Where Do You Prefer To Sit In The Theatre?

Wow. You guys have assigned seating for movie theatres? That would be super!

They used to do that for music concerts here in DC area  decades  ago, and it was great.

The crowds these days are so poorly behaved, I don't bother trying to see films in movie houses anymore.

I used to go on weekdays at the noon showings---kids are in school and I largely had the place to myself. Still, there's much to be said having the crowd experience and on a proper big screen.

I'm usually a center/halfway back type myself.

Seriously, assigned seats at a theater would be great. I mean, we have that for Broadway touring shows and most concerts at the nicer theater.  I am a 30 % back kinda guy, in part because theaters around here have a close section, the upper 28%, A handicap accessible row or two, then a wide aisle and then stadium seating.  I like to sit on the row next to the wide aisle, because I can escape over the rail for food or beverage before the film starts or in case of emergency restroom needs, while still sitting in the center. It makes it easier to save seats for multiple people as well because they can hop the rail rather than crawl over people.

Since I was a kid, third row center has always been my spot, unless the theater has moved the front row right up to the screen, then I usually go back a few rows.  With the arclight, I try to get in the first row behind the walkway for the leg room. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucho 

You don't get your food and stuff before you go in Mr Tyres?
You guys don't?
Yeah, I think it came in about 4 or 5 years ago in NZ and yes, it is super as hell.

Since we don't have assigned seats, we tend to show early to start the queue, hop into our seats, then once things have settled, head back out to the concessions.

I like back row centre..... :( 

I love going to matinees alone, so I usually have the theater all (or mostly) to myself. On that note, I sit on the bottom row of the middle section, and in the center.

If I'm going with my girlfriend, she likes the very back top row, on the end, and I like it there too, simply because she's there.

If there's a crowd, and I'm on my own, I usually sit on the bottom row of the middle section, and on the end aisle seat.

Heh, I was just thinking back to when I was a kid and I would try and always sit in the very front row...because, kid logic, the closer the better!  

Went to see Life of Pi last night thinking the cinema wold be quiet and we'd get our normal seats middle, 60% back.

The place was fucking chocca so we sat on the back row for the first time since I was 15.

Lo and behold we sat next to a couple of 15 year old girls who continually texted and talked throughout.

Fucking ignorant little turds - even when I was a kid I knew not to talk in the cinema.

Center, as far back as possible. No food, just a small Pepsi.

I might add, I never drink soda at home. Just at the movies.

up front far corner. i dont like to be in peoples way.

Middle Middle.

I don't get people who sit in the back, they might as well be watching TV.

I've always gone for third or fourth row, in the middle. Just where the screen fills your field of vision comfortably.

2/3rds back, in the middle of the row is my preference.

But if I'm seeing a movie with a particular friend of mine, we always have to get seats near an aisle because she always needs a bathroom break as well.

Saw The Hobbit (2D) 2nd row from the front on the far left of the theatre due to late arrival. Kinda painful, visually, but not quite as agonising as ROTK 9 years earlier: very front row, with what felt like all of 2 metres between us and the screen, because we were a group of 9 and we weren't pushy enough to score a better group of seats. It was also about 40 degrees plus (Celsius) that day, and it felt like the a/c was barely functioning, if at all. OMG, the agony and the ecstasy!

I usually aim for the middle about 30% to 50% back. But it usually depends on how crowded it is and the other factors that go into the chaotic ecosystem of a movie theater.

Center, center is my go to. If that's taken, I move left or right rather than forward or back. I don't like sitting too close or too far away.
 

Anywhere I can fit my stupid long legs, however if it's horror night, it needs to be away from prying eyes as we sneek in booze and pour it into coca cola whilst giggling like little schoolgirls. REBEL!

If any UK folk ever get down to Brighton, I highly recommend the Duke of York cinema. It's a reconverted old theatre so you can hire one of the boxes looking down on the normal seating and get waited on for drinks orders, etc. It's amazing.

I went to see a movie last week. It was the last showing and i was sitting three rows back from the front because I forgot my glasses. The movie was two thirds over and all of a sudden someone started banging on the exit door next to the screen really fucking hard. The banging went on for about one minute. The box office area was manned so if the person had an emergency they would have surely gone to the front doors. I didn't open the door because it was after midnight, 17 degrees outside and who the hell knows what sinister shit was banging on the door. Could have been a Zombie Clown could have been a drunk so why invite that shit into my theater. Anyway the banging stopped and thus ended the best thing about seeing Jack Reacher that night. I guess what I'm trying to say is don't forget your glasses.

Near the back, as middle as possible. I prefer the back not because of any stunted emotional growth (though that might be a factor #BACKROW4LYFE)  but because I find that seeing who's talking in front of me less disruptive than hearing someone talking behind me.

This is a tiny image of our best local theater. It's very clean and attractive and they have pretty good food and beer if you're into that sort of thing.

Do you see those two chairs by themselves in the center there, near the gap between the front section of seats and the back? I like to sit on the right most chair. It is ideal for my field of vision.

This is usually my theatre and this is (unless I'm very unlucky) the seat I nearly always choose, not only because it's roughly in the middle but also because it's directly behind some railings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucho 

How odd. Why is it set out like that Doc?

It is a six screen cinema housed in a renovated two story historic building (complete with escalator!). Each screen I've been to in there has the same set up. I think it might be for handicapped accessibility. The movie theater equivalent of the extra large stall in the men's room, I guess. 

I sit in the middle, usually 3-7 rows back depending on the theater.

I usually wait until a movie is about to be removed from theaters(which these days is like 3 weeks), go to an early showing and own(I, and my wife/friend being the only ones there) the place.

I saw The Dark Knight Rises in a completely empty IMAX theater, with 2 other people sitting way in the back...it was glorious.

Unlike most filmgoers, I am not as big on seeing it "with an audience"...in fact, I kind of despise it.  Love seeing movies in a theater though, the way they are meant to be seen. 

EDIT:  It's the presentation, not the people seeing it that gets me in a seat.

I remember going at noon on a weekday (kids in school) to see Godzilla 2000 and being the only one in the theatre. The lights stayed up and the muzak kept playing, when a janitor walked down the isle with a ladder and some cables. He saw me and asked 'are you here for the movie?' (genius) and when I said yes, he turned around and left and a couple minutes later the lights went down, muzak stopped and the movie started. 

I don't know. I feel like big tentpole event movies HAVE to be seen with an audience. Oftentimes, it's the only reason I end up enjoying summer blockbusters. But for most other films, I tend to go a few weeks after the release date to get the crazies out of the way and enjoy it in peace.

My favorite story about an (almost) empty theater involved sneaking in to see Jason X. My friend and I were the only people in the theater until the lights went down and a family of two adults and seven or so kids strolled in and sat directly behind us. I was so pissed. Of all the seats in the theater. And they were talkers! But as the movie progressed, their dialogue became increasingly funny to the point where I was waiting for their punchline to make the movie tolerable. When the film was over and the lights came on, I turned around to thank them for making the showing so enjoyable and it was Tracy Morgan (early-SNL days) and his kids. Definitely one of the most memorable times I've had in the theater. 
 

We have assigned seating in some of our newer bigger plexes and I fucking love it. So nice not to have to show up 2 hours early to get good seats for an opening weekend. I always try and get about halfway (maybe a bit closer) so I can tilt the chair back and have the screen fill my vision perfectly.

There is a wonderful theatre here in Melbourne called 'The Astor'. Plays double bills and specials all the time. It even has it's own cat that often sits upon the old grand piano. It's an art deco joy.

 They also seem to want to sit at the back. I'm convinced it's because they want to talk about the people in front of them... 

 I am sick and tired of going there and being sat next to a couple who seem to have been forced to go there. They piss and moan about everything. Check their phones every 30 seconds. Send each other to get food and come back and annoy everyone. Every time. 

 I grew up in Bradford, England. It has a great cinema and photography museum. In my time it never had a place that played old movies on double bills. I love this place. 

 The most baffling experience I have ever had in my movie-going history is having to endure 'Clerks 2' as part of a double bill with 'Little Miss Sunshine'. The whole place was on it's feet clapping and cheering at the end of C2 and full of people with shaking heads after LMS. 

Third Row Center, like any serious cinefile. 

Maybe about 6 rows back and I always want an aisle seat. I don't want to be too close,  I think I have permanent neck and eye damage from seeing Lord Of The Rings The Two Towers and having to sit in the front row.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Harford 

It is a six screen cinema housed in a renovated two story historic building (complete with escalator!). Each screen I've been to in there has the same set up. I think it might be for handicapped accessibility. The movie theater equivalent of the extra large stall in the men's room, I guess. 

Yes, isolated seats like that are what we call "companion seating" and they're intended for parties that include wheelchair users. Around here, they're supposed to be kept free until 15 minutes past showtime but people try to stake them out all the time.

Now tell us more about this Laura Jensen of whom you speak.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diva 

I don't know. I feel like big tentpole event movies HAVE to be seen with an audience.

This for me is why I have seen every Paranormal Activity film in theaters. It isn't the film, as it is the audience reaction.  The Hangover was infintely better the first time because of the audience. The entire place stayed to watch the credit sequence and laughed till they were crying.  Sometimes, watching a movie grab the audience is just as much a thrill as whatever the movie is actually doing on the screen.

I think it's been over a decade since I've seen a movie in a place that didn't have auditorium seating, so now I try and get my head in the exact center of the screen.  I want my neck to do as little work as possible.

In theory I get the idea of seeing a movie with an audience, but in practice it has just rarely worked out.  My sucky audience/tolerable audience ratio is around 100:1.  I maintained my job at the movie theatre for years longer than I should have just so I could continue to watch movies myself after hours.

I favor the center as much for the view as for the sound balance. There's nothing worse than getting stuck in the back and having the surround speakers drown out everything else.