Roger Ebert lays out why Movie (theaters) suck (1 Viewer)

[Terry Watson]

Happy New Year from Sydney, Australia to all HTF members! Ticket prices in Sydney are now $AUS17 for adults for non 3D and $20 or so for 3D. Very expensive for a family outing. Popcorn etc way overpriced and why anyone would buy at the cinema is beyond me. IMAX close to $30. Seats are allocated or you can book online but there is small booking fee for this service. Projection varies - low light output, out of focus etc. Staff are mostly teenagers. Mobiles are a problem but if you want to complain about any issue it is almost impossible to find someone who gives a rats! No wonder I prefer to watch mostly at home these days - must be getting old!

 

[NY2LA]

I've noticed that on 2K projection but not really on 4K projection; the only time I've seen aliasing with 4K projection is on the white lettering of the greenband screen at the beginning of trailers. The ironic thing is that virtually all of the screens at the local Regal here use 4K Sony projectors now, while the digital IMAX screen that charges such a premium still uses two overlapping 2K projectors to "fake" higher resolution. One thing that has helped the theater experience too is the 3D craze. Most screens at the local multiplexes around here are really silver screens again instead of white matte screens. That's a necessity for 3D films, but it really improves the light for 2D films as well.

stacking projectors is done more for brightness than resolution. And a silver screen doesn't have a great effect on brightness for 2D or 3D. That's not why silver is used. It's for the polarization.

 

[Michael Elliott]

I was at a theater in Louisville the day before Christmas Eve and noticed that all 8 movies playing there were leaving that day and being replaced by another 8. I know they love to rush movies into theaters but this type of thing here is just crazy and it's going to cost me and arm and leg trying to get caught up. 1. Ticket prices are certainly a joke and while I'm trying to go to the movies more, often times I have to really, really, REALLY talk myself into going. Dropping $10 knowing that I can rent 10 movies for that price is something I fight with. $17.50 for IMAX? Never. 2. Cell/Talking.....Like Travis, I have a pretty good feeling one day I'm going to get killed. I'm normally too shy to tell them to shut up but I have had lines crossed during screenings of BLUE VALENTINE and the latest Clooney/Payne movie. I know local theaters have three different ads telling people to stay off their phones but it seems some just don't care or perhaps they're too stupid. Or, most likely, they're just at the movie to kill some time and don't realize/understand that them talking can harm the experience for others. I try to avoid others in the theater so I ait until the week I think a movie is going to be leaving the theater and I go to a late screening. I've probably seen at least ten movies by myself last year, which was nice. A woman I work with has a daughter who is a manager at a local AMC theater and she constantly tells me that the theater hates people who ruin the movie for others. Her daughter had her tell me not to refuse going to this theater. Instead, just walk out and tell them that someone is ruining the movie and they will have the person removed. I told her good idea until you consider that it would take 5-10 minutes to find someone and that's part of the movie you're missing. 3. Food....I go to baseball games and can't understand how someone can afford two $8 beers each inning. I also don't understand how people have the money to pay these prices. Maybe one out of ten times I'll buy a popcorn but I always sneak a drink in. I rarely open the drink unless my throat gets dry and I need it.

 

[Michael Elliott]

One more thing about talkers. I remember several years ago going to a Bob Dylan concert and this couple behind my friends and I kept screaming for us to sit down. These types I usually just ignore since they're unaware that they're at a concert and not a chess match but after six or seven songs of them getting upset I finally turned around and promised to sit down as soon as Bob did. They shut up. After a few talkers in the movies I really thought about doing something like this but instead of saying something to them I'd simply walk in the row in front of the talkers and just stand there blocking the screen from them. I would just stand there bothering them just as they were doing me with their mouths. Of course, this might be where I get shot but so far I haven't built up the guts to do this.

 

[Paul D G]

Originally Posted by Michael Elliott

After a few talkers in the movies I really thought about doing something like this but instead of saying something to them I'd simply walk in the row in front of the talkers and just stand there blocking the screen from them. I would just stand there bothering them just as they were doing me with their mouths.

Heh. I've pondered this too. Like standing in front on them and turning on my cell phone and shining it in their faces. Usually just a 'Turn that damn thing off!' does the trick. It's sometimes echoed by a 'fuck you' but they stop.


I rarely have problems at my theater. I have the good fortune to be able to go during the day while most people are at work. There's usually very few people in the theater with me. Even when it's packed I find most people in my area are respectful of others. There are times tho.


As for complaining about ads before the movie. I, personally, couldn't care less about what they show before the movie. I pay to see a movie and as long as it starts on time and there isn't any technical problems, I'm good. (however, my theater shows 30m promotainment programs so it's not too bad. it's not like they're showing pantine pro v commercials)


Also, to play devil's advocate, I think it's a little unfair to boast how much better your private home theater is compared to a cinema. You build yours to accommodate you and your family. A cinema is built to accommodate 7 screenings a day, 300 people a screening. You can achieve pitch blackness in your basement, but cinemas require lighted stairways and exit signs, for example.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Originally Posted by Paul D G



Heh. I've pondered this too. Like standing in front on them and turning on my cell phone and shining it in their faces. Usually just a 'Turn that damn thing off!' does the trick. It's sometimes echoed by a 'fuck you' but they stop.

My most extreme cell phone talker story:


A couple of years back, I went to a matinee of the latest Harry Potter. A woman came into the theater while still chatting on her phone. No biggie, I thought - it's just the pre-movie "entertainment" - not sure how someone can hear the other person on the line over those loud ads, but hey, it's not really intrusive yet.


The trailers come on - she keeps yapping. Getting more annoying, but mindful of the "Seinfeld" where Elaine tries to shush people talking during previews, I let it go.


The "turn off your phone and shut up!" message comes on - no change.


The WARNER BROS. LOGO hits the screen - still talking!


There were about 10 of us in the theater, and someone else finally asks her to stop talking - I add "THE MOVIE HAS STARTED!!!"


This woman replies (incorrectly) that the movie hasn't started and throws in "fuck all of y'all - you don't know me!!!" (The last comment prompted much future speculation among me and friends about what the heck that was supposed to mean in this context.)


I foresaw additional conflict and the need to drag an usher in to deal with her, but magically, the confrontation shut her up. The phone went off and she behaved in a fully appropriate manner the rest of the way!

 

[Jeff Gatie]

You people need Showcase Lux Level theaters. Pay an extra $10/ticket. Get $5 comp for food and drink. Park in special parking (they brush your car off if it snows), red carpet entrance, comfortable swivel chairs with lots of leg room, high above all the BS of cell phones, talkers, etc. You can even have a beer or a cocktail. Best movie experience ever, and the Showcase theaters around here sell out the Lux Level every night.

 

[cineMANIAC]

Yeah, but how do you keep cell phone crackheads from using their phones for even just one minute when they simply can't (or won't)? You just can't tear some people away from their precious gizmos no matter what you threaten them with..

 

[TravisR]

2. Cell/Talking.....Like Travis, I have a pretty good feeling one day I'm going to get killed.

The few times that I've had to say something, I told myself that they have no clue that I'm not a crazy person & they don't know that I'm actually a pussy and it worked fine. I know if I was a 'bystander' in the theater, I'd be convinced that the guy who told someone to shut up was a dangerous lunatic while the talker was just annoying. On a related note, am I the only who notices that people who text during a movie can't seem to keep their phone in their lap but always seem to have to hold it straight in front of their face? At this point, I'm not even really annoyed by it as much as I'm fascinated that it seems to always happen. Young, old, black, white, male, female- EVERYONE seems to hold their phone directly at eye level.

 

[Richard Kaufman]

Politely telling someone who is talking during the film to "Please stop talking, you're disturbing others" works in some neighborhoods and not in others.You have to be careful who you say it to. Sometimes it's a much better idea just to move to another seat. I always take socio-economic factors into account when deciding what movie theater to go to.

 

[Brett_M]

Politely telling someone who is talking during the film to "Please stop talking, you're disturbing others" works in some neighborhoods and not in others.You have to be careful who you say it to. Sometimes it's a much better idea just to move to another seat. I always take socio-economic factors into account when deciding what movie theater to go to.

I was in a screening once where a guy was talking on his phone and someone near him said "Quiet down and show some respect." The guy on the phone said "Fvck you. I'll kill you motherfvcker." and then proceeded to threaten him with violence quietly (I couldn't hear what he was saying but it was bad.) The patron who asked him to stop got up and walked out, with the phone user following about a minute later.

 

[Everett S.]

stacking projectors is done more for brightness than resolution. And a silver screen doesn't have a great effect on brightness for 2D or 3D. That's not why silver is used. It's for the polarization.

Also silver screens cause hot spots. Any good theatre removes it for 2d. I don,t belive that happens today.

 

[Everett S.]

I was in a screening once where a guy was talking on his phone and someone near him said "Quiet down and show some respect." The guy on the phone said "Fvck you. I'll kill you motherfvcker." and then proceeded to threaten him with violence quietly (I couldn't hear what he was saying but it was bad.) The patron who asked him to stop got up and walked out, with the phone user following about a minute later.

NEVER but NEVER say anything to anyone in a dark theatre, always go to management,if you value your life!

 

[Malcolm R]

I know if I was a 'bystander' in the theater, I'd be convinced that the guy who told someone to shut up was a dangerous lunatic while the talker was just annoying.

Not always. There was an incident in a local theater over the holiday week where someone was talking and wouldn't shut up in the theater. Someone asked him to be quiet and the talker jumped up and started punching the shusher. The talker managed to escape in the ensuing melee and I haven't heard if the police ever caught him. I hate movie theaters. I don't usually have too many problems with talkers, but am constantly irritated by cell phone screens that people cannot leave alone for two hours. Get over yourself. You're not so important that you have to check texts and messages every 15 minutes. One of the local theaters has also had the irritating technical issue of once the previews are done, and the theater's "Welcome/Feature Presentation" reel plays, the movie then does not start. Someone always has to get out of their seat (in near complete darkness, as the projector has shut down), track down a staff person, and it usually takes them about 10 minutes to get the movie going. They're all digital, so I'm not sure what the problem is. This has happened the last two films I've attended a film at this theater.

 

[NY2LA]

Also silver screens cause hot spots. Any good theatre removes it for 2d. I don,t belive that happens today.

They don't bother to remove the 3D filter from in front of the lens for 2D either, making the picture MUCH dimmer than it should be. I've encountered that myself, where the picture was even browner and dimmer than usual (since they also run the projector lamps at lower than standard level to cheap out on replacements).

 

[TravisR]

NEVER but NEVER say anything to anyone in a dark theatre, always go to management,if you value your life!

I understand why people have this attitude and it's probably the right way to go about things (especially if you've got a family) but I'm not going to live in fear of what other people might do. If I'm being inconvienced by someone's rudeness, I'm not going to take it. Just to clarify, I'm not screaming "Shut up!" at anyone who utters a word. It takes a prolonged length of time and high volume to get me to say something but the times that I've told people to be quiet, I've found it to be very effective. I think that people are generally decent but I also think that alot of people today are so self-obsessed that it seems that they need to be reminded that their actions have an effect on everyone around them and when they are reminded, they have no problem acting right. Once again, I just got the bad feeling that this thread is going to be part of a news story when I get shot in a movie theater.

 

[Michael Elliott]

I just don't understand why people pay $30 for a ticket just to sit there and talk. It's a lot cheaper to do that in your car, at home or countless other places. Not to mention I'm sure someone could talk on their cell phone and it not be heard by others. I mean, it is pretty damn loud in a theater but it seems most people are talking loud just to annoy people. I don't recall anyone actually talking on a cell and the texting doesn't bother me too bad. It's usually people talking to one another. A few weeks ago in the Clooney film this older woman came in during the opening credits and for some reason sat two seats from me. I really didn't like her in my space but she can sit where she wants. She started unwrapping candy so loud that my blood began to boil. She then started "talking" to the screen. If Clooney would say something she'd mumble "yeah" or "I agree" or "Oh no" and so on. I did a shhh. Didn't work. I got up and went to the end of my row and I could still hear her a bit but after this there really wasn't anywhere else to go that I wasn't going to be around someone else. I'm also not sure how much management would do at all theaters. I mean, I'm not sure a 15-year-old kid is going to scare a talker if he really is a psycho.

 

[Richard Kaufman]

Some people just can't help themselves--they HAVE to talk. It's no different when they're at home: they keep up a running conversation during a TV show.

 

[Tony J Case]

There's a theater near my house that I only go see movies at now. It's a restaurant/bar theater that has pretty good food for reasonable prices. Being that it's a bar, they don't let anyone under 21 in, they don't run The Twenty (or whatever nonsense theaters run these days) before the show - they run student films instead. The popcorn costs 6 bucks, but it's a HUGE metal bowl of popcorn with REAL butter and not butter flavor. And - the "welcome to the theater" bumper says (in so many words) "No talking and turn off your phone or we WILL THROW YOU OUT!" Yes, they're that blunt about it. So not only have I had an uptick of theater going since they went in, I don't mind it anymore! (Oh, and they dress up for the opening weekend. Like when Thor opened, the waiters and ticket takers all had hammers or viking helmets on).

 

[Tony J Case]

But, in the theater -I- was in, between the back row (where I was) and the row below me was A WALL.  I am not kidding, A WALL.   That stood about 3 ft., and as a result, the bottom of the screen - about a foot and a half of the visible screen all the way across was chopped - you couldn't see it.    So, what happened?   Everyone near me in the back row ended up putting their legs under themselves in the barcoloungers just so we could be "higher then the wall" and see the damn film.

They're just pre-pan and scanning the film for you? (Eh, the joke would have been funnier in 1998. . . .)