"Shut your traps and stop kicking the seats! We're trying to watch the movie here! If you keep it up I'll drag you outside and show you what it's like, you got that? So shut your mouths, or I'll shut 'em for you and if you think I'm kidding, try me, just try me, 'cause I would love it!"

When you go to see a movie like Dawn of the Dead, you should expect the audience to be teenagers. I think watching these crappy movies without the audience hooting and hollering is pointless - the audience participation is what makes going to the theater FUN.

If someone is talking on their phone next to me, I shout "Hang it up!" at them.

I agree, the audience makes the movie funnier or more exciting.

I have had to tell some teens to hush only once, they did get kickout because they would not shut up. Only once in 25 years is not to bad.

While I agree that people should indeed sit down, shut up and watch the damn movie, and that appropriate movie theater behavior should be instilled in kids - eating popcorn? What's next -breathing too loudly?

Somebody is over the line here, but it's not the kids.

Fixed it for ya.

breathing too loudly

i actually can't stand that. thats why i refuse to sit next to my father for that very reason.

i think the problem is on several fronts.

First of all, theater employees/management is to worried about losing the inconsiderate punk market to do anything effective. IMO, this is silly... a few people get kicked out, word gets around and that punks will still go to the movies... they just won't be punks during the film anymore. Not to mention that there are LOTS of people that just dont go to movies anymore (or go less often) because of inconsiderate people in the audience... if rules were stictly enforced, some of those people would come back to enjoy the movie experience.

Second, parents these days completely suck and delinquint kids are the NORM as opposed to "just a few bad apples" like it was back in the day. When i was 7-12 years old, I never even DREAMED of flapping my jibs, or kicking the seat in front of me, or putting my feet up on top the chair in front of me, or making noise with food or doing anything else disruptive. Hell, I felt way bad when I had to get up and go to the bathroom cause it might annoy other peeps or block their view as I walk by. My parents never beat me, they just raised me to be a responsible/nice individual and not an inconsiderate self-centered jerk.

Third, some people have absolutely NO respect for other people. From their perspective its ALL about THEM, fawk everyone else. So what if the guy sitting in front of me doesnt like his chair getting kicked? I'm bored during a slow part of the film and I wanna tap my foot on the seat in front of me damn it! This kind of attitude, IMO, is unacceptable. Its America, you can do what you want, but that DOESN'T mean you have to be an a-hole or that you have the right to ruin entertainment that other people are paying good money for.

Lastly, lets get one thing straight... laughing during a funny part of the movie, or going "eeek!" during a scary part is one thing.... and being an inconsiderate jerk is another. I dont mind the former, but I see/hear the later at EVERY single film I have seen in the last two years. Maybe its someone kicking my chair, maybe its 2 stupid kids talking REALLY loud during the whole movie while their parents sit there and say nothing, maybe its the group of drunk teenage guys yelling out weird comments and crap at inappropriate times of a movie.... whatever. Its all BS and should not be tolerated.

j

I didn't say that they need to stop eating popcorn. It's not popcorn that makes it loud...it's literally stuffing you face that makes it loud. And I'm just saying that parents should teach their kids some manners. One of them being proper eating etiquette and manners. I think it's just classless to sit and shovel popcorn into your mouth.

And, I'm hardly out of line. I said that this stuff doesn't actually get to me unless the movie itself is really, really bad. Nor do I really care that it even goes on. I'm just making an observation, not calling for a change.

also, parents should not be taking 8 and 10 yr olds to a 3 hour movie (lord of the rings movies.

Haha. When I saw Fellowship (for the fourth or fifth time), there was a kid sitting a few seats away. And when the movie started, I swear to you, he said "Mommy, this is Lord of the Rings. I'm not supposed to see this". And that was followed by "Mommy, can we please leave". And his Mom just sort of shushed him, and made him watch it. She also said something along the lines of 'your Dad is watching [such and such]. We're not leaving'. And the kid was totally considerate, and sat there and watched the movie.

I had to walk out of a movie for the first time tonight. We were trying to watch Underworld Evolution and there were these women not kidds behind us who would not shut up. They seemed to be of ages 25-30 but im not totally sure. Someone in the audience tried to shush them but they just started to talk louder. After 2 mins of their really loud talking we just got up and walked out. Id hate to stop going to the movies all together but what can you do. When is the best time to go to avoid these idiots?

Mid-afternoon, mid-week, IMO. Or evenings mid-week. But with the number of teens going to Underworld, I'm going to avoid it altogther and wait for the DVD. A shame, really, but I'm liable to knock out the next idiot that a.) kicks my chiar more than once, or b.) opens their cell phone/beacon in my line of sight.

Well these people were adults that ruined it for me. I would have almost understood it was coming from punk teens. I just dont understand how adults act like that. Do they think that just because they spent their money they are entitled to talk all of the way through the movie and ruin it for everyone else?

FWIW, if it weren't for movies that require a theater like Star Wars, King Kong, LOTR, or the occasional epic actioneer like Troy, I would avoid theaters altogether. I have a 42" HD TV and could easily skip a lot of the stuff that hits theaters nowadays and get a better experience at home. I sometimes go to an arthouse theater near where I live to see stuff like Brokeback Mountain, but other than that I am ready to tell theaters to kiss my ass. The amount of crap I tolerate when I go is idiotic, and the fact that I pay to be around it makes me feel like an idiot as well.

But audience participation makes the theater experience fun!

They can participate on their stinkin couch and leave the rest of us who paid to watch the movie, watch it in peace and quiet.

Do cinema staff eject people for bad behaviour or so they shrug their shoulders and let the rest of the audience take it or leave it?

On leaving, did you complain to the management and ask for a refund? If so what was the result?

Never during the weekend. Try to avoid opening week alltogether for certain flicks like Underworld. I almost always go during the week the second week after a film has opened. Timewise: The earlier in the day the better, but also, the last showing works too if it's late enough to weed out the rabble.

We went to the front desk complained, got a refund. The manager was very understanding and aplogetic he said he was going to send an usher in there and asked there and asked us where the offending party was sitting. We told them but didnt hang around to find out what happened.

You're tellin' me!

I just got back from a matinee show of Big Momma's House 2 and the endless inane chatter and laughter of the audience was appalling. I had heard good things about this movie from 60 Minutes, and let me tell you, Felicity Huffman looks nothing like she does in "Desperate Housewives" -- whoever did the makeup really did a great job. The story of a man's desire to become a woman is so touching. I just wish the audience had a bit more respect for the script because every 20 minutes or so someone would laugh, which really distracted me from the way cinematographer Mark Irwin captured the anguish of this modern-day allegory for man's apocalyptic search for meaning.

First, never go see any major release the first couple of weeks it's out.

Then best time to go is afternoons in the middle of the week, with saturday morning (10-11 am) showings or weekday evenings being the second best if you have to work all weekdays.

Although it can't be done by the majority of those who work five days a week, but going at 11:30-noon (usually first showing) on a weekday is the absolute best time. The theatre contains mostly older people and they usually come by themselves. So no talking, chomping on food, or cell phone rings.

I want to see that movie 'Eight Below' with Paul Walker (I have a soft spot for animals in peril) and that is definitely one I would rather go to during the weekday early afternoon to see. I do not like teenage Paul Walker fans. Actually I don't like Paul Walker fans in general. So the less the people in the theatre - the better.

Actually, if it's something like Star Wars, Harry Potter, or a any major fanbase franchise film, I recommend midnight showings, aka the first show a theater does. You get to sit with serious fans, get audience participation at the appropriate moments, not really have to worry about them being rude or inconsiderate. Since they are in a movie theater at midnight, it is a safe bet they want to see the movie for the movie, not to just kill time.

Anything else, wait either a couple of weeks or if you have weekdays off, go on them, it's like a private screening. I will say, however, that almost all movies that are hitting theaters now could very much wait till video for me.

I hate it when a group of young adults or adolescents watch the movie while high and start laughing at every little detail. Annoying as hell and ruins the movie completely.