DVD Josh

There is absolutely a correlation between high theater prices and the purchasing of large display devices.

And under no circumstance can you achieve better than cinema quality at home.

MartinBlank

I dont' get people who pick what flick to see AFTER they get to the theater, but that's just me.

It's almost as if it's just something to do. They don't really care about the movie they're paying to see, they just want to sit in the dark and talk to each other.

RayChuang

Plug in a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player directly to a top-notch non-CRT rear-projection TV like Sony's SXRD LCoS units and at 56" or larger diagonal screen size, you don't miss going to the theater itself. I've seen the HD-DVD version Transformers on such a setup and the picture quality was outstanding.

jlmace

Thank you. I am still at work at 7:00 PM on a Friday. That made my night, and I am actually dying to use that line at some point.

SPiRAL

We went to see No Country For Old Men on tuesday morning. There was about 10 people in the theater. Some old man and his wife rustling with a plastic bag, repeating everything said on screen, and laughing as it was a joke or something. I was just about ready to to rip his ass, but I chilled, talked to the manager after, he said he was sorry and gave us 4 free passes to come back, so that was was pretty cool of him.



On a side note, I usually go to Art House theatres. Never once, have I had a problem. People are so well-mannered, and respectful. If someone's phone rings, they go to the lobby to answer it. No seat-kicking, good hygiene ( some people have brought up stank-ass breath and bodies ), and silence.

tasha99

Me too. I took my son to a 10 am showing of Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer, and since we were the only ones there, I let him do whatever he wanted. Basically, he stood on a seat and made shadow puppets through much of the movie, including picking people's noses. It was the only thing that made me feel like I got my money's worth, because it wasn't a good movie at all.

story

I hate it when people leave the theaters to answer their phones, but they only go into the hall and carry on a conversation everyone can clearly hear. This would be in those multiplexes with the hallway in-between the lobby and the main auditorium. Um, you didn't leave, and you're speaking loudly so the person on the phone can hear you over the movie - we can hear you, too.

We went with some friends to Superbad at the cheap seats this past Sunday. An old couple sat on the other side of us. They laughed at first, but their laughter got less and less. They left right during Seth's rant about sex in the liquor store parking lot. Then everyone laughed at their exit.

Drexl

Well, haven't high ticket prices been a problem for a long time now, at least 10 years? I remember years ago when they complained about a ticket price reaching $7. It may be a factor, but I don't think it's the only factor.

I shouldn't have said as good or better than a theater, but many multiplexes have poor quality presentations. From dirt and scratches on worn-out prints to bad black levels, an HD movie can at least be in the same ballpark. Film loses some of its perceived resolution when run through a typical projector anyway due to gate weave.

hitmanjules

Seriously, why the hell do all these people need to be in constant communication with whomever's NOT there with them? I use texting to ask a quick question and get a short answer without the "hassle" of a phone call, but that's NOT in a movie theater! There are devices that scramble cell phone signals, and they should be used in places like movie theaters. But what about those with occupations such as doctors, EMTs, etc?

Brent L

I'm just gonna toss this out there, oh boy...

If someone has some sort of condition where they, ummm, make noises over and over again, is it "wrong" to get very, very pissed off over it, even though they can't help it? I've been in theaters where people obviously had something wrong with them, and they would make noises like growls, barks, and other such things. I've had that happen to me a number of times, and even though I've never complained about it to anyone working in the theater, I have come very close to doing so.

I feel horrible when I end up feeling that way, but, come on.

Gizmo

This is why I see 1-2 movies a year in theaters and usually only because I have free pases thanks to a recent DVD purchase.

calhoun07

That happened to me when I went to see Antz. Some special needs kids came in with social workers or whatever and they made noises all throughout the movie.

I am glad we live in a society where these people aren't forced to live in asylums or locked up and never allowed in public. But I think there should be limits. Yeah, it's great they can get out to the stores and malls and do things, but I believe (and this may be controversial) that they should be offered exclusive showings of movies at certain times for their groups or maybe they should wait for the freaking DVD. I don't say that to be mean, but come on...the people with them are paid to go with them. And while I am not angry about them being in the theater, I do find it horribly inconsiderate of the caregivers who should be more considerate.

mndtrp

I'll go to a matinee in the off chance I see a movie in the theater. Otherwise, I'll wait for the dvd and watch it at home. I don't need to see a movie when it first comes out, and I have such a backlog of films to watch, I can wait.

JumpCutz

matome

All perfect examples of why I no longer go to the theaters. People are inconsiderate assholes. Thank god for movies on disc.

Doc MacGyver

You're quite welcome





Situations like this are usually avoided by the home or center or group who bring special needs kids to the theater. They rent out an entire showing, usually a few weeks deep into the run of a movie, and always early in the day. I worked at a movie theater in high school and in fact, we would have special screening in the morning before the theater opened to the public at noon.

Now as for fully-functioning adults with tourettes syndrome, that is a stickier topic. This is, for all intents and purposes, an intelligent, well-mannered, fully-fuctioning member of society who happens to have this unfortunate (and annoying) disorder. It would not be fair to refuse this guy the simple pleasure of taking a night off at the movies.

On the flip-side, that is exactly what everyone else in the theater is trying to do, and their money is just a green and they worked just as hard for it, and it's not fair to them to have their theater experience ruined in the name of fairness and understanding.

I think that if I were that man, I'd probably do a lot of DVD renting.

It's tricky - The liberal in me wants to say that no one should be excluded from activities the rest of us take for granted, but the film loving snob in me wants a graveyard-quiet theater with no kids, teenagers or old people.


-Doc

baracine

I have given up on theatres 8 years ago when I set myself up with a home theatre and almost never go out to theatres and am glad I don't. The problem for me is more the lack of comfort, convenience and quality of a movie palace run by a bunch uncomprehending teenagers than the bad manners of the audience.

Canadian audiences are generally well-behaved anyway but here, in the winter, we have the wintercoat issue which means that in a crowded theatre, a family will take up at least two seats just for their assorted winter gear while unseated patrons have to sit in the alleys until an usher intervenes, generally with lots of bad feelings all around. This all stems from a certain timidity that prevents the seated patrons from offering the seats and the unseated ones from asking for them in the first place.

But I couldn't keep myself away from the communal experience of The Simpsons Movie which was really positive. The Canadians really love their Simpsons and even their improvised comments to the screen are inspired and bring on applause from other patrons.

RayChuang

Who wants to go out to the theater when you have to consider these issues:

1) The cost of driving out to the theater and back, plus paying for a babysitter if you have children.

2) The ridiculous cost of tickets even for matinees (A number of theaters are now charging US$8.00 for a matinee ticket). I'm not going even ask how expensive evening tickets now cost.

3) The ridiculous cost of concessions.

4) The frequently dirty floors in a theater.

5) The uncomfortable seating in some theaters.

6) The subpar picture and sound quality.

7) Totally rude audience members that don't bother to turn off cellphones and pagers and talk during the movie at inappropriate times.

And you wonder why sales of widescreen LCD, Plasma, and non-CRT rear-projection TV's have gone through the roof, along with sales of home theater systems.

By the way, one additional advantage of home video release on DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-Ray disc is that you often get the version of the movie the director intended to make, with no limits imposed by time considerations and/or MPAA rating considerations. (Look at the message thread about the movie Troy being vastly better on the director's cut DVD version.)

My brother--who has a full home theater system--has rarely seen a movie in a theater because it's way more comfortable to watch a movie at home. Sure, we miss the big screens and the "shared movie experience," but given all the downsides I mentioned above that's a tradeoff I'm willing to live with.

DVD Josh

Don't get me wrong, I love my projector. But I've never thought that my home theater, which is pretty dang decent, comes close to a DLP on a 300" screen with a massive sound system.

mhg83

I only go to matinee screenings and its only $5. I always sneak in pop and snacks from home. If you count gas money It only costs me $7 to got to the movies.

Mr. Cinema

#1 bad theater experience: morons talking to the screen. Uh, hello, we aint watching the movie in your living room.

#2 bad theater experience: morons talking on cell phones. Shut the fucking thing off!

I haven't encountered these in quite some time though. I usually try and pick the earliest or latest showing of a movie, which seems to be the best time for me. There is also a local indie theater that I love going to as it's always adults who truly love films that attend.

MartinBlank

It's a catch-22 anymore...I enjoy the energy of a full theater, but with that, you run the risk of children/assholes. It's a bummer.

I find it interesting that you can pack a theater for Star Wars or LOTR and NOBODY is messing around, they're into the flick. Any other picture and it's like people are just killin' time.

RayChuang

Problem is, here in the USA top-quality digital projection with a THX-certified sound system are still very rare. And a lot of theaters still don't bother to check the focus of the projector lens, which really detracts from the viewing experience on a large screen in a theater.

TheMovieman

My biggest pet peeve isn't when someone's cell phone rings. No, it's when it rings, they answer and then, rather than hanging up, continues to talk. But even then, I can let it go assuming the person couldn't be a complete idiot... and yet they still amaze me. A few minutes later the damn phone rings AGAIN! Ugh.

Drop

All of that is voided, for me, by the fact that a movie theatre poses magic a home setup will never recreate, ever, ever, ever. When a theatre presentation and the crowd is perfect (like when I saw Blade Runner recently), that is it.

I've only ever encountered a few poor presentations, and the crowds are usually pretty good, so the theatre going experience is something I look forward to.

Would people pay more for a ticket for a better run theatre? As in strict behavior rules and better trained projectionists, and possibly an on seat complaint system to inform the managers of problems? I would.