Five Ways To Improve the Theatrical Experience - Page 4

I felt so bad for the poor bastard that hat to sit next to the couple with the stroller containing their 6mo old at a recent packed showing of Avatar. A stroller! Babies should be banned from all theaters regardless of the rating.

To all the parents that bring their babies to the theater: FUCK YOU!

I've lived that far too many times Kane, Parents should know that they lose certain freedoms once they become new parents... Someone brought a 2 yr old when I saw Avatar..needles to say that kid did not last it past the credits.

A buddy of mine who worked in a cinema once had two teen mothers bring their 6ish month olds with a pair of strollers into see some flick (I forget what it was, some Apatow comedy I think).

He said that since they parked the two strollers in the only available handicapped spot in the theatre, he was forced to persuade a dude in a wheelchair to see the film at a later showing because the other ushers didn't want to ask the girls to move their prams!

I hope the guy in the wheelchair was able to see any film he wanted for FREE for the rest of the year..

While I was at Purdue, the theater near campus has a few "couples" chairs...pretty much like a love seat. Well, they were always used up by the most obese people you've ever seen. In turn I've never ever sat in those chairs.. Great idea though.

sorry dude but i have to disagree. Sure keep it low, but if something strikes me as funny, i'm going to laugh. Not hysterically like a hyena, but if its funny, i'm laughing.

Almost got beat up by a bunch of women doing that during titanic.

Laughter is (or is supposed to be) an involuntary mechanism. Can't fault someone for genuinely laughing. But when it's forced, especially in a movie theater, it should be punished. And when it's on the 23rd floor, it's a delightful play.

I totally agree. If you think the movie's bad, do what I do: walk out and get a refund.

The people who laugh disparagingly during a movie aren't doing it involuntarily, generally speaking. They're loudly expressing their disapproval of the film, and by extension, making sure that everybody knows what they think. That's obnoxious.

I am actually guilty of this, I admit. I went to a free advance screening of New Moon at the Cinerama JUST to see if I would be the only one cracking up at choice moments.

I was.

In a theater full of girls that squealed at everything. I feared for my life.

Not really.

But I'd like to think that while I was at the theater voluntarily, the laughter was at least somewhat involuntary. Hehe.

I've never really understood seeking a refund for a bad movie. Bad projection or sound or some other thing that is the theater's fault, I can see getting a refund for that. The movie itself being bad always strikes me as a $7-13 lesson in not trusting marketing.

Well, if you can tell early into the movie that it's not gonna be something worth sticking around for, I think walking out and asking for a refund is ok. Within reason, of course.

I've never done this, so I have no idea if a theater would humor such a request.

I'm pretty sure some of them will. I'd never do it, because it's not the theater's fault that the movie is shitty.

Well, if you feel bad about punishing the theater for a studio/filmmaker's shitty movie, I suppose you can just ask if you could go to a different film playing in the theater in exchange.

But this is just too hypothetical for me. I don't see myself ever being in a situation where I'm in a movie there'd be a chance of me walking out of. I'd know a little something about it beforehand.

I think it may depend on the theater, who's working, etc. When I was 19, I worked at the concession stand of our local four-plex, and that was when E.T. was still playing. Our theater also had the infamously bad horror movie Q: The Winged Serpent around the same time. Apparently, it was so bad that it couldn't scare, gross out, or hold the interest of a bunch of little boys who were there one Saturday afternoon, and they came out to ask if they could go in and watch the rest of E.T., which we thought was fair, so we let them. The theater owners weren't in - the kids came to concession and asked us first, we checked with the usher, who said it was fine. Besides, the theater owners were assholes, and may not have let them swap theaters. But we didn't see the harm in it, so we said okay.

Actually, I never saw it while I was working there. But as an adult, I have to just think that a horror movie that drives a pack of 10 year old boys out of the theater has to fall under the "So bad, it's good" category. Of course, you can't expect little kids to get that.

Q is not a horror film, and it's not for ten-year-olds. Who let them in?

Unless the movie is Ultraviolet. Then it's a communal survival technique.

I'm guilty of this, if only once. I have no shame in admitting that only one flick has ever had this effect on me.

Ghost Rider.

Nick Cage's initial transformation scene.

I couldn't hold it. Neither could my cousin. I distinctly remember the tears streaming down my face, and out of the corner of my eye, seeing a visibly disturbed guy who apparently was swept up in this moment of cinematic brilliance. It was so awful, so over the top hilarious, so cringe-worthy. There was no holding back. Resistance was futile.

As survival techniques go, that one is vastly inferior to just not watching the film in the first place. That's how I survived.

We did - the teenage staff of the theater. You're also pointing out something that happened in 1982 - of course it's not a movie for kids. I mentioned in another thread how I snuck into JAWS when I was 11, along with two other kids my age. But that was then, this is now - it wasn't right, but the rules were a lot more lax back then. And just like we're talking about in this thread, of course little kids shouldn't see stuff like that.

Yeah, let's not pretend kids getting into R rated movies is some new shit. Ushers handed my pre-teen ass 3D glasses for Friday the 13th part 3.

I don't have the misfortune of being in a theater with obnoxious idiots laughing at inappropriate moments during screenings of New Moon or Transformers because I don't go to these movies. I do get obnoxious idiots laughing at inappropriate moments during screenings of films like Let the Right One In or The Hurt Locker.

As for the refunds, I've never had a problem if I walked out before the approximate half. Theaters used to give me money refunds but they now give tickets. Wich is fine by me.

I laughed during Let the Right One in too. The antics with the cats. I dug the film, but that scene had me laughing. Totally involuntary!

Cats and the doctor's reaction to spontaneously combusting woman both destroyed me. Also, the head in the pool and the lone survivor kid at the end.

My dad and I laughed our asses off during Godzilla 2000 especially during the ending. Godzilla is triumphant and the humans are watching him leave through a devastated Tokyo. One of them says something to the effect of "Godzilla... He always comes back to save us..." right as Godzilla does a 360 degree sweep of the city with his nuclear-fire breath. No one else thought it was funny, though.

Wait you were laughing at the kid sobbing his heart out after seeing his friends getting dismembered? Man, I'm REALLY glad I saw Let the Right One In at home.

Then again I've always hated people who 'laugh at' films.

I think Jake and I laughed because of how awesome it was. I agree though. Better that you saw it at home.

His friends were assholes.

The entire theater was laughing, but nobody enjoy the movie lest this eternally joyless and boring motherfucker get offended about something else.

I might have giggled a bit, but mine was a home viewing.

Alcohol was involved.

Everyone should see Q! Not to derail but, Hammerhead, what would you call it out of interest? I'd call it a Horror film... and a smart one at that.


Couldn't help but notice a lack of UK Chewer input here about Cinema problems... so I thought I would point out something that has just started happening at my local Vue cinema.

They have recently put in these large comfortable leather (pleather, probably) seats which take up the middle 2 or 3 rows in the theatre. You can pre-book these seats (although they seem to sit mostly empty, most of the time) and that all seems fine in theory.

So, this is what happens; I get there usually (hopefully) having avoided the endless fucking car adverts and see the trailers, and there is a guy there by these special seats checking the tickets of those attempting to sit on them. Most of these people don't have tickets so he has to explain, again and again what the situation is. This is fine right up to the point where this is still fucking happening 5-10 minutes into the movie.

The one good thing to come out of this would be that this ticket checker guy, sitting there repeating himself over and over would then spend the running time 'guarding' these seats and in turn, unwittingly acting as an 'usher' of old.

But no, he buggers off after maybe 15 minutes into the film, wherein latecomers to the film are rewarded with a choice of the best seats in the house at no extra cost (and, forgive me for generalising here, but these guys are ofen the exacts twats that leave their phones on and gibber on throughout the film)

From where I sit (normal seats, behind the chattering idiots), it looks like they are losing money on this idea. They could kill 2 birds with one stone if they only had ushers monitering the theatres... you know, just like they used to.

see, the thing is, what I find funny, is probably a far cry from what the theater masses find funny. I mean, sure i'll laugh at the dick and fart jokes like everyone else, but sometimes those real 'tear jerker moments' either get me, or make me laugh at how ludicrous it is.

Although Vue's 21 years and over screenings are a blessing. Some of the best cinema experiences I had last year were at those screenings. Although to be honest I spend most of my cinema time in smaller 'arthouse' cinemas where you always get a respectful atmosphere.

Where I grew up, it was absolutely not a given that kids would be let into R-rated films without a parent or guardian. At 15, I had to personally convince a theatre manager how serious I was about wanting to see Ran on the big screen.

I've always felt that the best way to improve moviegoing is to put more ushers on the floor, and the last couple of comments support that idea. But that simply won't happen, at least outside of the boutique theatres. From an accountant's point-of-view, if you're not selling tickets or popcorn, what kind of work are you doing standing around?

heh sometimes I think that those kids who want to sneak into R rated movies should be let in. They want the nightmares, let em. they wont' do it again for a long while thats for sure

I'm pretty sure we've all snuck into movies and we've all got far fonder memories of certain films because of that (I still have a grudging affection for a certain movie because it was the first 18 rated film I saw in the cinema, back when I was 12).

What was the movie?

They should build toilets into the seats so you can poop + pee without missing any of your movie!!!

Event Horizon, ashamedly.

Event Horizon wasn't that bad considering what he made afterwards.

When I went to see 300, some kiddies snuck in and plonked themselves right next to me, they must have been about 10 or 11... I have to admit I kind of enjoyed seeing their shocked reaction to not only the extended scene of sword hackery that they happened to just catch, but also to Atemis' son getting beheaded and his grief stricken frenzy which followed.

Granted, me and my mate had knocked back a few beverages and probably should have behaved like responsible adults and spoilt their fun; but what I found amazing is that having successfully attained the forbidden fruit of bloody violence, it all seemed too much for them and they left after that particularly violent scene.

I did not hear one of them utter "that blood looked fake as shit" either.

Shit, little lightweights. JAWS when I was 11, people! JAWS!

I don't think having a horrified reaction to horrific material is necessarily a bad thing. If these eleven year olds weren't SLIGHTLY freaked out by violent imagery I'd be more concerned. Hell when I was ten freaking Congo used to haunt me.

ETA: This is getting WAY off topic now. So...erm....kids. Cinema. Bad thing. Need more ushers.

I was joking, Spike.

heh i know what you mean man

I saw Leviathon when i was like...7 or 8 years old and that shit SCARRED me for a good long while.