GRRRRR "The real movie experience" is it really worth it? Share your rants too! (1 Viewer)

[RickRO]

Went with the family yesterday to see 8 Below (good family movie BTW) and was completely annoyed at all of the other movie goers. Has just about everybody lost or completely disregarded common courtesy nowadays?

One couple brought their 6 mo. baby that was consistently crying giggling cooing etc. etc. etc. and when it was doing this mom and dad were shushing it which was just as annoying as the sounds coming from the infant finally the baby fell asleep!

Then there was the elderly couple that were sitting right behind me narrating the movie for me as though I couldn't figure it out for myself. And he must have been hard of hearing due to the volume he was talking at.

The endless passes of the kids three rows back to the concession stand 12 times!!!! Not to mention the kids two rows in front of us playing, dancing in the isle!

I guess I could go on.....there were several times I thought about saying something to the manager......but I guess I just did not have much faith in the teenage manager to do much to rectify the problems.

I can remember going to the movies and it truly was an "experience" now going to the movies seems to be an experience, but not one that I enjoy.

Can't wait until I get my HT done so that I can have the "movie experience" the good one I remember at home!!!

Just an overall bad experience so though I'd rant here, figured that there were others that could appreciate my misery!!!!

 

[Linda Thompson]

The last time I set foot in a movie theater was for THE X-FILES - FIGHT THE FUTURE. Before that, YOUNG GUNS 2. Before that, the second STAR TREK film.

Why? All the reasons you just mentioned.

I can't even imagine what it must be like these days, with cell phones and other gadgetry added into the already ridiculously discourteous (read: just plain RUDE) mix.

You are not alone in your disdain for this so-called "experience". I know some still love it, and that's great for them. But, for me...no more.

 

[DaveF]

Lots of threads on this topic in the Movies section. Here's some to enjoy.
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=247300

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=242528

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=248245

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=237417

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=87338

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=229833

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=219928

 

[RickRO]

Dave thanks for those threads....just did not know where exactly to post this sort of thing!!

Anybody else want to chime in? Nice to know we are not alone in the "movie theater" experience.

 

[Al.Anderson]

For the reasons that've been mentioned, I won't go during peak hours anymore. Friday nights, Saturday and Sunday after 1:00 are out. That usually keeps the disruptions to a minimum.

For movies that are important to me I go early weekday afternoons. Took the kids out of school at 2:00 to see LOTR, Spiderman, and Harry Potter. (Spiderman and HP aren't important to me! But the kids humored me for LOTR, so I thought it was fair.)

Come to think of it though, now that my wife's working that won't work anymore. Damn!

 

[todd s]

My thoughts are in a bunch of those threads linked to above. Its really ridiculous.

 

[DonRoeber]

I must be lucky,we rarely have any issues when we go to the movies. Sure, sometimes kids are a bit noisy when we're at the opening night Harry Poter showing, but hey, what do you expect? It's worth it though when you look over and see an 11 year old kid on the edge of his seat and glued to the screen in fascination, even if he's not your own kid.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

RickRO:

Apparently all of the people you describe hopped a plane for Florida right after the movie, because I swear they were in church with me on Sunday morning.

Manners stopped existing in this country when the school-yard cry of "you're not the boss of me" became the national motto, sometime in the mid-60s. When the prime viture became expressing yourself, and it was declared a mortal sin for society to collectively express its disapproval of anything, the possibility of shaming the rude into silence, or into leaving, vanished forever.

Two quotations (or paraphrases - I'm working from memory here)

On being free and unconstrained by society:

"Some people believe that you should disdain convention and just let the inner you come through without artifice. If there are places on your body where this is possible, you are not attractive - you are leaking." -- Fran Leibowitz

On the futility of trying to shame someone in the modern world:

"If you call a celebrity a drunkard, wife-beater, adulterer and drug addict you haven't insulted him. You've just proved you read his autobiography." - P. J. O'Roarke



Regards,

Joe

 

[BrettGallman]

The last movie I went to had a crying baby too. The movie? Final Destination 3.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

That one baffles me. My sister had three little ones in diapers at the same time. (Which meant she also had three in college at the same time, but that's another nightmare.) When she and my brother-in-law wanted to go to the movies, they got a sitter. If they couldn't get a sitter while a given picture was in the theaters they waited for it to arrive on cable or VHS. On Sundays they generally didn't go to church as a family until the kids were old enough to actual sit there quietly and behave. (I believe this was age 29 in my nephew's case. ) Each went to a different service alone or with friends while the other stayed home with the kids. Sometimes they swapped kids with another couple from their church so each pair could go together while the other watched all the kids. It is amazing what you can accomplish for the common good when you put a little thought into it.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Michael Reuben]

Too broad a brush, at least for the present subject. I went to movies all through the 70s and never had the kind of problems described in this thread or the numerous others on the topic (see the list assembled above).

Manners at the movie theater began to degenerate, ironically enough, with the VCR and, ultimately, the home theater revolution. The habits developed in the living room or den get carried over into public spaces, and the results are felt far and wide.

Cell phones gave it another push, by further eroding the sense of boundary between personal and private space. But that's a separate group of "rant" threads.

M.

 

[RyanAn]

I would like to add this from the opposite side of the table... for anyone...

Don't blame the manager, the staff, or the theatre. If you want to complain, do it at that time and not 15 minutes after the movie is over. Blame them if you ask them to fix the situation and they don't, not if you age discriminate and assume that they won't care. Everyone has to start a job sometime. I work at a movie theatre and I work my butt off to provide the best atmosphere I can for the customer. I'm an avid film watcher and I know what it is like to have a bad expierence, but you don't see me blaming other people besides the people who are doing it.

There are things you can do to almost guarantee that you won't have as much of a hassle next time. Don't see a matinee movie on a Saturday at 11:20 or a busy holiday weekend. True, you should not have to comprimise your viewing expierence, but neither should anyone else. Kids will get excited if they see something excited, they will also cry if they see something bad happen to something they love. Keeping things bottled up is not going to solve anything.

Ryan

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

But, as my church comment indicated, this is hardly a problem restricted to movie theaters. Courtesy has been steadily declining on the sidewalks, the roads, in the office, in the media, in parking lots and in the check-out line for many years. The clueless behavior of many clods at the movies is just an aspect of a larger problem. I said that the problem began in the mid-60s, but agree that it didn't reach critical mass in the mainstream of society until the mid-70s - which coincided with the rise advent of the VCR and movie rentals. It isn't like things must (or even generally do) have a single cause.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Michael Harris]

Very timely considering that CBS Sunday Morning had a story about the decline of manners yesterday.

As for this thread, check out yeterday's Ebert "Answer Man" column.

 

[RickRO]

Ryan



Agreed again to a point........

I had the pleasure of going to see HP Goblet of Fire with my wife and two children and it was opening weekend at the mid afternoon showing ie. packed, packed, packed. I really enjoyed the film and hearing the oooooohhhhhhhs and aaaaaahhhhhhs during the film and the squeals during the dragon chase from the children and adults. This type of interaction I LIKE IN THE MOVIE EXPERIENCE IT IS WHAT MAKES GOING TO THE MOVIES "GOING TO THE MOVIES". I like when the audience is tied together with the film and we all make that collective gasp or sigh! However the children that made the aforementioned runs to the concessions stand wasn't so much the frequency but how the did it. Running up the steps, running down the steps being very loud and disruptive. This is what I'm talking about. In fact I love going to the theater with my children and in fact I usually encourage them to bring along a friend however I expect my children adn their friends to WATCH THE MOVIE AND TO RESPECT THE OTHER MOVIE GOERS. I don't think that is TOO much to ask from ANYONE.


Again Ryan not picking on you, just that you brought up some issues that I could use.

Sorry sooooo long!

 

[RyanAn]

I was refering to Eight Below...

When two of the dogs died, and Maya almost bit the dust
people were crying. Mostly children, and they were loud as heck. Whether I'm on the clock or just enjoying the film, I'm not going to stop them from being emotional. When the leopard seal
came out, everyone was arguably scared out of their gord, and loud for the next few minutes. Kids were balling, but there was no way I could be ticked at them. They are emotional and children. They are not setting out to ruin your viewing expierence. I can understand when you say they should not be running up the stairs, on a phone, etc. That's understandable.

Ryan

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I've generally been lucky with movie audiences, with the occassional irritating person.
The recent notable exception however was at The Matador where the man in the row in front of my friends and I yelled at us for laughing at a punchline after giving us dirty looks for laughing at previous jokes of the movie! The man laughed not once during the movie, but ten minutes after yelling at us for laughing at a comedy decided to pull out his cellphone and illuminate half the theater while he played around with it.

 

[Lew Crippen]

There have been many, many threads on this topic. I basically don’t dispute that public behavior is different that it was when I was young. But still, I generally have an excellent experience at the movies. So much so that I detailed a week’s experience here.

Perhaps Dallas is just a more civilized place than Indiana.

 

[RickRO]

Lew whew! What a thread......you were very busy wern't you?




Well my great state's motto is Hoosier Hospitality....but I guess that only applies to out of staters soooo you should be fine!

I normally don't have such bad experiences but Saturday was just too much not to vent somewhere.

As others have stated the lack of consideration is evident just about everywhere. From the streets, sidewalks, corner pub, and don't even get me started about grocery stores. HEY LADY THE SIGN SAYS EXPRESS LANE FOR A REASON!!!!!

The more I go out the more I like to stay at home and play on the computer!

 

[Lew Crippen]

Retirement is great!