Movie audiences....Getting worse?? (1 Viewer)

[MarkHastings]

You know you're getting old when you start hating teenagers

 

[EdHoch]

Phil (post #21) I'm with you. It's incredible to me that parents bring their young children to PG-13 and even R rated movies. Completely irresponsible.

Went to see Spider-Man on opening weekend, the crowd was fine, no cell phones, or talking that I remember. However, I do remember seeing many very young kids (3-4-5) at this screening...and I was never more aware of them than during the final battle between Spidey and the Goblin, a brutal fight with blood flowing fairly freely for the rating, and then the bad guy gets impaled
some did get upset and had to leave...

Now, to play armchair sociologist for a minute, I wonder if the lack of decorum displayed by movie audiences nowadays (which drives me nuts too, but I still like the vibe of an opening weekend) is due, at least in part, to the home video revolution. People have gotten used to watching movies at home, where they can talk, get up, make phone calls etc, some so much so that they fail to make the distinction when they go to the "cinema."

I seem to recall, back in the seventies (pre-VCR) it wasn't as bad. There was always the chance the you ended up with someone talking during the movie, but it seems more prevalent now. (Maybe it was just as bad and I'm simply looking back with rose colored glasses....)

 

[todd s]

I remember seeing Jurassic Park. And some guy brought his 4 or 5 yr old son. When the T-Rex attacked the kids was terrified. And the father laughed it off. As a father of 3. I would never put my kids in that situation. And if they do go to a movie where they act up. I shush them and if that doesn't work I take them out.

 

[Jan Strnad]

Some theaters used to have "quiet rooms" that were enclosed rooms where parents could take their wailing babies. These rooms disappeared as the trend became cramming as many seats/bodies into the available space as possible.

Now that deluxe theaters are making a comeback, maybe we'll see more quiet rooms. It needn't even be within view of the screen...a nice widescreen plasma display would be fine.

Hey, does anyone remember the old live shows held at movie theaters around Halloween, where they'd show a bad movie and actors in monster costumes would "terrorize" the audience? Maybe they should revive the concept for The Hulk! Have some bodybuilder in green makeup rage through the theater smashing cell phones and throwing annoying people down the aisles!

Jan

 

[Krystian C]

I have to wonder if the behavior of people in theaters is directly related to ticket prices in some way. It is damn expensive nowadays. $8.50 (here in Canada) per ticket, at a bare minimum $10+ for concession per person. So for a couple to go see a flick your looking at almost $40, and that's just for a couple. So they feel they have paid their cash, why the hell should they care what anyone else thinks, they will talk, answer the phone, whatever they want. Ticket prices for a year or so were up to $13.50 here. Don't know if it my imagination, but crowds seem to be even worse then.

Anyway, my biggest problem at the theater is we ALWAYS!!! get the seat kicker. I swear I must have a kick my friggin chair aura around me because no matter where in Canada or the US we have seen movies we find them. We were on vacation last summer and on our way to Toronto we caught Outlaws at Mall of America. The theater had about 20 people in it, right before the lights go down, 2 teens come and sit right behind us! For Christ sake there are about 350 empty seats, go somewhere else! So a few minutes into the trailer it starts and about ever few minutes after that, no amount of annoyed learing would stop it, it got to the halfway point and we actually got up and moved down about 4 seats.

On a lighter note, had the crap scared out of me at at theater in Toronto. Can't remember what we were seeing, but the seating was really tight, almost no leg room. The theater again was almost empty, I had my legs crossed and my foot was inches from the chair ahead of us. Halfway through the flick, the woman ahead of us stretched and passed her hand through her hair, well don't know what she was thinking, I guess her hand brushed my sandle, so she reaches back to find out what it is, and grabbed my toes spot on. I damn near jumped out of my skin, her fingers were like ice, and we were at a tense point in the movie as well. I actually yipped out loud. She jumped as well, then turned beat red out of embarrassment and proceeded to apologize for the next 5 mins. Too funny.

Krys

 

[MarkHastings]

Krystian, you're story reminds me of the time I saw "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" in the theater. The movie didn't scare me half as much as the young girls who would scream at the top of their lungs during the tense moments.

todd said:

I shush them and if that doesn't work I take them out.

I wish more parents were this understanding. Too many parents have that attitude like "I have to listen to the kid cry all the time, so you shouldn't be upset about listening to him for a few hours." :rolleyes

Kind of like what Krystian mentioned about the ticket price. I'm sure many parents (with crying kids) think "I paid too much money to leave". So their selfishness ruins the movie for everyone else

 

[Aaron Cohen]

Thomas, I'm sorry but I have no respect for someone whose cellphone goes off in a movie theatre and they don't rush out of the theatre screaming or start sobbing because someone has died. Those two circumstances I can understand. But everyone who goes to the theatre knows they should have their cellphone off. For them to leave it on is just them being an ignorant and arrogant asshole.

 

[Aaron Cohen]

The people I have the most problem with are "hot" girls. They just there moaning about how much they want to blow the lead actor or what not, what they're getting from their boyfriend later tonight at his house, etc. etc. etc. They think they own the world. They also leave the theatre repeatedly sometimes coming back 10 or 11 times during the showing, other times leaving for good. It's sickening. Someone needs to put them in their place and tell them to stop going behind the theatre when they get bored and giving random guys blowjobs. These pieces of crap really upset me.

 

[Bill J]

I think a main reason is that people simply have different priorities. The majority of the audience does not care if they miss a few lines of dialogue or even an entire scene. Unfortunately they think everyone feels the same way they do and don't see themselves as a distraction.

 

[Steve Phillips]

Those people should pick up a movie at Blockbuster, talk all they want in their living rooms and spare the rest of us who didn't pay $9.00 to hear them.

 

[MarkHastings]

Someone needs to put them in their place and tell them to stop going behind the theatre when they get bored and giving random guys blowjobs.

I oughta start going to more movies!

 

[Zenas]

What a great thread! My own theater experiences have been a mix of good and bad. Mainly good, but the bad ones do seem to stick out. When I went with my family to see Jet Li's "The One" (alright movie w/ great action!), there was this teenage guy sitting a couple rows behind us who had a consistent running commentary (at HIGH volume) for his friends, complete w/ swearing, going throughout the movie. I almost got up to kick the guy in the face! (Must have a bit of Gamma in my blood too... )

Also, when we went to see Spiderman, there was this person behind me who kept kicking my seat. And they were some really hard kicks too! I'm not entirely sure what pleasure people get out of kicking the seats of the people in front of them... it's horribly irritating for the kicked!

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

I'm not entirely sure what pleasure people get out of kicking the seats of the people in front of them... it's horribly irritating for the kicked!

As has been pointed out previously, some people just get their jollies by being an annoying ass wherever they go. Knowing that it irritates you only fuels their childish behavior.

While wanting to confront the troublemakers is all fine and good, it won't change anything. They'll just double their efforts because now they know they're under your skin. I think the only solution is to take this up to the management level. More than complaining, you have to demand your money back or free tickets. Of course, you have to leave whatever film you're watching (I doubt you'd get passes or a refund if you stay for the entire film and then lodge a complaint). It's very apparent that managers only care about one thing: profits. If they continue to lose money because people are being rude and disruptive and people want their money back because they didn't enjoy the movie because of it, I'd think they'd figure out a way to put a clamp on these bozos. Whatever it takes, we have to hit the theater managers in the wallet. That is the only way change is going to happen.

Bruce

 

[Dan Rudolph]

My advice is carry a stun-gun. Those things can do wonders.

 

[Travis Olson]

I make an effort to go the theater at times when most people won't, midnight on a weekday, preferably Wednesday. Audiences these days are downright horrible. With people talking, kids screaming, cell phones ringing, back of your chair getting kicked, sticky floors etc; the list goes on and on. It's such a pain in the ass now that I basically only go to movies I really, really want to see. I wouldn't mind if they just did away with theaters and made the movies available on DVD right away.

 

[streeter]

When I went to see About Schmidt, the theater was filled with senior citizens. Not 80-90+ people, but age 65-75, who do not understand the concept of 'whispering.'

There was one guy who, when he came in, talked to his wife about the $6 ticket price. He didn't get a senior discount because it was a matinee. "Bastards."

Also, early on when Jack Nicholson was on-screen, he said "that guy looks like..." and he couldn't figure out who he looked like. About ten minutes later, he said to his wife "Ernest Borgnine."

I can only hope that I don't turn out like that.

 

[Dave_Brown]

Two annoying theater experiences for me in the past 6 months or so. One was when I was watching Matrix Reloaded while out of town on business. Theater was somewhat full but not packed as it was week three or so of release. Well some foreign couple sat next to me and annoyance number one was the terrible B.O. comming off of them. Even a few seats over I could smell it. So I got up and moved even further down. Then when the movie started it turns out only the husband could speak english so he began, rather loudly, to translate the entire dialogue to his wife! I sat there in disbelief, then quiet anger and finally had enough. After a couple angry glares and finally a hissed "shut up!" didn't do any good, I had to get the manager and asked for free tickets to a later show. I explained why, he gave them to me and I hope he went in to check out the situation himself.

Instance number two involved a teenage chair kicker who seemed to get pleasure out of pissing me off. I asked him polietly (even called him sir to try to ease the situation) to stop and he just laughed and continued to bump my seat, laugh and say "oops, sorry" every single time. I got up and made it look like I was leave, grabbed my coat and everything. What he didn't know was I moving to the seat directly behind him. Waited about ten-fifteen minutes and WHAM-0!! Like I was putting up a 65 yard field goal into the wind. No problems from there on out. Did I mention I have passive/aggresive tendencies when angered?

 

[MarkHastings]

Dave_Brown, ROCK ON! Too bad you didn't put on cleats and kick him in the back of the head. I'm sure a gaping wound would stop him from ever doing it again...OH WAIT! I forgot, some people are too STUPID to learn lessons.

 

[Aaron Cohen]

Hey Mark, the same thing happens to me but with friends. When I'm watching a dvd with a friend or friends and one needs to get up to use the bathroom or they need to get food or drinks or whatnot they love to say "you don't need to pause it". Most of the time this will be a movie that I have already seen that I was wanting to show them. Sometimes they even go leave and pick up food from Mcdonalds and remind me that I don't need to pause it!!! Perhaps I should find new friends? When someone leaves and tells me that I don't need to pause the movie that to me leaves me thinking that they just said "This movie, sucks, why am I wasting my time watching it, I'm going to try to keep myself interested over here, hey Aaron's girlfriend, want to come over and blow me?"

I mean, what the crap. Just watch the damn movie. You can screw my girlfriend later after you get her drunk!

The real message of this post is that I don't have a girlfriend and am available. Thanks for your time.

I can't stand going to movies in the theatre anymore. Everytime I would leave pissed off at one or more aspects of the showing and I just decided I'd had enough.

 

[Francois Caron]

Of course, you have to leave whatever film you're watching (I doubt you'd get passes or a refund if you stay for the entire film and then lodge a complaint).

Actually, I magaed to get free passes for another showing after a group of people behind me ruined "Tomorrow Never Dies". I ended up giving the tickets to a co-worker because I realized there and then that I was fed up with movie theaters altogether.