"The 20" Previews before the actual movie itself, in theaters (1 Viewer)

[todd stone]

What do you all think of this?

IMO it's better then watching the same ol' trivia questions on the screen before a movie, but a bunch of the stuff they show is just downright silly.

I would much rather see footage that is related to "movies" and not videogames or stand-up comics.

Show us some behind the scenes from different movies, or how the score to a movie was created etc. HECK we are AT THE MOVIES, at least stay in tune!

 

[Jean D]

Your theater probably does the same thing, but around here we have commercials and advertising mixed in with those things. Honestly, I didnt PAY my money to see any kind of marketing cramed down my throat before a movie. I think if they are gonna be greedy and sell marketing time as well as tickets then they shouldn't charge as much for tickets. Thats one of the reasons I dont go to movies anymore. its not fun. People talk during movies, ussually (depending on the theater) the video and sound quality isnt as good as my home theater. If, however I do go to the movies, Im sure to show up a couple minutes late to miss all the crap. Anyone else feel this way?

 

[Patrick McCart]

I wouldn't mind the cheesy pre-show stuff as long as theatres started having a real opening again.

Give us some advertising, at the cost of also including a cartoon, a serial, a novelty short, and perhaps a trailer or two.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Unfortunately, most patrons of theatres today don't want shorts. When we used to occasionally throw on a Warner Bros. cartoon on a shorter comedy or family feature, we'd get a lot of complaints "When's the *real* movie gonna start?".

You should come to one of my Saturday classic matinees, Patrick. You'll (usually) get a serial chapter, a cartoon, a trailer, a feature, and a pre-show organ concert on the Mighty Wurlitzer. And no advertising, ever. It's worth a road trip from Georgia - I've had folks come from as far away as California for a show.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I had my first experience with "The 20" this weekend and thought it was fine. It ended right at the time the ticket advertised for the main feature, so it's not like it added to the length of the experience. They can run whatever they want BEFORE ticket time, but AFTER that period, I just want trailers and the movie!

 

[Richard_D_Ramirez]

I wouldn't really call "The 20", "crammed down your throat" advertising. You are free to watch it, walk out, get popcorn, use the restroom, whatever. They call it "The 20", because it airs 20 minutes BEFORE the ticketed showtime.

8^B

 

[Ted Lee]

exactly. i actually appreciate having something to zone on *before* the movie starts. heck, i actually tivo'd the 5ive to midnight thing just to check it out.

and no, i'm not the kind of guy who has to buy gum at the impulse isle.

anyway, it's better then the stupid slide shows they always have.

 

[Raymond_H]

When I first saw "The 20" it was pretty cool. But after about the 10th time watching the same spots on every movie you see, it gets kinda annoying.

No biggie really though, as I just chill in the lounge or whatever until the movie starts, but the times where I go to the theater alone, it does get a little redundant.

I remember hating those damn TNT drama spots....


Ray

 

[Thomas Newton]

I disagree. They show the advertising precisely because they have a captive audience. Paying $9.50 and then waiting until the last second to go into the theater is very frequently a way to ensure that you get a bad seat. When I go to the movies, it is generally because I want to have a good time, not because I want to face a lose-lose choice between being spammed and being inconvenienced.

The slideshow ads are often full of slides promoting the theater advertising, and encouraging more advertisers to join up. Very reminiscent of early e-mail spam, where a large percentage of the spam was about how you too could obtain the tools to become a spammer!

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

A new Century theatre opened up near me and one of their big perks they were advertising was "no commercials or ads before the movie." Sounds like a dream right? Not to me. I went and all they had was a blank screen with elevator music playing. Then at the ticket time, the trailers started and after that we got....a COMMERCIAL followed by ads for the theatre.

I much prefer Regals "The 20" as it is something to watch if you are bored or by yourself, but it isn't obnoxious that you can't ignore it. But after it, all you get are trailers and then the movie starts right up.

A side note about this new theatre, all the screens are THX certified which is another big thing they advertised, yet the main screen I watched it on, whenever someone would open the door to the upper level you would get a giant white glare covering half the screen plus you would get a nice outline of the person walking in! Who the hell let that get by certification? I wanted to report it to THX.com but they no longer do the report a theatre thing. I've done it before to a theatre that had THX advertised everywhere but was lacking the quality I thought it should be up to. They no longer have a THX certification.

Anyway, preshowtime advertising, entertainment is ok with me, but after that ticket time comes I want nothing but trailers and the movie.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Here's why "The 20" didn't bother me: the lights in the theater remained on and the sound wasn't too loud. As such, one could easily chat with a friend while you waited - you weren't stuck watching the stuff if you didn't want to do so. Hell, I was solo at the theater and had a book. The lights were bright enough and "The 20" unassuming enough that I happily read while I waited.

Lots of pre-movie commercials ARE loud and annoying and a pain. "The 20" doesn't fit that bill, at least not as I experienced it over the weekend. I dislike commercials at theaters - if they start after ticket time. "The 20" is inobtrusive, and sort of entertaining at times...

 

[TheLongshot]

I'll say that I'd rather have "The 20" than some of the other ads that eat into the running time of a film. I've accepted that ads in the theater are here to stay, no matter what I think. As long as you aren't wasting my time, I don't care.

Course, some are annoyed about the 10-15 minutes of trailers in front of every movie. Personally, I don't mind, since I want to see them anyways, but it annoys my wife sometimes...

Jason

 

[Sam Favate]

Absolutely not true, at least not in New Jersey. Here, the 20 minutes of commercials, announcements and previews begin at the movie's assigned time. I've been to theaters all over the state, and its the same everywhere I go. Inexcusable.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

You sure that you are watching "The 20" and not just a different chains string of commercials? The purpose of "The 20" is to play before the ticket time, basically a countdown to it. There's no way they start "The 20" at the ticket time, it would be almost 30+ minutes past ticketime before the movie started.

I believe "The 20" is exclusive to Regal Cinemaas and United Artist theatres. Not sure who else plays it.

 

[GrantM]

Wow, that sucks. That wasn't the case the one time I've seen "The 20".
I much prefer it to lame advertising and movie trivia slides. And it is INFINITELY better than 99% of the music I've heard in theaters. I don't think I've ever heard a good song in a theater.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Since the ONLY place I've seen "The 20" is in New Jersey, you can't make a blanket claim that it starts at ticket time in that state. As someone else mentioned, I think you may confuse generic ads/whatnot for a program specifically called "The 20".

 

[Ken Chan]

The Regal Entertainment Group also includes Edwards, and they just bought Signature. Both of those might be more west coast.

I find The Twenty mildly annoying. The whole advertising to captive audiences is just wrong on principle. At least it is before the ticket time, though.