:
Honestly haven't experienced the crazy stuff you people are talking about. Only one time someone got into an argument with another audience member and that was it.
Click to expand...

Other than 50 cent movies of my youth, the only time someone's gotten into a fight in the theater while I've been watching a movie was in Walla Walla Washington... sometime in 1975...

There have been some situations if I had 'focused' on whatever the people were doing in my 'neighborhood'... perhaps it would have been a problem, but I usually get into the movie to the point of excluding anything outside of that focus...

As a note, I also find it ok to study in a loud coffee shop or diner... or Starbux with ugly music playing mostly... which would drive some people wild...
 
mcgeedigital said:
I have no problem with well behaved young people at a movie.

If they have problems controlling themselves then maybe they should stay home and play their xbox or text their bff.
Click to expand...

It's the other way around. It's whether or not they tolerate you. Young people are the ones paying for the tickets.
 
This bad behavior knows no age...it's not just young people. Just like aggressive driving. It's everybody.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top