Movie Going Experiences

[methodwriter85]

I went to a near-sold out showing of Dirty Dancing 30th Anniversary screening. It was so much fun. People making jokes, people being drunk, etc etc etc.

[topanga]

7 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

I went to a near-sold out showing of Dirty Dancing 30th Anniversary screening. It was so much fun. People making jokes, people being drunk, etc etc etc.

I went last night and my theater was nearly full. I couldn't tell if people were drunk, but they were awfully chatty. 

It was fun to watch Dirty Dancing again with people who laughed at the same jokes that have been cracking me up for year (This year's final dance will be the Pachanga!). And before the movie, there was a nice behind-the-scenes featurette with older and more recent interviews, and cast members from the upcoming TV movie.  Who knew there was going to be a TV movie, BTW?

[methodwriter85]

I did, but ABC has been awfully quiet about it. It makes me wonder if the result was really bad, or the tepid reaction to the Rocky Horror Musical t.v. movie on Fox is giving ABC second thoughts.

There was something great about the cheer that went up when Baby landed the jump. I was 1 when the movie came out, so it was cool to get a chance to see it in the movie.

Edited January 30, 2017 by methodwriter85

[Bruinsfan]

On 1/30/2017 at 2:19 PM, methodwriter85 said:

It makes me wonder if the result was really bad, or the tepid reaction to the Rocky Horror Musical t.v. movie on Fox is giving ABC second thoughts.

If the latter is the case, they might want to cast people who can dance, what with the story involving a lot of dancing. Being able to sing certainly wasn't something they were looking for when casting the Rocky Horror live musical.

[MsNewsradio]

Went to see Hidden Figures with the family two weeks ago. We sit in the first row of the main theater portion (so in front of us is the wide path for people to move around the theater, then another section of seats leading up to the screen). There was a woman in the back row of that section who was constantly checking her phone for the first half hour, until my mother and another woman called out for for to turn it off. She complied...until around twenty minutes later, when she took it out again and started taking pictures of herself to post to Twitter of all things (I recognized the app interface). It was a large phone, and the brightness was obnoxious.

I got out of my seat, swung under the railing of our row, walked up behind her chair, and whispered to her that she better turn the phone off unless she wanted an usher to escort her out of the screening. She didn't touch it after that. 

I actually had people clap for me when the lights went up, which was something that's never happened to me before. But seriously, who the heck DOES that? 

---

A much older movie-going experience - my mother and I went to see Sideways when it was in theaters. There were these two older ladies sitting in front of us. As the film started, one turned to the other and said "I hope there aren't too many toilets in this one!" 

To this day I am dying to know what film they could possibly have been thinking about.

[King of Birds]

I wanna go to the movies with you, MsNewsradio!  You keep on kickin' ass, okay?  Plus... that toilet line is perplexing.

[AimingforYoko]

15 hours ago, MsNewsradio said:

Went to see Hidden Figures with the family two weeks ago. We sit in the first row of the main theater portion (so in front of us is the wide path for people to move around the theater, then another section of seats leading up to the screen). There was a woman in the back row of that section who was constantly checking her phone for the first half hour, until my mother and another woman called out for for to turn it off. She complied...until around twenty minutes later, when she took it out again and started taking pictures of herself to post to Twitter of all things (I recognized the app interface). It was a large phone, and the brightness was obnoxious.

I got out of my seat, swung under the railing of our row, walked up behind her chair, and whispered to her that she better turn the phone off unless she wanted an usher to escort her out of the screening. She didn't touch it after that. 

I actually had people clap for me when the lights went up, which was something that's never happened to me before. But seriously, who the heck DOES that?

I don't use the word hero very often, but you are the greatest hero in American history.

[Dandesun]

23 hours ago, MsNewsradio said:

 

A much older movie-going experience - my mother and I went to see Sideways when it was in theaters. There were these two older ladies sitting in front of us. As the film started, one turned to the other and said "I hope there aren't too many toilets in this one!" 

To this day I am dying to know what film they could possibly have been thinking about.

Trainspotting?

It's quite honestly the first movie that popped into my head in regards to toilets and I'm kind of digging the idea of two older ladies seeing that one together.

[Schweedie]

23 hours ago, MsNewsradio said:

A much older movie-going experience - my mother and I went to see Sideways when it was in theaters. There were these two older ladies sitting in front of us. As the film started, one turned to the other and said "I hope there aren't too many toilets in this one!" 

To this day I am dying to know what film they could possibly have been thinking about.

 

44 minutes ago, Dandesun said:

Trainspotting?

It's quite honestly the first movie that popped into my head in regards to toilets and I'm kind of digging the idea of two older ladies seeing that one together.

 

My first thought was Bridesmaids, heh, but that doesn't fit time-wise, I guess. (And to be fair, I guess the problem there was actually that there weren't *enough* toilets.)

Edited February 3, 2017 by Schweedie

[Bruinsfan]

Not Another Teen Movie was what jumped immediately to my mind, though perhaps The Sweetest Thing would have been a more likely film for their demographic?

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 4/16/2016 at 8:40 PM, BookWoman56 said:

I am fortunate enough to live in a city with more than one Alamo Drafthouse, and I love them. No texting, no talking, no small kids, and no ads. Their CEO had this to say about AMC's proposed (and now abandoned) idea to allow texting. While they don't actually have goons come beat you up if you are talking or texting, they do give you a warning and then escort you out if you continue to violate those rules. That approach makes for a consistently positive movie-going experience.

Well, consistently positive if you don't mind the constant activity from the Alamo's own waiters, which drives me insane.  They hunch over, so they may not actually BLOCK the screen during their constant perambulations, but you can still see them.

When the original Alamo first opened in Austin, I asked if they could turn off the house lights, so the theater would be dark, and they said no, because people need to be able to see their food, and the waiters need to be able to see where they're going. 

So the Alamo does have a policy against distractions, unless it's the distractions they themselves create.  Another one of which is delivering the checks right before the movie ends, so everybody starts rustling around seeing what they owe and getting their money out.

Not to mention the chomping and slurping and associated eating noise all during the movie AND the smell of the food. 

I haven't been to an Alamo (or any theater with waiter service) in years because I know I'm not going to enjoy a movie with all those distractions.  And I've gotten to where I don't even like the ones where you can bring you meal in yourself, mainly because of the smell. 

I know other people don't mind it, but for the Alamo, of all places, to tout their distraction-free experience, is the height of hypocrisy.

 

On 2/2/2017 at 3:00 PM, MsNewsradio said:

Went to see Hidden Figures with the family two weeks ago. We sit in the first row of the main theater portion (so in front of us is the wide path for people to move around the theater, then another section of seats leading up to the screen). There was a woman in the back row of that section who was constantly checking her phone for the first half hour, until my mother and another woman called out for for to turn it off.

With all due respect, why did people let her get away with this for 30 minutes?  I always sit way in the front (probably the seat that woman was in), mainly so I don't have to see people's screens.  But if I did see a screen, the second it came on, I would be right in that person's face telling them to turn it off.  Period.  I don't put up with that shit.

I've told countless people to stop talking during movies, and I don't let them get away with it for more than two comments.  I let the first one go, just in case it's something random.  But the second I hear them say something else, I get up and walk over there and say, "Please don't talk during the movie."  They'll usually say, "What?"  And I repeat what I said, and am usually met with a blank stare, and I go sit back down.

I don't see any advantage to letting someone get away with it for a protracted period of time.  It's no less annoying the longer it goes on, and it just gets them more entrenched in their habit.  I applaud everyone who takes action to tell these people to shut up or put away their phone, or goes and gets an usher.  Personally, I don't go get an usher because I don't want to miss any of the movie, and I've spent enough of my movie time being the only person to go find someone to tell them to turn off the overhead lights, or to frame the picture, or to ask why the movie hasn't started 10 minutes past the posted time. 

But why give these people any leeway whatsoever?  The most they can think is, "Geez, I wasn't going to talk/text any more."  Well, you shouldn't have been talking/texting in the first place, so...tough.

I have the luxury of going to movies on weekday matinees, when there aren't many people there to begin with.  Thank heavens for that, because if my only choice was weekend evenings with the masses, I'd never darken a theater's doorstep again.  And I like independent and foreign movies (I'm in the U.S.), which tend to have smaller audiences.  BUT those audiences are often old people, who are notorious for talking in movies, but I've never been shy about telling them to shut up.

I've had push-back, like the time I was seeing Cold Mountain in Los Angeles.  Big theater, hardly anybody there, and I sat where there was an empty row behind me (avoiding the seat-kickers).  About 30 minutes into the show, a couple came in and sat right behind me.  The woman was crying, and the man was trying to get her to stop.  I mean crying, as in weeping.  I was sitting there trying to get a grasp on exactly what was going on behind me, and it wasn't stopping, so I stood up and looked the guy in the eye and said, "Can you please be quiet?"  And he shot back, "Can you kiss my ass?"

I'm not often left speechless, but this one got me.  So I stood there a second and then said, "No."  Ha!  That's telling him.

So I sat back down and was pondering my options, and they left right after that.

Hell, I confronted a man for coughing throughout a movie.  I never could figure out who it was during the show (there were about 8 of us in a pretty big theater, and I was in front of everybody--all of us were by themselves).  So when it ended, I stood where people walked out and asked each one, "Were you the one coughing during the movie?"  The first couple of guys said no, and then one said he wasn't but why was I asking, and right then another guy walked by and I asked him, and he said it was him.  And the previous guy stuck around, probably thinking, "This might be good."

So I told the guy that his constant coughing ruined the movie for me.  He didn't apologize, but said he couldn't help it, and what should he do, not go to the movie?  And I said probably, if he's that sick.  Or he should at least reconsider going to a movie if he has a constant, uncontrollable cough, because of the effect he has on the rest of the audience.  So he asked when I usually came to the movies, and I said it's not just me--I'm speaking up for everyone who is annoyed by it but is too scared  to say anything.  And I added, "The reason they don't allow people to talk or use cell phones in movies is because it annoys everyone else, and your coughing is no different."

He eventually just kind of harumphed and left, but I find solace in knowing that every time he coughs in a theater again, he's going to be aware that it's probably bugging somebody else. 

I don't know...I'm just grumpy.  I just found out that IMDB.com is eliminating their message boards.  I see all these obscure movies, and love having a source for people to clear up missed plot points, or to answer my question about just how graphic the animal violence is, or the torture scene, before I decide whether to see something.  And now, poof!  That's gone.  Shit.

Edited February 4, 2017 by StatisticalOutlier
Add that I truly appreciate any other moviegoers who help police the miscreants.

[BookWoman56]

5 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Well, consistently positive if you don't mind the constant activity from the Alamo's own waiters, which drives me insane.  They hunch over, so they may not actually BLOCK the screen during their constant perambulations, but you can still see them.

When the original Alamo first opened in Austin, I asked if they could turn off the house lights, so the theater would be dark, and they said no, because people need to be able to see their food, and the waiters need to be able to see where they're going. 

So the Alamo does have a policy against distractions, unless it's the distractions they themselves create.  Another one of which is delivering the checks right before the movie ends, so everybody starts rustling around seeing what they owe and getting their money out.

Not to mention the chomping and slurping and associated eating noise all during the movie AND the smell of the food. 

I haven't been to an Alamo (or any theater with waiter service) in years because I know I'm not going to enjoy a movie with all those distractions.  And I've gotten to where I don't even like the ones where you can bring you meal in yourself, mainly because of the smell. 

I know other people don't mind it, but for the Alamo, of all places, to tout their distraction-free experience, is the height of hypocrisy.

 

I can't speak for the Austin location, but at the Alamo that I go to here in San Antonio, when they start the previews, it's dark enough that I can't see the food in front of me in any detail other than just dark shapes. I tried once eating a sandwich in the dark there and that freaked me out somewhat. At this point, when I go, generally I get there early enough to finish any food before the movie starts, although I have no problem continuing to drink something while the movie is playing. One of the reasons I always have a drink (generally a soda but sometimes an Irish coffee or something similar) is that I am paranoid about having the uncontrollable coughing fit in the movie theater. So if I feel like there is the slightest possibility that I may cough, I take a couple of sips to ward off any coughing spasms. The food smells don't bother me, as it doesn't smell any different from a lot of movie theaters or restaurants. The noise doesn't bother me either, as it's not that different IMO from listening to people eat popcorn or drink soda the same as in a regular theater. I also make a habit of going at non-peak times, because I prefer not to have a lot of people there. 

I will sometimes go to a non-Alamo theater, but I have gotten so very tired of the people who insist on keeping their cell phones on or doing a running commentary through the movie. While I'm on that particular rant, one thing that pisses me off to no end is the people who insist they must keep their cell phones on because of an "emergency," the meaning of which has apparently changed dramatically during my lifetime, as it now includes events such as "my boss might call me" or "my realtor/investment broker/random person on the street might call me with important decision to make"  or "my friend said he might call me to go out somewhere." I swear somebody needs to post signs in theaters defining what an emergency really is and why your faux emergency does not entitle you to keep your phone on and use it during the movie.  If you are expecting an important phone call during the movie, then FFS keep your phone off, make a discreet run to the bathrooms at the halfway mark of the movie, check your phone, and either come back to your seat or leave the building depending on the results. If it's an actual emergency, then you may get the news a little late but that's how life works. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

12 hours ago, BookWoman56 said:

I can't speak for the Austin location, but at the Alamo that I go to here in San Antonio, when they start the previews, it's dark enough that I can't see the food in front of me in any detail other than just dark shapes.

Next time you go, look to see if the wall sconces remain lit.  That's my beef--it's not even enough light to do any good, but the lights on the side (or overhead) are visible, especially during parts of the movie that are dark.  So why leave them on at all, especially if you're claiming to be a distraction-free house?

That's why I applaud Arclight theaters--they are black boxes, with dark seats, walls, and floors, and no lights on during the movie.  Popcorn comes in a bag so you don't have paper rustling.  No food allowed except typical concessions fare, so you don't have someone's garlic pasta wafting over you.

Maybe that's why I notice the smells--I don't eat in theaters.  I go to watch a movie, and even eating popcorn takes me out of the immersive experience I go to a theater for.

[Traveller519]

I rediscovered a love for going to the movies almost 5 years ago. I was camping around the Australian Outback, often by myself, following a two year work term in Sydney. Whenever I was camping somewhere close to a town, or other evidence of civilization, I would typically head into the town in the evening to check out a movie playing at their local theater. Small town Theaters are the best, especially in Australia. You've got old art-deco theaters, outdoor theaters, samll theaters where the seating is bean bag chairs. It got to a point where I wasn't going to the movies just as a way to kill time in the evenings (not a lot else to do after it gets dark when you're camping) but also to check out the theaters that weren't all huge multi-plexes. In the Summer 2012 movies season (Winter in Australia) I must have seen just about every major release. I don't know that the Venn Diagrams for Battleship, and What to Expect when You're Expecting really overlap, but they did for me that year. 

The other thing, was that it meant I was often going to the movies myself. Which is something I've carried on to now. Obviously I'd love to go see movies with friends so we can discuss them afterwards. But I can enjoy going to the movies on my own. There's still a bit of child-like excitement that jumps out of me when I get to the theater, and smell the popcorn. I love the fact that you're in the theater and are all encompassed by the presentation.

[Shannon L.]

This would be interesting to try once:  Movies get Immersive: Indoor drive-in coming to Nashville

[StatisticalOutlier]

6 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

The other thing, was that it meant I was often going to the movies myself. Which is something I've carried on to now. Obviously I'd love to go see movies with friends so we can discuss them afterwards. But I can enjoy going to the movies on my own. There's still a bit of child-like excitement that jumps out of me when I get to the theater, and smell the popcorn. I love the fact that you're in the theater and are all encompassed by the presentation.

Me, too.  That's why I don't like extraneous lighting, or noises.  Or hunchback waiters walking in front of me.

I usually see 100 or so movies in theaters a year, and always go by myself unless it's something I've curated for Mr. Outlier.  He's easy because he knows the rules, and he doesn't have a problem if I get up and tell somebody to shut up.

[Traveller519]

True confession. I got my seat kicked when I checked a buzz on my phone this summer. Never again

[vibeology]

A few weekends back, I went to see Jackie. It was an assigned seat theatre and there were empty seats but it was still about 3/4 full. The guy right next to me fell asleep about 10 minutes in and stayed that way for the rest of the movie. I did a few elbow shifting jabs and I'm willing to bet his wife on the other side of him did the same since his snoring pattern would change every so often, but it made no difference. I didn't have anywhere I could easily move to so I was stuck next to snoring guy for the rest of the film. To pay to go see a movie and sleep through the whole damn thing is just so pointless. Even an asshole on their phone (and I am not excusing them because they are awful) gets more out of the movie than someone who doesn't bother to stay awake.

[DarkRaichu]

28 minutes ago, vibeology said:

A few weekends back, I went to see Jackie. It was an assigned seat theatre and there were empty seats but it was still about 3/4 full. The guy right next to me fell asleep about 10 minutes in and stayed that way for the rest of the movie. I did a few elbow shifting jabs and I'm willing to bet his wife on the other side of him did the same since his snoring pattern would change every so often, but it made no difference. I didn't have anywhere I could easily move to so I was stuck next to snoring guy for the rest of the film. To pay to go see a movie and sleep through the whole damn thing is just so pointless. Even an asshole on their phone (and I am not excusing them because they are awful) gets more out of the movie than someone who doesn't bother to stay awake.

It is the perfect place to get 2 hours of uninterrupted nap.  :D

The one time I fell asleep was during Quantum Solace.  At least after I woke up I no longer felt like asking for my money back.

[Bruinsfan]

At least sleepy people probably aren't intentionally wasting their money, unlike the phone addicts and gabbers. I've fallen asleep a couple of times in movies, once about the sixth time friends asked me to see Pulp Fiction with them and once when seeing The Cider House Rules on a date with my ex.

[Snipsa]

On 05/02/2017 at 7:39 AM, BookWoman56 said:

While I'm on that particular rant, one thing that pisses me off to no end is the people who insist they must keep their cell phones on because of an "emergency," the meaning of which has apparently changed dramatically during my lifetime, as it now includes events such as "my boss might call me" or "my realtor/investment broker/random person on the street might call me with important decision to make"  or "my friend said he might call me to go out somewhere."

I agree to a point.  But just as a slight counter, my sister will always keep her phone on and on her lap if she's watching a movie without her oldest son.  The reason being that he is a type 1 diabetic, as well as severely autistic (and many other neurological complications), so she needs to keep her phone with her in case he has a diabetic emergency and the person watching him needs her input asap.  It's only happened a couple of times that she needed to speak to that person (and they/we will always know to only phone if it is a true emergency) - but if that is the case she will get out of her row and speak to the person quietly at the back/outside the theatre.

 

 

But like I said, it only happens extremely rarely (especially since it is very rare for her to go to a movie without her son coming along)

 

PPS. We sometimes need to use our phone's light to see when we test his BG/Give him insulin.  It has happened a few times that somebody would start to look/berate; but as soon as they see the "medical equipment" they keep silent - so we've been lucky in that regard...

[Qoass]

I am hopeful that your sister sits in the very back row on an aisle so that she has the easiest exit.

[MsNewsradio]

Okay, I have to ask - is there a new photography trend at movie theaters I'm not aware of? Because no less than four different people in our screening for Beauty and the Beast this weekend tried to take flash photos DURING THE MOVIE - including the woman next to me, who got an earful.

[Bruinsfan]

I'm another person who is damn well going to have my phone with me in the theater; I'm the only child of elderly parents, one of whom is disabled and prone to falls. However, I have it set on vibrate and leave the theater if I need to take a call. (Mom actually interrupted my first viewing of Jurassic World by calling back immediately after going to voicemail, which of course made me think there was an emergency and sprint for the exit. Turned out it was something mundane and she just didn't think about the implication.)

[Silver Raven]

6 hours ago, MsNewsradio said:

Okay, I have to ask - is there a new photography trend at movie theaters I'm not aware of? Because no less than four different people in our screening for Beauty and the Beast this weekend tried to take flash photos DURING THE MOVIE - including the woman next to me, who got an earful.

I have been known to say loudly, during the movie, "Please put your phone away."  So far, it has always worked, but if it doesn't, I am fully ready to go get management.  I got a woman kicked out of a movie one time for refusing to stop talking.

[proserpina65]

On ‎03‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 0:59 PM, Bruinsfan said:

I'm another person who is damn well going to have my phone with me in the theater; I'm the only child of elderly parents, one of whom is disabled and prone to falls. However, I have it set on vibrate and leave the theater if I need to take a call. (Mom actually interrupted my first viewing of Jurassic World by calling back immediately after going to voicemail, which of course made me think there was an emergency and sprint for the exit. Turned out it was something mundane and she just didn't think about the implication.)

If every moviegoer was as conscientious as you, there'd be no need for those "please turn off your cellphone" announcements before a movie.

[raezen]

Sorry folks, wrong thread.

Edited March 24, 2017 by raezen

[AimingforYoko]

1 hour ago, raezen said:

Kristen Stewart in an interview said that her and Jesse Eisenberg have had this conversation. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/kristen-stewart-admits-concern-about-working-with-woody-allen-over-sex-abuse-allegations-a7024406.html

This is just a guess @raezen, but I think you wanted the Gender in Movies thread.

[StatisticalOutlier]

Check this out.  I went to an IMAX movie that had reserved seating (which I hate).  Only the IMAX screen at this theater has reserved seating--the rest is regular. 

It's a long story, but the takeaway is that the seating chart, whether online, at the kiosk, or at the box office, is backwards.  You enter from only one side of the theater, and the seat numbers ascend from that side.  But on the seating chart, they ascend from the other side.  So my ticketed seats 9 & 10, which were on the left side of the seating chart, were actually on the right side of the theater.  It didn't matter because it was an early showing and there were only a few people there so I just sat where I wanted, thinking maybe I'd mis-read the seating chart.

So after the show I went to the kiosk to double-check that it showed seats 9 & 10 on the left side, and I was right--it's wrong.  As it happens, I'd already been talking to the manager about the closed-caption device not working, so I tracked him down again and told him his seating chart at the kiosk and in the box office doesn't match the theater, and he didn't know!  He said he'd have to contact corporate to tell them.

How can it be that nobody has noticed this?  What happens on Saturday night??  This theater has 250 seats, and every person walking in has a seat that isn't where he thinks it is, except for nine people who have seat 12, which is in the middle on most (but not all) rows, but if the person in 12 has someone with him, that person's seat won't be where he thinks it is.  How is this not the biggest clusterfuck in the world??

I don't know how long this has been going on, but I checked the chart online today, and it's still wrong, so I don't think yesterday was the first time it happened.  Again--how has nobody noticed what has to be mayhem on Saturday nights???

[xaxat]

Has anyone been to a 4DX theater?

This is from a review of Geostorm.

Quote

The fact that most of the country will see Geostorm without the aid of 4DX depresses me greatly. Not that 4DX makes the movie good — this could have been accompanied by free margaritas and puppies to cuddle and it still wouldn’t be a good movie.

But at least 4DX lends an element of novelty to the whole boring endeavor. When would my chair move? (Whenever it damn well pleased, whether it lined up with what was onscreen or not; sometimes I was the camera, sometimes I was in the car, sometimes I was just feeling random rumbles beneath my tush.) When would it emit puffs of air at roughly ear level? (When someone shoots a gun.) When would it spray water at my face? (Whenever waves are coming at me, which happen a lot.) There was also a plume of smoke that occasionally rose near the front of the theater, I hope on purpose, and sometimes lights flashed.

At one point the smell of maple syrup filled the air, but your guess is as good as mine on that one.

I don't think I'd like getting sprayed in the face.

[Shannon L.]

I know someone who loves the 4-DX theater, but says that it's hit or miss whether or not you have a good experience because  you need a movie with a lot of action and not a lot of dialog.  For ex. he said that the Star Wars movies are great, because there was so much action that the 4-D experience was active through most of the movie, but The Avengers was disappointing because a large part of the 1st half of the movie is dialog, so you didn't get the 4-D experience until the second half (or later) of the movie.  The tickets here are $25 a piece so you want the experience for as long as possible to make it worth it.  We want to try it, but at that price (and for another reason I won't bore you with), we've been reluctant to spend the money, so we haven't been yet. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

I just want some in-focus images on a screen, and a sound system that makes dialogue clear would be nice.

I had an early experience with "extras" in a theater, at a screening of a John Waters movie (with him in attendance).  It came with some scratch-and-sniff cards, that had numbers on spots, and when the corresponding number appeared on the screen, you were supposed to scratch the card and the smell would enhance the movie.

It was about a 200-seat theater, an old opera house, so were were pretty crammed in there.  So when even just a few people would scratch their cards, there would be enough smell wafting around that I didn't need to scratch my own card to get the "benefit."  And I'm not necessarily the smartest person in the world, but when someone on screen was farting, for example (remember, it's John Waters), and a number appeared on the screen, I definitely wouldn't scratch my card.  But not the woman behind me.  Farting on the screen, number appears, and she's scratching like a madman and then takes a sniff so loud I could hear her doing it, and she then screams, "Ewwwwwww!!!!" 

And did it every time there was something offensive on the screen that you knew would be accompanied by a terrible smell.  Maybe she just wanted the full experience, but I mainly thought she just wasn't very smart.

[proserpina65]

On ‎10‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 6:44 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

I just want some in-focus images on a screen, and a sound system that makes dialogue clear would be nice.

I had an early experience with "extras" in a theater, at a screening of a John Waters movie (with him in attendance).  It came with some scratch-and-sniff cards, that had numbers on spots, and when the corresponding number appeared on the screen, you were supposed to scratch the card and the smell would enhance the movie.

It was about a 200-seat theater, an old opera house, so were were pretty crammed in there.  So when even just a few people would scratch their cards, there would be enough smell wafting around that I didn't need to scratch my own card to get the "benefit."  And I'm not necessarily the smartest person in the world, but when someone on screen was farting, for example (remember, it's John Waters), and a number appeared on the screen, I definitely wouldn't scratch my card.  But not the woman behind me.  Farting on the screen, number appears, and she's scratching like a madman and then takes a sniff so loud I could hear her doing it, and she then screams, "Ewwwwwww!!!!" 

And did it every time there was something offensive on the screen that you knew would be accompanied by a terrible smell.  Maybe she just wanted the full experience, but I mainly thought she just wasn't very smart.

It was Polyester, wasn't it?

[StatisticalOutlier]

Yeah, it had to be.  I do remember that I was sitting in the front row, and John Waters stood literally toe-to-toe with me (he eschewed the stage and stood on the floor in front of it), so I was right underneath that famous mustache and thinking, "Wow.  That's not drawn on; it's real."

[xaxat]

That is truly a movie going experience!

[CofCinci]

Does anyone else have Movie Pass?  I love it. I’ve seen so many in-theatre films since receiving the Pass in September. Probably more films in the last 3 months than the last 5 years combined. 

I wonder if the model is sustainable?  I’m able to use it at every theatre in my region (Cincinnati). I’m buying concessions for the first time too. 

Please don’t go away, Movie Pass. ?

[dusang]

On 10/20/2017 at 6:40 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

Check this out.  I went to an IMAX movie that had reserved seating (which I hate). 

Why do you hate reserved seating?  I think it's so civilized -- I love being able to show up for a movie five minutes before the start and have a good seat, rather than having to plan to arrive early to stand in line to secure a decent seat.

On 10/20/2017 at 10:35 PM, xaxat said:

Has anyone been to a 4DX theater?

With the exception of rides at Disney World, I haven't done a 4DX theatre but I was appalled when I heard about it and continue to consider it absurd.  A friend saw Wonder Woman and said it was like having the person behind you kick your seat for two hours.  No thanks.

[Shannon L.]

3 hours ago, dusang said:

With the exception of rides at Disney World, I haven't done a 4DX theatre but I was appalled when I heard about it and continue to consider it absurd.  A friend saw Wonder Woman and said it was like having the person behind you kick your seat for two hours.  No thanks.

I think it depends on the person and the movie.  I know a guy who loves it and sees all of the big action movies at the 4DX theater.  I want to try it just once to see how it is, but haven't quite been able to allow myself the time (it's a ways away) or the money (definitely more expensive) to do it because some movies are better in the format than others and I'm afraid of choosing the wrong movie, thus wasting my time and money. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 1/3/2018 at 8:59 AM, dusang said:

Why do you hate reserved seating?  I think it's so civilized -- I love being able to show up for a movie five minutes before the start and have a good seat, rather than having to plan to arrive early to stand in line to secure a decent seat.

I'm much more likely to see an independent or foreign film than the latest blockbuster, so crowds are almost never an issue for me.  And if I'm going to have to sit near someone, I like putting an eyeball on them, to predict whether they'll be disruptive.  If they have a refillable pail of popcorn and a gallon of soda, I'm pretty sure they're going to be getting up at some point, plus I'll have to listen to the chomping and slurping.  I'll steer clear.

I wish they'd have reserved seating only for screenings that actually need it, and, unless it's Star Wars or Harry Potter in the first couple of weeks, not on weekdays, and definitely not for weekday matinees.  I did notice that at a screening of the Bolshoi Ballet in theaters, where I saw it didn't have reserved seats for that one screening, even though every other movie that day had reserved seats.  It's probably because it's full of old people who would slow the line down to a crawl while picking their seats, and will have picked ones they realize they don't like once they get into the theater, assuming they can find their assigned seats in the first place.

 

On 12/16/2017 at 4:23 AM, CofCinci said:

Does anyone else have Movie Pass?  I love it. I’ve seen so many in-theatre films since receiving the Pass in September. Probably more films in the last 3 months than the last 5 years combined. 

I wonder if the model is sustainable?  I’m able to use it at every theatre in my region (Cincinnati). I’m buying concessions for the first time too. 

Please don’t go away, Movie Pass. ?

I just read an interesting article about MoviePass. 

https://www.portlandmercury.com/film/2018/01/03/19583891/what-does-moviepass-mean-for-portland-theaters

The first alarm bells went off for me when I saw that a data company had bought a majority stake, and slashed the price to get vastly more subscribers, changing the entire model.

I also learned that theaters don't "partner" with MoviePass, like I originally assumed, and I don't think my mistaken assumption was an accident.  MoviePass doesn't even contact the theater before putting it on its list.  And the MoviePass website lists theaters that "accept" MoviePass, but the truth is, because of the way it works (with a Mastercard debit card loaded with the exact price of the ticket), theaters have no way of knowing that they're even accepting a MoviePass ticket when it happens.  And if there's one thing I hate, it's shit going on behind people's backs.

I see well over 100 movies a year in theaters and would save an enormous amount of money if I used MoviePass.  But I often go to two or more movies in a day, because it's more convenient, and MoviePass would be good for only one movie a day.  But even then, I would still save some money.

But I don't trust MoviePass, and while it may be everybody's dream to disrupt the big chains, I fear for the places that are hanging in there showing foreign and art films if MoviePass decides that one way it's going to generate revenue, other than by selling its subscribers' data, is to demand a kickback from the theaters.  Sure, some of them are part of a chain (like Landmark in the U.S.) and maybe they "deserve" it like Regal or AMC does, but some are independent theaters, and even nonprofit theaters.  And I don't think MoviePass will say, "Aww, y'all are doing the right thing, so we're not gonna strong-arm you."

[methodwriter85]

Watching 3 Billboards win so much at the Golden Globes reminded me of what an awesome time I had at the screening I went to. It was probably only about a dozen people, but the people there were super-into the comedic tone of the movie. We were laughing and clapping and cheering. Towards the end of the movie, when

Spoiler

Mildred starts walking toward her ex-husband with the bottle like she was about to smash him on the head with it, I

started yelling, "Do it, Do it, Do it!" and the guy next to me was like, "Yes, we need this movie to get even crazier."

I'm going to a showing of the Room and there's going to be about 70 people there. I am so freaking excited.

[StatisticalOutlier]

^^^ That's why I stick to lightly attended matinees.

[Zola]

I went to my local IMAX over the weekend to watch "BladeRunner:2049". I purposely left it late getting round to watching this as I knew there would be big crowds for the first few weeks after initial release.

Unfortunately, the cinema of about 400 seats was almost packed to capacity. And my worst fears were realised 10 minutes into the film that a lot of people just wouldn't STFU; preferring instead to talk, or text (with loud rings); or holding their phones towards the screen to either record or take pics from the film. The dark auditorium was awash with little phone lights, no different to what you would see at a rock concert.

I was hoping that given that BladeRunner might appeal to a more cerebral audience, the patrons would appreciate the film in its entirety. As it turned out, only the action sequences brought about silence (and darkness), albeit or just a few minutes before chaos and mayhem returned.

Shame because films like BladeRunner are best viewed on the big screen. Home Cinema just doesn't cut it.  

[xaxat]

5 hours ago, Zola said:

I purposely left it late getting round to watching this as I knew there would be big crowds for the first few weeks after initial release.

Anyone else remember the days before digital when waiting until later in the run meant you ran the risk of watching a print that was all scratched up and looked like the projectionist used a butcher knife to splice together breaks that had happened earlier in the run?

[StatisticalOutlier]

29 minutes ago, xaxat said:

Anyone else remember the days before digital when waiting until later in the run meant you ran the risk of watching a print that was all scratched up and looked like the projectionist used a butcher knife to splice together breaks that had happened earlier in the run?

There was a movie once showing on the university campus, one showing every night for a week.  It was a movie that I adored, and the university was shuttering its film program after that week, so I went every night.  There was a yellow scratch in part of the movie the first time I saw it, and each subsequent night, the scratch got bigger and bigger.  It was terrible to watch, and when people on the internet would be discussing seeing it in a theater, I'd tell them that if it has a giant yellow scratch on it, I watched that scratch happen.

The thing is, in getting rid of film, they assured us of the perfection we'd now be getting.  Unless the damn thing freezes up or stutters.  While I was always horrified when I'd watch film burn up before my eyes, at least it was dramatic and the projectionist would notice!

These days, the risk of waiting until later in the run is that it will be in one of the (sometimes much) smaller theaters in the same multiplex it's been playing in all along, and you can't know until you get there (unless you can suss it out if they have reserved seating).  I can't believe Blade Runner is still playing in an IMAX theater, much less to packed houses.

[Shannon L.]

I tend to get really lucky with my movie going experiences.  I very rarely have a problem with talkers and texters.  It's so rare, in fact, that for the big blockbuster movies, I purposely go on opening weekend so I can experience it with a full theater.  I love the laughter, the gasps, the applause.  Only once has that backfired on me:  Titanic.  The theater was filled with teenage Leo lovers, so every single damn time he appeared on screen, the youngsters in the audience would scream and applaud and I would miss the next line or two.  In a way it was amusing, but also annoying.

I also don't mind seeing other movies in a theater with only a few of us.  In that case, what bugs the hell out of me is when I get there early to get my favorite seat, and someone later decides to sit a seat or two away from me (whether it's the same row, right in front, or right behind).  Seriously?  It's a huge theater and you have to sit one chair away?  Or directly in front of or behind me?  Ugh.

[Browncoat]

2 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

someone later decides to sit a seat or two away from me (whether it's the same row, right in front, or right behind).  Seriously?  It's a huge theater and you have to sit one chair away?  Or directly in front of or behind me?  Ugh

I had that happen to me three separate times in the same movie.  I sat down in a nearly empty theater, and someone significantly taller sat right in front of me.  I moved seats, and it happened again!  I had to move twice more before I could actually see the screen, which I needed to do, as the movie was subtitled.

Last night, I found out that my local chain theater is converting to reserved seating.  I'm not a fan!  They've been refurbishing the theaters, and I will admit the new cushy reclining seats with trays and cupholders are nice, but it seems like they lost about 25-30 seats in that particular theater, and as a result of that and the reserved seating, my friends and I had to sit separately.

[Shannon L.]

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I had that happen to me three separate times in the same movie.  I sat down in a nearly empty theater, and someone significantly taller sat right in front of me.

I just got back from I, Tanya.  I was the first one in the theater and after a quick count of seats and rows (not exact because I couldn't see them all), I estimated that there were about 300 seats in the place.  The third couple that walked in sat directly behind me.  *sigh*

[afterbite]

One of my favorite movie going stories is from when I went to see Pandorum.  (Short summary: Two crew members wake up on an abandoned spacecraft with no idea who they are, how long they've been asleep, or what their mission is. The two soon discover they're actually not alone - and the reality of their situation is more horrifying than they could have imagined.) It was raining pretty heavily that day, so half of the seats were occupied by dripping umbrellas. Right as the trailers segued into the movie, two gray-haired ladies came in and settled into the seats directly in front of me. I was a little miffed but okay with it, because how disruptive could two gray-haired ladies be?

So, this sci-fi/horror film kicks into gear, and the two gray-haired ladies are apparently taken for the ride of their lives. Every minute or two, one or the other of them would yelp "Oh sh*t!" or "Oh f*ck!" I ended up having to move because it was incredibly distracting, but it's still as hilarious in retrospect as it was at the time. I couldn't even be mad at them.

[Shannon L.]

11 minutes ago, afterbite said:

So, this sci-fi/horror film kicks into gear, and the two gray-haired ladies are apparently taken for the ride of their lives. Every minute or two, one or the other of them would yelp "Oh sh*t!" or "Oh f*ck!" I ended up having to move because it was incredibly distracting, but it's still as hilarious in retrospect as it was at the time. I couldn't even be mad at them.

lol!  A friend of mine said that when she went to see Boogie Nights, after it was over,  the wife of an old couple looked around and said to her husband "I hope there's no one here who recognizes us!" 

[ChelseaNH]

20 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

Seriously?  It's a huge theater and you have to sit one chair away?  Or directly in front of or behind me?

Everybody's going for the optimal positioning.  You can see this with reserved seating, the seats that go first are all clustered in the middle.