[Adam Lenhardt]

Tonight I went to a test screening of Four Brothers. The movie itself far exceeded my exceedingly low expectations, but what I was struck by was the difference in the atmosphere. I know I was a test screening of some sort because they had chairs marked off throughout the theaters with a white piece of paper taped saying "RESERVED FOR STUDIO REPRESENTATIVE". We got in twenty minutes beforehand and ended up on the far left side of the theater.
Which leads me to the point of this topic. When I go to the theater in question and pay $10 bucks a ticket, I get twenty minutes of advertising and twelve trailers before the film actually starts. This time there were no ads before hand, one trailer for that new Jim Sheridan flick, and then the film itself. It made a huge difference in keeping the audience focused and energized.
Then the picture quality itself was a revelation; usually that theater has dim picture that starts off sharp and then gets gradually more and more out of focus over the course of half a year before getting corrected again. This picture was razor sharp and twice as bright. This to helped bring me into the film.
So why is it that theaters can knock it out of the park for the freebies, but totally fuck it up when I'm paying a ridiculous amount?

[Adam_S]

because the theater owners will get shouted at by important studio people if its shitty while they are there trying to show off their movie in the best possible manner. When it's just customers money they might have one person a day/week complain the focus is off, the bulb is worn out, the screen is dirty, the speakers are popping the sound is too low and the bass too boosted, and a single customer complaint isn't enough to motivate some theater managers (though there are some great ones out there that run excellent houses) as much as a VIP complaint.