worst theater experiences?

[beefjerky]

This is inspired by Matthew Chmiel's reply in the Napolean Dynamite thread.

What are some of your worst theater experiences?

Mine has to be during the opening night of Rush Hour 2. These two skanky white girls were sitting behind me, and every single time an asian character came on screen, the two girls would loudly start saying, "Ching chong ching, shut the hell up, chink." They threw out the works. They would comment on how ugly the asian people were in the film, comment on their "chinky eyes," throw out slurs, and just be generally offensive, racist, and obnoxious. Everytime Chris Tucker showed up, they would say, "THAT'S MY BABY'S DADDY."

I've never been more angry in my entire life than at that moment. I'm more angry at myself that I didn't say anything to them though. I really should've told them to shut the hell up and had them kicked out of the theater.

All of my other bad theater experiences don't even compare to this one.

[Mondo Kane]

There's been a lot of threads like these in the past...And a lot of stories here posted by members that I'll never forget.
Including those from Miami who say that they've seen mothers changing their crying babies' diapers during the movie and there was one story (I don't think this qualifies as "worst" but definetly "weird") where some old guy sat up front with a camera and began taking flash pictures of the screen.

[Rivero]

May 19, 1999.

12:01 AM.

Sold Out Show.

Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

'Nuff said.

[Rivero]

Originally posted by beefjerky
every single time an asian character came on screen, the two girls would loudly start saying, "Ching chong ching, shut the hell up, chink."

Wow. I would've slapped those bitches on both sides of their faces right then and there during the show in their movie seats. Seriously.

[Forum Troll]

My worst experience in the theater? That I actually paid to see these in the theater:

The Cat in the Hat
Catwoman
Baby Geniuses
Battlefield Earth
Robocop III
The Avengers

I was the only person in the theater at each of these screenings.
I like it that way. I make rude comments, throw popcorn at the screen, and do other 'unmentionable' things.

[HN]

Had to be when I went down to Irvine from LA to watch Return of the King on the Edward's giant screen. Kept getting kicked in the seat. Twice i turned around to ask nicely if he could try to stop and twice he didn't even acknowledge me, just kept looking at the screen. He acknowledged me the third time, tho, when I threw a handful of popcorn at him. Words erupted and we both get tossed. GODDAMMIT ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS WATCH RotK IN ALL ITS SPLENDOR ON THE MASSIVE SCREEN! @%@$%@%#$%

[flyboy]

That I actually paid real money to see "The Pirate Movie"in 1982, no I did not sit through it all....................

[kovacs01]

some guy about 5 rows behind me in the movie Kingpin was drinking 40's and had a too many and started yakking. i dont care, im not too squeamish when it comes to that. except that we all know theaters have sloped floors. i realized that it smelled way too much for it to be behind me and looked down to see it running all over my shoes. pretty hard to beat that one......

[GuessWho]

Saw a fistfight during Die Hard 2.

[scott shelton]

Originally posted by GuessWho
Saw a fistfight during Die Hard 2.

Wow! Tell that story, please.

[Charlie Goose]

Originally posted by GuessWho
Saw a fistfight during Die Hard 2.
The one between McClane and John Amos on the wing? That was cool!

[BassDude]

Someone apparently tattooed "kick my seat please" on the back of my head in glow in the dark lettering.

It never fails... And with the rocker seats, it is REALLY annoying. Even when I took my kids to Yu Gi Oh last weekend, some 10 yr old kid read the kick me message.

I try and get the last row now when my GF and I go, but ya lose some of the surround effect and ya hear the flickering of the projector during quiet passages.

Not as bad as some of these other stories...but...more reasons to wait for the DVD release and watch at home!

[guywall]

Watching Batman and just as the Joker is hanging on for dear life and getting ready to fall, a bright light turns on the screen so you can barely see anything that is happening.
We got our money back.

I also was watch the re-release of Gone with the Wind, and the filmed slowed down all of sudden and looked like it melted. After a 10 minute break, they respliced it.
We got our money back.

[Dabaomb]

Originally posted by beefjerky
This is inspired by Matthew Chmiel's reply in the Napolean Dynamite thread.

What are some of your worst theater experiences?

Mine has to be during the opening night of Rush Hour 2. These two skanky white girls were sitting behind me, and every single time an asian character came on screen, the two girls would loudly start saying, "Ching chong ching, shut the hell up, chink." They threw out the works. They would comment on how ugly the asian people were in the film, comment on their "chinky eyes," throw out slurs, and just be generally offensive, racist, and obnoxious. Everytime Chris Tucker showed up, they would say, "THAT'S MY BABY'S DADDY."

I've never been more angry in my entire life than at that moment. I'm more angry at myself that I didn't say anything to them though. I really should've told them to shut the hell up and had them kicked out of the theater.

All of my other bad theater experiences don't even compare to this one.

Since I'm Asian, if they said that, I would've accidentally spilled my drink on them and then b-slapped them.

I'd say he's your baby's daddy cuz you both are skanky hos.

On a side note, those girls in the massage parlor in that movie :drool:

[Fok]

Having teenages behind you talking constantly and kicking your seat. From now on we always sit in the back rows. Those racist girls deserve a smack in the face.

[neiname]

Originally posted by BassDude
Someone apparently tattooed "kick my seat please" on the back of my head in glow in the dark lettering.


How is this possible???

[cultshock]

I've mentioned it in an earlier thread, but when I saw Star Wars Ep 2 in an IMAX theatre, some woman just couldn't handle the experience and barfed, twice, during the first 10 minutes of the film. Her and her boyfriend quickly left after that, but of course neglected to tell the staff about the incident, so the rest of us were treated to the occasional smell of regurgitated nachos. I was far enough away from "ground zero" to not be affected much (and the air conditioner/circulator certainly helped), but some people had been sitting pretty close to her, and none of them moved!! WTF.

[necros]

Well the one that sticks out most was recently, me and the gang went to see The Village. As we pulled up we noticed 3 school buses around back. Apparently some summer camp or something was doing a special lets go to the movies night for all the kids. We were dumb enough to think they weren't going to be seeing The Village, but lo and behold on a tuesday night at 7:30 the theater was jam packed. Actually, once the movie started people were all pretty queit until these 2 little brats snuck in obviously from another movie they just got out of, and started harassing some girls in front of us. They eventually moved on and started throwing popcorn and candy at people till my buddy told em to shut up. There was quiet for about 10 minutes they they started again despite half the theater telling em to be quiet. Eventually my friend just went and got the manager and out they went. People applauded.

It'd be really nice if they'd have ushers actually do something besides hit on the cute 16 year old candy counter girls. But then every time an usher comes in (if you're lucky once per movie) the bad kids shut up till they leave.

[PalmerJoss]

I've never really had a truly terrible filmgoing experience. The closest I've come is when I saw Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets at a late showing, around 10:30pm. The theatre was pretty empty, yet a mother and her 2 young children still proceeded to sit directly behind my date and I. One of the children proceeded to kick my chair constantly for about 10 or 15 minutes, despite me having to ask her to stop at least 4 times. Finally I stood up and told the mother to either control her children or I'm going to theatre management. The mother got up and moved her kids a few seats down from us so they couldn't do anything else.

[Puzznic]

I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind at a sneak preview that was hosted by the local top 40 alt-rock radio station. Not suprisingly most of the people that showed up were expecting a slapstick Jim Carrey comedy and would not shut up about how much the movie "sucked". There were also some old people in front of us that said something along the lines of "what a weird waste of time" after the movie was over.

[Abranut]

Originally posted by neiname
How is this possible???

-ohbfrank- You're so literal, neiname. :p

[mllefoo]

Originally posted by cultshock
I've mentioned it in an earlier thread, but when I saw Star Wars Ep 2 in an IMAX theatre, some woman just couldn't handle the experience and barfed, twice, during the first 10 minutes of the film..

Oh come on. The movie wasn't *that* bad.

[BassDude]

Originally posted by neiname
How is this possible???

It's a new ink.. Light activates the glow chemical, so when ya walk from daylight into a dark theater it really glows. Took me weeks to realize that annoying glow that I thought was coming from behind me was my own head.

[Julie Walker]

I have'nt really had many 'bad' experiances. People talking and stuff is annoying as hell. But thankfully 99% of the time so far. They shut the hell up quickly. So I haven't had any really annoying experiances like some people where I have to get management,or feel like beating the shit out of someone until they shut the fuck up.

But without a doubt the worst theatrical experiance was in 1997 for the Star Wars craptacular edition.. The obvious CGI was annoying on the big screen,and even worse on the little screen(when I could actually see the screen!). Since 95% of the film was a blur for me at that showing. The reason?

Some fat white guy Star Wars nerd with a huge afro puffy head of hair blocking my view!

Originally I was in the seat on the side of him,but switched with my little brother who could not see the screen. Alas,I tried looking over each shoulder,then over his head..but he would'nt sit still and kept leaning from side to side,then sitting straight up in the chair.

Meanwhile we were all herded into this theater,packed with Star Wars nerds,and it was claustriphobic in the extreme. It was impossible to get out of your seat,since we had fat people clogging us in. So going to the bathroom was out of the question,lest you want to shove your way over the cattle.

Then if that was not worse enough. They were loud and obnoxious little freaky nerds who would not shut the fuck up! Durring all the 'new' additions. They 'oooed' & 'awed'...laughed at the lame Jaba tail crushing addition in a scary monotonous voice. Meanwhile chatting with each and everyone how 'cool' it was and blah blah blah blah blah.

After that,my dad decided we would NOT see the other two films on opening night,nor durring the time when more people would be at the theater. So we enjoyed the other two films in the afternoon,with a theater largely to ourselves to actually watch the films in peace and quiet.

Seeing the Phantom Menace was just as unbearable,mostly since the film was so horrible.and the nerds,my god the nerds!! So we skipped Ep2 in theaters,and will do the same for Ep3 since nothing is worse than wasting time at shitty films with mindless cultist fans who seem brainwashed and uncleanly from camping out :D

i did see Ep2 on dvd btw,and it was bad bad bad and boring.

[The Wizard]

I only got 1 so far.

Signs-I went to go see this at 8:00pm. The threater was pact.
I sat near a group of Teenage girls (the row behind me) and throughout the entire movie they were talking and on their cellphones etc. I couldn't enjoy most of the movie because of them and they had the nerve to say it sucked when The film was over. I had to drive down to Down Town Boston by Subway and buy a Bootleg of it.

[Seantn]

So teenage girls FORCED you to buy a bootleg. Sure.

[The Wizard]

I couldn't pay attention to the movie because i was telling them to be quiet, and no they didn't force me. I felt like it then I bought the Special Edition months later anyway.

[outer-edge]

Typically I have good experiences, but bad ones do happen. I usually forget them, but a few stand out occasionally.

In the "STFU" category:
I was on a first date with a girl I was very interested in. We went to the movies and there was a group of 12/13 year old girls. About the middle of the movie, they started arguing with another group of younger girls in front of them. They kept going on and kept getting louder. People started yelling for them to shut up, and they'd quiet for maybe five minutes, then start in again. Eventually one of the older girls slapped one of the younger ones and some lady in the theater got up and went and gave them an ass chewing. After that they shut up for good.

In the "Ooo, ooo, that smell" category:
A group of friends and I went to see "The Others" at the local college theater. Crappy theater, but decent prices and only place in town showing the movie. Typically I've had no problems there, but this time as soon as we walk in, we can smell something. It smells like cleaner or bleach. By the time we got out of the movie, we all felt nauseous and had headaches from the fumes.

[Qui Gon Jim]

We went to see "Duplex" and the theater was packed with teens. During the movie, the fiancee actually got hit with a quarter in the head. I went out and chewed the manager a new hole and got our money back. Worst part is that the movie sucked too!

[Joem]

Mine was definitely the 2nd time I saw "Sixth Sense" with my wife (she hadn't seen it yet). It was at the ghetto theater in Greenbelt, MD (the closest movie theater near my college at the time).

The Greenbelt theater has patrons notorious for being obnoxious, and this was no exception. It was an afternoon showing, and maybe 10 people there, 4 or whom were together (a mom and 3 kids in their early teens).

These bastards friggin' talked through the whole movie, and I got up and said something to them, and then to a manager. The managers there sucked, and didn't do a darn thing.

I wanted to go over there and yank one of their cornrows out of their skull. ARGH!

[arthur_dent]

I work at a movie theater part time for some extra money, so I have a couple stories. The only one I can remember right now is recently, during a showing of The Village, a woman comes out and complains that a man turned around and called her and her young children jackasses. She said that she didn't want her children to be subjected to that kind of language and demanded that the man be kicked out of the theater or she get a refund. So I go into the theater to tell the man to not use vulgarity, and come to find that the "children" are 16 and 17 years old. I ask the man to not use vulgar language and he says that the family had been extremely obnoxious and was talking through the whold movie. All of the people in the movie said something along the lines of "yeah". So we told the man that if he had a problem or would like a refund, to please come to an usher instead of taking it upon himself. I would rather he just punch the lady. After all of that, when they came out of the theater, this old woman was blasting on the family and looked as if she was about to fight them. The redneck father came up to me and said "we might have been annoying, but that does not justify vulgar language". I just stood there and did not say a single thing to him. The parents left and the kids stayed to go to the restroom and sure enough, they were cussing away.

Oh, we also have to do "patrols" every 30 minutes at my theater and we have to do at least 3. I am sorry to say that the kids do shut up when I come in, but I try to sneak around and listen to see if anyone is talking when they don't see me. Then I usually kick them out if they're being really disruptive.

[Matthew Chmiel]

This is inspired by Matthew Chmiel's reply in the Napolean Dynamite thread.
Awww. That makes me feel so warm on the inside. I had a thread inspired by me only because most of the people in Las Vegas are uncultured pricks! Yay! Go uncultured pricks!

[conscience]

If there is one thing I hate, it is teenagers who think they are the shit.

They come in the theatre acting like they are the only ones there.

Nu-uh. I'll snap your neck before you ruin my movie experience ---- that is if you don't shut up the first time I ask you.


AND I JUST TURNED 20. I have never acted like some of these teenagers you see today. I guess I act a lot older than my age.

[Rivero]

Originally posted by Puzznic
I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind at a sneak preview that was hosted by the local top 40 alt-rock radio station. Not suprisingly most of the people that showed up were expecting a slapstick Jim Carrey comedy and would not shut up about how much the movie "sucked". There were also some old people in front of us that said something along the lines of "what a weird waste of time" after the movie was over.

F**king morons.

[Marco1]

Went to see Vanilla Sky with my wife. Now I was trying so hard to follow this movie and these women were talking the whole time and my wife asked them to quiet down. She had to ask a second and third time, finally one of them tells my wife to shut up. I turn around and tell her you shut up B**CH. Missed an important part and was lost the rest of the way. Why do you come to a movie to talk? I was a little surprised no one else said anything to them as they were talking pretty loudly.

[Randy Miller III]

After hearing some of these stories (and having a few myself), I don't see why movie theaters can't hire a full-time usher for each theater. It actually might get me to go out to the theater more often, instead of just staying home with my DVDs. :)

[dick_grayson]

I had a horrible experience over the weekend when I went to see Spiderman 2 (yes, it took me long enough). Anyway, I went to a 1pm showing, since I had to kill time before my gf got off work. So anyway after about 15 mintues, the dude behind me starts snoring.....not the super loud stuff, mostly the really loud breathing. Anyway, I ended up moving to the front of the theater after about half an hour. But up front, some parent let their child talk throughout most of the picture. Someone kept shushing them, but it didn't seem to do any good. Then another kid started at it also and the parent did nothing, too. I'm not the kind of person to stand up and yell at them or anything......and am too lazy to complain to the ticket window (mainly because I don't want any ladies seeing me asking for a refund - I think of it as using coupons on a date, for some reason). Anyway, the movie was really good, but the experience was probably the worst I've had.

[KillerQ]

Ok,

This is an easy one for me. I went with my wife, and another friend to see a Midnight showing of the Exorcist when it was re-released a few years back. Now, i had been looking forward to this, and since it was a late showing, it was all the more special...

Anyway, after we sat down we were surprised that the theater was about 75% full....which was fine....BUT, out of those people there were several mothers with baby's so small that they just carried them in (under 1 year) and about 5 or so other mothers who brought strollers in. And to top that there were about 10 children under 10 - AT A MIDNIGHT SHOWING OF THE EXORCIST!!!!

Ok, this is just PRE-show.... haha. After the movie starts, the babies, of course, start crying and the toddlers are running around like it's a playground.... To top that, it seemed like EVERYBODY ELSE in the theater was talking during the entire movie and laughing at almost every scene as if it was a comedy.... Of course there were at least 2 cell phones ringing every10 minutes...and they would answer "hello" real LOUD, and evereyone would laugh at that to add to the disruption..... after about an hour we couldn't take it anymore. So we went to the manager and told him the problem -- he then asked which people it was so he could remove them - I then told him it was the ENTIRE theater..... he sighed and gave us our money back.... I haven't been back to that theater since.... (actually, I always avoided that theater, but it was close and playing the E. at midnight, so I figured I would give it a shot). So to end the story, about a week later, we went to another theater for a 10pm showing and it went great!

There you go,

Matt :)

[Rivero]

Some of the stories here make me WISH I had experiences like these so I could have the satisfaction of facing these fuckwads.

[guywall]

Originally posted by Rivero
Some of the stories here make me WISH I had experiences like these so I could have the satisfaction of facing these fuckwads.
:lol:

I sort of have the same wish!

[renaldow]

I was just sitting their minding my own business when Paul Ruebens came and sat down next to me...

[calhoun07]

The first Friday that The Village was playing, I went to see it with a couple friends and the entire front section where all the seats were on the floor and nearer to the screen, were filled with teenagers. We couldn't believe this many teenagers were coming en masse to see a movie like this. But they just would not SHUT UP. The entire group of them, and there were a lot, just kept on talking, standing up, talking to people behind them. The roar of their collective chatter was one thing during all the trailers (which the theater played so loud you didn't hear the teens except between trailers) but once the movie started, the roar of chatter never subsided. One of my friends shouted, "SHUT UP!" and then other people in the upper seats shouted to the teens in the seats on the floor to shut up, and several of the teens shouted back to us to shut up. Eventually, ushers and managers and police officers came in to subside the crowd, and more than a few got kicked out during the movie. Which turned out good for them since the movie ended up blowing dog.

I know I missed some clues about the identity of the creatures at the beginning of the movie based on what I have read about the movie in other threads, but I won't watch it again.

I told my friends we are NEVER seeing a pg-13 movie on a Friday night again.

[Green Jello]

I think I have you all beat. My wife and I were at a showing of "What Women Want" back in 2000. After the 20 minutes of trailers and the first five minutes of the film a group of people in their late teens or early twenties came in and sat in the row directly behind us. The group quickly realized that they had no interest in the film, so all the usual problems of talking, throwing food at each other, cell phones, etc. started happening. I started by turning around and giving them dirty looks and when it continued I asked them to be quiet. When they still continued and the guy behind my seat kicked my chair, I turned around and yelled: "Shut the f#@% up! As soon as I turned around he sucked a bunch of coke into his straw and spit it all over my wife and I. I quickly stood up and turned around to notice he was doing the same. Since the theater was stadium seating he was higher than me. I then grabbed him with both hands by the belt and his neck (I'm pretty big - 6'5" 280lbs) and I threw him down two rows in front of me. While he was collecting himself, I turned to the rest of the group and apparently no one else had anything to say to me so I started to look for the first guy. Seconds later, the theater was blinded by the daylight coming in through the exit door as he ran out.

The story ended with a long chat with the police and theater management. It was decided that I really didn't start it and the police left me alone, but I was asked by the theater management to never return.

[Saxofonix]

Originally posted by Marco1
Why do you come to a movie to talk? I

Or sit and tap text messages on your f'n phone throughout the movie? That bright neon glow of the cellphone is as annoying as chatter.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! I hate people.

[toccoa_winters]

Originally posted by Green Jello
I think I have you all beat. My wife and I were at a showing of "What Women Want" back in 2000. After the 20 minutes of trailers and the first five minutes of the film a group of people in their late teens or early twenties came in and sat in the row directly behind us. The group quickly realized that they had no interest in the film, so all the usual problems of talking, throwing food at each other, cell phones, etc. started happening. I started by turning around and giving them dirty looks and when it continued I asked them to be quiet. When they still continued and the guy behind my seat kicked my chair, I turned around and yelled: "Shut the f#@% up! As soon as I turned around he sucked a bunch of coke into his straw and spit it all over my wife and I. I quickly stood up and turned around to notice he was doing the same. Since the theater was stadium seating he was higher than me. I then grabbed him with both hands by the belt and his neck (I'm pretty big - 6'5" 280lbs) and I threw him down two rows in front of me. While he was collecting himself, I turned to the rest of the group and apparently no one else had anything to say to me so I started to look for the first guy. Seconds later, the theater was blinded by the daylight coming in through the exit door as he ran out.

The story ended with a long chat with the police and theater management. It was decided that I really didn't start it and the police left me alone, but I was asked by the theater management to never return.


they should have given you a medal

[matome]

Originally posted by Green Jello
I think I have you all beat. My wife and I were at a showing of "What Women Want" back in 2000. After the 20 minutes of trailers and the first five minutes of the film a group of people in their late teens or early twenties came in and sat in the row directly behind us. The group quickly realized that they had no interest in the film, so all the usual problems of talking, throwing food at each other, cell phones, etc. started happening. I started by turning around and giving them dirty looks and when it continued I asked them to be quiet. When they still continued and the guy behind my seat kicked my chair, I turned around and yelled: "Shut the f#@% up! As soon as I turned around he sucked a bunch of coke into his straw and spit it all over my wife and I. I quickly stood up and turned around to notice he was doing the same. Since the theater was stadium seating he was higher than me. I then grabbed him with both hands by the belt and his neck (I'm pretty big - 6'5" 280lbs) and I threw him down two rows in front of me. While he was collecting himself, I turned to the rest of the group and apparently no one else had anything to say to me so I started to look for the first guy. Seconds later, the theater was blinded by the daylight coming in through the exit door as he ran out.

The story ended with a long chat with the police and theater management. It was decided that I really didn't start it and the police left me alone, but I was asked by the theater management to never return.

:thumbsup::thumbsup: Can you and your wife come watch movies at my theater? :)

[FantasticVSDoom]

I can think of 2...The wife and I went to see Jersey Girl in Ocala, FL and well I dont know if you know about Ocala, lets just say not one of the best 'burgs in the country. Well the people in front of me decided to continue to go back and forth to the concession stand and each time one would come back, the other would tell them what they missed. So after about 20 minutes of this, I stood up and told them to SHUT THE FUCK UP!! and well some more pleasantries back and forth and we were both escorted out. The next was this past weekend when I found out that a matinee in Astoria NY was $10.00 a shot...And I just realized how eerily similar my first experience was to yours Green Jello, and Im about the same size as you as well.

[Crocker Jarmen]

This didn't happen to me, but it's a story my boss told me a few years back:

He was in Toronto, and having a few hours to kill, he decided to go see a movie. He was near the Carlton and ended up going to see Romance. He claimed that he had no idea what the movie was, he said he just decided to see the film with the nude girl on the poster.

He's the only one in the theater. It's a matinee. After the first ten minutes, various guys start coming in and sitting in the back rows. My boss gets really shocked (he's a fucking Mormon! for crying out loud) when the hardcore sex stuff starts happening, but he's even more shocked when he realizes that a bunch of the guys at the back are masturbating! :eek:

The strangest thing to me is that he apparantly sat there and watched the movie till the end anyways. He said that after the final sex scene, most of the guys got up and left. If that had been me in his place, I would have been worried about the Vice Squad busting in. I could just imagine him being dragged out in handcuffs protesting "I wasn't masturbating! Sure, everyone else was, but I wasn't!" Crazy.

[cupon]

Ceiling collapse...

I was in a Carmike theater watching The Truman Show. It was raining that night and during the end of the film the audience section directly behind me began to jump out of their seats onto the side aisles. I thought, WTF?

Suddenly a piece of the ceiling fell down onto the chairs and bucket loads of water poured down. Obviously, the building/ceiling was suffering a terrible leak due to the rain and began to fall apart right there.

The ceiling piece was about 5x5 feet and about 1 foot thick. The material was hard and thick. If those audience members didn't move out of the way they probably could have been killed. The piece that fell dropped about 4 feet from where I sat.

Most of the people in the middle section had to watch the rest of the movie on the sidelines fearing that other parts of the ceiling would collapse.

It's good the collapse was detected during a quiet portion of the film. Had we watching the first destruction sequence of Armageddon with the surround sound speakers blaring, I'm certain someone's head would have been crushed that night.

[RaMMaR]

From the How many times will you watch TTT? (http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=3124254#post3124254) thread:Originally posted by RaMMaR
At least twice. i watched it today for the first time using movie cash and i've got one more to burn. i NEED to see it again. Here's why:
-Cell phones constantly went off -ohbfrank-
Honestly, cell phones or at the very least their batteries should be checked at the door. If you're expecting an important call, DON'T go to the friggin' movies!!!
-People behind me talked to each other & their kid during the movie (at one point, the mother talked on her cell :johnwoo: ) This kind of caRp almost always happens to me when i go to the movies. God hates me....
-Somebody's baby cried intermitantly throught the film and the rat bastard parents never took the poop box out into the hallway! :brickwl:

... and to top off an already dismal experience at the movies (aka par for the course) *drumroll*
-Before the BIG battle scene where Saruman's minions attack Helms Deep, just after the first arrow fells an Orc, the fire/emergency lights went off, the house lights came on, and the pre-show ads began to play. The few of us that didn't follow the bewildered & disgruntled throng into the multi-plex hallway thought that it was some young punk getting his rocks off by pulling the fire alarm. It turns out that a power outage affecting half of Oahu apparently triggered the alarm. Several minutes later (i could've had a piss break, but i was too pissed to leave my seat and take a leak), the people in the hall filtered in and the movie played from the forced intermission.
:mad:

i don't know when i'll be able to see it a second time - got relatives staying for 2 wks. next week. :rolleyes:
The LOTR:TTT EE DVD can't come fast enough!

Oh... yeah... i gotta pee.... :o ... it seems i got off easy compared to your theater experiences.

[troystiffler]

Originally posted by cupon
Ceiling collapse...

Ha. Never saw it happen at a theater. But it happened at work once. There was a leak on the roof. The water just built above the drop-ceiling. It just broke loose and went everywhere. It was pretty cool to see happen. Unfortunately, I had to help clean it up. Ever try to clean up wet ceiling tiles?

Worst theater experience? Hmmm. About ten years ago, there was an article in the paper about a local guy (in Lancaster PA) who got stabbed through the seat during a movie. That's got to be pretty shitty.

I'm a very quiet guy during a show. I don't even buy food often because it makes too much noise. Recently, I noticed myself just not caring when a cell phone goes off, or some little kids (or more commonly, SENIORS) are talking. There's too much good stuff to cram into my life to be worrying about how someone else enjoys themself.

Not everyone is obsessed about watching a film. Movies aren't a big part of most people's lives. It's often more about being there and having fun with others.

[Green Jello]

Originally posted by troystiffler
Worst theater experience? Hmmm. About ten years ago, there was an article in the paper about a local guy (in Lancaster PA) who got stabbed through the seat during a movie.

That's the kind of stuff I'm always worried about. What happened to the good ol' days when you could tell a teenage kid to shut the f%@# up without worrying about being shot?

[Jon2]

Originally posted by troystiffler
Recently, I noticed myself just not caring when a cell phone goes off, or some little kids (or more commonly, SENIORS) are talking. There's too much good stuff to cram into my life to be worrying about how someone else enjoys themself.

Are you defending people who engage in this sort of behavior because they're enjoying themselves?

Not everyone is obsessed about watching a film. Movies aren't a big part of most people's lives. It's often more about being there and having fun with others.

Then why go to a movie? Save your money, go to a park, lay on the grass, watch the clouds go by, and talk with your friends to your hearts' content. At the very least, maybe you'll develope an appreciation of mother nature. Instead of ruining other people's appreciation for movies.

[matrixrok9]

Originally posted by Green Jello
I think I have you all beat. My wife and I were at a showing of "What Women Want" back in 2000. After the 20 minutes of trailers and the first five minutes of the film a group of people in their late teens or early twenties came in and sat in the row directly behind us. The group quickly realized that they had no interest in the film, so all the usual problems of talking, throwing food at each other, cell phones, etc. started happening. I started by turning around and giving them dirty looks and when it continued I asked them to be quiet. When they still continued and the guy behind my seat kicked my chair, I turned around and yelled: "Shut the f#@% up! As soon as I turned around he sucked a bunch of coke into his straw and spit it all over my wife and I. I quickly stood up and turned around to notice he was doing the same. Since the theater was stadium seating he was higher than me. I then grabbed him with both hands by the belt and his neck (I'm pretty big - 6'5" 280lbs) and I threw him down two rows in front of me. While he was collecting himself, I turned to the rest of the group and apparently no one else had anything to say to me so I started to look for the first guy. Seconds later, the theater was blinded by the daylight coming in through the exit door as he ran out.

The story ended with a long chat with the police and theater management. It was decided that I really didn't start it and the police left me alone, but I was asked by the theater management to never return.

Very nice!

[DieselsDen]

Years ago, while watching RUTHLESS PEOPLE, some girl behind me would recite every bit of Bette Midler's dialogue everytime she was onscreen. It was like hearing an echo behind me. We asked the girl politely to be quiet, and she would simply mimic the dialogue quieter. It was damn annoying watching the movie with the added "surround sound" effect.

[UAIOE]

Originally posted by Green Jello
I think I have you all beat. My wife and I were at a showing of "What Women Want" back in 2000. After the 20 minutes of trailers and the first five minutes of the film a group of people in their late teens or early twenties came in and sat in the row directly behind us. The group quickly realized that they had no interest in the film, so all the usual problems of talking, throwing food at each other, cell phones, etc. started happening. I started by turning around and giving them dirty looks and when it continued I asked them to be quiet. When they still continued and the guy behind my seat kicked my chair, I turned around and yelled: "Shut the f#@% up! As soon as I turned around he sucked a bunch of coke into his straw and spit it all over my wife and I. I quickly stood up and turned around to notice he was doing the same. Since the theater was stadium seating he was higher than me. I then grabbed him with both hands by the belt and his neck (I'm pretty big - 6'5" 280lbs) and I threw him down two rows in front of me. While he was collecting himself, I turned to the rest of the group and apparently no one else had anything to say to me so I started to look for the first guy. Seconds later, the theater was blinded by the daylight coming in through the exit door as he ran out.

The story ended with a long chat with the police and theater management. It was decided that I really didn't start it and the police left me alone, but I was asked by the theater management to never return.


You are truly a hero among men.

You should have a street named after you. :D

[Talkin2Phil]

Originally posted by Green Jello
I think I have you all beat. My wife and I were at a showing of "What Women Want" back in 2000. After the 20 minutes of trailers and the first five minutes of the film a group of people in their late teens or early twenties came in and sat in the row directly behind us. The group quickly realized that they had no interest in the film, so all the usual problems of talking, throwing food at each other, cell phones, etc. started happening. I started by turning around and giving them dirty looks and when it continued I asked them to be quiet. When they still continued and the guy behind my seat kicked my chair, I turned around and yelled: "Shut the f#@% up! As soon as I turned around he sucked a bunch of coke into his straw and spit it all over my wife and I. I quickly stood up and turned around to notice he was doing the same. Since the theater was stadium seating he was higher than me. I then grabbed him with both hands by the belt and his neck (I'm pretty big - 6'5" 280lbs) and I threw him down two rows in front of me. While he was collecting himself, I turned to the rest of the group and apparently no one else had anything to say to me so I started to look for the first guy. Seconds later, the theater was blinded by the daylight coming in through the exit door as he ran out.

The story ended with a long chat with the police and theater management. It was decided that I really didn't start it and the police left me alone, but I was asked by the theater management to never return.

Originally posted by UAIOE
You are truly a hero among men.

You should have a street named after you. :D

Your incident should be made into a Public Service Film to be shown before every movie!

[Green Jello]

Thanks. I only wished my wife found it as amusing as you all do.

[Abob Teff]

OK, here are a few for your scrapbook:

Way back when I was running a theater (Morton, IL) we were having a bad storm blowing in and the power flickered. I hurried back to the projection booths to make sure that the projectors were still running (we had 3 booths for 5 auditoriums). The first two were fine, but the last one had shut down. I quickly try to recycle everything, press the green button . . . and here the strangest sound that I have ever heard. My first thought was "What did I do?" At that moment I was thrown back down the booth stairs and covered with dust and debris. A tornado had just taken the roof off of two of the auditoriums and the booth. I really don't recall much after that (other than screaming at the owner on the phone because he didn't believe me) because the adrenaline kicked in and I had about 350 people (it was an afternoon matinee) to care for. Believe it or not, nobody was hurt.

Back in the summer of 1999 here in Springfield a gentleman had finally had enough of the loud mouth teenagers and incompetent management. On his way back from complaining to the do nothing staff he grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed the kids with it. A local folk hero was born!

As far as personal viewing though, I could go the same route as everybody else. But I would rather focus on the shoddy presentation that the theaters here in Springfield give us. Back when X-Men 2 was out I was treated to a MONO presentation. I went out and asked the teenage manager what sound they were running and he said "DTS 5.1." I told him he better go check it, because it didn't kick in. He went up and I could hear the audible pops as he fumbled trying to get the DTS to kick in. Eventually he just settled for over cranking the mono sound (which ended up giving us major headaches).

Example 2: Went and saw Alien vs. Predator the Saturday afternoon of opening weekend. I don't genereally go on opening weekend, but when I do it is because I want to see a pristine print. Now, I realize that prints absorb damage everytime that they are run. However, at the Saturday afternoon show, which by my calculations was at most the 5th time the print had run, the projectionist had managed to put a massive GREEN scratch into the entire second reel. Now anybody who has done projection work will recognize that a scratch is bad, a colored scratch is very bad, and a scratch that runs through an entire reel could be mean that the theater may have to pay Fox for the print.

[Captain Harlock]

My worst experience was seeing Spider-Man about 2 years ago. I sat down and as soon as the movie started a group of about 4 or 5 "home boys" sat down behind me. Naturally, they decided to provided everyone with a running commentary on the film. All night I heard; "Who's that?", "He's drunk!", "What's he doing?!", and my favorite "YO SPIDEY, DUCK!!". I mean these guys were so loud the whole theater could hear them. The worst part was that there's been a number of shootings at this particular theater so if I got up to complain there was no telling if these jokers were armed and would have taken a shot at me.

Another time at the same theater (Showcase Cinemas in North Haven, CT so you can all avoid it as best as possible) I was watching another film and I heard some clown in the back through the whole movie just mumbling. I just remember he saying "Ahhh baah mahh bah-bah maaah blahh". It was listening to Shaquille O'Neal all night.

[LorenzoL]

My worst theater experience was a few years ago when I went to watch The Ring.

It was a late night show, the theatre was fairly packed and we had good seats right on the middle, near the top. Then this couple (it was mostly the woman talking, but the "boyfriend" or "husband" seen to encourage her to talk) behind us start providing us with running commentary, trying to guess the plot of the movie and her theory about the ending of the movie, twenty minutes into the movie, in a real loud voice, WHILE THE MOVIE WAS PLAYING.

She went on for about 30 minutes more, while our whole section was giving her dirty looks and the "sshhhh" sound, which wasn't very useful. So I finally had enough of her chattering and very politely but firmly told her "that everyone will appreciate it if she be quiet and not try to talk while the movie was playing". Both of them gave me the evil eye but the mission was accomplished as they didn't say a word throughout the rest of the movie. Only wish I would said something sooner.

[Shap]

I have no bad theater experiences.

Someone yelled out Dennis Hopper's fate in Speed at the beginning of the movie, but that didn't ruin it for me. And once I ran out of gas on the way home from the theater and had to walk the rest of the way.

/boring

[Rypro 525]

i had some bitch give her other friend a running commentary during scary movie 1 (this was opening night, but she had seen it a couple of nights before) became irritating after a while since she'd ruin jokes before they happened
"ok now, this part is really gross, here's the centerfold joke..."

[paradicelost]

I don't have many experiences myself because of basically all the posts before this one. That's why i love being a manager at a theater. I just usually just call a couple of friends and tell them to meet me after i get off and we're closed so we can watch a film in an empty theater. Another good thing about that is if the film sucks(i.e. Catwoman or AVP) then we can do a MST3K thing and not annoy anyone.
But there has been a lot that has happened while i've been at work.
One of the worst is the first weekend when Passion opened, we had 2 or 3 big church groups in one house. Well we get a call that a man is having a heart attack. So I was running the booth so i get a call to stop the film, which i did. I ran down to see exactly what was going on. By the time i got downstairs they were wheeling the guy out. Well since the theater was 90% church groups i mentioned that we shouldn't have a problem with complaints about stopping the film. Well as soon as i said that half the theater came running out saying how dare we stop the film over some guy getting sick. We explained to them that it was a life or death situation and we had to do what we had to do.
The second was during Shrek 2 on a saturday night. We got a complaint that a teenage couple was just a base away from having sex in the top row. Well we went into the theater to see if it was true and ask the accused to stop. The problem was that the girls father coincidentally was in the same theater. So just as we are getting in there, the father has the kid around the throat. So we had to call the officer on duty in and seperate them and escort them out the theater.
I could probably fill a book with stories like this.

[LorenzoL]

Originally posted by paradicelost
One of the worst is the first weekend when Passion opened, we had 2 or 3 big church groups in one house. Well we get a call that a man is having a heart attack. So I was running the booth so i get a call to stop the film, which i did. I ran down to see exactly what was going on. By the time i got downstairs they were wheeling the guy out. Well since the theater was 90% church groups i mentioned that we shouldn't have a problem with complaints about stopping the film. Well as soon as i said that half the theater came running out saying how dare we stop the film over some guy getting sick. We explained to them that it was a life or death situation and we had to do what we had to do.

That's not very Christian like behaviour. Who cares if the guy is having a heart attack, a movie about Jesus is much important -ohbfrank-


The second was during Shrek 2 on a saturday night. We got a complaint that a teenage couple was just a base away from having sex in the top row. Well we went into the theater to see if it was true and ask the accused to stop. The problem was that the girls father coincidentally was in the same theater. So just as we are getting in there, the father has the kid around the throat. So we had to call the officer on duty in and seperate them and escort them out the theater.
I could probably fill a book with stories like this.

LOL, either that kid is just unlucky or plain dumb.

[kdubby]

Originally posted by cultshock
I've mentioned it in an earlier thread, but when I saw Star Wars Ep 2 in an IMAX theatre, some woman just couldn't handle the experience and barfed, twice, during the first 10 minutes of the film. Her and her boyfriend quickly left after that, but of course neglected to tell the staff about the incident, so the rest of us were treated to the occasional smell of regurgitated nachos. I was far enough away from "ground zero" to not be affected much (and the air conditioner/circulator certainly helped), but some people had been sitting pretty close to her, and none of them moved!! WTF.

lol@ground zero

[Jon2]

Originally posted by paradicelost
I could probably fill a book with stories like this.

Please do.

It could be titled "Silence is Golden" and theaters could sell it (or give it away) in the lobby. Maybe then some of the yahoos we read about (and a lot of us experience) would finally get the message to shut up.

But I doubt it.

[IDrinkMolson]

Star Trek Nemesis.
It had been out for a few weeks, and it was very cold out, I think January. I was inline to get a ticket, and noticed this oaf-ish looking guy wondering around, in the 1970's style jogging shorts, t-shirt, chuck taylors, and a very loaded down plastic shopping bag. He would walk, stop, look around, continue on, etc.

Got my ticket, went in to the stadium seating, rounded the corner and saw about 3 or 4 people spread all over the small theather. I walk up the stairs, and a happy woman starts talking to me, there's another one, another fan going to see it. I blew her off gently, yeah, been trying to see it for awhile.
I take a seat in the empty top row.
I hear the door open, and then, I see the oaf-ish guy.
I start thinking to myself...
<don't come up here, don't sit by me>
<don't come up here, don't sit by me>
He's still doing the stop look around thing. He comes up the stairs. <NO! NO!>
He gets to the top of the stairs still carrying his bag, that I can now tell has a ton of canned sodas.
He eyes up the corner nearest me. <Noooo! Don't sit there! Please don't sit there.> He starts to walk by me <don't touch me.>
Then as he goes by, his bag clocks my soda out of the cup holder and all over the place. It's all over my coat in the seat next to me.
I asked him, what are you doing?!
He starts apologizing in his oaf-ish voice. I'm like, 'dude, you knocked my soda down.'
He offers to buy me a new one. I think that will work, err, no, wait, I wouldn't know what he would do to it... I say no.
He says I have $10, or $2. Do you want $10? I felt bad taking $10 from this guy for a $4 soda, so I take the $2. He continues to apologize.

So then during the movie, he becomes obvious man. Saying things like 'don't go in there' and the like.
He frequently mumbles "Star Wars is for kids." "Star Trek is for adults."

Oh, did I mention it was Star Trek Nemesis too?

[mytzplyx]

Man...I've never had any experiences like those in this thread before. Most people are pretty courteous in theaters on Guam where I grew up, and in Japan everyone is QUIET! In Los Angeles, where I went to school and where I am now, if there's someone being loud, there's ALWAYS someone in the crowd that tells them to shut up.

[El-Kabong]

I was at a free screening of Kull (which should have been punishment enough) when it first came out. Midway through the movie, two people down towards the front start talking loudly, then shouting at each other. Amid the crys of "shut the hell up" from the other patrons, one of the guys apparently pulls a gun. No shots were fired or anything - but he was acting like he was freakin' John Wayne or something.

The cops were called, the movie stopped, the lights were up for half an hour. It was the suck.

[chanster]

I think I have you all beat. My wife and I were at a showing of "What Women Want" back in 2000. After the 20 minutes of trailers and the first five minutes of the film a group of people in their late teens or early twenties came in and sat in the row directly behind us. The group quickly realized that they had no interest in the film, so all the usual problems of talking, throwing food at each other, cell phones, etc. started happening. I started by turning around and giving them dirty looks and when it continued I asked them to be quiet. When they still continued and the guy behind my seat kicked my chair, I turned around and yelled: "Shut the f#@% up! As soon as I turned around he sucked a bunch of coke into his straw and spit it all over my wife and I. I quickly stood up and turned around to notice he was doing the same. Since the theater was stadium seating he was higher than me. I then grabbed him with both hands by the belt and his neck (I'm pretty big - 6'5" 280lbs) and I threw him down two rows in front of me

Wow. You should be charged with assault and battery. Something to be real proud about, meathead!

[C.H.U.D.]

Originally posted by chanster
Wow. You should be charged with assault and battery. Something to be real proud about, meathead!

So what would you have done if some punk spit soda pop all over your woman? Tell your mommy?

[phr33k]

i would.

[chanster]

So what would you have done if some punk spit soda pop all over your woman? Tell your mommy?

Well I would have to balance the desire to deck the guy with the knowledge that I could go to jail and/or get sued for battery.

Or even worse, the guys decide to pull out a knife or a gun to settle it themselves.

[C.H.U.D.]

I'd take that chance. It would be better than looking like a bitch.

[Green Jello]

Originally posted by chanster
Wow. You should be charged with assault and battery. Something to be real proud about, meathead!

Meathead? Who the hell do you think you are?

I put up with their extreme rudeness and abuse for over an hour. And it's not like I started it. While I agree that for someone talking during a film, things don't need to be escalated to a physical confrontation, the dumbass spit on my wife! He's lucky he ran out of the theater because I probably would have hospitalized him.

As for the charges of assault and battery, the cops at the scene agreed with me. So you can take your name calling and FUCK OFF!

[C.H.U.D.]

Originally posted by Green Jello
Meathead? Who the hell do you think you are?

I put up with their extreme rudeness and abuse for over an hour. And it's not like I started it. While I agree that for someone talking during a film, things don't need to be escalated to a physical confrontation, the dumbass spit on my wife! He's lucky he ran out of the theater because I probably would have hospitalized him.

As for the charges of assault and battery, the cops at the scene agreed with me. So you can take your name calling and FUCK OFF!

Don't get too angry about what he said. He's just another spineless cockroach who's scared of the world.

[Green Jello]

Originally posted by C.H.U.D.
Don't get too angry about what he said. He's just another spineless cockroach who's scared of the world.

I guess you're right. He could also be the kind of guy who likes to talk during a film and the thought that people like me are out there really scares him.

[Chrisedge]

I'm surprised Chanster wouldn't go to war with the guy. After all it was an actual attack, not even a preemptive attack.




;)

[iamOrokoSaki]

Originally posted by Green Jello
Meathead? Who the hell do you think you are?

I put up with their extreme rudeness and abuse for over an hour. And it's not like I started it. While I agree that for someone talking during a film, things don't need to be escalated to a physical confrontation, the dumbass spit on my wife! He's lucky he ran out of the theater because I probably would have hospitalized him.

As for the charges of assault and battery, the cops at the scene agreed with me. So you can take your name calling and FUCK OFF!

No worries, I think the majority of the people on the forum applaud your efforts in doing what most of us have only dreamed of doing. Kudos to you for sticking up for what's right.

[Alvis]

Originally posted by Abob Teff
Now, I realize that prints absorb damage everytime that they are run. However, at the Saturday afternoon show, which by my calculations was at most the 5th time the print had run, the projectionist had managed to put a massive GREEN scratch into the entire second reel. Now anybody who has done projection work will recognize that a scratch is bad, a colored scratch is very bad, and a scratch that runs through an entire reel could be mean that the theater may have to pay Fox for the print.

I'd like to know more about this. Where can I find out more about the wear and tear on film prints?

[MasterCXtreme]

I can't recall which movie it was, that part of the memory has faded from me. Long story short... I was having a quiet conversation with a friend of mine during the movie, and some jerk in front of me gets up and stabs me right in the foot! I couldn't believe it! I didn't even get to finish the movie, I had to leave.

[Matthew Chmiel]

Originally posted by MasterCXtreme
I can't recall which movie it was, that part of the memory has faded from me. Long story short... I was having a quiet conversation with a friend of mine during the movie, and some jerk in front of me gets up and stabs me right in the foot! I couldn't believe it! I didn't even get to finish the movie, I had to leave.
Did they tell you not to fuck with the lords of hell?

[iamOrokoSaki]

Originally posted by Matthew Chmiel
Did they tell you not to fuck with the lords of hell?

rotfl