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I can't stand theaters.... (1 Viewer)

Vickie_M

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Ah, you mean they hold you down while you're struggling and crying and attempting to cry out and maybe they hold a knife or gun to your head or smack your face while they tear your clothes off and brutally shove popcorn up your orifices?

Something like that?


Could we please quit using the word "rape" when referring to high prices and fiddling with pulp science fiction movies? Please?


On topic, I love theaters.
 

Malcolm R

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What Andrew said. We're talking about promotional materials here (for his light box), not prints of actual films.
 

todd s

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Henry, I meant the mylars. I didn't think I would have to be more discriptive when we were talking about the mylar lightbox.
 

Peter Apruzzese

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Because it's a rather silly assumption you're making. Obviously, if you read his posts, he's planning on getting those films when they come to DVD. He mentions "daughters" and "theatres give him the mylars", etc. It's to make his place *look* like a movie theatre.
 

Max Leung

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Well, I'm glad Ernest that you have access to theaters where the audience has one iota of respect for the movie. I assume you live in LA? The Chinese Theater attracts movie fans I'm sure, explaining why your movie experience was so positive!

Unfortunately for the rest of us mere mortals, such experiences are the exception and not the norm. When the majority of film goers expect theaters to have chatty teens, inconsiderate parents, cellphone abusers, and attended by people who are completely apathetic and treat the theater as their extra-large-extra-butter living room, then you can understand why the thread starter and other victims hate the theater. Oh and focus will be off, the print will be of poor quality, the bulb at 1/2 half-power accompanied by the buzz of a speaker ground loop completes the experience of a significant portion of the movie-going audience.

I want my Ernest-quality theater. And I want it in super-sized portions.

BTW, Ernest, would you be depressed if you attended movie screenings in Japan? The deafening silence would probably lead you to suicide (figuratively speaking I mean). :)

I had similar experiences when I was visiting Hong Kong many ages ago. I saw The Empire Strikes Back for the first time there (or maybe it was the 2nd time?). Completely silent - you could hear a feather drop - packed theaterhouse. The theater was of classic design...very British, high ceilings with huge pillars. I was completely and utterly immersed in the film - the film is so much darker and foreboding with a silent audience. I later experienced Das Boot in the same theater - incredible. The atmosphere of the theater somehow lent more to the movie than I ever thought possible. It's almost tragic I hadn't seen 2001 there.

In an ideal world, you'd want to see a film with different audiences - the raucous film-loving American-style audience, the stone-cold-and-dead-silent Japanese/Hong Kong audience (like an audience of the undead!), and then by yourself. Luckily I managed to do all three with the first two Star Wars movies...
 

Malcolm R

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Have you read *any* of this thread? There is *nothing* showing in his Home Theater because it isn't even finished yet. He said clearly that he couldn't put up a picture of the front of the HT room because the screen isn't done yet.

But a blank light box wouldn't make for a very interesting picture, would it? Hence the mylars of current releases which he's recently obtained.

Don't read between the lines...read the lines.
 

Pete-D

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I think the theater is a cultural experience. Its been that way since the days of Shakespeare and its something now that movie theaters really continue on.

I love watching movies with a packed house (especailly in the summer).

There just is no substitute IMO. Yeah, you might occassionally get a bad screening or some inconsiderate viewers but generally to me its no problem at all.
 

Lew Crippen

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I’m not saying that it is the case with any person posting in this thread, but I think that if many of the things that happened at home occurred during a theatrical screening, there would be many, many more anti-theater posts in this thread.

For example, many people don’t turn off their home phones, nor disconnect their doorbells while they are watching movies. I have heard that people occasionally hit pause and go the bathroom or get a coke, or some more snacks, or let the dog out, or attend to a child or spouse or any of the myrid ot things that occur when one is at home.

Maybe it is just me, but probably less than 10% of the movies I watch at home, I watch under ideal conditions.

Any thoughts as to comparing home behavior with that in a theater?
 

Mark Oates

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On a slightly more serious note than my last comment - what's stopped me from going to the "pictures" since 2001 hasn't been the audience. Far from it. They might look like the hordes of Mordor, but in an audience that's engrossed in what it's watching is the best way to see a movie. My best memory of a movie is the collective intake of breath (and the odd scream) when the head bobs out of the boat in "Jaws".

No, what puts me off are the theatres (make that theatre). Where I live, we used to have twenty cinemas. Right up into the 1970s. Then they started to dwindle until we had only two cinemas which had been converted into three-screen multiplexes. There were two small downstairs screens, but upstairs where the circle used to be, the original fifty-foot screen was still in place. Even with bog-standard mono sound, movies were impressive because of the old-fashioned valve amplifiers. The old cinemas were wonderful places.

Then they shut them down. One's a nightclub, the other's a transvestite showbar and the cinema in town is now a ten-screen multiplex in the middle of the town's no-go area. Ten ten-foot screens with DD5.1 and DTS capability, but the hamsters who operate the place don't know a thing about cinema showmanship. They've obviously never heard of focusing, aspect ratio adjustment, audio adjustment or even blooping fluid, because all they do is switch the projector on at the start of the show and switch it off at the end. I once sat through a silent showing of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" because the sound had been accidentally knocked off and nobody rectified the fault even though everybody went to complain. If the sound does work, the film is inevitably covered in crap (even on a first showing of a brand new movie), the half-hour of adverts plays louder than the main feature (with a series of pops and cracks between each where they've been spliced together). Focusing is hit or miss and they rarely get the AR correct.

They don't let you in if you're carrying your own sweets, and they make up 150% markup on the ones they sell at the concession stand.

Even matinees you pay £4 (US$7) for uncomfortable seats, lousy presentation and more often than not a "lively" audience the ushers are scared of. What do you get in return? A memory. I'd rather wait four months and pick up a properly focused, properly modulated movie on a quality, totally legal disc which I can watch as many times as I damn well like.
 

Kevin Grey

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I'd say all but 10% I watch at home are done in ideal conditions. I pause when I have to get up and use the restroom- far more ideal than getting up and missing part of the picture or continuing watching the movie trying to ignore the growing pressure on my bladder.

Phone calls can be a nuisance but my movie watching generally occurs during times when calls are at the very minimum.

Otherwise its just me and my wife in a darkened room focusing on the movie.
 

BrandonL

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I didn't read every single post of this thread. But I personally have been getting really upset lately that the theaters all around where I live are constantly sold out for new movies. It doesn't matter what time of day the movie plays either.

I finally started buying tickets online, but I cant use my student id. So trying to go out to the movie with my girlfriend ends up costing more than it would to buy the DVD.

After not being able to get into Day After Tomorrow I decided to buy a bigscreen TV because I was already having lots of issues with people talking during the movie, kids crying, etc.

but I figured why not give it another shot. I saw Harry Potter, bought the tickets for a matinee early, got there early. But yet again there were babies talking during the movie. And the person next to me kept saying, "Thats not in the book". And it wasn't a little kid either. Probably a teen or older.

BTW I go to the theaters that are near the studios, in Burbank, CA. So maybe its an LA thing.

And yet I still will go see a couple more movies this summer, because you can't beat the movie theater experience. But a lot of the rudeness sure kills most of the experience.
 

Paul.S

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Brandon:

Depending on which online ticketing service the exhib circuit uses, you should be able to buy student tickets online. The only restriction I've bumped into in this regard is trying to buy a "child" ticket to an "R"-rated film--MovieFone.com wouldn't allow it. But I've never been asked to show a student ID at the theater after purchasing student tix online. Ticket retrieval kiosks are also helpful in this effort. Or, if the prices are the same, buy a "Senior" ticket and then offer your student ID if the ticket taker questions your age (never has happened to me) before tearing your ticket, reminding them if necessary that the price is the same but you couldn't buy "student" ducats in advance.

-p
 

Chris Rein

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I find it funny that people pay for these experiences:

Crying Kids

Mobile phone ringing

A nerd talking to himself

Drunk guys showing up to the theater and letting their bottle drop down the isle.


Go to a daycare....FREE

Go to an airport (but before security!)...FREE

Go to mental hospital...FREE

Go downtown...FREE

Nothing better than getting really into a movie and then WHAM out of nowhere something mentioned above goes on. Let me tell you, that just gets me off. :frowning: Why even pay attention to the movie if all you're waiting for is an "experience" to happen? :D Do you actually care what other people are thinking/feeling in the theater?

I'll fully admit, that comedies and horror movies are fun to watch in a packed theater, but that's it (for me). Something about a chick screaming at something that is not scary at all is funny, especially when it's a TERRIBLE horror movie. It passes the time. ;)
 

todd s

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I DO NOT HAVE ANY BOOTLEG MOVIES OR PRINTS OF MOVIES CURRENTLY RELEASED. The mylar lightbox is for decorative purposes only.
 

Michael Hall

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I actually stopped going to the theater after "Return of the King" due to the guy sitting next to me and his overly frisky girlfriend to his left. I told the story in another thread, but basically, she kept grabbing at his junk during the film and giggling about it, he kept moving away from her (he wanted to watch the film, believe it or not), and his knee kept running into mine. He kept apologizing to me, but this happened every few minutes, and in a three hour plus film, that can get a little bothersome.

The other awful experience I had was when I saw "The Ring" a few years ago. There were three people (two males and a female) around 25 years of age sitting about six rows in front of me. Thankfully, it was stadium seating so I didn't hear too much, but after the film, I turned to my friend and told him "that was the worst audio commentary I've ever heard in my life" right in front of the people who talked through the whole thing.

I'm at a point now where I only go to the theater if it's something I really want to see and cannot wait on seeing. I went to see the new Harry Potter film with a friend just to get out of the house after a long work-week, but the only other film I'll probably end up seeing this summer is the new "Spider Man" film (unless "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" somehow appears around me). To me, it's just too much hassle to deal with the rude and inconsiderate people that populate theaters these days.

I had a rather long rant where I correlated this theater behavior to what I call "the Wal*Mart Mentality", which is related to the pedestrian crosswalks that have basically destroyed the age-old tradition of "look both ways before crossing the street", but it's far too lengthy and unrelated to go into here.

That said, I have had good experiences in a theater. There is nothing like being at the opening showing of "Attack of the Clones" and having 600 people suddenly break out in applause when Yoda walks into the hangar to face Count Dooku, or in any SW film when "A Long Time Ago..." comes up on the screen. Pure magic.
 

BrandonL

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Thats funny that star wars is mentioned. The only really good times I have had at the movies has been when going to the first showing at midnight. I am thinking this is how I will see Spiderman 2.

Oh and about those senior tickets instead of student tickets. I was actually told to do that at the box office for online tickets. So I did and was denied when I walked through. So I went to the ticket counter near the entrance and they wouldn't let me go in with a student id and senior tickets.
 

Lew Crippen

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As do I and as does everyone.

The point is that (or any) pause takes one out of the movie as much as overhearing idle conservation in a theater. Since I don’t often but drinks and food in a theater, I can’t remember the last time I had to leave during a screening.
 

Kevin Grey

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Such distractions don't bother me as long as its me doing the choosing. If I'm watching a movie with someone other than my wife and I have to go I generally won't pause it so I don't ruin the experience for them. Sitting there with a full bladder takes me out of the movie far more than getting up and going to the bathroom. Alas I have a small bladder and its very difficult for me to make it through a film without having to go.

There are distractions at home and distractions in the theater- the difference being distractions at home are much more under my control. Worried about the phone ringing? I can take it off the hook or turn the ringer off. Unfortunately I can't do the same for the people around me in the theater. We don't have kids yet and I imagine thats a big source of distractions in the home environment. Consequently I can't remember the last time I had a movie interrupted at home.

I'm really jealous of everyone who has wonderful theaters to go to where everyone is polite and distractions are at a minimum. I have canvassed my area for quality theaters and at one point was willing to drive an hour for a good theater. Right now we only have three theaters on my "approved list"- everything else is off limits. As it is now, we drive over 30 minutes to the best theater despite there being numerous theaters in between. The theater we go to generally has big screens and excellent sound. Unfortunately the patrons aren't always as excellent.
 

Qui-Gon John

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I avoid going to the theater as much as possible. Some big titles I will see there, LOTR, SW, Harry Potter, etc. And when I do, it's usually the 2nd or 3rd weekend and an early morning show, often my theaters have showing at 10am. These shwoings have a low number of patrons, which helps.
 

Pete-D

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My experiences are the opposite. I'm from Canada but also went to school in Los Angeles so I've sampled a lot of different theaters.

In general the newer theaters are getting better and better IMO. The screens are bigger, the sound is better, the seating is better.

For people who live in smaller cities or towns where this isn't happening I could maybe understand some of the frustration.

Of course there are going to be some interruptions, but I have to admit when I saw Signs opening weekend at Mann's Chinese theater in Hollywood I smiled when an observant guy in front of me noted aloud "that's Night.... that's Night right there" for M. Night Shyamalan's cameo role.

I also saw Harry Potter with a packed house of kids, teens, and adults, and I have to say the experience was fantastic.

You really get a sense of the magic of something like that, when you see it with a crowd like that. I felt like I was a kid again, which is a cliched thing to say perhaps, but even I was a bit surprised by the feeling. There was a definite "buzz" and energy in the air. It was a lot of fun and I doubt I would have had the same experience had I waited until it came out on DVD and watched it alone by myself.
 

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