Man in China sues after ads delay movie by four minutes (1 Viewer)

[Mark Zimmer]

If they're going to make me watch ads, they should at least entertain me with the John Waters "No Smoking in this Theater" PSA. That thing made me laugh more than most comedies, every time I saw it.

 

[Kevin P]

Then about halfway through the movie, the screen turned blue, and the words "Side A Ended" appeared on the upper right hand side of the screen. Then followed by "Open", "Closing", and finally "Playing Side B". Yes, this was at a theater with a silver screen.

They claim to be a movie theater and they don't even have a 2-sided laserdisc player?

 

[MikeM]

I wonder if the timing being off in the theater also threw off the timing of the bootleg VCD that was created during the movie.

 

[Todd Hochard]

The last film I went to see was The Two Towers. It was supposed to start at 6:30 p.m. After the 5 minutes of "tv commercials" and 5 minutes of theatrical trailers, the film started at 6:40 or so.

When I went, the commercials started at 6:30 sharp. The movie started at 6:57. No kidding. We timed it.

I hope he wins, and it gets made into international law. I, too, am tired of advertising everywhere I go.

Todd

P.S. Eve scares me.

 

[KyleS]

The last film I went to see was The Two Towers. It was supposed to start at 6:30 p.m. After the 5 minutes of "tv commercials" and 5 minutes of theatrical trailers, the film started at 6:40 or so.

I am another that experience almost 30 minutes of coming attraction before the 2 towers(which I dont mind), Ads for the military etc (which I hate), and then the Movie Theaters ads. I am almost to the point where I am thinking of showing up for movies at least 15 minutes after the regular start time so that I dont have to sit through the crap.

KyleS

 

[ThomasC]

Jimmy Fallon commented on this during Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live. This isn't verbatim, but close enough:
"In China, a man sued a movie theater after a movie started four minutes late. In related news, several Americans sued the makers of Kangaroo Jack because the movie started."

 

[Karl_O]

I am surprised that such a suit exist in a country where it was once very dangerous to bring a lawsuit into court. Remember, traditionally, the Chinese dealt with disputes through a mediator as according to Confucian philosophy. They face severe punishment if they bring suits in front of a magistrate, as civil courts did not exist until more recently.

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

Gee, I didn't realize that the theaters in my area were so great compared to the rest of the country and the world. When I went to see The Two Towers, there were trailers for: X-Men 2, Dumb and Dumberer, Bad Boys 2, and I think that was all (I'm looking at a list of upcoming movies and none of them refresh my memory). Then came the Dolby aurora trailer, followed by the goofy animated theater chain trailer, and then the feature. There were no TV commercials for non-movie things.

 

[Joseph S]

"The theatre-going public has made a contract with the cinema after buying a ticket - the time printed on the ticket is the screening time according to the contract agreement," associate professor Liu Zhihui at the China University of Political Science and Law said.

"In this case the cinema actually broke the contract with the audience.

"I think the compensation for the loss caused by such a delay should be equal to the benefit that the cinema got through screening the adverts."

When you buy a ticket for a sporting event they put 7:05 or whatever the start time is. They're usually correct +/- 30 seconds and time changes are published and announced.

When we go to the movies we don't have a clue when it is going to start. You buy a ticket for 7:35 and it may start at 7:35, but more often than not it won't start until 7:55. There's absolutely no way to plan for this. Set a time and stick to it!

 

[Dewitte]

If you want less commercials, talk to the studios for starters. As they demand more and more of the ticket price, theaters are faced with losing more and more money. To make up for the lost revenue, they started showing commercials.

De

 

[Dan Hine]

I cannot believe this thread got to post #30 before someone seemed to understand WHY there are commercials. I'm not condoning them...they bug me a little. But movie theaters keep somewhere around 20-30% of the ticket price. I've not ever paid more than $7 for a ticket. So they get ,maximum, $1.40-2.10 per ticket? That's not a lot of money. Now, I understand that different theaters charge more for tickets but chances are they pay for more for things like utilities, concessions, pay scale for employees (maybe), etc..

The only place theaters really make any money is at concessions (and maybe the video games). Yet everyone wants a perfect picture, perfect sound, and the most knowledgeable and competent employees. If you want these things you're going to have to pay for it. And the ticket price is NOT going to cut it. Yes, it sucks, but don't blame the theaters...talk to the studios.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

I fully understand why Theaters show ads. But they do it ON MY TIME. Show them until the start time, and then kick in the trailers. They are getting paid for my time, and use is to charge someone else to shill some crap to me ON MY TIME. Do it on THEIR TIME. I don't mind the ads...just the placement.

Yes, it's the principle. In a perfect world, the greedy studios would better share the profit to support moviegoing. Hah! That would allow the theater some coin itself.

Quit paying the idiots $20M a pic, and we might get somewhere. They should all get a backend...pay for play.

But that's another rant.

Don't shill ON MY TIME.

Take care,
Chuck

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Find the theaters in your area that *don't* show ads and support them instead.

 

[Karl_O]

I am somewhat surprised that such a lawsuit exist in a country that historically does not encourage lawsuits. Legal disputes are settled between the parties and it was very dangerous for the parties to have their disputes in front of the local magistrate who may severely punish them for bring them to him.
The Chinese for many centuries had a dislike for the law, and they see legal disputes as "unharmonious" according to Confucian doctrine.

 

[Todd Hochard]

Find the theaters in your area that *don't* show ads and support them instead.

Everyone's going to have to come to my house then, because I don't know of any other. Two bucks, two bucks, you can't come in, two bucks...
Maybe the Enzian art-house, but you can be sure they won't be showing The Two Towers.

 

[Dan Hine]

I fully understand why Theaters show ads. But they do it ON MY TIME. Show them until the start time, and then kick in the trailers. They are getting paid for my time, and use is to charge someone else to shill some crap to me ON MY TIME. Do it on THEIR TIME. I don't mind the ads...just the placement.

Chuck,
Yes, I can see where you are coming from. I guess I just get a little jumpy when I see people complain about ticket costs while still wanting the absolute 100% best movie experience and then compare it to their homes. I spend a good bit of time making my system perform as well as it can. Now, if I had 22screens, 3 concession stands and a ticket booth to keep running at least decent...well, I think I'd be charging even more than $10/ticket.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Todd, the independent chain I work for - based in New Jersey, sorry - doesn't run anything beyond a trailer or two and a policy snipe.

 

[Philip_G]

I fully understand why Theaters show ads. But they do it ON MY TIME. Show them until the start time, and then kick in the trailers. They are getting paid for my time, and use is to charge someone else to shill some crap to me ON MY TIME. Do it on THEIR TIME. I don't mind the ads...just the placement.

I used to run the ads 5 minutes early, people bitched, I got in trouble.

 

[MichaelPe]

I'm not the most punctual guy in the world, so I usually arrive at the theater close to the end of the trailers just seconds before the film starts. So... I don't mind commercials.