soxrule

"I laughed" "I cried" "I slept" "You snored" lol

Giantrobo

With alla ya'll buying Tivo and VCRs that skip ads they're having to find new ways to advertise.

I hear the next thing will be -even more- product placement in tv shows and movies so you can't skip them...

They gotta make money right?

BDB

I do think that they should be showing these instead of the slides before the show starts.

for a Blockbuster, I will be there at least 30 mins before the showtime, and there is nothing to watch, so I would have no issue watching ads in taht time

karnblack

I wouldn't mind paying $10 to see 90 minutes of commercials and trailers. I don't watch TV so I don't get to see any new products I might want to buy. Adding a movie to the end of those commercials and trailers is a bonus. Plus I only have to go to the theater to see the commercials once a year since that's how often they change them.

I also enjoy buying CDs that don't play in my PC or in my car.

Tom O' Bedlam

I HATE this practice. I didn't pay 8 dollars to watch your stinkin' commercial. My theater Carmike started this about a year ago BTW.

purplechoe

You guys blame the studios or the theaters. I BLAME THE MOVIE STARS!!! 20+ million dollars to star in a picture!! That's fu***ng insane if you ask me.

We need some new blood!

Aaron Amos

Where I live right now I know that Fairfield's only movie theater does show ads before the movie.It makes me want to ! Every time my job coach and I have gone we have to sick though at least 5-10 minutes of ads(like Carrot Top for 1-800 ATT) and other ads.
Here in Vacaville the nearest movie theater which is staduim seating etc only shows slide "ads" for local business or election stuff or churches! Of course I'd rather watch these ads on TV.

Next month I will be moving to Burley,Idaho I will soon find out wheather or not they show ads before the movie there!

Aaron Amos

Intersting idea. But what would happen if the movie stars had to live on our income(s)? BTW, Daniel Radcliffe got paid $15 million for Harry Potter 2! Do they really need all that money just to live? If I had that paycheck I could do a lot with it including pay off my credit cards!

conscience

Wow. Because I remember hearing that all of the main kids were paid at the beginning of the first film and in their contracts they have to star in the first three.

I did not know he was paid that much for the sequel...what site did you get this from?

Aaron Amos

It was mentioned all over the news between the time they started shotting the second movie.

wb3032

Boo Hoo, they are suffering, do you work for AMC or somthing? These damn theaters are not about to go on welfare anytime soon, they are popping up all over the place, so no need to feel sorry for the poor theaters. Those companies make a killing and all of their profit from the snaks and drinks people buy. They make around 500% profit or more from that. That $5.00 bucket of popcorn you buy is worth about 25 cents bucket and all. So yeah they are really hurting.

HistoryProf

Harkins and GKC are both pretty bad about this as well....and I absolutely frigging HATE it.....There is no justification for it....I don't pay $8 to watch commercials....Between these ads and all the teenage obnoxiousness/cell phones I hardly go to the theater anymore...it's just not worth the agravation.....

Jackskeleton

You know, I don't work, nor have I ever worked for a theater. But I wont jump on the bandwagon of "Bash the theaters". You know, they have to make a profit off the food there because the studios pretty much pocket the majority of the first few weeks take.

It takes a lot of cash to keep projectors running and hell do you know the cost of a movie reel? they sure are up there in price.

C-Mart

Do you have any data to back this up? It seems to me that you are just making that statement because it is the way that you see it. I am not saying that you are wrong, but in terms of ticket prices, the theaters may be losing money, or possibly breaking even. I don't like it that they keep raising prices, but such is life. Soda used to be $1.00 at my school, now it's $1.25. Prices go up, and that is how it works. I do agree that the theaters are making bank on the concessions, but if you owned a theater, you wouldn't charge any less... just because you know that you could get away with charging just as much as everyone else. Actually I have not been to a theater in the past decade that has told me to throw out my openly displayed sodas as I enter... in fact I had one guy tell me that they didn't allow cans. What did he do? He went to the counter and got me a cup with ice to pour my can of Pepsi into! Now that's service!

Anyway, I don't like the commercials any more than you do, but I can live with them, and obviously there aren't too many people complaining. Just wait until commercials hit DVDs. That will be a dark day, but it can't be too far off. I wouldn't mind commercials as much if they changed them up a bit more often than they do.

Oh, and Edwards Cinemas went into Bankruptcy last year, or maybe at the beginning of this year. They even took the IMAX out of my local one... I had to drive to LA to see Ep II IMAX. Now it is something like Regal Cinemas I think.

One more suprising thing I noticed was at the theater that I saw Adaptation at in LA. The concessions were the same prices... maybe even a little cheaper than my local theaters. I would expect them to be higher just because of the upscale shopping center it was in. The tickets were still $9, (I usually pay $6-7 as a student) but the concessions were decently priced relative to the local places.

-CM-

BizRodian

When I lived in England they had commercials before the show, but they started them like half an hour before the show, and so only the early people who wanted good seats got to see them. Which is normally a lot of people.

I have no problem with this. But when they have the commercials at the time the movie starts it's very annoying.

MaudlinHarold

When I lived in the UK in 1993/1994 I was surprised they showed "adverts" before the movies. But it wasn't bothersome. It felt novel at the time. Of course, there there were more ads circulating and they were often more cinematic, amusing or otherwise entertaining. Not blustery like the ads I see here. In fact, if I think back hard I was kind'a annoyed at first, but the friends I went with looked forward to the new adverts.

They'd run about fifteen minutes of them, at showtime. Then the lights'd come up, there'd be a concession cart in the front of the theater. Five more minutes and the previews, followed by the feature, would begin.

Again, these ads were much more clever. And there was a wider variety than Coke/Sprite/[insert car company]. They also didn't crank the volume so loudly. Oh, and like many European films, they featured a bit more plot

p.s. Didn't Ridley Scott and Rutger Hauer get their start doing cinema ads for Guinness together?

B.A.

It's bad at the theater I frequent, too. Before Die Another Day, I think there was about ten minutes worth of commercials before the previews even started. I want to see previews, not Pepsi and Volkswagon commercials that I can see at home.

Eric F

Commercials at the movies is nothing new.

I recall seeing a commercial before ET back in the early 80's. I think it was for Activision's Pitfall? Anyone else remember that?

kamalyn

I also dislike the commercials in front of the movies. The way it is now it costs more for me and a date to go to a movie than it does for me to just wait until the movie is on DVD, and I have to watch commercials now. (And looks just as good and sounds just as good on my home theater). I complained the first time I saw the commercials, but now I just don't go to the theater unless its such a great movie that I must have that experiance (Such as LotR). Its just not worth it to go anymore. Just my .02

MikeDeN2K

It is especially annoying, because in a year or so's span, it's gone from one or two to 5 or 6 commercials per movie. And they call it the "pre-show entertainment". Meh...

Dave99

Theatre chains that have declared bankruptcy over the past couple of years:
Loews Cineplex
United Artists
Regal
Edwards
Mann
Carmike Cinemas

Now, you were saying?

Draven

I think people are just spoiled by being able to skip commercials while watching TV.

They expect instant entertainment at cheap prices, with a clean theater and top-notch employees.

Well, sorry kids. It ain't gonna happen.

Movie studios, in order to profit from $100 million dollar expenses, take a majority of the gross profit the first few weeks of a films release. That leaves the theater with the responsibility of making up the profit, and commercials are a viable alternative.

I can't believe people are bitching about 10 minutes of commercials. I mean jesus, is your time that precious? You are willing to sit through two hours of a movie (which could end up sucking) but god forbid you have to watch COMMERCIALS too.

I'm sorry, but I don't get this idea that people want a certain level of entertainment, but are unwilling to be slightly inconvenienced with a few commercials before the show.

I have been going to fewer movies lately, mostly because I cannot stand the crowds and its behavior. The commercials are the least of my concerns. I saw "Die Another Day" a few days ago and it was the first movie I had seen in two years that wasn't disrupted somehow by audience members. That is a MUCH bigger problem than commercials.

I'm really glad I wasn't in that theater that booed the commercials. Would have made me get up and leave.

Pants

you can get quality, convenience, AND no commercials, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PAY FOR IT. I for one think it's well worth it. I posted this before in another thread:

darth bird

Commercials were rampant in my area for a while. Then they disappeared for many years. It's only in the last year or so they've returned. Unfortunately.

The girl in the western sucked. So do ALL of the Coca Cola Refreshing Filmaker Award Winners. Memo to Coke: They suck. Stop showing them.

And all of the NASCAR racers performing famous scenes from movies (a few years ago). Followed by them critiquing that stoopid art movie. Whatever.

tanman

There is no way in hell I am paying 11-13$ when there are 6$ alternatives. I don't care I will deal with the crowds and the commercials. To almost pay the price of a brand new DVD for one movie showing? I doubt much of the public will do that. There are very few markets that could support such a pricey theatre. Granted it depends on the area but in Orlando I can get all of the benefits you mentioned (minus the guards at the door for $6 matinee and student and 8$ normal)

I just wish that the theatres would not get shafted so much by Hollywood and pass their problems down to us.