Going to the movie theatre sucks

[PopcornTreeCt]

I went and saw Batman yesterday. First of all, the theatre was packed with assholes. Second, the framing was off on the picture, it was too low, boom mics weren't visible but I actually paid money for this. And third, the power went out in the theatre twice. They did say I could come back with my ticket to watch Batman again, however, going to the theatre just flat out sucks.

[Matthew Chmiel]

Going to the movie theater does not suck. Going to a crappy theater sucks. ;)

I paid $6.25 for a matinee (grrr...) yesterday afternoon for Batman Begins. I happened to see the film in one of said theater's biggest auditoriums and there were maybe only 20 people there. Everyone was polite and dead silent during the film, the 5.1 sound was fantastic, and there were zero problems with the projection. Everyone was pleased.

And then I went to CineVegas where I saw films projected digitally with a crowd that loves films. :)

[PopcornTreeCt]

20 people? [Napoleon Dynamite]Lucky![/Napoleon Dynamite]

[Groucho]

If the framing is off, step outside and tell somebody. It only takes a second, and it beats watching the whole movie that way.

[Josh H]

Yep. I love going to the theater.

Both the multiplexes near me are nice. Never had any problems with framing, sound etc.

And I try to mainly catch weekday matinees when there's usually no more than 20 people in the theater. If not I catch a late night showing and also usually have no problems with people talking or what not.

And both the theaters play their sound systems very loud so unless it's someone right next to you talking, or someone yelling, you're not going to hear them anyway.

[devilshalo]

Which is why I never catch movies on opening weekend. I give them a couple of weeks. Weeds out the fuckos.

[buckee1]

Unless it's a Star Trek or Star Trek film, I can wait til the following week to check it out, the only problem with this is that the print tends to show a fair degree of wear the longer it runs. I too can't stomach the yahoos @ the movies but There really is nothing at all like the atmosphere you get when going to a great theater to see an even greater flick.

[Shannon Nutt]

Which is why I never catch movies on opening weekend. I give them a couple of weeks. Weeds out the fuckos.

Agreed...wait a couple weeks, or take the day off and go to a matinee on a weekday. Evenings and weekends are when teens with nothing else to do and parents with young children who want to use the movie theater as their babysitter for two hours come out.

I've always thought someone should open a movie theater chain with a premium membership that was only open to "members". Rule 1: No one under 21 - EVER. Rule 2: No cell phones Rule 3: No Food in the theater at any time (drinks are permissible) Rule 4: You violate the rules or cause trouble, your membership card gets revoked for a year and you lose your membership fees. Yeah, I know...sounds like "Movie Nazi", but it would be nice for those of us who actually like to go to the theater and ENJOY the film...problem is, no chain could ever afford to do this and hope to stay open - since film rentals cost so much they NEED consessions and the regular business of those "fuckos" to stay open. I'm sure most theater owners don't like those lowlifes in the theater any more than the rest of us do. :)

[buckee1]

I'd sign on in a heartbeat for that theater <b>Shannon Nutt</b>! But, can we atleast make an exception for popcorn?

[MrE]

FYI Most theaters will give you your money back when there are projection or crowd problems...IF you leave early in the showing. You can't wait until the movie's over.

[PopcornTreeCt]

FYI Most theaters will give you your money back when there are projection or crowd problems...IF you leave early in the showing. You can't wait until the movie's over.

Well, they said I could come back and watch Batman again. But still I have to watch it there.

[wendersfan]

I never have those kinds of problems when I go to the theater, but on the other hand, I wouldn't be caught dead going to a comic book movie. ;)

[RockStrongo]

Which is why I never catch movies on opening weekend. I give them a couple of weeks. Weeds out the fuckos.

Ive had the opposite problem. If I wait too long, I go see something when some of the people in the theater have already seen it and dont mind talking or being asses in the theater.

I like seeing it with true fans since they will shut up during the movie.

[silentbob007]

We only have sucky theaters in my town that charge 6.75 for matinees (in the middle of BFE, Indiana) and of course I get to go see Batman with some guy who thinks that his 5 year old son and 3 year old daughter will appreciate it.

Your compasion .....
DDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDYYYYYYYYY! ....
weak.

[Jackskeleton]

eh, a theatre experience is just that. Expect a lot of assholes. Also remember that in their eyes, you are an asshole to them for your attitude. So it's a never ending cycle. :p

I generally know what area I'm going first. Don't go where you know people to be rude or not care about watching the film. Also go where you know the theatre going experience is the best possible.

[mookiemeister]

If you have any problem with the video or audio in the movie, you can ask to talk to a manager at the theater about it.

[RockStrongo]

Ok, ok.....listen to this experience.....

My girlfriend LOVES Harry Potter. So, her and a friend of ours went to stand in line for HP: POA on opening day. They got there 2 hours early and were first in line.

When they let us into the theater, the theater guy released the ropes and we all were off to the theater entrance.

Well, this fat chick and her 3 kids came from the corner (not in line) and started to walk in. The theater guy stood in front of her and said, "Maam, you cannot go in yet, you have to wait in line".

She just pushed forward and said "Come on kids, he cant stop us". Obviously, he just moved and let her walk in.

Well, we got good seats (being first in line). BUT, the lady sat in front of us AND was holding literally 2 rows of seats (maybe 20-30) for friends/family. I couldn't F***ing believe it!! It pissed me off soooooo bad.

I got up, walked out and told the guy who she confronted at first. The theater manager was standing there when I told him. His manager told him to go get her. When he walked back into the theater, her family/friends had sat down and she pointed at him and laughed (I assume she was laughing at him).

Anyways, they didnt do anything to her, but I HOPE that what goes around, comes around for her. Bitch.

[Shannon Nutt]

I'd sign on in a heartbeat for that theater <b>Shannon Nutt</b>! But, can we atleast make an exception for popcorn?

Yes, but you have to sign a waiver agreeing to chew with your mouth closed. :)

[RockStrongo]

Yes, but you have to sign a waiver agreeing to chew with your mouth closed. :)

Haha....when my girlfriend and I saw Mr. and Mrs. Smith the other day, there was a lady behind us....she decided to continually play with her popcorn bag by crinkling it. We gave her a dirty look and she stopped.

The dirty look works wonders sometimes.

[Artman]

The dirty look works wonders sometimes.

I do the half-turned head look. Not making eye contact but let's them know you hear them. Also works good for church. :)

[Dr. DVD]

Theater experiences can suck if you are either at a crappy theater or see the movie with the wrong audience. In the case of Batman Begins and movies like it that rely on a niche audience more or less, I try to see it at the first showing or whichever one I know will be the die hard fans so they will respect what's going on and be quiet.

What really sucks about theater experiences IMO is having to sit through all of the commercials and previews they throw at you. This is what really makes me think about abandoning the movie theater altogether aside from movies I REALLY want to see once I finally get a widescreen TV.

FWIW, anyone else hate the Fanta Girls?

[runnersdialzero]

I've had some amazing experiences at the movies.

A hispanic couple lit up some cigarettes when I saw 'From Dusk Till Dawn'. I guess you can smoke in Mexico.

A black guy got up during 'American History X' and said "F*** this!" and threw his drink at the screen.

When I saw 'The Last Samurai', this big guy, not knowing how loud he was, after every other line of the movie had to let out a audible, "hmmm".

Can't tell you how many times people answered their cell phones and had a conversation during the movie.

I could go on...and on...

Saxon

[scott shelton]

The dirty look works wonders sometimes.


Also known as "The White Man's Stare"

[The Ferret]

I probably only go about 8 times a year but I find it's generally worth it. Of course there are always SOME bad experiences.

One time I remember was when these kids were laughing and throwing stuff all around the theatre. A lot of people were yelling at them, but no one could really tell how old they were or stop them (it was near the end of the movie so no one bothered leaving to complain). When the lights went on I started cracking up -- they were these tiny 12 year olds or so. One of my friends called this overweight kid a 'fat shit', causing obvious emberassment. Yeah, it was a bit childish but at the time, he deserved it.

Edit: I could do without the commercials, but I like the previews.

[Silt]

Watched ROTS twice, only two times I've been to a theater in the past year or more. Both times I went very late at night, hoping for a smaller and less annoying crowd. First time was fantastic. Second time reminded me why I hate theaters and probably won't go back to one for another year.

Started out with two little girls running around, down aisles, and switching seats every 2 mins. Finally people told them to settle down as they paid good money for the tickets, so they left the theater, but not before yelling a bunch of nonsense on the way out (/golf clap to their parents for the fine job raising those monsters).

Then to the left and right of me were the food and drink noise makers. To the right(about 5 seats down) was Mr. Have to Shuffle and Crinkle the Paper Candy Bag Every 30 Seconds guy. To the left (again about 5 seats down) was Mr Slurp Every Last Drop of Soda form the Cup then Crunch on Ice guy. Of course once the ice ran low and was kinda stuck to the bottom of the cup, he just had to shake his cup around to free it.

Also in the very dark theater, there was the guy that felt he just had to whip out his cell phone about 10 times during the movie...I'm not sure which sun was captured to provide the backlight for his LCD, but it's pretty damn annoying to have a bright light at the bottom of your peripheral vision while trying to watch a movie.

And of course, no movie would be complete without the parents that bring their two young kids (I'd guess one was 3, the other 5) to a 11:30 pm movie. You could tell the rugrats were tired before the movie started, and it didn't get any better. I especially enjoyed the cough the youngest one had. Only took an hour for the dad to finally get off his ass and take the kid outside for a bit.

It's just simply amazing the way some people are totally obilivous to the fact others are around them while in a theater. Yay for fast DVD releases!

[DVD Josh]

My worst experience was when I was hold a seat for my fiancee. She was in the bathroom. The theatre was packed. It just so happened that the seat next to my fiancee's was also empty, and from a quick look, it was probably the last two together in the place. People were pretty cool, but this one guy kept coming down the aisle with his girlfriend, even though I kept waving him off. He starts to take my jacket off the seat and I say "sorry man, this one's taken". And he glares at me. I say "unless you want to watch this movie out of the hole in your ass, you'll back the fuck off". He said "why do you have to be a dick, you know no one is sitting here". I took one step towards him and his girlfriend grabbed his arm and said "I don't want to sit here anyway". He wisely left.

I'm not violent at all. But that was ridiculous. It was clearly his attempt to try and bully me into giving up the seat, but he ran into someone who wasn't going to take it. My fiancee ended up taking forever (she had been talking on her cell) so of course since it's 10 minutes into the credits and the seats are still empty I go from hero to asshole (and I can hear the whispering from behind me). Eventually she comes back so I don't look so bad.

I was pretty keyed up after that so I completely hated the movie since I couldn't just relax. I told her that's the last time she goes to the bathroom before the movie. :)

[DVD Josh]

Can't tell you how many times people answered their cell phones and had a conversation during the movie.

I could go on...and on...

Saxon

I've told this one on the forum before, but at this one movie I was at, there was about 10 people in this huge theater. This guy answered his phone once, and was pretty quiet for about 30 seconds. I let it go. It rang again, and this time he talked for like 5 minutes pretty loudly. This one guy went up to him and looked like he asked him to stop. He put the phone away. Then a third time. This time the guy that asked him to stop came up to him, ripped the phone out of his hand and threw it against the concrete floor, shattering it. The phone guy got up and went "what the hell man!". Then the other dude started SCREAMING "ahhh, ahhh, ahhhh!!!" and dancing around. It was fucking hillarious. The phone guy left saying "I'm getting the manager!" (to say what, I was talking on my phone during the movie?). I couldn't stop laughing for about 30 minutes.

BTW, the crazy dude just went and sat back down in his seat. I turned around about five minutes later to see him munching on popcorn. Hillarious.

[fryinpan1]

I went to see Mr. & Mrs. Smith last week. I loved the movie, but hated the theater experience. Five minutes of commercials, twenty minutes of trailers, and poor quality picture quality are just a few of the reasons why I try to wait for the DVD.

[Para Para]

Saw Batman Begins last night, pretty good theater experience other than the sound going from dolby digital to tv screen audio about half way through the movie..that and the weird laughing guy who laughed at the strangest things. I mean, nothing anyone would find funny ever..guess he was stoned. At the end a few people behind me were dissing the movie for its changing the origins.

But I speak with passion when I say the seats suck. No where near comfortability.

[awc825]

As someone who came from Australia, I have been quite disappointed with the movie theatres in the US. My peeve is that in Australia, the majority of movie tickets sold at the box office or online have allocated seating - there is no need to arrive at the cinema arrive to get the best seats. I find having to sit inside the cinema watching a blank screen or ads to be a waste of time. With allocated seating, the time could be better spent having dinner or a drink, knowing that you can arrive in the cinema just before the movie starts without having to sit in the worst seats.

What does everyone else think?

[Premise]

Why can't movie theaters have cell phone jammers? It could even be where the phone would work in the lobby,but not the theater.

[PopcornTreeCt]

A black guy got up during 'American History X' and said "F*** this!" and through his drink at the screen.

I just about spit out my lemonade reading that. Too funny.

That Steven Soderberg has the right idea, with his new distribution deal I can skip the theatre and hit up the DVD shelf the same day. I hope more directors follow suit.

[Al_Tahoe]

It's just simply amazing the way some people are totally obilivous to the fact others are around them while in a theater. They aren't oblivious at all - they're just f'ing *ssholes that don't give a sh*t. By the way, nice post... my favorite was Mr Slurp Every Last Drop of Soda form the Cup then Crunch on Ice guy :)

[SPiRAL]

FWIW, anyone else hate the Fanta Girls?


I hate the Master Card commercial where a family is moving and they leave the dog '' Buster '' behind, by mistake. The dog basically hitch-hikes his way back to them, and they're all happy. I had to put my dog to sleep a few months ago, so every time I go to the movies, they play it durring " The 20 ". That damn commercial makes me tear-up really bad. Damn you Master Card and Regal Cinemas !

[Artman]

Thankfully they've renovated an old theater and built a new one down the street. Both are now top-notch technically speaking. For the most part I've been pretty fortunate with other poeple...though I still remember the two guys next to me threatening each other during 'Powder'... "I'll tear your head off BOY!" "F-U!"

Went to see BB today with a small audience and the sound cranked, it was great!

[Joe Molotov]

I generally hit the theater about 15-20 times a year, and I'd say that of that 15-20 I only have about 1 or 2 theater experience that I would call bad. This year it was when I went to Limony Snickett and a young couple and their toddler sat next to me. He didn't cry or anything, but they got tired of holding him after a 30 minutes, and sat him down in the seat beside them (and me) at which time he proceeded to crawl up my arm. :rolleyes: His parents would grab him again, but soon get tired and put him back down and he'd crawl over in the seat with me again. I put up with that for about 30 minutes and getting more and more angry before I realized "What am I putting up with this for? We can just move down a few seats!" :lol:

But other than that, everything's been fine. Maybe I'm just lucky.

[MasterCXtreme]

I've told this one on the forum before, but at this one movie I was at, there was about 10 people in this huge theater. This guy answered his phone once, and was pretty quiet for about 30 seconds. I let it go. It rang again, and this time he talked for like 5 minutes pretty loudly. This one guy went up to him and looked like he asked him to stop. He put the phone away. Then a third time. This time the guy that asked him to stop came up to him, ripped the phone out of his hand and threw it against the concrete floor, shattering it. The phone guy got up and went "what the hell man!". Then the other dude started SCREAMING "ahhh, ahhh, ahhhh!!!" and dancing around. It was fucking hillarious. The phone guy left saying "I'm getting the manager!" (to say what, I was talking on my phone during the movie?). I couldn't stop laughing for about 30 minutes.

BTW, the crazy dude just went and sat back down in his seat. I turned around about five minutes later to see him munching on popcorn. Hillarious.
:lol: Oh man, that's some funny stuff. The American History X one is awesome too.

I saw ROTS twice this year, once at the midnight showing (which was excellent - no complaints), and cone at a 6-ish show (bad idea). Right at the beginning when Star Wars blared across the screen, some 3 or 4 year old kid directly behind my right ear started cheering "Yay! Yaaaay! Star Wars!", and throughout the whole movie it didn't stop. And he constantly kept asking questions to his dad "Where's Chewie?" "Where's Vader?" etc... I gave the Dad a dirty look, but he didn't do anything about his annoying kid. Eventually he wore himself out and was crying to go home until Anakin started burning and the kid started cheering again.

Batman Begins wasn't very good either. It was the midnight show and you think it'd great, but I was a little disappointed. The picture looked like crap, it flickered during big action scenes which took me completley out of the movie, and the whole theater smelled like urine :whofart:.

All this talk about waiting for the DVD doesn't sound too crazy anymore.

[asianxcore]

i like going to movie theaters. i just hate it when people behind me constantly kick the back of my seat, or put their feet up on my armrest. i don't know if it's just me but its rude and annoying. also i hate when people talk a ton during movies, having the need to comment on every piece of dialogue and action is lame.

gotta love artificial butter on movie theater popcorn.

[fryinpan1]

This article was on the cover of my local newspaper this morning:

http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/2005061645

Most prefer viewing movies at home

Poll respondents cite convenience, bad films

LOS ANGELES — The parking’s easy and there are no lines at the concession stand: Most Americans would now rather watch films at home than in theaters, according to an AP-AOL poll. At the same time, almost half think movies are getting worse.

Hollywood is in the midst of its longest box-office slump in 20 years, and 2005 is shaping up as the worst year for movie attendance in nearly a decade if theater business continues at the same lackluster rate.

In the poll released Thursday, 73 percent of adults said they preferred watching movies at home on DVD, videotape or pay-per-view. With more than two-thirds also saying movie stars are poor role models — Russell Crowe’s phone-throwing being the latest example — it may take more than a blockbuster or two to reverse Hollywood’s slide.

Just 22 percent said they would rather see films in a theater, according to the poll conducted by Ipsos for The Associated Press and AOL News. One-fourth said they had not been to a movie theater in the past year.

“I just prefer to stay home and watch movies,’’ said Mark Gil, 34, a mortgage broker in Central Square, N.Y. “It’s cheaper. You can go rent a movie for three bucks. By the time you’re done at the movie theater with sodas and stuff, it’s 20 bucks.’’

Films are getting worse, said 47 percent in the AP-AOL poll. A third said they were getting better.

“I don’t like movies as much as I used to,’’ said Tracy Drane, 38, a computer-technology worker who lives outside Dallas. “I’m a fan of old musicals and old AMC channel stuff. I could watch movies without thinking I’m going to see people in bed together and a lot of cussing. It has gotten much worse.’’

Many of this year’s big films — “Kingdom of Heaven,’’ “The Honeymooners,’’ “XXX: State of the Union,’’ Crowe’s “Cinderella Man’’ — have fizzled.

Those in the poll were most likely to be fond of comedies, followed by dramas and action-adventure movies.

Some in Hollywood think the slump — 16 straight weekends of declining revenue compared to last year — is a momentary blip due to so-so movies. They maintain the box office will rebound when better films arrive.

Others view the slide as a sign that theaters are losing ground to home-entertainment options, particularly DVDs available just months after films debut in cinemas.

But the poll found that people who use DVDs, watch pay-per-view movies on cable, download movies from the Internet and play computer games actually go to movies in theaters more than people at the same income levels who don’t use those technologies. That suggests the technology may be complementing rather than competing with theatergoing. Eight in 10 in the poll said they use DVD players at home.

Through last weekend, Hollywood’s domestic revenues totaled $3.85 billion, down 6.4 percent from 2004. Factoring in higher ticket prices, the number of people who have gone to theaters is down 9 percent, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

If that pace holds through year’s end, admissions for 2005 would total 1.345 billion, the lowest since 1996.

The wild card from 2004 was Mel Gibson’s unexpected blockbuster, “The Passion of the Christ.’’ That film drew a huge Christian audience, many of them not regular movie-goers. Taking “The Passion’’ out of the mix, 2005 revenues would be up 2.9 percent over 2004, and ticket sales would be virtually unchanged.

While 2005 has produced its share of hits — among them the final “Star Wars’’ flick, the romance “Hitch’’ and the animated tales “Madagascar’’ and “Robots’’ — audiences have found Hollywood’s recent offerings generally humdrum.

“I think this slump is product-driven,’’ said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations. “That to me is a much less chilling problem than some sort of cultural shift in people’s moviegoing habits. A cultural shift takes longer than 16 weekends of down box office.’’

Box office revenues have been down every weekend since late February. “Batman Begins,’’ which opened Wednesday, could snap the streak this weekend. But if business is off again, Hollywood would match a 1985 downturn of 17 weekends, the longest recorded slump since analysts began keeping detailed box-office figures.

The 1985 slide came with similar dire predictions that movies on videocassette would devastate the theater business, Dergarabedian said. Box-office grosses were stagnant into the late 1980s, then rebounded strongly.

In the 1950s, some analysts foresaw the demise of movie theaters as people stayed home to watch television. While business plummeted from 4 billion or more admissions a year in Hollywood’s glory days, movies remained a prime entertainment choice.

“Going to the movies is a social event, like going to a football game, like going to the ballet, like going to a play,’’ said George Lucas, whose “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith’’ is this year’s biggest hit. “Something you do to be social with other people. I don’t think that’s ever going to go away.’’

From the early 1990s through 2002, box-office grosses climbed steadily as studios perfected their blockbuster marketing machines and cinema chains built new theaters with improved seating, sound systems and other amenities.

But ticket sales reached a modern peak of 1.63 billion in 2002 and have fallen since, down to 1.51 billion in 2004.

A handful of big hits could salvage Hollywood’s year. Still to come this summer are Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise’s “War of the Worlds,’’ Tim Burton and Johnny Depp’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’’ and the superhero adventure “Fantastic Four.’’

[pdinosaur]

am i the only one who enjoys a raucous crowd at a theater?

i went to see deep blue sea in a packed theater and the audience helped make the movie fun. there were huge cheers for when sam jackson was eaten by a shark mid-soliloquy

and in MI2 when tom cruise popped a front wheelie on his motorcycle prompted an 'aw hell' from someone in the audience. too funny.

[runnersdialzero]

Raucous crowds can be good. For instance, when I saw Starship Troopers and The Lost World, the crowds participation made the movies better. The crowd at the midnight show of Revenge of the Sith was great too. The movie had two restarts, the lights came back on during the previews and back off again....twice! I thought the crowd was going to riot.

Another story I have is when I saw a flick at the end of it's run and the theatre was completely empty, a old couple came and sat right in front of my girlfriend and I. I was in disbelief.

Also, is there anything more uncomfortable then going to a movie with a good friend of yours for the first time and the guy/gal turns out to be a big talker? I seriously will not talk during the whole movie. I don't check my cell or watch or anything. I rarely rarely ever talk during the movie. Of course I hate it when other people but what do you do when your good buddy keeps yapping?

BTW, the American History X story. The guy did all that right after the dinner table speech Ed Norton gives about Lincoln freeing the slaves. I guess he didn't agree. :)

Saxon

[baracine]

Even though I live in "polite" Toronto, my ambition is to never have to go to a theatre again. I've spent years building up my home theatre and I frankly find it superior to "the movie-going experience". Too many bad experiences that have to do with the lack of supervision (i.e. personnel) and picture quality, mostly...

But the list of beefs is long: Tickets that say "9 4 5", which is supposed to mean you paid 9 $ for a showing in Hall 4 at 5 PM; self-service food bins where you do all the work and have no place to put your gloves in the winter without them falling in some conveniently placed ice water bin; the lack of affordable, healthy treats; uncomprehending acneed teenage employees who don't understand English and/or the word "toilet"; halls the size of a walk-in closet; entire basketball teams filling a row who won't get up when you want to get to the last available seat (held together with duct tape); the general absence of signage; unpopular films shown in a dungeon three floors below the residual water level, where hoboes elect to sleep; people who take up two or three seats each with their winter clothes when some patrons have to sit on the stairs; the cellphones with musical MP-3 tunes; the long, arduous wait for the feature watching Britney Spears' tits endlessly shill for Pepsi; the parents who encourage their kids to spill unwanted portions of food on the floor where it belongs; 4-year old kids running around the hall during R-rated movies ("Bram Stoker's Dracula").

I was once in a googleplex hall where the lights did not dim after the start of the feature and one of several patrons who went on an aimless expedition trying to find "the person responsible", which took all of 20 minutes. That was pretty much the low point.

The last time I was in a theatre was for a showing of "Madagascar" where a four-year old kid with the loudest voice imaginable did a hilarious running commentary on the movie experience (e.g.: "Daddy, he kicked him in the CROTCH!"), which was actually more entertaining than the movie...

[Al_Tahoe]

unpopular films shown in a dungeon three floors below the residual water level :lol:

[Giantrobo]

am i the only one who enjoys a raucous crowd at a theater?
.


It really depends. if it's an audience that's on the same page or really into the movie, i.e. Lord of the Rings or Star Wars audience at a Midnight preview, then it's cool. If it's just the regular folks or a crowd with young stupid asses then it can be kinda crappy.

[baracine]

My fondest memory of an intelligent movie theatre crowd was watching Werner Herzog's Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht (1979) in Montreal in an "art house" when it first came out. This German film was a talking remake of the original Murnau Nosferatu (1922) of course; it was in German and had English subtitles but the audience of cinephiles was mostly French-speaking. This was before Quebec laws that made it mandatory for foreign films to be also available in a subtitled or dubbed French version. As the vast majority of French-speaking Canadians also understand the other official language (which cannot be said about the English part of the population), this was no great ordeal in itself, however. Halfway through the really scary parts, though, three English-speaking Yahoos (two males and a female) started making loud derogatory noises about the film like they were watching the kind of sleazo drive-in living dead B-film they were used to. Needless to say, that didn't go down too well with this audience of purists who were already a little pissed at having to read English subtitles for the benefit of a few minority imbeciles who didn't seem to appreciate what they were getting. After a few unheeded warnings, the trio was forcibly evicted by what seemed to me particularly burly representatives of the World Federation of French-speaking Filmlovers who were only too happy to oblige, to the general applause of the audience. Everybody present felt like something politically important had just happened...

[Giantrobo]

My fondest memory of an intelligent movie theatre crowd was watching Werner Herzog's Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht (1979) in Montreal in an "art house" when it first came out. This German film was a talking remake of the original Murnau Nosferatu (1922) of course; it was in German and had English subtitles but the audience of cinephiles was mostly French-speaking. This was before Quebec laws that made it mandatory for foreign films to be also available in a subtitled or dubbed French version. As the vast majority of French-speaking Canadians also understand the other official language (which cannot be said about the English part of the population), this was no great ordeal in itself, however. Halfway through the really scary parts, though, three English-speaking Yahoos (two males and a female) started making loud derogatory noises about the film like they were watching the kind of sleazo drive-in living dead B-film they were used to. Needless to say, that didn't go down too well with this audience of purists who were already a little pissed at having to read English subtitles for the benefit of a few minority imbeciles who didn't seem to appreciate what they were getting. After a few unheeded warnings, the trio was forcibly evicted by what seemed to me particularly burly representatives of the World Federation of French-speaking Filmlovers who were only too happy to oblige, to the general applause of the audience. Everybody present felt like something politically important had just happened...


Wow. If that were in California and English speaking brutes watching a movie subbed with Spanish did that to Spanish speaking audience members who were acting like asses, they(the brutes) would get arrested then sued.

[Matthew Chmiel]

am i the only one who enjoys a raucous crowd at a theater?
Depends on the film.

With The Devil's Rejects last night, the crowd easily made the film a lot more enjoyable. Whenever there was humor on screen, the whole crowd busted out laughing. Whenever there was a death scene, the whole crowd busted out into cheers and applause. Easily on par with the advance previews of Serenity or the midnight showing of Revenge of the Sith.

Sometimes an active crowd can make a terrible film tolerable and sometimes it can boost your apprecation for a great film.

However, I wouldn't want an active crowd for say an indie drama. :)

[baracine]

Wow. If that were in California and English speaking brutes watching a movie subbed with Spanish did that to Spanish speaking audience members who were acting like asses, they(the brutes) would get arrested then sued.

Way to miss the point completely... For your comparison to work you'd have to imagine a strange science-fiction world where an audience of English-speaking Californian filmgoers are forced to watch a foreign film with Spanish subtitles because the Spanish minority makes it politically and economically impossible to watch films in your language and then three of these pesky Spanish-speaking overlords walk into your theatre to make fun of the film. Now you have a comparison.

[PopcornTreeCt]

Way to miss the point completely... For your comparison to work you'd have to imagine a strange science-fiction world where an audience of English-speaking Californian filmgoers are forced to watch a foreign film with Spanish subtitles because the Spanish minority makes it politically and economically impossible to watch films in your language and then three of these pesky Spanish-speaking overlords walk into your theatre to make fun of the film. Now you have a comparison.

Just the thought of that makes me shudder.

[mullivan]

Figured I'd share a few of my fav / least fav movie crowd experiences:

Best Experience

By far, this has to be the annual Showgirls showing in Chelsea. A packed theater fill of people who know the movie (and all it's terrible, terrible acting and dialog) by heart. The ushers pass out clappers and lights beforehand and everyone knows just when to use them. Hilarious stuff. Anyone who has been to this even knows what I'm talking about.

Worst experiences:

3) Bourne Supremecy: Just as a car chase starts some yahoo yells "GO JASON BOURNE!!"

2) Just saw the newest Star Wars movie at the Loews near Lincoln Center (Manhattan). Idiots cheering through the whole movie I can take I guess. but half way through the movie I see I light shining on the seat in front of me... What is it? The cell phone of the idiot guy behind me. "You waht's up? Nothing, just watching Yoda kick some ass..." Damn fool. At least he turned it off soon enough.

1) Went to see Crash at the same theater. I figured to avoid an obnoxious crowd I'd wait until it had been out a few weeks. No luck. Before the movie started I got up to get my girlfriend an Icee. I said excuse me to the couple in my aisle before I tried to get by them - instead of doing the half stand, they sunk lower in their seats! I said an audible "OK..." and just walked right by. I accidentally stepped on the ladies toe and she yelped. Whatever - she should have moved. On my way back in, instead of going through my aisle past those people to get to my seat I figured I go through the enarly empty isle behind my seat and then step over the chair. Well, the lady at the head of that aisle was apparently reserving the whole row for her friends. When I asked her to get by she said they were all taken. I quickly tried to explain I was trying to get to my seat on the other side and she just yelled "you better not take my seat" in a thick Puertorican accent as I walked by. Idiot - I just said I wasn't going to take your damn seats.

SPOLILERS FOR THE MOVIE CRASH BELOW

During the part in the movie when Don Cheadle is joking with his girlfriend about how all those different races learned to park cars on their lawns the same lady yells out "That's not funny, he's talking about Puerto Ricans!". Sigh.

The scene after the store owener "shoots" the little girl and nothing happens they show him in the store, slumped in his chair. Again, the same lady whispers loudly to her friend "he shot himself!". Damn moron. If you can't tell by then the guns had blanks in it you are just plain stupid.

END SPOLIERS

Towards the end of the film this middle age white guy up front stands up, turns around and yells "shut the fu*k up!" to the guy sitting behind him (who apparently was one of many people talking through the whole movie. Freakin hilarious!
After the movie the two started yelling at each other and actually got a bit violet. The guy who got yelled at stormed out shouting racial slurs ("stupid cracker! learn something from the movie!") Of course, that's like the pot calling the kettle black right there. Once they were both out of the theater they were still jawing at each other. The white says "what are you gonna go, kick me?" So of course the guy starts kicking him. The popcorn guy called security who got there pretty quickly and broke them up as my girlfriend and I walked away.

What a bunch of morons at the movies these days...

[Panda Phil]

I'd enjoy going to the movies a lot more if it weren't for the goddamed audiences. :grunt:

Actually though, I've been to the movies about three times in the last month. First time in fact since RotK came out and it was actually a pretty good experience. Clean comfy seats, polite audiences, good presentation, etc. Only real problem was the annoying The Twenty ads for crappy tv shows (Who Wants To Be a Hilton? Jesus H. Christ!), and the quality of the trailers. Good help me if I ever find myself going to one of these so called 'action' flicks where all the stunts and pyrotechnics are computer generated. Hell, if I want that sort of thing I'll stay home and play a game on my PC. Goddamed The Island, Stealth or whatever they're calling the latest crapfest.

Fortunately the last time I remembered to bring a book. :)

[Kocheese99]

two really bad experiences that i can remember which still make me think twice about going to some movies:

Revenge of the sith: Got some nice sweets dead center. Unfortunately, some parents decided that their 3yr old kids needed to see Star wars at the midnight showing. Needless to say the kids had to cry/ leave the theatre about 2-3 times throughout the movie. Nice parenting! Too make things worse, the local high school cheerleading squad decided to sit directly behind us. The moment i knew that this wasn't going to be good was when Anakin showed up in that robe half naked and the girls giggled, "oh my god he is soooo hot!"

The second was Harry Potter Chamber of secrets: I decided to see this on the second weekend, hoping to miss the rush. No go there, and to make matters worse we had two middle aged women sitting in front of us who were clearly on their 2nd or 3rd showing. So throughout the movie we would clearly hear, "Here it comes!" "Ooh Ooh, this parts good." I clearly remember wanting to beat them over the head with my bag of popcorn.

[Giantrobo]

Way to miss the point completely... For your comparison to work you'd have to imagine a strange science-fiction world where an audience of English-speaking Californian filmgoers are forced to watch a foreign film with Spanish subtitles because the Spanish minority makes it politically and economically impossible to watch films in your language and then three of these pesky Spanish-speaking overlords walk into your theatre to make fun of the film. Now you have a comparison.


Way to whatever....

[duff beer]

[QUOTE=PopcornTreeCt First of all, the theatre was packed with assholes. [/QUOTE]

:lol:

[Doughboy]

I went to see Batman Begins Friday afternoon. The viewing experience was fine except for one minor glitch. When Joe Chill pulls out his gun and points it at the Waynes, the movie stopped and the lights came back on. The movie eventually started up again about 5 minutes later. At least it didn't happen during anything important. ;)

I joked with my buddy that maybe it was a serialized version of the film and we were supposed to return next week to see what happens.

[maingon]

some movies like star wars and some comedys are fun when the theater is packed but theres lots of morons out there but overall i have a couple nice theaters and one thats a dump. but some movies you need to go see it in a theater

[The Ferret]

Saw Batman Begins on Friday and it couldn't have gone any better.

[Shannon Nutt]

Too make things worse, the local high school cheerleading squad decided to sit directly behind us.

This is a BAD thing? You lucky bastard, you. :)

[Dr. DVD]

A local highschool cheerleading squad was actually at a Star Wars movie? I find that hard to believe. ;)

With all of the ads and for the most part crappy teasers they throw at you, I really don't see any reason to see movies in the theater, even if they are epics that can be remedied if you have a decent sized widescreen TV nowadays.

[Al_Tahoe]

This is a BAD thing? You lucky bastard, you. :)Not if he didn't 'get any'.

[Julie Walker]

I have'nt seen the latest Star Wars yet(and could care less),nor have I seen Batman Begins yet.

My theater experiances have actually gone over pretty well. In fact I'd have to go back a couple years for the last annoying theatrical experiance(then further back to the Star Wars SE releases).

The last badly projected film I saw was House of 1000 Corpses where a good amount of the bottom of the screen was chopped off. The midnight showing was packed and it appeared the punks would start a fight(since some macho dickheads in the front row started shouting threats at other guys in the back row). Thankfully durring the film itself,the audience was mostly quiet and just wowed by the twistd nature of the film. There was a huge round of applause when the end credits hit,which made it a good experiance(besides the framing).

Note-I saw that at the Mall of American. It is a shitty shitty theater with terribly high prices and all around badly projected films. Avoid at all costs. I am never going back there again!!

I can't wait to see Rejects though,but will see this one at my so far fool proof multiplex where nothing has gone wrong so far,and the crowds have not been annoying(at my showings).

Star Wars SE was a terrible experiance since I could'nt see the screen. Since some fat lady with a huge afro head of hair was blocking my view. I tried looking over each shoulder,and she kept slouching from side to side blocking me. If that wasn't bad enough. We were packed into our seats by a swarm of sweaty unclean fans who camped out..and sliding passed them to get to the aisle for bathroom breaks was nearly impossible.

I didn't notice the really drastic terrible changes too the film until I saw this version on video and have hated the SE's ever since:)

Ep1 was a terrible film in every way possible and thus I have decided to never see Star Wars films in theaters again(we saw the SE's of Empire/Jedi durring matinees when no one was there). The theater was packed with the same scary fans as well,but they were pretty quiet. The film sucked royally and was still a painful experiance to sit through:)


I did laugh when seeing Kill Bill Vol 1,as some dumbass lady bolted from the theater once we got a look at Umas face durring the brief pre-credit sequence. She tore too the door in no time,as he little kids(under 5) stood near the aisle wondering "Huh? We just got here" and then left.


Recently I saw High Tension at midnight and about 15 people in total where there. Great audience,respectful and did react towards the violent moments in the film wonderfully.

This showing had the highest amount of commercials I ever suffered through though. It was at least 5 minutes worth(before it'd be a minute at most) and thus i could'nt keep quiet. I groaned everytime a new commercial came on as did a few others and we laughed "Oh another one,ughh.I'm not buying your product!". I did comment sometimes with "At least this commercials framed right(at 1:33:1..most are stretched)" and "See now this is a misprojected commercial(stretched)". When the previews finally came on I clapped and said "It's about time!",and the audience agreed.

Oh and durring the film I was quiet and respectful as always:)

[Highfire]

About a month ago I went to a showing of the Jet Li movie "Unleashed" and every time they started fighting this black right behind me would very loudly just yell "wooo" (sort of like Ric Flair).This would scare the hell out of me to be real into the movie and out of no where just yell.Also,the last five minutes three rows in front of me this guys children started crying but shut up in about a minute.

Great movie but bad experience.