Cool News
Yeah, But...Will A Crappy Movie Be Better When Seen In An Expensive MegaTheater??
Merrick here...
Variety has an interesting piece about a wave of forthcoming uber-theaters, which are to offer super-comfortable seating, upscale concessions, high-end projection (Digital 2D and 3D), and various other amenities...all at escalated ticket prices.
The business folk putting these plans into motion feel that improving the theater-going experience might help get more people into auditoriums, despite the "recession".
I am a presentation snob & will regularly and deliberately snub "traditional" screenings in favor of a digital presentation. But, as much as I love movies, I can't imagine shelling out the kind of money they're talking about here (which enough to purchase a video game that would entertain me for months, two Blu-Rays...if you shop right, or a decent spot at a rock concert) - especially given the wildly uneven quality of product these days.
And even if I was willing to do so, I'm not sure I'd be able to do so. I'm not sure many people would be able to do so.
Idea is that plushing up the current moviegoing experience will encourage auds that typically stay home to watch movies via their pricey home theaters to venture out again
...says THIS ARTICLE.
What do you think? I'm really curious to see the Talkbacks about this one...
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... no it won't be.
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go off during the movie instead of 10. yeah that gets me in the theater..
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Hire security that violently kicks out all these bastards who won't let you watch the movie, because they prefer to call their friends on their cell phones! THIS will bring the audience back!
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If they want to get people back into the seats address that issue first. That's why people don't go out to the theaters anymore, you're always just one 'shhh' away from being in a confrontation with some meathead or homeboy.
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They're looking for the upper middle-class film fan with the 70" screen and projector and the 4000 DVD library -- you know, people who can still continue to spend as they do because they're largely recession-proof.
Actually not a bad idea, I'm just unsure the capital investment would pay off any time soon to make it worthwhile. -
but who's going to pay top dollar to see the Drillbit Taylor, or Epic Movie? not me.
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A few years ago Lucas said that because of digital distribution and on-demand technology, that going to the movies was soon to change. He said that movies would begin to be streamed and come out on DVD on the same day as their theatrical debuts... but that going to the theater would NOT be going away at all. Instead it would become an experience like going to see an opera or a ballet. It would become a "fine arts" thing. Oh sure you can buy a disc or a download but for a *premium* movie-going experience, the kind that comes with sharing the moment with lots of other people, we would begin to *expect* to pay a bit more for that. Personally, I thought Lucas was much too forward-thinking with his estimation... but now it looks like it's coming true sooner than later.
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... some of my favourite computer game experiences are still those on the Commodore 64 and games I grew up on like Speedball. The gameplay, not the graphics or anything else was the key thing. Same with movies, some of the movies I have really enjoyed, I've seen are low budget (but well written) films on video on a small TV, not big budget but ultimately thinly plotted films). Interestingly enough, some films actually do play better on a video or DVD than the same film on a cinema screen. Does anyone else find this phenomenon? I will actually agree though that some films (especially big budget films with lots of effects) probably benefit from a big screen but if the story's no good, that's only going to take you so far.
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If this chain will be expensive enough to keep out the lower socio-economic demographic that diminishes the enjoyment of my typical movie going experience, I'm all for it.
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Mar 26, 2008 10:35:53 AM CDT
I know a small theatre that didn't show any commercials...
by derlanghaarige
...before the movie started. You have to pay a little bit more for the movie, but it seriously saved the theatre!
So if you listen to what the audience wants (like Bouncers who fuck people who can't behave up their asses), they are willing to pay more. I doubt that they will for more comfy seats and stuff. -
the Arclight is good enough for me at $14. Besides, I don't want step in Paris Hilton's dog's shit when I get up to leave. I will consider this though if they throw in a free cock massage from a hot little wannabe actress.
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I have no problem paying thru the nose as long as people with cell phones or people talking are removed or seriously barred. This is the #1 reason why I (who went to the movies twice a week for more than 20 years) have simply stopped going. It became more important to control my environment. If you can promise me this problem can be solved, I will pay almost any ticket price. The problem is not the Product. The problem is not the Presentation. The problem is the PEOPLE. And as long as exhibitors take a hands-off attitude about rudeness in their theaters, millions of us will keep our money -- or give it straight to content provider (or Netflix) on DVD release day.
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is you still get that asshole who feels he is entitled to act like an asshole. But his entitlement is 3 times bigger, making him 3 times as much an asshole. "If I'm paying $30 to see a movie, I have the right to talk on my cell phone during the movie. Do you know who I am? Do you know how much money I make? I make so much money I can spend $30 to watch a movie then not watch it but instead spend those 90 minutes running up my cell phone bill, which I can also afford because I make more money than I know what to do with which makes me better than everyone else here." Or something like that.
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Look at how much theatres charge for popcorn and soda. Can you imagine the price tag on a plate of sushi and a glass of wine!?!?! Holy second mortgage.
I can't see myself attending these theatres very often, but every now and then, as a treat, it could be fun. -
Mar 26, 2008 10:44:50 AM CDT
WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE ROTJ SPEEDER CHASE IN THESE THEATERS!!!
by bringingsexyback
No thank you. I like cheap seats and snuck-in snacks or my Netflix home theater where you don't have to hide the handjob.
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The lower class scum who talk and kick chairs and little kids/babies who basically destroy the movie going experience.
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Mar 26, 2008 10:51:55 AM CDT
Woo, spend more money with people still fucking with their phone
by spyguy
Sounds brilliant.
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Showcase Cinemas launched a pilot program in my local theater called "Lux Level." You pay an increased ticket price in exchange for an extremely comfy seat, a full lunch/dinner/bar menu (server available at all times of the movie at the push of a button), FAR more room between you and the next row up, and they give you a $5 food voucher. Oh yes, they also have reserved parking close to the theater, and in the event of snow, they'll clean your car off for you. I'll admit, it's not something I'd do every time I go. I've been once for I Am Legend. And in direct response to the question presented as the topic of this posting... no, a crappy movie WON'T be better when seen in an expensive MegaTheater. Not that IAL was crappy, but it wasn't AMAZING. And the experience of sitting there in the "Lux Level" didn't make it better.
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Fuck 3rd world education. We got our own problems to handle. You want to eliminate needy kids in 3rd world countries? STOP HAVING KIDS YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO TAKE CARE OF! Anybody relying on ANY government to take care of their kids for them is fucking crazy.
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All the fancy popcorn and massage chairs in the world won't make people go to the movies if they don't feel safe. It's not the crappy movies that are keeping us home - it's the rude, threatening people you have to sit next to - the cell phones, the babies in inappropriate movies, the zero security, the slack-jawed employees and unsympathetic manager. Movies are great. Movie theaters blow. Save the money on all this stuff and bring back the in-theater usher. If there were a couple guys in a movie to insure order I guarantee you'd have more asses in seats.
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And the Landmark West LA is even cheaper (though not *quite* as plush -- but it does have a wine bar). I can see spending an extra $2-3 for reserved seating, higher quality, etc. I can't see spending $35.
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...holes, but I see that everyone beat me to it and that we are all in agreement. Case closed.
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If you live in a city like New York, a movie already costs $11. So what costs the extra $24? Reclining armchairs with footrests and a "concierge service." THAT'S IT! Every other perk (valet, high-end food) you'd have to pay even more money for. Why not just push high-end food in normal theaters? After all, major multiplexes already have digital 3D projection, and the numbers are only going to increase.
The only movie theater I could see spending $35 on would have pre-rolled blunts at the concession stand included in the ticket price. -
The math just doesn't add up. I drive a little farther to go to a better theater every weekend, but I'm not paying $35 for it. I think the $12 price of Imax tickets is a more reasonable estimate.
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Unless you're REALLY into seeing movies with a crowd or can't wait until it comes out on video, who wants to put up with the crap of the modern movie going experience. Twenty minutes of ads, people kicking your chair, cell phones, douche bags yelling at the screen and an absent projectionist who doesn't keep the screen in focus. Obviously not everyone has the expendable cash for a good setup, but I dropped less than 3 grand on an HD projector, 100" screen, and run of the mill surround system I haven't enjoyed watching movies this much since I was a kid. I can have a beer or six, pause for inevitable bathroom breaks and if my wife is talking I can tell her to STFU instead of getting up to look for management. I don't want to see more people out of work in this country, but I could care less if every theater chain went belly up during the looming recession. They have not only NOT added value to the movie going experience while jacking up ticket and concession pricess over the past decade, but they have let the situation deteriorate by allowing the dregs of humanity into the theater. The last four times I went to the movies (all at night to avoid kidlets) there were police officers in force at the theater. WTF??? I expect a police presence at the airport, not at a 10PM showing of Drillbit Taylor.
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Just felt like saying it. Moriarty FTW. Do I get a blowjob with these screenings?
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I double checked my claim, and it looks like they actually charge $13.25 for Imax tickets here in Orlando. Jesus, I'm glad I don't have to pay that much for a regular ticket.
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When I was there it was pretty common, it doesn't make any difference though. I mean people always say for the special movies they'll go see it in Gold Class. The only difference is a recliner chair, nothing else. less seats for a few recliners and you can have food and wine etc but it doesn't make much of a difference. As far as I am concerned it won't add to the industry at all, maybe a little bit, but Gold Class usually is for 'special' occasions such as a date, or taking the mother out for a nice evening etc.
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If it meant keeping the slime out of the theaters so I can actually watch and hear what I paid for. The theater going experience has gotten worse over the past 15 years because of the latest generation. Gone are the days of respecting the people you don't know around you. Why anyone goes to the movies to just sit there and talk to their friends there or on the phone is wrong. The next generation will probably just take a shit in their own chairs and not care what it smells like around them.
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and i've been there a few times when in Aus. There are only a few seats, so there is no chance someone will kick your seat and because there is fewer people and higher end tickets, no one talks. And people actually buy stuff there, like a fucking pricey meal whilst watching something. I saw episode 3 in gold class and some dude ordered a few high end brews in bottles and he fell asleep on his recliner.
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mostly because people there are trained not to talk during movies. Plus, it's SUPER comfortable.
I'm not sure what the advantage is, for me, to pay $35 for a movie is. I'm in LA, so if I want to see a movie with a goofy crowd, I can. If I want to see a movie with a quite crowd, I can. The only thing this is talking about is getting better selection of food. Great. It's bad enough smelling nachos and hot dogs during a movie. Now I got to deal with a bunch of other shit? -
Over the past few years I have taken my son to see the likes of Spiderman, Transformers and Harry Potter and have taught him well in the ways of the Cinema, If I want to see a film and enjoy it properly I wait for the DVD!
Im sick of 30 Mins of ads before we even get to the film trailers. (Who wants to think about buying fucking shampoo and Tampons when your getting ready to watch big fucking robots fighting?)
Plus if I can teach my Kid, who was 4 when we saw Superman Returns that you dont make a noise during the film, you take a piss before you go in and you keep your feet of the back of other peoples chairs, why cant other people do the same with their kids??
And if anyone dares to use a phone next to me in a cinema prepare to be pelted with the very expensive yet very fucking hard ice cubes in my large bucket of coke!!
Unless these super cinemas come with your very own Maxwell Smart style privacy cones, comfy seats, a personal commentary by the films director an a BJ from it's leading lady, I wont be using them! -
Mar 26, 2008 11:08:06 AM CDT
It's not the "amenitites" or recession, THIS is why no one wants
by zartan
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/bdtv/Player.php?id=1782
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my friend was working there during Return of the King and Gold Class seats sold out two months in advance, The Two Towers was one month in advance and this is in a low class area. For the big event movies or whatever, people pay for Gold Class.
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In a recession, catering to the wealthy or rich makes sense. The lower and middle classes have already started tightening belts. A drop in theater attendence is inevitable. So the only way theaters can generate income is to cater to the rich who WILL pay. Rich kids, families, etc. That will tide them over any economic slowdown, in theory. And when the economy rebounds, they can continue these services with a reduced price for the mainstreamers and make their profits on volume.
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I'm just saying, i won't do major miracles but it works in Aus. Alot of people buy the tickets as gifts. My friend got tickets from his sister for christmas to see Two Towers when it was out and Return of the King. And from what I know it does very well.
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...are 100% correct. before i see a movie in a theater these days, i ask myself if it's worth the irritation i'm bound to feel with these people. if i do go, i try to go at a time when the fewest number of idiots are in the theater (which doesn't always work, since it only takes one idiot to ruin a film). the size and comfort of the seats, screen size, sound quality, picture quality, and snack selection are all far better today than they were when i was growing up... but none of that matters when the whole two hours are spent listening to a bunch of giggling teenagers in the next row talking and texting each other. here's an idea: instead of asking us to pay more for things we don't want or need, give us the one thing practically everyone on here is asking for -- USHERS!!! real ones, the kind who will throw someone out on their ass if they don't shut up. THAT'S the only thing that will bring me back to a movie theater.
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In Saginaw, where I'm from (originally) there was a place called "Cinema & Suds" -- It was a movie theater with tables and comfy chairs instead of stadium/theater seating. Before the movie and during previews, you got a menu and could order food from the waitstaff who wandered the floor. The screen was set up higher so you could see over people's heads.
The menu was things like hot dogs, sandwiches, pizza, and simple luncheon-type foods. You could also order beer, wine, or other drinks. Most of the food had Hollywood names. For example, the "Dolly Parton" was "two huge mounds of chicken breast salad on frills of lettuce" and the "Sly Stallone" was a "hunk of beef" on a bun. I think the Jerry Lewis was a ham sandwich.
The price was reasonable. I enjoyed the place a lot... And then they decided they made more money doing private catering gigs, so they stopped being open to the public most of the time, and eventually I stopped bothering to show up because I just assumed they'd be closed to the public.
Still, it was nice to sit in a comfortable chair, with a little round bar-table in front of you, so you could eat and drink without having to juggle stuff. -
still was a suckfest.
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The article says: 'The Burbank-based company's hoping to attract 10 million "upscale and affluent" consumers'. So basically pay more to watch movies with a bunch of tasteless yuppies? No thank you!
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...unless they offered complimentary blow jobs and foot rubs would I pay this much to see a movie. If you pay that much and the alcohol isn't complementary, what's the point. There ARE theaters you can pay $8 and get drunk at. Studio Movie Grill, any one ever hear of it??? Either way, these theaters are clearly made for rich snobs who don't want to have to listen to peasants who talk during the whole movie.
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I'm sorry, I have and do continue to spend the money on seeing DLP or IMAX films because they do look fucking amazing. My first DLP film was Cars and I swear that each time I saw it at a regular theater the film looked dirty by comparison. However, the cost then was just about $2 more than a regular ticket. It was the same for Digital 3D. Of course as inflation and the cost of movies in my area went from a reasonable $7.50 four years ago to a startling $10.00 per ticket so too went the price of these features to around $12.00 for DLP and $13.00 for Digital 3D. Then the IMAX came and the price for all DLP and Digital 3D jumped to around $14.50 a ticket. Now, I thought that IMAX had a large eighty foot, curved screen that was supposed to make you feel more emersed in the film, but all we got was a shiney silver wall to project the films on. I do think it's a DLP system, but I don't feel like it's IMAX, so I don't really go to the DLP and IMAX showings unless it's for something that I have to see that way. I can't even imagine, or even think of a way to justify spending $35 on a movie... ever! It just seems retarded since I can buy any game for my DS for that much and play it for easily two to ten times as long as the longest movie out. Some of the Regal Cinemas here offer this, and Cinetopia sort of offers this, but it's just not worth $35 of my hard earned cash and I can't even think about those people for whome this would be five hours work could ever enjoy this. If you want to increase sales, start offering double features. Start partnering with restaurants and putting a gaddamn food court in the lobby. Start telling the studios that you won't put their films in your theaters unless you actually get a real cut of the ticket sales. Try offering something so MORE people can go to the movie instead of less. That's common sense. I mean shit, I can still rent a movie for $3 and keep it for two days and at one time that I can clearly remember $3.25 was the price of a movie ticket. Holy fuck these people must be high.
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I don't think people aren't saying it won't work, but that they personally aren't going to fall for it. There are enough pretentious d-bag Thurston Howells in this country to make this thing a success. But us middle class slobs will be damned if we're going to pay $35 for a movie ticket to sit next to a guy who wipes his ass with what I make in a week. High end brews sure would have made the "Nooooooooooooo!!!" in Ep. 3 a lot more bearbale though.
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I was that guy who saw at least 1 of the new releases every Friday. Over the average weekend, I probably saw 2-3 films in theater.
Now, you can't pay me to go to the movies. The experience of going to movies has been ruined completely by the majority of people who live in this country and go to films. The cell phone/texting problem in a movie is an epidemic. The non English speaking family of 10 who are just trying to do something nice for their family and take small children and babies to loud movies or R rates movies is also a problem. The kids who think they're on American Idol in the movie audience and they're there to entertain us all by standing out are the problem. I long for the days where people quietly made out with each other during a movie. Now, they break up with each other and hit one another during the movie. You're not going to fix this thing with higher priced tickets. Here is how you fix this thing. #1--Cell phone blockers w/in the theaters. When we didn't have cell phones, we all seemed to survive through a movie, so don't give me that emergency bullshit. #2--Bouncers in the theater. I'm not talking no neck steroid freaks. I'm talking someone who works at the theater in every showing from start to finish. A Hall Monitor. They can sit in back and ensure that people's movie going experience is going smoothly. If someone is getting out of hand, they hit a button and the reinforcements come in to deal with the problem. If they can't do a hall monitor in every theater, then you need buttons on every seat where patrons can alert the staff of this kind of thing, but that would have problems since most of these mongoloid idiots would have fun just hitting the button during the whole show. It's so simple and to be honest if you start cracking down on this shit and word gets out, people will come back to the theaters. The fear of losing the asshole who breaks these rules and ruins the experience for the other patrons not coming back, is an irrational fear. If someone gets in the face of most of these fucktards, they'll shut up. You want to save the movie going experience, Hollywood? Then toughen up and protect your good customers movie going experience. -
Mar 26, 2008 11:17:49 AM CDT
So for about 30 movies you could buy your own DLP projector?
by skycrapper
Wow. Just make non-porn theaters that don't allow anyone under 21 in and that will eliminate most of the problems.
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Until I realized that this was just a chain of theaters offering this, not an upgrade to all theaters. If that was the case, and I had to pay for all this frilly frou frou shit like sushi and oriental massages while I watch a movie then I'd just stick to the free theater here on base, sure I have to wait two months after the fact to see the movie, but at least it's free.
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I'm starting to think it'd be fun just to go to the movies frequented by the type of assholes we're talking about and ruin their movie. Maybe Take a dump in the aisle or something, they'd never catch me.
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I'm happy sneaking out of work at noon on a Friday, paying $5.50 for a matinee and sitting in an empty theater when I catch new releases. I'll never, ever go to a late show on the weekend again. The chair kickers and cell phone talkers can go fuck themselves.
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to go see a movie. The last time I went to the theatre it was the day after Christmas and for my wife and I to see an evening movie and buy two cokes it was just a hair over 30 bucks. And then I had a mexican family sitting right behind me translating the whole fucking movie. Screw it, it's cheaper to just buy the DVD. ANd with my Blu-Ray player, my HDTV, and my own digital surround sound system it's a way better experience. Plus, I can pause the movie when I need to go pee. It will be a long damn time before I go back to a movie theater.
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Mar 26, 2008 11:18:53 AM CDT
35mm is the way to go, Fuck Digital, oh you can't , it's not "re
by stereotypical evil archer
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One of the things I loathe about going to movies is sitting near obnoxious teenagers. I'd consider shelling out that dough if it was over 21 year olds and served boozed, it "might" be worth it.
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Wouldn't see every movie that came out that way, but something I was really looking forward to like the Dark Knight or Avatar? Hells yeah!
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i constantly hear about people's bad experiences and im amazed its that bad in some places. i'm in canada so maybe the stereotype of being "nice" is true. in my 20+ years of going to theaters, i've rarely encountered talkers or asses and the few times i did, it ended it up being mentally handicapped people so. lol but yeah wow, i cant even fathom having to constantly deal with that shit. as for the pricing of all this, my 9$ theater has awesome big screens, great sound and perfectly comfortable seats. and for an extra 3$ there's an IMAX theater so im happy with how things are. the theaters i go to now are 100 times better than the shitty ones i had during my childhood, and at the time i thought they were great so kids today have it made. lol
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Manchester Odeon (formerly the Filmworks) has had this 'Gallery' thing since it opened. A Private lift takes you up to deluxe lobby (complete with giant plastic Oscar statues) a private bar, free popcorn and a few other things. the big comfy leather seats themselves are actually on a balcony overlooking the standard screens. To be honest, ill never bother again. i like being in a room full of maniacs in a horror film, i like overhearing geeks in comicbook movies and i like kids laughing in my pixar films. i dont wanna be excluded, i want to be in the middle, with every kind of person around me. that is whats great about the cinemas, you're in there together, experiencing it together, in unison.
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nothing will fix the movie going experience
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That pretty much did it for me. I can wait 3 months for the movies to come out on DVD. Not even HD DVD. There might be one or two I'll go to in the theater, but it has to be one that the trailer trash don't want to see. I don't want to hear your "sweet home alabama" ringtone, people! A more expensive seat isn't gonna bring me in, that's for sure.
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This will really not be something that will "bring people back to the cinema". Gold Class here is just a luxury for special occasions, only a small number of people use it regularly. The only time I generally go to the cinema now is in the middle of the day during a week day. That way there are no teenagers and no bored morons, just people that like movies. Unfortunately at this time you get the odd weirdo or young mum who has to bring her baby into the theatre, but it doesn't happen that often. Though, after these screenings there seems to be a lot of old people walking out going "That movie had no plot at all, just blood and guts!." <--- No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood. I lol.
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then they will find out for themselves it was just bullshit. Fuck this!!! Since they're building 50 theaters, this will probably last 10 years I say before they realize to pull out of this venture.
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I imagine the extra price actually would weed out the assholes who don't want to be there that bad, so that's a crucial factor. Otherwise, forget it.
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They always come in or hang around the back making sure it's going smoothly. You guys might say "i ain't paying for that shit" but people will pay for this, they do in Aus and this isn't even the rich people. Like I said Return of the King was HUGE, it was booked 2 months in advance and they had two large Gold Class theatres and this is in a lower class area.
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people are already wanting to book tickets for The Dark Knight. I doubt it's 35 US dollars, it's about high 20's Aus dollars.
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$4 tix and the food is great. Fuck these elitists.
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Talkers are ejected. Anyone whose cell-phone goes off is ejected. No food with crinkly wrappers will be served. No persons under 6 allowed in PG movies. No persons under 13 allowed in PG-13 movies. No persons under 17 allowed in R movies. No exceptions! Management must quality control the beginning of each screening to make sure the film is properly framed on the screen, the sound is correctly mixed for the system, and the lights are completely dimmed. None of this will happen. Theater owners are afraid of their customers and will not boot people. Managers are just as lazy as regular employees and will not perform quality assurance checks. Owners desperately want your money and will not turn you away from The Exorcist just because you brought your 2 year old. And even if this stuff did happen and I was willing to pay more, it wouldn't be to the tune of $35.
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I couldnt afford the 35 dollar price tag since going to the movies is expensive as it is, that costs more then a dvd. Plus I dont go to the movies to enjoy fine cuisine so the idea of ordering sushi at the movies doesn't get me to go. Also theater audiences have really gone down lately (or I just notice it more now that I am older) so I am not going to spend 35 dollars to hear some annoying person laugh at inappropriate parts. This is defiantly targeted to people with disposable income. But will that be enough to keep them open because when I go to the movies I usually see families, college students, and teenagers at the movies but that might just be what I noticed.
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That is significantly uncool. To take my girl to the movies costs a cold 40 bucks right now. I have interest in shelling out 100 dollars for the pleasure of digital screenings and comfy chairs and appetizers. No Way Jose!
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I live in Redmond where one of these theaters will be opening. There are already two high end theaters in the area, including one in the same shopping center they are building in. There is a glut of movie theaters out there. We don't need more. We need to restore our old movie houses not build new monstosities to make the rich feel better. Oh, and 35 mm still has a higher resolutiuon than digital. So everyone going nuts over how good digital over 35 mm need to have their eyes checked.
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Node, first off thanks for the shout out. Second, I was under the impression bad experiences were par for the course after what I've gone through. My last four experiences: constant obnoxious laughter throughout a movie that wasn't even all that funny, an entire row of gangbangers rolling weed and presumably making deals over their phones throughout, a girl with some sort of disorder who didn't stop moving around in her chair once and a film that went out of focus twice with no staff around to complain to. I kid you not. And none of the movies were good to boot. Transformers, Spiderman 3, Superman Returns and some other un-memorable turd.
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when mexico we went by the local movie theater and saw mr. and ms. smith. it was actualy a great experiance but moastly because of the price of the dollar down there i think in american it only cost us like $8 for the ticket, and we had a fillet, and magarita's. i mean the alcohole was what made it for us naturaly. but i mean yah the lazy boy recliners were awsome and at a touch of a botton we could get this realy cute looking latina to come and take our order during the movie, but the theater only sat like 40 people it was an amazing experiance, but i have a huge problem with doing this in the states, it just seems like evry thing we try do do here we just ruin it, america is the apitimy of pixars BUY-N-LARGE. if this happenes i don't think i'll have the stomack to do it!
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So many theaters already have stadium seating with nice seats that do that little semi-recline thing, and those are fine. For the price, I don't think the food aspect will draw that many people. I mean it sounds cool to be able to eat a pizza while I watch a movie in the theater, but not “35 dollars PLUS the cost of the food as well” cool. They are guessing they are going to have some kick ass food to bring people in. Why pay extra to then choose from a limited menu, what if they don’t have what I am in the mood for? I mean I can go out anywhere I want to and eat before hand, then go to a nicer movie theater and pay 11 bucks to see a movie. Now I am guessing I am not the target market, a 24 year old with an entry level income, and that’s fine. So let’s think about who they are targeting, people with more money. Are all rich people passionate movie goers? NO, not really, its more “regular folk”. I don’t think some dude who just made Partner at a financial firm is on these boards talking about how psyched he is to finally see “G.I. Joe” on the big screen, or fighting with people about how awesome “Transformers” could have been. I have though of this before, how great it would be to bring more of a meal into a movie theater rather then a snack food, and I still think it’s a great idea, but I am just not willing to pay the additional price they are talking about for it. I think that the people who actually think its cool will, people who like to go see movies, will probably try it maybe once, think its pretty cool, but just not worth it for the money, and I think the people who actually have the money to do it just don’t care enough about movies.
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You know, when you purchase a ticket to see a movie, you're also purchasing a ticket to sit with complete strangers...strangers, over whom the theater has virtually no control. Now, theater owners want to spruce up the experience of being constantly annoyed with over-priced seats. Neat strategy. I think I'd be willing to pay more if they would just be willing to guarantee a decent experience or your money back. Who needs plush seats...how about just gags and handcuffs? ;)
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... for the masses will be "upscaled" and therefore priced out of reach of the average consumer. Watch as these new "uber-theaters" become the only theaters available. All part of the corporate elite plan to destroy what's left of the middle class and replace it with a permanently downtrodden class of "trogs" that they can utilize and toss away at will.
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...You take a date, you are out $70.
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I'm already too broke to go to the theatre. I only see things that really excite me. Hence the reason I have only seen two movies in the theatre in the last year. And one of those I wanted my money back.( I'm looking at you cloverfield) Doubling what I'm already paying isn't going to change my mind.
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Mar 26, 2008 11:49:33 AM CDT
Beer, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems
by hawaiian organ donor
I saw Running Scared (the Billy Crystal version) at a theater that served copious amounts of beer and pizza. I don't remember one damn thing about the movie (was Jimmy Smits in it?) but I do remember the awesome experience of barely being a teenager and watching an R-rated movie while sipping on some brewskis. Bring in 21-only theaters that serve booze and I think you might bring back moviegoers, at least the serious ones.
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has become fucking unbearable. But $35 tickets won't take off, I think $20 is the ceiling. Someone mentioned the Arclight in los angeles, I think they hit the sweet spot - tickets a few bucks extra, comfy seats, no commercials, high technical standards. Just common sense stuff, and it makes other theaters seem like cattle farms.
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If I really am desperate to see what I think is an "Event" movie (Dark Knight, Harry Potter, Iron Man, ect), I'd consider sneaking out of work for half a day to see it. Granted, that is for movies where the high school/college hot-heads/self-centered/cell users are still in school, not on break. Otherwise, I'll just wait until the movies come out on DVD or On Demand.
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because i bought it.
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Come to Austin and see what a real movie-going 'experience' should be. No fancy effects, just people running the theaters who love their craft, fabulous food and drink, and great themes/activities. If all movie theaters were like the Alamo, I might actually live somewhere other than Austin.
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ticket sales are down due to rising prices, not to rowdy crowds.you can always pick and choose when to see a move and sit with the type of people you want to sit with. opening night of the Dark Knight, you'll have the die hards. a week later, you'll have theaters full of babies and cell phones. thats just how it is. and if you expect the audience to sit quietly through Transformers, then you've got another thing coming. go see a low key movie if you want a low key theater experience.if you can't deal with the unwashed masses, stay home.fucking snobs.
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For the right special effects movie: Sure. For a night out with the wife to watch Princess Diaries IX - Nope. Well, maybe... if Anne Hathaway is ...
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These guys are high on something cause its not the experience that is stopping most from going to the theater. Its the cost.
I bring my own drink (bottle of pop) for 75 cents, and maybe some chips. I won't pay what they want for food, and even at 9 bucks on a saturday or sunday I hardly ever go to a movie. Only ones that I think are worth my cash. And at 9 bucks its getting to the point where I am saying no to movies I want to see.
So again my experience in the theater is good, no talking, no cells going off, gotta deal with ads but thats why there are mp3 players and friends to talk to during them. Its the price thats driving me away and I don't even have any kids to take to the theater. -
Let all the members of this site chip in and we'll start our own theater.
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The only time I EVER saw security in a movie theatre was when the multiplex was playing John Waters' "A Dirty Shame." They were so afraid someone would see a latex enhanced tit that an armed guard stood inside the theatre for the ENTIRE movie. Meanwhile, someone was probably getting shot in the parking lot, and someone was taking a leak in the back of another film. The reason people stop going to theaters has less to do with the chairs than with the a-holes who sit in them, and the garbage being shown in front of them.
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At the Varsity they've got these VIP Screening rooms, about 20-30 lazyboys, smaller screen to be sure, but great sound/picture, the closest you can get to a nice basement setup and it's about $20. $35 is way too much, no matter how good the experience is.
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We should appreciate any attempt to get people to go to the movies but it seems like this is more of a profit-driven idea than anything else. It will definitely be successful because I imagine that the people with the cash shell out would love another way to separate themselves from the 'less fortunate'. Why not just make small theaters with digital projection that cost less (Film > Digital's 'Apple.com' look) than the normal cinema? It would be a better way to promote the 'cinema' experience. Sure you've rented The Thing a million times but have you watched it in a darkroom with strangers?
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Anyone else getting a 'Meet the Spartans' ad on this page? Oh I do hope it's intentional to match this movie with the article headline.......
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I like my money and I like to spend it wisely. $35 is 19 more than I'm will to spend on permanent ownership of a DVD, so I will certainly Never pay that much for a 2-hour experience.
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for a hooker..those uppity bitches with their downtown prices..so I am sure as shit not paying it to see the latest movie I can BUY within 4 months for $6.99..what's a hard working honest long haul trucker to do?
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Mar 26, 2008 12:04:45 PM CDT
I'll just keep sneaking my Taco Bell Grande meal into reg shows
by george newman
I'm not going to pay a theater extra money to Let me eat.
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Retirement Systems of Alabama pension fund?? I am no financial analysis, but if I was in Alabama and about to retire I would check my 401K. Aren't retirement funds suppose to be invested in conservative stocks?
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I'll never pay that price either. Honestly, I feel like I should get that fucking treatment at the prices I'm already paying, and a big part of the reason why I no longer go to the theatre as much as I used to is because I'm sick to fucking death of paying an arm and a leg for shitty service (concessions, people fucking talking during the movie and not shutting the fuck up) when I can just stay home and get almost the same quality of picture and sound with a much better experience overall. I don't have to pay $20 for popcorn. I don't have to listen to people fucking talking during the movie. I have digital projection. I have massive sound that makes me feel like I am sporting a giant cock. And I DON'T have to pay out the ass for it. Fuck the theatres and fuck them hard. It completely pisses me off that they're offering what should be standard fucking service at an even more ridiculous price. There's a special place in hell for these greedy fuckers, and they fucking deserve it.
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at the movie would be much nicer, I'd have to admit. I'd rather be in that type of environment. Higher chance that me and the lady won't have to deal with some dumbass that won't shut the fuck up.
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Honestly, the most obnoxious movie audiences I've been in have been mostly comprised of white middle-class teenagers...or pretentious nerds who think they're movie experts because they took a film appreciation class in college and they've contributed their generic, poorly thought out opinions to a couple of message boards; and who think the movies are their own personal version of MST3K...They all speak with that same fucking tone! That amateurish, pseudo-world weary irony I like to call "Tech TV" speak. Sit in a couple of those audiences and a rowdy lower class audience starts to look good by comparison...
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You fucking greedy cocksuckers, I hate you all.
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yeah this is the worst idea ever. The chairs are good enough. I want a good movie, and a quiet movie. thats it. they should add bouncers, and not be afraid to ban people for life. Also get some good movies.
I used to go the movies all the time. I dont mind a few comments here and there during trailers (I mean, I laughed my ass off when "midnight meat train" appeared in huge letters"), but cellphones, talking, and especially ADVERTISEMENS are out of control. I paid to see a movie so I wouldnt see ads.
Now I only go to movies on like Wednesday night or Thursday Mid day
hey, are there any enterprising talkbackers here willing to start a membership based movie theater? seriously. Open it only to people, all ages, who are well behaved and like movies. I'd pay for membership and then pay regular rates. thered also be less people at the theater. this is actually a good idea I am kinda liking the more I think about it. -
There is no doubt that the big theater chains need to improve the movie-going experience and that they have been very slow to respond to the erosion of their business in the digital era. However, $35 to see a movie is ludicrous and people simply won't pay it. I live in LA and I really like the Arclight concept. It's a couple extra bucks but I think it's worth an extra $2. The AMC by my house is a shithole. The problems that have been discussed on here in the past as it relates to this issue are cell phones, people who talk during the film, obnoxious teenagers, etc. If the theaters would actually do their jobs and start throwing some of these people out, it would be a great start. Why in the hell should a couple of assholes ruin be allowed to ruin the experience for the other 300 people in the auditorium?
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...for a nice moviegoing experience. I think all seats should be wired, inna William Castle stylee, and crippling jolts of electricity should be launched up the anuses of anyone with a turned-on cell phone, an audible chip or candy bag and big hair. This measure should also be applied to anyone who talks to the screen, kicks seats, gets up out of their seat at any time after the film starts or laughs at the wrong moment.
Special treatment is reserved for the illiterate shitbrains who staff the multiplexes and get all snooty if told that the sound or focus is off. For these people, the film should be stopped, the lights turned on and they should be led to the front of the theater and beaten severely about the face and torso with short lengths of gravel-filled garden hose until senseless.
Come to think of it, I WOULD pay extra for that. -
I can buy a way-overpriced Fox Blu Ray for that price, drink all I want, eat anything I want, have a front row seat. Why go out?
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So each seat will have a service button that summons your waiter. Won't that make the movie going experience suck? Isn't that just as disruptive as a bunch of talking, text-messaging teenagers?
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I am so fucking for this. I went to see a 12:30 showing of Doomsday. A bunch of people brought their young (like from 2-10) children. WTF? And then the fucking black, yes, black kids with the fucking phones talking and laughing throughout the entire fucking movie. If you don't want to see the movie, then go hang out somewhere where it's okay to talk!! I mean come on, is it really too much to ask to shut the fuck up for two hours? And you know what, its not just black kids, now that i think about it. These fucking faggot ass white 12 yr olds with moms credit card and $4,000 worth of clothes and electronics between them who laugh and exclaim throughout the entire movie. Oh yeah, you kids are really pushing the envelope by disturbing the movie. They should have fucking armed guards remove people who make noise. One warning, then you're out. ARRRRRGHHGHHGH!!!
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see them make movie theaters a more adult place to be. Let me smoke, drink, and don't ever allow anyone under 18. That might get my ass back to a theater.
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Nothing drives me more crazy than morons that bring their 2-year old to a PG-13 movie at 10pm, or people that yap nonstop in the theater, or people that SOMEHOW DON'T REALIZE THAT THE GLOW FROM YOUR PHONE WHEN YOU CHAT IS FUCKING DISTRACTING.
I once even had a guy in front of me that had his bluetooth earpiece on (????). It was blining regularly, and when I leaned forward and told him it was distracting and to please turn it off, acted like I was suggesting he eat his first-born.
Seriously, when are the theter companies going to realize that it's NOT ABOUT IT BEING A PREMIUM EXPERIENCE. It's about two hours of decent entertainment for a REASONABLE PRICE!!!!!
Lower the cost of tickets and you'll get more people in the seats, period. And I for one won't be as angered if two 12 year old girls chat through the entire first act. -
...the screens in these mofo's better be at least 65 feet wide and pump a minimum 10,000 watts of sound in EVERY SINGLE AUDITORIUM! All the luxury amenities in the world won't make up for crappy sound and screens the size of my PC monitor! Which, by the way, is ANOTHER NOTCH in Arclight's belt. Every screen is ginormous and the sound is the closest thing to FLAWLESS I've ever heard.
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Almost every trip to the theatre leaves me upset. If the film is actually worth the price of admission then someone in the audience will ruin the experience, by talking, fighting, crying, or adding commentary. It is so much more satisfying to stay home and just buy a decent dvd and enjoy it where the only annoying people are my relatives.
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I'd pay. Also if it were like 2 moives in a row. And if possible like pre release movies like 2-3 weeks before they come out in normal theaters. They this may work. But someone said it earlier, people don't go to movies anymore because of all the assholes that go there, I mean when was the last time you went to a theater on a Friday or Saturday and there wasn't a cop outside? Also when was the last time you went to a theater out side of an opening weekend and saw a packed house? Plus you want people to go to movies, don't put DVD's out 2 months after the movie was in theater.
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If I'm not being subjected to that shit eight times out of ten, I'm sitting there stressing out in anticipation of someone acting that way.
For me most movies "open" when they hit DVD. Thank God for the home theater experience. -
of course this will work if they build them in affluent areas.
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Yet another reason to save my pennies cuz I have heartburn paying the $10 it costs for an adult evening show... and it's really not even so much the *ticket* prices, as it's the concessions... I now HAVE to make movie night a Night-long event, cuz I need to grab chow before or after the movie - cuz I am not paying MORE for my food (2 dogs + lg drink) than it cost me to watch the movie.
Ah well - it'll be another spectacular failure - which will continue to dismiss what the "auds" are saying - price:quality will have us come out. When we can do as well or better at home, we'll save our money. -
I agree wholeheartedly. A couple extra bucks for reserved seats (that are HUGE comfy leather) is totally worth it. I see all the biggest films there. Strangely, I've never had a bad experience there, either. I think ushers shut up talkers quick, but I've never actually seen it happen.
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Fucktard parents who bring their squalling three-year-olds to R-rated movies.
Put the kids in foster homes and nail their parents to the Tree of Woe. -
AS IF THEY WERENT HIGH ENOUGH
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It really is the ideal theater to me. It isn't ridiculously high end, but it's nice and they do things the right way. They make their own caramel corn, too. Anybody been to the new Arclight in Sherman Oaks? I was curious how the format would work in the suburbs. It's essentially in a mall, so I think you would get a lot more riff raff in there.
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In Bangkok, you reserve a specific seat. That way you can come in at any time and go right to your seat and not have to worry about bothering other folks looking for empty seats.Also, you have to stand while they play a montage of the King of Thailand signing documents and overlooking dam construction. If you don't stand, armed guards will come and kick you out. Disrespect to the King and all.We should do the same thing but instead of the king we should have a giant tomato on screen you have to stand for. I am drunk. that is all.
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I live in Austin Tx. When Superman Returns came out I went to the only digital theater in town at the time to see it. The place was packed. The problem, at least for me, was the fact that there was a guy translating the entire movie to spanish for his freind. He wasn't even wispering he was talking in full volume. Well I guess I was the only one that had a problem with it cause the theater did NOTHING! They didn't even ask him to be quiet!So I wonder why more people don't go to the movies? Oh I almost forgot there was a crying baby through about half the movie too.On a side note, I still don't know if I disliked the movie cause of the experiance or if it was just boring.
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was at the movies and some fat bim comes into the show with her 5 year old stripling..the movie..Hannibal. Guy gets hung by the intestines kid FREAKS out...no more kid..LMAO I bet that kid is fucking traumatized to this very day.
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Hey Hollywood! Hey Theater Owners! Want to give me a high-end experience for which I'll pay extra money? THEN HIRE SOME USHERS AND START BOOTING THE A**HOLES FROM THE THEATERS. That's right, those kids who think this is some interactive experience where they play the lead comic role... The white t-shirt gang that threatens violence on theatergoers here in San Francisco... The girlies that can't keep their mouths shut... The yuppies who can't bear to turn off their frickin' gadget of the day with the bright glowing screen, let alone their stupid-ass ringtone... The homeless people who snuck in with their bags of garbage to take a load off for the afternoon (I'm not making ANY of this up, btw)... the parents who are too frakkin' cheap to hire a babysitter and have the f*ckin NERVE to bring their crying baby and mongoloid screaming toddlers into an R-rated film.... DO I NEED TO GO ON, 'CAUSE I CAN! I *will* pay $20 each for my lady and myself *if* you give me a good product, well presented, and RESERVE THE EXPERIENCE FOR THOSE THAT APPRECIATE MOVIES IN A MOVIE THEATER. If you can't do that for $20/ticket, then screw you and your "luxury moviegoing experience". I'll wait 3 - 6 months, get it from Netflix (or elsewhere), and watch it in the luxury of my home. DONE.
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Seriously I don't know why people have to bring their kids to the movies. And if you do, go to the day showings. I saw the Kingdom on opening night, and I went to the midnight showing to avoid crowds and kids. No some asshole parents brought there 2 year old, that I almost knocked over because they were letting it run around the hallway and I had to run and piss real quick. I mean come on, A) This was fucking opening night, B) It was the midnight showing, C) This wasn't like some event film. If you have a kid and you feel like you REALLY absolutly have to see a dumb movie the first night its showing on the last show of the evening, you shouldn't have kids.
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How about when you buy a ticket you also get charged an additional $20 good faith fee which will be refunded to you if you behave during the movie. Jerks will be quiet if it hurts their wallet.
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Mar 26, 2008 12:28:17 PM CDT
Probably, ok definately, gonna sound like a dick here...
by blindambition238
but as a member of both the upper economic bracket and movie snob audience they seem to be going after, I really can't see myself shelling out 35 dollars for a single movie ticket when I can pay some more to get a ticket at the already excellent LA Arclight plus a decent meal that will probably taste a whole lot better than their overpriced movie theater sushi.
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Interesting but too expensive for the casual movie-goer. In an age where the home movie experience has grown with the help of better t.v sets and HD movies, I understand the business decision to try and improve on a theatre-going experience that has slowed down in recent years. However, we are in a fuckin' recession and increasing prices will only work against what they are trying to do, which is to bring more people in! Curiosity will peak at first, but unless this movie theatre chain GUARANTEES you that taking a date here will get you laid, I see no casual movie-goer ever going back for seconds.
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as do two blu rays (maybe 40) so arent we talking more then $35? What is the price we're talking about?
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...about what we want from a theater. And it ain't shrimp, a**hats. Do you think any of those overpaid morons from Village Roadshow Ltd will read this and learn? I thought not. So I hope they lose the shirts of their backs for this stupid, blind iniative. Damn, this subject makes me angry. Off to get some decaf.
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Effing awesome idea!
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When are studios/theater chains gonna realize that's why people aren't going to the cinemas anymore?
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And it had one theater, that for a one town theater was a lot better then most. And seriously, even though the movie selection sucked, if you went to a movie like 3-4 week in release, or anytime during the day. It was just you and who ever you went with. And that was awesome. Even though the chairs sucked in some of the theaters. Having a whole movie theater to your self and friend/date was awesome.
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Its a bar style movie theater. I think any movie after 5 is 18 or over only(they do make special exceptions for kid friendly movies). The tickets I think are 8 bucks and the food and drink isn't that overpriced(about what you would pay at a bar in the area) and the food is pretty good(again its basically burgers and such, bar food. but not bad) Honestly the sound and screens are not great. Me and the wife enjoy going to see comedies there.
But other posters are right, what theaters need to do is start jamming cell phones and kicking out idiots. -
They are just obnoxious in a different way. I don't think I would want to sit in a $35 seat surrounded by those assholes either.
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got the ability to show movies weeks before there general release is probably the only way you'll get people coming back.
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I want to see a movie shot on film, projected with the light of the projector shinning through the film at 24 fps. Once everything goes digital, why go when I can get basically the same image on an HD tv at home? 3-D films are great when you're hanging out at an amusement park and want to sit down for a few minutes and cool off, but that's all they're good for. Why even bother with 3-D, maybe they should just pull out the VR helmets.
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POTC, the place isn't packed but it's full. Some lady has a new born baby in a stroller and it's screaming at the top of it's little lungs. Finally I found an usher he tells her she has to take the baby out of the theater then tells her I'm the one that complained. Anyway after the movie she's waiting for me, like I'm the bad guy! Looks me in the eye and says "thanks asshole."
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there are plenty of rich pricks out there willing to spend thirty-five dollars a ticket for cushions for their feet. plus, the average movie-goer doesn't give a shit if the movie's actually good or not, they just want an excuse to not have to think for a couple hours. but, of course, it's all speculation.... so.... who the fuck knows? maybe it will do well, maybe it won't. i'm actually quite curious to find out.
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Do you see what the scum and poorly behaved patrons are wearing? The pricetag of that annoying personal technology they're showing off? Do you think they earned that money flippin' burgers at McDs? Nope, they're an extremely spoiled segment of their generation (and my generation -- 40 something -- has it's own special brand of 'tards these days) for whom money means little. It's rarely theirs anyway, or from a non-drug related source. So you can raise the ticket to $30, but they'll still be there to run the show and show off their bling, and impress us with how *they* would have handled the script.
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to insane amounts during a recession could put the final nail in the movie theaters coffin. We've already seeing one means of media distribution on it's last legs (network TV), and I guess we'll see another soon. At least we'll see a few more releases from masters like Michael Mann and Martin Scorsese before the end of cinema.
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And it was at that point that you said: "Fuck you, you dumb twat."
Please tell me you did. -
in white cashmere like the inside of Busta Rhymes Lamborghini than count me out.
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I've had a 108" screen for the past three years. And my movie theater going has gone down to a trickle. And I don't miss it. You just can't beat watching what you want, when you want, eating whatever you want, with people of your choosing. Not to mention the pause button for bathroom breaks.
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I thought she was going to stab me with a knife. I'm not kidding
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For that price I could go to five movies at the local theatre
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I think the idea is great, but I'm certainly not going to be attending these theaters for EVERY movie I want to see. I mean, I would go to these theaters to see the big blockbusters (Avatar, Transformers 2, Terminator 4, etc.) Also, the ticket prices ($12-18) could turn people away. And I hope there won't be commercials.
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for concessions, who gives a shit how nice their dumb little theater is? I know theaters make all their profits on candy and coke, but the prices are insane and drove me to 'sneak' my own snacks in years ago.
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keepo their mouth shut and phones off!!! Why is that so hard and why I'm I the only guy in the theater that get annoyed by these people?
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I live in a small college town in NJ with a 2 screen theater. The screens are small but the theater is nice (clean, stadium seats). We get new movies just about every week, a good mix of blockbusters and indie/art stuff. Weekend shows are almost always full or sold out. The same people who take the tickets serve the concessions and clean the place. I could drive 15 minutes to a big chain multiplex, but that little theater is my favorite place to see a movie with a civilized audience. I think all the idiots and jerks described here head to the multiplex.
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...could be so much more. I love the idea of heading to a movie theater without punk thug brats running around. Upscale would certainly sell. After all, the American business motto is "class into mass". However, this whole venture could be so much more if Hollywood was in tune with the general public. As many have already mentioned, the general quality of film making is poor. The main reason behind this is Hollywood is on another planet, and is generally out of touch with the public. There was a golden age of film making during the late 70s and 80s that produced movies everyone could enjoy, with themes we all could understand and embrace. Today, the rampant liberalism and constant anti-American messages turn people off. In general, people with these ideas will not connect with people who don't. We get junk like "Stop Loss", another anti-American military film that will fail horribly. But Hollywood will continue to produce these films in spite of the publics refusal to watch them.
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200k for a season at the new stadium - yeah - id say theres a viable highend market out there.
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Maybe we'll get Dial M For Murder remake #3 with Viggo in the Michael Douglas/Ray Milland role. He can get in a 3-D bathhouse fight with Shia LaBeef.
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Theatre companies should offer blow-jobs while you watch a movie. Getting a blow job while watching a movie at home makes any movie seem more enjoyable! Could be dangerous when watching movies with "JUMP" scares tho!
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a couple of times. The first time I didn't realize someone takes your order and brings it to you so I hit the candy counter before going in. The theatre is very small. Reminds me of the early days of the cineplex. But the screen is bigger and the sound better. All times I went was a positive movie-going experience. But I haven't been to one in several years so I don't know if the dickheads have taken over. Usually when I see movies in the theatre these days I go to the Imax at the former Paramount, first showing on a Saturday or Sunday. It's usually empty and the few people that are there are there to watch the movie. Also, I think the management keeps a closer eye on the Imax theatre because it costs more to get in and they don't want anyone sneaking in.Remember the good old days in Canada when "Rated R" meant no one under 18 was allowed in, and theatres enforced this? I was always a bit jealous of you Americans who could see Restricted movies at the age of 17, or if you went in with someone of age. But not us. Not 18, you weren't allowed in. Sure it sucked that I couldn't see Life of Brian in the theatre, or that only a couple of months before my 18th birthday I was turned away from Beverly Hills Cop, but I got over it and I think learned to appreciate the privilege of seeing an adult film with other adult movie-goers. Really, I think part of the problem is anyone can see any movie as long as they have a so-called adult with them.On that subject, I read a review of Clerks II where the reviewer noticed that a guy had brought his young (maybe 8) son with him. The son was bored out of his gourd but the father was obviously a Kevin Smith fan who felt his son should share this experience with him and made him sit there and watch it. The reviewer wondered if taking an 8-year old to Clerks II was considered child abuse.
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Most of the time you're right but not all ways. We have a place here called Alamo Draft House. I used to think it was a little better but I'm starting to wonder. It's seems like everytime I go there someone is answering cell phone calls during the movie!!! This has happened several times now.
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I am so sick of fucking ppl making comments and carrying on in the movie theater as if it's their own home... that is what needs to be addressed!
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I know there are some Cineplexs that are like VIP or whatever that offer better seating and people come to serve you at your seat and shit. I'm sure they'd be the first to upgrade projectors too...
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Everyone is in agreement--the problem isn't concessions or seats. The problem is assholes in the theatre. A very simple way to eliminate this is to give each patron a membership card to the theatre. If they act like a jackass, revoke their card, and they can't come back. Simple.
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Sure, it's meant for film snobs or whatever you want to call them, higher class filmgoers. But with projects like I already mentioned, the Cineplex VIP thing with normal theatres that have a few cinemas like this, no way could a theatre that has only these kind of cinemas survive.
There just aren't enough people willing to pay for this to be able to survive the more expensive costs of running the place. The Cineplex VIP thing has it figured it out because it gets both the higher class people and regular moviegoers. -
Quint actually nailed it a while back (during the Vacancy review, I think).
If theater owners want to get people back into the movies, they should respect the audiences they have by reminding people to be courteous to others. Hire more ushers to get/keep assholes out of theater or to tell them to STFU. All raising ticket prices for a does is keep me home, not convince me to check out an "uber-theater." -
I heard somewhere about a special paint they were going to use in theaters on Broadway (and the like) that effectively block cellphone signals? Anyone know if the stuff exists?
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It may be the first time in the history of AICN that you and I were in 100% agreement
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I took my little brother to see a matinee of There Will Be Blood when last I went to visit him at college. We got there early, found some good seats, and sat chatting quietly through the Coke trivia and whatever. The entire theater is empty. Finally, after the movie starts, a group of AARP fucks sits directly in front of us, and then another geriatric couple sits directly behind us. They proceeded to spend the entire movie asking each other what just happened in loud voices, as I assume that their hearing aids were on the fritz. Finally I turned around and, as politely as I could, asked the desiccated hag behind me to be quiet. She acted as though she'd not heard me and continued asking her decrepit husband questions. Old people are just as bad as teenagers when it comes to theaters. I don't have the cash for a home theater as of right now, so I've just stopped watching nearly as many movies, and I just read more books. I really miss movies.
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Thats a good idea but we need people TO ENFORCE this rule. It seems to me like the kids that work at theaters dont really care.
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No one under 18 admitted because the establishment served alcohol. Imagine watching a movie without any teenagers in the audience. BLISS.
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"...rampant liberalism and constant anti-American messages turn people off..." Yeah, right. Take it to redstate .com, idiot. The grown-ups are having a conversation here, and the topic is obviously "I won't pay $35 to sit in a noisy theater full of jerks", not "I won't pay $35 to go to the movies when Obama becomes president", 'kay? Thx. Bye.
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with whiney fucks and screaming kids, you wouldn't really care either.
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Is a bottle of champagne included? If so, it's probably really crappy champagne. If not, you're looking at an additional $35 for a moderately acceptable bottle and it's starting to be a pricey night out for something that'll be on DVD in a couple of months. You're better off with live theatre. (Pronounced "Thee-AY-ter")
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The more I think about it... it's not about "making a theater more comfortable or lavish" that will bring people back. The problem is that theater owners do not want to deal with the ongoing problem with the younger teenage crowds who often ruin the movie going experience for the rest of us. The IRONY is that theater owners and studios claim "teenagers" are the ones who buy the most theater tickets these days. So it's a CATCH 22 system. These numbers are correct - because the people who actually want to savor and enjoy the film going experience are staying home because they can enjoy watching and listening to a movie without the constant cell phones going off... or listening to a group of girls talking about how Mindy dumped Dan last night.
What THEATERS and STUDIOS need to do is devise a way to appeal to both audiences. If you could guanantee a pleasant movie going experience for people... I guarantee that numbers would go up and balance of who buys the most theater tickets will level itself out.
As a kid... I grew up in th 70's and 80's watching movies in theaters - and the audience always glued to the screen and not distracted by anything else. I may be old school... but it seems obvious to me why so many people stop going to the movies anymore. -
Because if they only open a few of them in big cities, they'll be fine. Start opening them anywhere south of Washington D.C. and not in the state of California or the Dallas/Plano area they'll flop.
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I live in Dallas and there is a great drive-in movie theatre about 40 mins outside of town. $6 for a double feature of 2 first run movies and I get to sit back inmy car and crank the volume on my car stereo. Nothing better!
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For the most part you are right. But, I was once a teenager that worked for minimum wage and I did my job. I think there are kids out there that would and could do the job. It would just be a little tougher on managment to find those kids.
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We're all complaining about the people that the theaters make their money off of. And since we've chosen to stop going to movies because of the declining experience, the theaters don't feel the need to cater to us. That's what the purpose of this idea is: get the people that hate theater-going to start liking it again.
BTW, the reason in the 70s and 80s we weren't distracted is because there was nothing to distract us. No cells, no text messaging, etc. Plus, we weren't multitaskers like the current generation, that talk, drive, surf, and watch a movie all at the same time. -
Fuck no! The $11 plus food is pushing the envelope as it is! I love movies, but that is way too expensive. I make decent cash too, but that is just stupid. Do the upgrades and charge the same price, then you'll get more people going to see the movies.
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Teens are the biggest market let them have the theater!
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Just wanted to say that.
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I agree with what many people here have said. It's the people that keep viewers away from the theater, not the chairs or having to park their own cars.
Not too long ago, I was at a 10:30 showing at my local theater and there were some idiots with a laser pointer that kept pointing it at the screen during the movie. People kept yelling and swearing at them and they kept yelling back and threatening people. After the movie was done, we were all walking out into the lobby and this massive 30-person brawl broke out in the space of about 2 seconds ... and 30 seconds later there were to people lying on the ground with stab wounds in their stomachs. It was crazy. It was the first time that had happened there. I wouldn't even consider it a bad neighborhood. Now there's always armed security there. And I know some people who don't want to go back just because they think it's too dangerous. -
Last November here at the Metreon in San Francisco, someone was shot and killed at the theater by a 15 year old gangsta wannabe. Why? Because the guy in front of him in the lobby was "moving too slow". Seriously. That's our moviegoing experience today.
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It's just like stores now with Shoplifters, they don't want to do anything because they are afraid of a lawsuit.
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Split your megaplex into two halves. On THIS side, it's adults only no matter what the movie is rated. No one under the age of 21 will be allowed in this side of the theater. No cellphones will work because the signal is BLOCKED. They can justify the age requirement by serving expensive, tiny shots of very weak alcohol, thus requiring an ID to get in but not resulting in drunken assholes in the audience. No babies allowed, either. Charge an extra $1.50 per ticket for admission to this side of the cineplex and you'll keep the Wal*Mart, white trash, idiot chav retards out, as well.
On THE OTHER side of the theater, it's anything goes, any age admitted, cellphones are allowed, lower price for admission, and the cheapest swill junkfood possible at the concession. Sell these people the leftover popcorn from this afternoon and the hot dogs made with mostly filler. Book a lot of PG-13 movies to draw in the teen crowd.
In the adult side, have fully grown security guards (not teenaged ushers) available to toss anyone who disrupts the movie in a significant way. In the anything-goes side, you can still hire the minimum-wage ushers and not give a damn about the audience's viewing experience.
On the adult side, the projectors are high-end digital devices. On the anything-goes side, it's all the older, clunky projectors that you were going to sell to a film school in order to upgrade to digital. (People who are not watching the movie don't care about film quality anyway).
Just separate the responsible adults from the moron kids and cheap-ass yokels, and you have a decent experience at the movies. -
The ushers don't even bother to check on you. They just leave you alone in the theater. I think the projectionist even nods off.
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The people who invest in and operate megaplexes could give a damn if anyone actually watches or enjoys the movie - not a priority for them, not when spoiled teenagers have their parents money and will spend it every weekend. Those cute "Silence is Golden" ads they put before movies are waste of time. Movie theaters, especially the ones attached to malls, are nothing more than a place to hang out and attract attention to oneself. IMO those of us who want to WATCH movies have to adapt and forget about those theaters as an option. I live in Austin and so far so good with the Drafthouse. I've seen plenty of movies there and only once did I have to ask somebody to stop talking. Other than that I watch em at home.
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I mean, if the sushi were at regular market levels, I might pay an extra $2 a ticket. But you KNOW this on-site food would still be about 300% more than it would be if you bought it elsewhere. Hell, at my local theater, you can take food inside, anyhow, so I actually have had sushi at the movies already, at no extra charge. This plan is insane.
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I was guaranteed that there would be no talking and no cell phone usuage. I think, for that price, they should hire someone to work inside the theatre to tell people to be quiet, or kick people out if they are being disruptive. We are paying a premium to be there, so that means they have to take care of the people who ruin the experience. If they don't, count me out.
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But I've only had ONE bad experience in a movie theatre, and even the one was tame. During Narnia some parents brought their three year old, and he asked a lot of questions. It was more cute then irritating. I love going to the movies, I really hope the prices don't rise too much or these new things become the norm.
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Yeah right..
"Yuppies" INVENTED talking loudly on a cell phone in public places. -
Was at the showing of Dejarleeling Limited at the Regal Arbor. It was a special event as Jason Schwarzman was there too.
That being said, he may show up all the time. I have no idea. -
I'm starting to see a little bit more cell phone usage and talking at the Alamo.
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I carp enough about paying ten bucks to see a movie now, anything above is ridiculous.
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I was at the AOTC midnight showing at the Metropolitan and Harry was there. I couldn't tell if he was talking during the movie. I hope he wasn't cause I would have had to ask him to leave. No one should talk during Star Wars, good or bad episode.
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I've been lucky then. I'll keep going until it changes.
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Business is about sales and beating the competition. In the arena of theater attendance the competition is the now relatively inexpensive home theater.
So for a market analysis let's compare the two, shall we?
With a home theater I can, and do, have an enormous screen for my viewing pleasure complete with a digital picture for optimum image quality. In direct comparison the theater has a monstrous screen with digital quality, which virtually dwarfs a home theater screen.
Advantage: theater.
In a home theater I can, and do, have a great surround sound system capable of replicating the film's audio track from the quietest of pin drops to the largest twenty car pile up with aliens attacking and Bruce Willis yelling Yippee-ki-yi-yay Motherfucker at audio levels I can pre-select and adjust on the fly. In the theater I am subjected to a pre-defined sound level, which tempered with room filling sound is quite the experience. However, the distraction of talking people and ringing cell phones seriously impacts any advantage this might have presented.
Advantage: Home Theater
With a home theater I can eat what I want and drink what I want including alcohol. At a theater I am subject to a limited menu based on typical movie-going items, which I will have to carefully balance on the way back to the theater and then negotiate back to my seat. All while the thoughts of paying $15.00 for about $2.00 in product ring in my head. Then I must endure others who step over me and stick their crotch or oversized ass in my face as they venture back to the snack bar. Some theaters sell alcohol; however, your consumption of said beverage is severely hampered by a limited menu and the need to be able to drive home.
Advantage: Home Theater
Being able to see a new movie on a huge screen with great sound with an appreciative and courteous communal audience can't be beat. That being said this experience no longer exists and therefore is actually only a fond memory and a false promise of today's theater.
The only remaining advantages of the theater are seeing the film upon release and seeing trailers for other films that you are anticipating.
Being that I have run out of advantages presented by the theater I will continue on with the remaining advantages of the home theater.
1. I can stop, pause and rewind a film at my convenience thereby eliminating missing any portion of the film due to going to the bathroom.
2. I can watch a film at any time and in any attire I so choose.
3. I don't have to drive to the theater, deal with parking and deal with lines and wait to go in and then jockey for a seat and be inevitably penned in by annoying and fat people taking up the armrests and shoveling food down their gullets by the handful while slurping soda by the gallon.
4. One DVD costs about as much as one movie ticket and I own the film and can watch it at any time in the future or have a friend watch it or watch it with them.
5. I don't have to be subjected to the inconsiderate people that talk, text, use their cell phone, kick chairs, throw food, eat like they haven't had food in a month and fall asleep and snore during a movie.
6. There is no preponderance of illegal immigrant fucks and their self-important offspring running around pissing me off while they rape the system and screw this country over.
Personally I take in only a few films at the theater any more. It truly needs to be worth seeing there. Case and point being Iron Man and The Dark Knight as well as, please don't suck, The Incredible Hulk. Otherwise I simply keep adding titles to my collection. I'm at over 2,000 now and behind on watching them. The beauty being I can wait for the DVD, heck it's only two or three months, and then I can watch it whenever I want.
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It's still better than your average multiplex. I've just noticed it going down hill a little. I talked to my neighboor and he agreed.
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Or a decent space to set up your tripod. AND NO QUESTIONS ASKED!!!
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The theater chain Carmike Cinemas now has digital projection and sound. I'm friends with the general manager of one of their theaters here. Guess what? The films come on hard drives and start and stop via computer. They have no control over it. If the film's off-center or the sound's fucked up, they have to call a technician from the company to come out and fix it. All because these theater chains are too damn cheap to hire someone to monitor the technology on-site. They need to fix this and also, like others have stated so succinctly, kick the cell-phone using, text-messaging, loud, rude talkers out. The theater chains continually wonder why people aren't going to the movies in droves like before...it's easy, really - make the experience pleasurable. As for the $35 theater idea, there'll be some who'll take to it but I'd much rather spend that money on groceries.
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Do it, seriosly... Give the smaller indie run cinema's more business.
Idiots. -
I'd take the Alamo Drafthouse experience over that high dollar Bullshit at any price. It's not the socio-economic status of your fellow moviegoers that ruins the experience, it's sitting next to people who aren't really interested in the film.
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You're right about that!! I just don't get how people can go into the theater and just talk and make phone calls and all that crap. That's why Alamo is way better these days. That said I am a little worried about it I've had a few minor problems there lately.
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I think it would be great if technologically the cell phone companies worked in conjunction with the theaters to design and implement a system that would disable phones once they entered the theater and re-enable them as they left. I'm not talking about shielding, which does and doesn't work but something like the theft deterrent systems used at retail stores. This along with ushers who can and will actually remove people causing a disruption would go a long way to restoring the peace. That being said I found out once that by leaning forward and firmly stating "Shut the fuck up!" to some teens that talked incessantly worked just as well.
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Spend tens of thousands on new technology and furniture. Try $7 an hour on an usher to police movie-ruining assholes and their talking, their cell-phoning, their chair-kicking, and all their other crap. He's allowed to have a cell-phone though, so he can call up to the monkey running the projector when it goes out of focus.
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when my foot meets someone's backside. I'm not a violent guy, but if someone is talking I have no qualms about asking someone to be quiet. I go the Patrick Swayze Roadhouse route. If they don't shut up I'll go to management. Hasn't happened in a while, but I did get some drunk teens thrown out a ways back. I haven't been in a fistfight since high school, and have no intentions of ever starting one, but God pity the man who lays a hand on me because I'll finish it.
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I applaud that, and wish I could witness that, but the thing is you are the exception and not the rule. I hope you keep doing that, but for me I just want to sit and not have to deal with it.
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I know that it seems like talking in theaters will never stop, but it can. I know that you don't live in LA and a million people have already mentioned The Arclight, but it is a place where people can go and not deal with talkers. It is just an example of a business that has put a priority on guest experience and trained its movie goers how to behave. Aside from people not talking you will also never run into a baby at Arclight. Want to know why? Because Arclight charges adult prices for infant tickets. Its took a while for The arclight business model to find its audience here in LA, but now people who want a good experience know that it is the place to go. even if you live across town. My point is that audiences can be trained. Yes, there will always be rude people, but if a theater chain makes it known that they are not welcome, they will go somewhere else. The kind of people who talk on phones and kick chairs actually hate going to The Arclight.
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I'm in the WGA and back in December they had an event where they screened THERE WILL BE BLOOD at the DGA theater here in NYC. Now for those of you who have never been there, that theater is as low rent and uncomfortable as it comes. It's like something out of the 70's. The sound sucks. The seats look like they came from a high school auditorium. If you sit in the balcony (which most of us do since the front section is usually reserved) you can't hear anything. You can't have food or drinks in the theater. The screen is small. It should have sucked, right? Wrong. The theater was packed and everyone was silent. They were there to watch the movie. You could hear a pin drop during quiet scenes. I walked out of that screening and told my wife that it was the best movie theater experience I've had in years. After the movie Scorcese and PTA did a little interview on the stage and that was cool, but seeing a movie like an adult was the best thing about that night...and yet the theater sucked. I know some people will say that this $35 high end ticket theater is what's going to get the filmgoer who hates the movie theater experience right now back in the theater, but it's too far of a jump. They should be working on getting us back into regular theaters. They should be doing everything they can to stop the cell phones and the cretin behavior. When I saw Attack of the Clones, a family of about 8 let their three kids who were bored have a contest to see who could jump down the most steps of the stadium steps during the movie. People complained, the kids stopped jumping the steps and when the usher left, they started again. Two Geeks got into it with the Dad of these mongrels and this went on for about 15 mins. The experience of seeing the movie that night was ruined. When I saw Juno, a group of teens decided they were going to scream out random shit during the movie like they had tourette's. When other people in the audience started to tell them to shut the fuck up, it only got worse. They thought they were the entertainment, not the movie. This needs to stop. $35 tickets aren't the answer. Zerocorpse's idea would work, but then the PC police would come and say it was racially biased or exclusionary or some bullshit. I have zero desire to go to the movies these days and I work in the fucking industry.
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I think the problem here is that very few people in our society respect film as an art from any more. In fact, you are viewed as an elitist prick if you think film is art. To the average viewer film is mindless entertainment or a babysitter for the ADD riddled kids. Why should they respect mindless entertainment?
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99% of the time it's the matinee. Then I walk in and see it'll be $12-$15 for a soda, hot dog and nachos, and that's just for me. Upscale?? They're gonna have to charge exorbitant prices just to stay above water. I WILL NOT pay more than $25-$30 for 2hrs or so for a movie. Maybe for Lord of the Rings Extended Version ;^p
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I guess I should clarify something. Places like the Alamo and the Arclight are not what I was referring to. I'm imagining the generic theaters that we've all been to with 800 screens. The quanity over quality places.
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the DRIVE IN theater in my hometown. Man, that was fun. I'm not that old, either. This was the late 80s, and it was still open, and I was still taking girlfriends to see movies there in what was essentially a bedroom on wheels.
Drive in theaters are great for avoiding other people, and still being able to get down with someone if you want to.
Of course, I also made out during ALIENS, in a standard theater, and nobody said a word. -
People like Marines, parents who bring their kids, teenagers, jackasses wearing a Bluetooth headset, and anybody who isn't interested in a movie. Seriously, peeps who bring their kids to the movie theater piss me off. Just because you have kids doesn't mean we should all have to sacrifice. I remember going to the theater to watch Scary Movie (don't ask) and some Filipino broad came into the theater with six kids, all under the age of ten. What the fuck was she thinking? And as annoying as the cell phone thing is, a jackass with a Bluetooth headset that can't turn the fucking thing off is even worse.
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norn iron, worth it as everyone keeps stum, no grief, loads of room, reclining seats, free refils and i no longer have to embarrass the other half with getting up and fucking people out who annoy me
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He was the lead in "Pickup On South Street" that was shown at Butt-Numb-A-Thon this past December. Very terrific actor.
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Here in Columbus OH, there's about a dozen theatres, some are doing things similar to this.
The Arena Grand: A dollar more for 'balcony seating' - absolutely no difference otherwise. The riffraff are kept out by the fact that it's downtown and you need to have a car just to get in, and it's an extra dollar to park. Also has beer and 'high-end' food.
There's the Movie Tavern, which has this kind of deal with the buttons at every seat. Also high-end food delivered right to your seat, and comfy seats at that...but the waiters come in during the movie and stand right in front of you and anyone around you. I won't go back to them.
Then there's the low rent one-screen theatre where you can get pizza and subs delivered. Sound, screen, and everything else is horrible there. Studio 35. Only slight plus is that they are the last place pretty much in the state to have Rocky Horror once a month, and even they want to take that away. Look for that theatre to disappear in the next year.
IMO, at least around here, these 'high-end' theatres aren't going to work in this economy. The day that ticket prices are above the cost of getting the same movie on dvd on release date (Usually within 3-6 months), is the day that I retreat to my living room, never to return. If it's something I absolutely have to see, as was said, middle of the day or a late show on the weekdays, or I could just download it. -
I would agree with Dannyglovers_dickblood (that name actually makes me kind of naauseous) that Arclight Sherman Oaks is not quite up to par with the Hollywood location. I think that it is worth your time if you are in the area though. It costs a little less than Hollywood and there are still reserved seats, no commercials, no late seating and really good sound. There are some tiny auditoriums, but there are some really huge ones as well. I think if you see stuff there the first week or two it will probably be in one of the larger houses. As to the crowd thing that Rev Slappy was worrying about, well the crowd does kinda have that annoying family/teen/mall-goer vibe to it, but here's the thing... Arclight appears to be deploying spies in the theater. On two different occasions I have seen employees pop up out of the audience and confront people about their talking/texting nonsense. So, while I suppose it would be nice to have a better behaved audience in the first place at least they're doing something about it. I still prefer Hollywood, by a long shot but I wouldn't write off the Sherman Oaks one just yet.
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I haven't had a whole lot of trouble since I moved out into the boonies from Phoenix. The last time I did, it was Cloverfield. A group of 6 or 7 kids and their older sister/mother/both sat right behind me, proceeded to talk through all of the ads, and forced me to tell my brother in a fairly loud voice, "Man, I hope these kids behind us shut the fuck up when the movie starts." No problems after that. Phones don't usually bother me too much, the lights, anyway.
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I can hear it, just barely, but it's getting louder. As someone pointed out, $20 to hear some assholes cellphone go off. Great! Sign me up! As the quality of movies decreases and the national standard for politeness plummets, and as home theater technology gets better and cheaper, the movie theater will die. It sucks because you'll never be able to recreate what it's like to be in a packed house with 399 other people who are just as excited as you are to see some great movie that's just come out.
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Muvico theatres in florida was the first to have exactly what that theatre chain says they are going to offer
and has had this type of service since the 1990s not to mention a child care center so the children can safely play and have fun with out disturbing the movie going audience while the parents are watching the movie.
and it doesnt cost 35 bucks a ticket either. -
And it was a struggle to make time to go see that one, which I've waited what, 15 years for?There have been plenty of other films since then that I've wanted to see, but one problem the exec's haven't realized is that a lot of jobs are no longer 9-5. With the whole internet boom, folks work schedules vary a lot now due to IT related jobs and it's much harder to find time to go to the theatres, whereas I can kick back at home and watch a film at any time. For example, I work 1:30-9:30pm. That rules me out of seeing any films on days I work (earliest a film starts here is 12:30, latest is usually 9:50). I can only go on my days off and for the most part, I have other things to do then as well, so unless the film is really worth it, I'm staying home.
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...is fine by me. I've never had a problem with a rude theatergoer at Arclight and I'm sure that the FUCKING IDIOT that yelled "TOM CLANCY: RAINBOW SIX" at the screen during RAMBO (at the AMC) would never shell out $35 for a movie. So sign me up for Village Roadshow Theaters. I'll be the one sitting in the back with a trenchcoat full of snacks.
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Someone pays their entrance fee and feels entitled to piss all over everything and everyone.
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The Muvico chain offers Premiere seating, which is balcony seating with loveseat style seats,valet parking, an upscale restaurant, and valet parking. Costs about 15 dollars.
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First run. Seven Bucks. Smaller screens but well mixed audio and proper lighting levels. Fresh popped popcorn with real butter. You have to go to the box office to buy tickets so they won't sell out two weeks before the show. Sticky floors, threadbare seats. The way it ougghta be. I saw No Country, Enchanted, Juno, Rattatouile, American Gangster, The Departed, and Hot Fuzz at them last year. God bless the State and Darien theaters where I live. God fuckin' bless em.
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Please, bless them!
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Whoever implemented that shit is a fucking genius! I thought Arclight was on point with their uber-expensive infant tickets, but a theater with on site child care would be fricking amazing. Not just for the movie goers who wouldn't have to put up with the little cretins, but for all the parents out there who would really like a night out but can't find a decent sitter.
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"When I saw Juno, a group of teens decided they were going to scream out random shit during the movie like they had tourette's."
I'm pretty sure that was just the movie itself.
'Hey, lets put random hip references into every piece of dialouge and make a hero out of a girl too dumb to figure out a condom!'
"Great idea! Let's nominate them for every award we have!" -
As a former Marine, I have to agree with you wholeheartedly. I don't want to hear an "Ooo Rah" every time an attractive female shows up on screen or an expolosion happens. The base theater was like a damn zoo. When did the STFU courtesy go out the window?
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Thank God! I see story after story all saying the same things - it's not the commercials, the food, the chairs or the lack of wine bar...IT'S THE GODDAMN BUFFOONS TALKING, TEXTING AND CONVERSING WITH THE GODDAMN SCREEN!! Get some bouncers in there and I'd sit on fucking pine bench to watch a flick! You have no idea how many times I've had to have this exchange...
THEM - OH! SHIT! SHITS AWESOME! DAMN! HE KILLED HIM!
ME - Shh!
THEM - YOU AIN'T SHUSHING ME! I PAID TO BE HERE!
ME - Me too, but I'm paying to WATCH THE MOVIE not listen to YOU!
THEM - (grumble)...tell me what to do...I'm a grown damn man...(grumble) -
First run movies for 3-6 dollars... in Los Angeles. Sounds like a fantasy but its true. Sure, two of the theaters are the SMALLEST auditoriums you've ever been in in your life, the seats are really old-school and the sound isn't that great - but the crowd is good, the art deco vibe is cool, the tickets are cheap and the neighborhood is great for dining and drinks afterword.
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The best part is getting to stand for the Star Spangled Banner short that plays before every film. Or at least that was what they did back in the 80's/90's.
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Check out the AMC Interchange, across from the Colossus. You can go there on a Friday night and still be the only one in there. 30 screens and an average attendance of 10 lol.
Best part is, there's only ever 4 or 5 employees for the whole place, meaning you can pay for 1 ticket and then sneak into as many films as you want. -
Well played, my friend. Well played. I love seeing a good payoff to a setup.
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Fairfield County, CT. I could wax on about these two members of a dying breed forever. They aren't perfect, but I love that they are still going strong. They will always be my first choice.
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and really haven't seen anything that I got from Netflix (in at least 18mos) where I thought: "Damnable; should have seen that on the big screen." And for all the reasons mentioned. I had a guy pull a knife on me because I 'Shhh'ed' him. I beat his ass, (Thank you, military training and thank you for idiots who don't know how to fight with a knife) and it took a year and a half to go to court and they pled him out on a misdemeanor charge of 'disturbing the peace'. His lawyer was crack. Anyhoot, I avoid the theater like the plague and enjoy my Netflix.
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I would like to note that besides culture changing, problems were less common in the past because what was the theater next to? a restaraunt? some stores? now its next to an arcade, a pizza place, the yogurt place thats open late, the mall that aimed at teens and not adults...basically, all the places teens hang out with nothing to do..so the theater becomes a hangout. .zerocorpses idea was a good one too. I still think a membership theater would also work. I also like charging full price for children and infants, and they need to bring bouncers back. After reading all these stories I consider myself lucky to go to my movie theaters. ***can anyone, including the mods, email this thread to a movie theater owner or something?***
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...a happy ending shouldn't only happen on the screen!
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Living in the Chicagoland area affords me the opportunity to see a movie in any manner of ways. I love Digital 3d and Digital movies up to a point. Until they figure out how to handle contrast better though it is inferior in many ways to regular ol' film. Watch a good noir film on digital cable or the Matrix on a screen in a digital presentation and you'll see what I mean: Smoke looks like ass! Total fucking pixelated ass. Digital darkness looks like chunks of blocky shit. It's very distracting.
Mark my words: Wolfman in digital will look worse than it will presented on film. -
If this can draw a market, than more power to those who do it. As for me, I'm making about what I did in 2000 (which at the time I thought was pretty good), so am not interested in 300% inflation when it comes to the movies. I have two theaters near me that are $6.50 for matinées and $9 for regular showings. There aren't any fights and only moderate assholes (although I avoid movies that would tend to draw idiots in droves). I'll occasionally hit the IMAX ($15) for a really big movie, but that's it. I would pay an extra dollar or two if they had better security, but that's it. The more theaters go up, the less I go.
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Well, you can start by copiously duct-taping the mouths of all those chatty teenage girls. You can then confiscate their overlit, pink, jewel-encrusted cell phones and shove them up the collective ass of all the other douchebags who see fit to run their mouth, kick the seat, dump their candy, puke their pre-film cocktails, or stand over 7 feet tall (therefore blocking my view).Oh, and you might want to bring back those old Warner Bros. cartoons instead of running the 1/2 hour of TV commercials that play before the trailers.Got it? Good.
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However it's illegal to use in most cases. You can ban cell phones but can't block them due to some public airwaves/emergency frequency law, or something like that.
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but you wait to see a film on dvd, that's disgraceful. I'm sure you can find a quiet session to watch a movie, but nothing beats watching a movie in 35 mm on the big screen.
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Years and years ago I went to see "House Party". Yeah, it was a date, and that's what she wanted to see. Trouble was, our dinner went late and all of the showtimes were over except for one theater, in the... what's the PC term? Ghetto? P.J.'s? Part of town where no mofo cracka should go? She was scared to go but I talked her into it. Seriously, she thought we'd be killed! That's north Dallas girls for you. Whatever, moving on... That was the best movie experience I've ever had at a comedy. They had the sound way up, because everyone was yelling at the screen. In the Kid n Play music scenes people were dancing in the aisles. I bought a couple of bottles of beer from the guy next to me. It was like a tent revival. So that's my talking in theaters story. That theater in Oak Cliff is gone now. I still go out of my way, especially for kung fu and "Black" comedies, to find a late Friday showing in the hood.
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I can verify they still did that as far as 2001. They pro'ly still do. Before that we'd get the commercial with the base general telling us to drop everything and sign up for OCS...man...I was so close to doing it...the power of the mass marketing media machine...
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I moved to nz from uk two years ago and I was used to going to the movies to watch recent releases. I didnt mind paying top buck for good seats, meals and even the larger duo seats 'for all the lovers out there'. I moved here to NZ and i am freakin disgusted at the release dates..this week at my local cinema the list is....3:10 to yuma, 27 dresses, love in the time of cholera, rescue dawn, sweeny todd,michael clayton, juno, death at a funeral... FUCK ME!!! i'll tell you what ill do... buy them on amazon, sit on a fucking huge leather couch, eat some real tasty nachos,tacos and drink me some ice cold fizzy beer, IN SILENCE, WITH NO COMMERCIALS, and you know what, I have the power to pause the film and go for a piss. CHECK THAT OUT !!!
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Disgraceful my ass. How the fuck does a normal, working person living in an average-sized city find a "quiet session" in a movie theater? They don't usually advertise that sort of thing.
Sure, I'd prefer the 35mm experience every time if I could, but the assholes increasingly in attendance make it impossible. My home theater experience is much more preferable to that shit - every time. -
nowadays, i wait until there's something truly good to see in a theater. grindhouse. hot fuzz. rambo. otherwise i can wait for the dvd, which i will probably get to see for free or for less than 3 dollars. fuck being a film fan these days. how many good films come out that you can truly be a fan of these days? i'm too lazy to use proper capitalization in this talkback, sue me.
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their fuckin bright screens are a shit to the eyes
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because phone screens are FUCKING BRIGHT AND DISTRACTING
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I have heard of theaters offerring one or two showings a day where the showing is rated for movie lovers and expectations of quiet no cells etc are expected and maintained ie. having an usher IN the room for the entire screening instructing the crowd how they should behave beforehand zero tolerance for goofing off...sounds like a plan to me.
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come to my house. ill put on some tasty mexican food, supply some chilled to fuck beer, crank up the sound - shit ill even put on some hi def porn for all the hangers on... interested anyone?
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I live in LA and the very first show of the day is usually almost empty - even on weekends. Also, Sunday nights are pretty quiet too.
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Thats a good story and the other side of the argument. I've been to some movies where I would have been fine with that. It's not quite a double standard... For instance my wife, for whatever reason, wanted to go see Scary Movie 3. The theater was crap, the movie was crap, and there was at least one audible cell phone conversation going on the entire time. I didn't mind it at all. The whole experience was one big "who gives a damn".
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If I'm going to enjoy an epic movie, it has to be seen in a state-of-the-art movie screen, with impeccable sound, and a decent crowd where you won't run into chatty people or crying kids, they are rare but they are out there. Every theatre chain is trying to one-up the other on the comfy seat, refreshment front, wide-screen, etc. concept. If the studios want to do something radical, and charge a lot of money, where you couldn't experience it in a home theatre, I offer the following suggestion.
Go the music industry route with concerts.
You have one show in a city or town that you announce weeks in advance. The venue is the best in town with state of the art graphics and sound. Ushers are present to control the noise. The movie is shown directly from the master image - not a copy. Afterwards it is a Q&A session with the director and cast members about the film, where the theatre is small enough that everyone gets the opportunity to ask one question.
Who wouldn't pay $75 to $100 for the opportunity to see the next "Indiana Jones" movie and have the opportunity to ask Spielberg, Lucas, and Ford your questions at the end. Put the tickets on TicketMaster, and watch the brokers charge triple the price for them. -
Mar 26, 2008 2:59:40 PM CDT
Turketron: You probably missed lots of great movies...
by derlanghaarige
...because of rottentomatoes.
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Where's the announcement on here?
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see ya dicky.. remember the alamo!!!
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Actually, I do make it to the theater on occassion - date or otherwise. However, I'm fairly picky about the movies I choose. The movie tends to determine the demographic and the demographic determines my viewing experience.
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are the funniest if your sat with some brothers...
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Yeah i totally remember having to stand up for that and the cheesy video that goes with it. SO lame.
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For once I am in total agreement with the talkbackers and not arguing about why Michael Bay is awesome. I used to go to a movie at least once a week. Now I have not been since January. When I was under 18 I would need to buy a ticket for something else and sneak into the rated R movie, while ducking the ushers in the theatre. Now, the ushers are nowhere to be found when I need them. I have told someone to shut up in at least 75% of the movies I have went to in the last 3 years. I live in Canada and I guess everyone sucks here as much as they do in the US. I actually find who is talking, walk back to their row and sit beside them. I tell them to shut up then get up and go back to my seat. The ratio between men and women pissing me off is about 50/50. Twice, I yelled out at the top of my lungs "shut the fuck up you ignorant bitch to a group of teenagers." Of course, even though they shut up, the movie experience is still ruined since I've been annoyed. Worst experience was Pan's Labyrinth. First, a family sit behind us with a child that might have been 2 years old and start talking. Who brings a child to a restricted spanish movie? So we move and I tell the parents that they are assholes. Now we are on the other side of the theatre in front of a couple in their forties. The man is actually reading all of the subtitles out loud! So I tell him to shut up. He tells me that his wife can't read, so I say "what the fuck are you doing here then, shut the hell up." He lets out some war cry and marches out into the aisle and pushes me, so I push him against the wall and he goes and sits back down. By now I've missed 5 minutes of movie so we leave the theatre, report the dumb bastard who gets kicked out, and we get our money back. Then we come back 2 hours later and yes, there is another family present with another 2 year old. Absolutely ridiculous! Pay the minimum wage for an usher and all you would need to do is sell 2 more tickets each showing.
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a double feature at the Majestic cost $1.75, afternoon matinee. I stopped enjoying paying for movies when ticket prices broke five bucks and the last film I saw in a theatre was Rocketeer, first run.the last Joan Jett concert i went to, the seats were too narrow - or, obviously, my ass was too wide. There are still a lot of movies I'd like to see some day but sitting in my own living room is the venue for me.
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EVERYBODY SCREEE-AM-M-M!!!
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Now we see that you are one of those people who doesn't understand the impact of their annoying self centered behavior. The screens on phones and texting devices are so bright so you can see them from all the way across a darkened theater. Total distraction.
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for serious
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are in the countries where their nation is the enemy.... burma - for john rambo for example. imagine the atmosphere...wow!
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kind of like the old Roadshow concept that the big movies used to get back in the 50's/60's. I guess it worked for good epic films, but the concept kind of died with crap like Doctor Dolittle.
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That on a site populated by film buffs there is an almost universal consensus that the film going experience sucks balls...
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too much caffine today?
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It is a shame. I LOVE going to the movies but I'll tell you it's getting bad really bad. I think it's just a lack of respect.
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is that parents can't beat their kids anymore, or other peoples kids for that matter.. ahh the good old days
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Don't worry everyone, he's always like this. Say one little thing he doesn't like and he'll wish all kinds of cancer on your nearest and dearest. Pretty much shows how 'courteous' this kid is. No matter, back to the Talkback topic, it would seem we're all in agreement that age restricted screens seem like a good idea with perhaps a separate part of the cinema for the 'tards? By the way, I'm moving to Boston soon, can anyone recommend a good cinema that doesn't have morons kicking seats and all the other faff as mentioned in this Talkback? Much obliged!
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I can have my own movie theater then. (Sigh) But I'll probably just end up getting bored and lonely and then I'll invite a poor family of 8 spanning three generations, a gang of thugs and a pack of unruly teens over just cuz I miss the theater going experience.
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at the very back of the theater at least you can guarantee there is no douchebag sitting behind you..and generally the most disturbing people like to grab the sweet spot seats in the middle of the theater..its the only way to go and if someone does sit next to you at the last minute you have taken the time to scope out acceptable back up seats that are not near troublemakers since generally pre-shpow behavior is indicative of during show behavior
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Brunomac brings up an excellent point. When you watch all your movies at home and you get to the scene in Grindhouse where Rose McGowan is on all fours, all you gotta do is pause and go to your computer and click on the folder named "Tax Info" (wink, wink) and satisfy the lumber you're sprouting. Baby batter gone, movie resumes. Dropping trou in a crowded theater generally gets you beaten.
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you guys have it rough in the US and A. Yeah, we get the odd dickface here in theatres but if that cell goes off you're out! pretty damn quickly too - and thats at the mall multiplexes. If you go to the Embassy Theatre (where they had the ROTK World Premiere) you get ushered to your LEATHER PLUSH seat and all that for about 10 - 15 US dollarooz
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Okay, I take it all back, he's actually a genuinely nice bloke with the patience of a saint and I'd gladly sit next to him at the cinema. There, now we're all friends and the world is at peace. The end.
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Its more than that. I can't tell you how many times I've been sitting by adults and they just go on and on, not to mention the cell phones. At least I can understand kids acting up, they don't know better. I dont like it at all but at least I can understand it. It's the adults that know better that really piss me off. It's just a matter of respect
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Mar 26, 2008 3:44:48 PM CDT
The important thing is that they get us used to the idea of payi
by jeff_fries
so when the theaters start opening we've already rationalized the expense and are ready to extend our wallets over the counter and turn them over and shake until empty.
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If you go up a little you can read my Superman Returns story. I'm still pissed, that was actually the turning point for me.
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...i.e.... African Americans and Latinos. You f***ers are racists!
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But also you have seen the reaction of people here..if you tell someone to STFU or turn around and roll your eyes what kind of reaction do you expect? In general if you take the time to say could you please stop kicking my chair you are going to get a beter reaction although not quite as satisfying.
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I'm another SUPER fan of ArcLight, and just to prove that it really is the CROWDS that drive people away, I'll bring up another expensive, nice, cafe with booze and good seating theatre in LA . . . it's called The Bridge . . . AND I FUCKING HATE IT.Seriously, on paper, the two theatres should be exactly the same, except the crowd that goes to the Bridge is total shit, and the crowd that goes to ArcLight is fantastic. The Landmark is also great, but I still prefer ArcLight more.And how is this supposed to help during a recession? Don't these idiots know that the reason movies ARE a big part of life is because they originally catered to people with less money who wanted to be entertained? Oh well.And the seats aren't it, either . . . everyone on here is more than willing to spend a few hours in a shitbox theatre at midnight . . . and why? TO SEE A GREAT FUCKING MOVIE!! Never had a problem at ALL at any screening of Evild Dead 2 I've been to . . . anyone?Back to crowds, one thing ArcLight does differently is that it's not the ushers/regular employees that do the policing . . . ArcLight hires OUTSIDE SECURITY personnel to handle any/all physical removals/problems. They are all more than capable of ejecting anyone causing a problem, and they are in constant radio contact throughout the theatre. It makes a WORLD of difference.For the one in Sherman Oaks, it's definitely 'ArcLight Lite' . . . the mall vibe really does draw in more teens, but I haven't had a bad experience yet.The only thing I've thought was a good idea for kids was a few theatres now do early morning matinees that ENCOURAGE parents to bring their infants . . . this ensures that those parents get to the see the movie, but NOT when WE go to see it!! Just give them a full afternoon with all the other screaming toddlers and be done with it! The last time I saw a babie in the theatre was for The Departed, midnight show . . . eventually, enough people kept yelling at the parents that they finally left . . . AND THE AUDIENCE CHEERED!! That was pretty great.As for the cell phone thing . . . I have definitely done my share of yelling at idiots . . . and as someone else mentioned, I can't understand how people don't get that texting is NOT ok either!! Sometimes it's like a concert during a ballad; there's screens everywhere!! Let's just build the theatre WAY underground . . . that way we're not technically 'blocking' the calls . . . they just can't get in anyway!!All hail ArcLight for ZERO ads, only a FEW trailers (as opposed to 20 minutes of them), two full bars, a great cafe, NO FOOD SOLD WITH WRINKLY PAPER, reserved seating, special 21+ shows on weekends, fantastic projections/seats, and one of the best audiences out there!!
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...In fact, I think there should be a wide range of "no kids allowed" venues. No kids theaters, grocery stores, shopping malls, office buildings, highways (get rid of the soccer moms who're always screaming at Junior and not watching the friggin' road, housing developments, airlines, cities, etc, etc, etc. For all the people who complain: Shut the f*** up... Us childless people pay extra taxes so you folks who forgot a visit to the drug store can get free money from Uncle Sugar!
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Sorry for all the gushing . . . I just know how lucky I am to be able to go to it!
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Movies are to expensive. Piracy is cheaper and offers more features. So does renting a movie (you can always rip it and compress it with a Mac Pro) Movie theaters are not fucking concerts! They just will have 4k DLP projectors anyone can buy if someone ponies up (Sony) to sell them at 400 bucks like a PS3 and lose profit. Alamo Draft house is the best example but we all know everything is evolving towards freedom control and cheap.
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Damn you spell check!
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Mar 26, 2008 4:01:16 PM CDT
The irony is: the "high end" theatres play the "lowbrow" movies.
by flim springfield
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not all kids are little bastards. I'd be delighted if no one over 70 was allowed in traffic or any SUV with a soccer ball decal was allowed in mall parking lots or if the Jews were...wait, what? The point is that people are annoying everywhere but sweeping generalizations aren't the answer. Your asshole high school administrators should have taught you that.
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and can turn a movie into a better one like "The Mist" then this crap will work. WTF, indeed.
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If it will stop the movie going text-tards from flipping open their phones during the movie, and if they charge the same price for babies and children, encouraging them to be left at home, then hell yeah. I will be BACK in the theatre. That's why I only go to the Drafthouse now. No kids, and they never say anything to me for knocking some stupid fuck out who can't stop texting.
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That sort of proves my point. We can no longer go see normal evening or weekend shows and have to relegate ourselves to shows at ungodly hours attended by either nobody or weirdos. We shouldn't have to bend backwards for these fucktards. THEY'RE the ones who must be punished.
And I still maintain that watching movies in my home is much more fun and satisfactory than attending an average movie screening at a theater. -
Go to hell. I'm the FIRST one in the theater to yell "Shut the fuck up" to WHOEVER the asshole is. And race/socio-economic demographics were never brought up, so stop acting wounded knee. More often than not, the inconsiderate dickheads are the white-middle class kids that have nothing better to do, and going to the movies isn't the rare treat it is for busy people that work for a living.
Kiss my ass- if you were the one yapping in a theater I'd give it to you, too. -
just whate 9 months and pick up the dvd in a $5 bin. that way you dont have to put up with the aholes.
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when watching my home theater I am ruining the experience for myself.
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on most phones each time you press a key it beeps. And when the person gets a reply their phone rings and the cycle begins again. If the person is texting their friend two seats down, the annoyance is doubled.
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Sitting in a comfortable leather chair, in a premium central position, away from the potentially noisy youngsters who won't pay the extra. Well worth it. Cell phones are not a problem, the local ushers are normally right on people and kick them out.
[P]Some theaters make the premium seats the back two rows, which pretty much sucks for the viewing experience, but the good ones have the central sweet spot in luxury seats for the extra $. -
Who the fuck takes dates to movies anymore? That's like writing her a term paper about how boring you are.
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You aren't old enough to remember when smoking was allowed in the theater..you want to talk annoying cell phones pale in comparison
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well done sir!
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I assumed wrongly when I read that you didn't see what the big deal with texting was. My apologies. But there is no need to get your panties in a bunch, it was mostly just meant as a good natured ribbing. I guess I should've realized that in the hate spewing world of the internets, it might not come off that way. We were all just getting along so well for a while...
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Forget all the 3D projection shit...just install a fucking CELL PHONE BLOCKER and pay for ushers to stand in the doorway for the ENTIRE running time of a film to eject unruly audience members or to shoo out anyone bringing a screaming 2-year-old into The Mist or Grindhouse. Bingo! More movie lovers will come back in droves.
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That I have are all the same. Weekday, usually opening day, first matinee show. The "long lunch" or "doctor's appointment" movies. But I have to really want to see the film, too.
Thing is, 90% of the folks at the first matinee of a just-opened movie usually really want to see it, too, and will be much better behaved than the folks there that night, or next week. All my worst movie going experiencing have been the seven or nine o'clock showings, for a mid-afternoon Saturday show. I've had Coke poured down my back, a mentally disabled kid rocking crazily and staring at us through the entire movie, drunk people sitting next to us (the woman, right next to us, kept hitting herself and bursting into tears throughout The Green Mile) and so on. And, of course, chatters and too-young kids and roaming thugs. But never at a Wednesday or Friday matinee. Take from that what you will. -
Wait - where do you live that has Christmas in August?
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Oh, well then fuck you too. :D
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I don't really remember smoking in the theaters (although I think I saw some movies in my youth where smoking was still allowed), but I remember all the smoking in theaters during the 80s after it had been banned. "Nah, I ain't got a cigarette," being stated as smoke curled out of their nostrils. It was rude, tho. I loved going to college in '87 and '88--the first couple of years, we were smoking like chimneys through the classes. That was awesome. Then some douchebags complained, and that was that. But I'd never been with some many people who smoked before I went to art school. It was like a creative requirement.
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I agree this is a good idea.
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Doesn't sound like a bad idea, but it would never fly. No major chain would want to take on the liability, or the risk that, a few weeks later, the city council would pass a ban on all theater smoking. Here in Memphis, if you are a restaurant that wants to allow smoking, that means you are an adult establishment and can never let anyone under 21 into your restaurant. That'd kill a theater. Although I'd go to a theater just for that, myself.
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in theaters used to have fucking ashtrays in the armrest..you think its bad having someone talking well how would you like someone talking and blowing smoke not only towards you but into the projection light while being 3 inches away from you...good times.
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That films almost begs for a punch of shaggy haired guys wearing polyester to be filling the theater with Marlboro smoke.
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Mar 26, 2008 4:36:22 PM CDT
I just watched First Descent at home on my 32 inch TV.
by stovetopstuffin'
Not on Blu Ray, just on regular standard definition DVD. I felt just as much awe watching it at home as I would at an Imax. I don't see a need to go to the theater unless it's one I know won't be full of shithead kids and their glowing electronics
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a nice hot coal flick straying and burning a hole in your finest polyester pantsuit..you just try and find a drycleaner that can repair that.
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...This actual service specifically, from Village Roadshow. Its pretty good, but not worth the money. Its not as expensive as the yanks one, although, I don't know if this will remain true in the states, but the screens are smaller. Its worth it if you have alot of money to avoid the cell phone touting, walking about yelling trash that populates most cinemas now, but honestly, the cinema should be providing a service free from that anyway. Also, here, there were less ads. But for 35 bucks I'd expect trailers and fucking ZERO commercials.
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That used to run in front of some movies, to remind you that it was rude and against the rules to smoke in the movies. I still remember the days when folks would ramble into various stores, puffing away. Early seventies, basically.
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wrong you prick. smoking was still around in the cinemas in the mid 90's.Fuck you are a cock
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Mar 26, 2008 4:40:12 PM CDT
A Personal Environment Forcefield ...
by fathermcgruderkicksassforthelord
... and sweet, sweet ambrosia couldn't get me to shell out $100+ (for a couple, w/dinner) for a shit-assed, cobbled together movie that I wouldn't consider buying for $20-$25 on Blu-Ray and owning, and that pretty much describes 7 out of the last 10 movies I've unfortunately paid to witness in the public company of my fellow heathens, er I mean theatergoers.
""This is a top-end experience," Burke said."
So, apparently, these guy're only going to show the GOOD movies?
I agree with anyone who has previously suggested that some better movies, in general, might just maybe be a possible partial rectifyer.
Also, concurrently, current theater chains need to once again become willing to hire and train employees that can & will do their fucking jobs -- ie maybe some ushers start dropping the boot on some seat-kicking, phone-chatting/text-typing, too-young-to-be-here-at-all, bitchy-baby-bringing, "HARDEEHARHARHAR!", rudimentary-observation-blabbing, 'Drunky McGee had a few too many', movie-ruining fuckholes before the guy/girl sitting in front of/beside/behind 'em turns into Movie Theater Punisher and everything goes completely to hell. -
The Malco's Summer Twin in Memphis is still open. Love to go. Blast from the past--very little has changed since the old days, except we get the audio in stereo over the FM radio receiver--and it's a event for the family, since we don't do it more than once a year, usually. If only the screens could be brighter--that is the downside. But talk about smoking--lots of folks smoke at the drive in, and some folks whip out lawn chairs and a hibachi and get to grillin'. Gotta love it!
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Wouldn't a theatre full of smokers really hurt the image onscreen? With all the smoke wafting in front of the projector? Plus, I'm sure it reeks havoc on the equipment/speakers if there's too much . . . don't know though, just wondering.
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is complete until some fucker going to the snack bar throws up a finger into the projection light..good times.
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Were you in awe over what an overrated piece of crap The Descent is? I'll tell you what I am in awe over - the fact that you feel like you get the same experience watching a movie on a 32 in screen in standard def as you do in a theater with 30 foot tall screens and THX quality surround. That my friend is insanity. Not even a great 100 inch home theater set-up comes close to the true theater going experience. It is just too bad that crappy theaters and rude crowds have spoiled it for so many.
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Don't forget the rockin' Bad Company soundtrack that will inevitably accompany at least part of 1 movie, courtesy of the douche in the Camero or F450,000 parked in front of you.
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Mate, YOU COULD STILL SMOKE IN A MOVIE THEATRE IN THE UK IN THE 90's.
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Mar 26, 2008 4:52:32 PM CDT
All of you camplaining about the quality of movies...
by bass bastardson
Did you go see In Bruges? Fucking GREAT movie. No one went and saw it. That includes most of you people who are bitching that they don't make anything good. Until people start going to see the good movies that do get made, nothing will change. Now get off your asses and go see something worthwhile in the theater or soon there will be nothing left.
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smoke makes the light from the projector look tres cool.
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if there is no-one in the movie show, do they still run the film?
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getting to the climactic scene in ESB listening over a tinny 35 pound speaker hung over the driver's side window and its "Luke I am your...the snack bar will be closing in 10 minutes..I repeat the snack bar wil be closing in 10 minutes..." wTF did he just say????
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You know what's even worse? When the 19 year old Marines see the trailer for Stealth and are all "ZOMG, WTF1 THTAS AWZUM!1!! LOL!!" Seriously, the whole moviegoing experience here tends to suck from the start, because even the trailers are ruined. I don't go ruin movies at the theater on base, so I don't know why they feel like it's cool for them to do it in the real world...
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If movies ever got that high, I'd just keep downloading them free...like I'm already doing...atleast those that aren't worth paying to see on the big screen.
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I'm pretty sure that there are still some independant theaters around here in The States that allow it, unless various Clean Indoor Air Acts have stamped it out.
The Enzian in Orlando FL did, as of like a few years ago. Not so sure anymore. -
I saw 'In Bruges' . . . paid to go see it in the theatre . . . you know what helped make it great? NO ONE FUCKING TALKED OR USED THEIR FUCKING PHONE DURING THE FILM!!
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Fuck all ya'll.
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I used to go to the movies every weekend at the local AMC or Cineplex Odeon in Houston. Now I go two or three times a year for all the reasons mentioned here: talkers, cell phones, 20 minutes of MTV commercials before the show. The theater going experience has become miserable compared to almost anything else you could do on a weekend. If 90% of the theaters in the U.S. were bulldozed under next week due to a recession, I would dance a jig. One of the many great things about the Arclight in Hollywood is that at $14 a ticket, you don't see kids getting dropped of en masse, families of ten piling in, or shoppers looking for somewhere comfortable to sit. You don't need an usher to monitor the halls because those people are simply not welcome at the theater in the first place. Higher ticket prices will send everyone not interested in watching a movie to the bowling alley or bar or wherever they fit in.
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holy CRAP that thing was more violent than I ever thought it would be . . . kicked ass!!
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go to the ticket stand, whip out your wallet (with currency protruding0 and ask if there are any NC-17 movies you can pay good money to see so you can be assured of an evening of entertainment without any noisy teenagers or crying babies. when they say no ask to tak to the manager. Repeat your request. When they explain that they don't book movies that adults can enjoy, take you money and walk.
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TOTALLY disagree . . . higher prices might keep away huge swarms of families, but it doesn't by ANY means weed out assholes and people with such a ridiculous sense of entitlement that they ruin it for everyone else by talking/using their iPhones during the film . . . they just get upset that you had the gall to ask them to be quiet, and keep right on going. ArcLight has just done a very, very good job at training the audience, especially when it first started . . . plus, they dont allow anyone new into a screening 5 minutes after it's started . . . THAT is awesome . . . nothing worse than people coming in a half hour late and asking what they missed . . . fucking show up on time!! Besides, $35 for a ticket? I reject that on principle alone.
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The only time I paid close to that much for a film was at the Toronto Film Festival (and I haven't paid for a ticket there for the last two years, since I volunteer)
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I'll grant you that, but I'll also claim deprivement due to the fact that the majority of multiplexes I've ever had access to would rather run duplicate crap on 2 or 3 screens than take a risk on something that might not allow the masses to get their lolz on.
Seems like many issues have been presented here, but I don't think that the $35 ticket "exclusive" theater is the answer to any of them. -
they better get an usherette to massage my feet...anyone remember kentucky fried movie? there was a scene that was a takeoff on smellovision, where the usher acts out on the patron, everything happening on screen....hilarious
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so ladies and gentlemen, there we have definitive proof that dannyglovers dickblood (cool name btw) is a 100% genuine fuckpot. Are you refering to the good ol' us of a. YEE HAA. Now let me guess... were your mother and father blood related prior to their hog-neck wedding or did you just suck on too many lead toy cowboy figures as a little boy?
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See, the thing is, a truly efficient usher doesn't give a fuck if you're ripped, just that you sit there courteously and watch the damn movie. The beer thing, well, what they don't see ...
Granted, this wonderful movie-going experience is primarily taking place in the idyllic utopia of my fucking head, so go figure. -
and not just because of the bad movies. Ticket prices rising faster than gas prices, bad and expensive food and rude moviegoers.
Unless the movie is huge (Indy IV, Dark Knight, Hulk, Iron Man) I am just going to wait for the DVD or PPV on Dish or Cable.
The thing is that those of us that are regulars on this site and consider ourselves MovieGeeks are not important to the studios or the theaters owners. They only care about the teenagers with loads of mom and dad cash and bad attitudes.
If theaters want to get me back. Make better movies, better and more reasonably priced food (companies can live on 25% profit margins) and let's do something about the patrons. Kick 'em out if they are screwing up, jam cellphones, and keep the kids out of R movies. What about making specific theaters or showtimes for adults only. (Although some of the adults are dickheads too.
But hey, I am only a consumer.
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the cheapest of the corns and they were awesome aerodynamic missles to launch from the upper seats when the movie sucked.
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...was when I saw AMERICAN BEAUTY at the theaters at the Century City Mall where Spielberg used to have that Dive restaurant shaped like a submarine. A very attractive girl who was by herself (I was also by myself) sat next to me. I think I turned to her before the movie and smiled. We never spoke. First, she started rubbing my leg with her leg once the movie started. That progressed to her moving her hand to the side of her leg so her hand touched my leg. Then she moved her hand over and started rubbing my leg with it and leaned herself up against me for the rest of the movie. I didn't know what the fuck to do, so I just sat and watched the movie while she did this. As the credits rolled I get up the balls to talk to her and I took her back to The Standard Hotel on Sunset (I'm from NYC, I was out in LA on business) had sex with her for about 2 days straight not leaving the hotel room and then went back to NY. She never told me her whole name. She never gave me a number. To this day when anyone asks me what my favorite movie is I quickly respond AMERICAN BEAUTY. If these $35 can recreate that experience, I'm all in.
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Ok so now we have established your geographical location. So why do you sound like your momma is yer' sister?
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Pretty much took the words right out of my mouth. Is Arclight a chain or a single theatre? I'm in Toronto and we don't have anything like that here :(
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I think Dannyglover is just yanking your chain...
Get it? "yank"ing your chain. Oh, I kill me. But seriously, I think he's just joking around. I think. -
my bad hit instead of up there.
I think that movie theaters should install something to block all cell phone reception in the theaters. That would stop all the calls and then people wouldn't have to remember to turn off their phones.
The other thing is that has contributed to lousy movies that there are so many more production companies that make movies. Everyone wants their own proverbial piece of the pie.
Save money go rent the DVD, or go to the drive-in in the summer if you got a family of four. much cheaper.
A lousy movie is still lousy on a big HD picture screen. -
arn't we all, brother.
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I love ya, despite your obvious flaws
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When I was stateside I had to go on an hour long drive off base just to quietly enjoy a movie in Yucca Valley or Palm Springs, when I was in Okinawa...I was pretty much fucked for seeing recent movies in a respectable environment. However I will admit the atmosphere made the big Tom Cruise mask-removal/escape scene in MI2 seem that much more exciting when everyone screamed and clapped. I tried watching it since then...not as cool.
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Glad you liked In Bruges. It is easily going to be in my top 10 at the end of the year. And that is a real feat for a fucking movie released in February. I wish more folks would've gone to see it - its only made about 5 mil. Thats sad.
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how the fuck do i stop my wife trying to tell me her pointless boring news in the middle of a movie at home... go to the cimena i guess
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Aren't you confusing that experience with a really bad Heart song/video starring Chad Lowe?
"Allll I wanna do is make love to youuu..." -
Mar 26, 2008 5:37:28 PM CDT
I was considering going to see "The Hammer" this week
by the winged doucheman
But now I'm reminded about A-holes that might ruin it for me. I want to support the Aceman and the independent filmmaking process, but I really don't want to have the experience tainted by dickheads.
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There are wittier, more subtle ways of being a cock than what you're doing. Refine your act a little and get back to us.As for texting, it *is* fucking annoying, as it illuminates a good 10 foot radius around the douchebag doing the texting. And the only smoking should be the chick next to me on my cock. The only thing that made American Gangster bearable. However, despite these inconveniences, you're not at the fucking opera or a Broadway show. You're in an airplane seat watching Drillbit Taylor. Get over yourselves. And don't see the movie at the Watts 23 theaters on Saturday afternoon.
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It's 100% true. I couldn't make it up. The whole details of that weekend are the stuff dreams are made of. She told me she had just broken up with someone and she saw me sit down and moved to sit next to me. She was fucking loopy but in that incredibly hot way. I had just dropped about 60 pounds and I was in the best shape of my life, but I still thought I was a fat fuck so I just sat there and let it happen thinking this can't be happening to me. When the movie ended I literally used every ounce of courage I had and turned to her and said, "so this means we're going steady, right?" and that's all it took. She laughed. From there I asked her to dinner and we ate in the little restaurant in The Standard (where I still thought she would ditch me) and went back up to my room and didn't leave it until I checked out on Monday. I'm married now, but I have this insane fantasy that I'm going to run into this chick again somewhere.
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Good work well done. didnt see that one coming...BTW, whats your address?
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Don't you think that the higher prices there have at least SOMETHNG to do with the level of crowd investment? I mean, they have done a really good job of drawing the kind of crowds that are serious about watching a movie, but - at least in my estimation - the 14 dollar price tag does have a bit to do with that. It isn't the whole reason - they kick people out for talking, no late seating, etc... but it all starts at the point of purchase. There are always going to be rowdy teenagers and lower income families looking for something do do and adding a few bucks to the price WILL make those demographics choose another theater. (God that sounds elitist, sorry) That said, I think that $35 tickets is the answer either.
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Movie is disrespectful to audience
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do you mind if i borrow that memory when im in the mood for some 'personal pleasuring?'
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How about "I DON'T think $35 tickets are the answer either"
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I was serious, every word. You on the other hand seem to be auditioning for something.
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when you're a grownup, with a wife, mortgage, car payment, and first son on the way, no way are you dropping 70 bucks(one ticket each for my wife and I) for 90 minutes of movie.
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isnt that the massage place just near woodman ave?... Hey bruno. I now live in NZ. Its a nice place. Its near australia...
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YER ON BIG GUY. You bring the champers and i'll bring the oxygen masks and gerbils
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Mar 26, 2008 5:55:34 PM CDT
RE: Bass Bastardson Re muvico theatres on site child care cente
by levidtinker
yeah and besides the childcare center they were also the first theatre chain in the country to have stadium seating. and they were the first Commercial theatre chain to team up with imax, the muvico point 20 in orlando was the first regular movie theatre to have a official imax screen.
which i was just surprised to learn closed not to long ago.
i remember going to otown and helping to open that theatre with some of the palm harbor 10 staff when i worked at muvico palm harbor 10 back in the late 90s -
I know YOU!!!
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Do you live in a strip mall or a restaurant? I don't cant think of any housing along Ventura. Unless you live in that little strip of houses between Coldwater and Fulton-ish.
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Arcades have been dying out slowly because the home consoles have caught up and surpassed the performance of Arcades. The same goes with theaters. With the emergence of things like HD and BLu-ray, it wouldn't be surprising if we see a lot of theaters close soon.
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Enjoy it. She was about 5'7'', long brown hair with a great body. In retrospect, she kind of looked like Mischa Barton. Not exactly, but in that ballpark. You do the rest. If I ever get to a point in my career where I'm interviewed (I'm a writer/director with 2 movies set up at studios, but not yet produced) I will tell the story in an interview when they ask me what my favorite movie is and you guys will know it was me. It's 100% true. On a side note, that experience gave me the balls to try something else. I was sitting next to a smoking hot girl on a NY to LA flight and we talked and I thought we clicked. I wrote her a note telling her how beautiful I thought she was and gave her my contact numbers for while I was in town and slipped it to her when we got off the plane. That night her boyfriend called me and told me he was coming to the hotel I was staying at to kick my ass, so I went to the front desk and told them I needed to change my name and my room if possible. Sometimes, the fantasy turning into reality doesn't work out.
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I am an architect specilaising in residential but i also do a lot of architectural cgi work
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...it's called Cinetopia but at half the price that these lunkheads will be trying to charge. The theater has the best digital projectors (Christy) and Klipsch sound throughout. The best thing, you can order beer and wine and food from their restaurant and it's 21 and over in the living room theaters. $15 bucks a person and it's a great experience. Been around for two years now. Check it... http://www.cinetopiatheaters.com/
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great stuff. the stuff of heroes
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Who would have ever thought - something good coming out of Florida!?!
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there are plusses and minuses. the plusses are: only 4.5 million people total, from where i live its 15 min to the beach and 90 mins to the ski slopes the weather is amazing and the views. i lve in the marlborough region. google it... . The minuses are that NZ is 30 years behind socially and 6 months behind in movie releases. plus most of the women have manginas
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It's only a matter of time...anywho, change the environment, change the experience? This is why some films tend to blossom on DVD more than others did in theatres, right? Because the "cinema experience" is just plain crappy right now. The local Santikos theatre provides an adequate cinema bistro, as do a few other chains. The only people going to these places will be the insanely rich who don't give a FUCK. Gee, who'll the target demographic be? "...and the Retirement Systems of Alabama pension fund have partnered..." The old folks that hate kids in their movie theatres. Who can blame them though...it's not like a lot of parents are going to shell out $35 a week to get their kids out of the house. This is a shitty idea to me...just another social stigma. But how about I just not go? I'll stick with my shitty movie theatres that apparently aren't good enough for these stuck-up fuckers.
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You'll never find me bitch!
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Much better Y. Smirnoff tone. +1
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I have been on this TB all fucking day long. It is now 4 in the fucking afternoon! Thank god I've at least done some laundry and cleaning or this day would be a total washout of disasterously nerd-tastic proportions. I have to go out and eat now before I die of starvation. Talk to you fuckers soon.
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chonchords are like heroes here. gotta love that shit!!
One other thing about NZ. Yes peter jackson is awsome BUT if you ever come here you will see that the LOTR trilogy was nothing more than PJ pointing his camera at the local folk and filming them carrying out their day to day tasks.... -
$35 for that can get a whore to blow me at home while I watch my movie on my plasma with no fucking cell phones and no little spic's running around.
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great new show being filmed here at the mo. its supposed to be a cross between lost and 28 days. a group of people isolated due to some toxic stuff. trying to locate civilization again and running into zombies or something...
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we never see any dwarf women...mystery solved.
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I want a built in toilet seat complete with champagne bidet.
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I think I'd be willing to pay MORE than I currently do, but probably not $35. Especially if you still had to pay for theater food. Though, if the theaters installed cell phone jammers I'd be there in a heartbeat. I even get annoyed by texting because phones are so advanced now that their screens put off light like a ballpark. And, yeah, if jack-asses got kicked out, I'd pay for that, too... though, as I said, not $35... especially if the movies coming out are just going to be remakes and other worthless crap.
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our personal spaces are diminishing by overpopulation. when we have time to relax we now search out spaces where we can enjoy what WE want to uninterrupted. Back in the day it was all about mass shared expriences. nowadays we prefer to be able to dial up what we want, when we want it and how we want it.. (thought id better write sometnig on topic)
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Invest in technology that will kill cell phone reception within a shallow radius. Post signs warning those with pacemakers to stay home or face the consequences.Employ people that have enough balls to enforce quiet time once the movie starts. Or at least employ people that have almost enough balls to back up the patrons that do have enough balls to tell the idiots to keep quiet.Salary cap the actors. Granted, this has more to do with Hollowood, but there's gotta be a trickle down effect here.Ultimately, no one is going to pay $12 or so to see a flick they can purchase and watch multiple times so long as they can wait 4-8 months for DVD. Then there's the concession stand prices to consider. And the damn commercialsI can't feel sorry for a declining business that charges on such an outrageous scale. Boo-hoo, with your 24oz cup of soda at $5 a pop.
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Just came while that whore blew me while I was watching The Mist. Didn't hear a cell phone. No dirty little spic's seen. and the whore only cost me $30.
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Crack has bought some good things. And its Vegas baby. What happens here stays here
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Not a bad movie if I paid $35 I would have shot the fucking the spic theater manager.
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Not a bad movie if I paid $35 I would have shot the fucking the spic theater manager.
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You are to tense I'm going to send over that $30 whore a bottle of jack and a gun.
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Mar 26, 2008 7:04:35 PM CDT
gotham_night: I saw the same thing happen in the theater during
by playkins
It was and exterior shot, and the theater was all bright because of the light from the shots of the snow. Someone was walking up the side aisle and then it cut to a night shot inside the plane and two seconds later you hear this big "SLAM" and hear candies falling all over the floor. The whole theater was laughing.
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If it was a private screening. I would totally pay if it was dinner, the latest movie on a personal sized screen with digital and surround sound. But a SHARED experience??? I had people bring BABIES to a midnight showing of Constantine, 300 AND Aliens vs Predator requiem. BABIES...these people didn't care what others felt because to them and their ignorant minds they paid to enjoy the movie so they get to do whatever they want.
Ridiculous, everyone is tired of going to movies because nobody knows how to ACT anymore. -
Without ordering a fucking meal? Jesus Christ its only 2 hours,will you fucking starve if you don't graze like a goddamn cow??
I like to go the the cinema in the middle of the afternoon when its just me and the elderly. Old folk will go and watch anything man, Ive seen old ladies watch some fucked up violent shit without batting an eye and more importantly, without talking through the film. How hard is it just to sit down, shut up and watch the fucking film these days? -
In all likelihood this will fail. Because of the recession, people are drinking McDonalds coffee instead of Starbucks and generally spending less on entertainment. Essentially, it's the worse time to open a pretentious, elitist movie theater. Movies are already expensive and as such a luxury. However, if it catches on, the damage it will do will be immeasurable. During the Great Depression, going to the movies was the only luxury most people could afford and even now, as expensive as it is, it's still cheap compared to a theme park, ball game, or concert. If this catches on, people will just stay at home and watch the 1000+ channels of shit and vegetate. It will become more economical to buy the DVD, even the Blue Ray, outright, rather than see the film in the theaters. It's the fucking apocalypse.
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your exploits with women, especially the one with you being all suave but ending up having to change hotel rooms to avoid an ass kicking.
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For regular theater prices, you get comfy seats and no talkers. And beer!
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ArcLight is actually a shoot-off from Pacific Theatres, which is a big chain out here . . . it's like their specialty theatre. There are 2 of them so far, though I think they have plans to open one in Seattle next . . . not sure though.Bass, I do think the price has SOME impact, but I ain't exactly rolling in dough and knew that I was supposed to keep quiet during the film when I was 7. Like I said about the Bridge, if you've ever been there, you know what I'm talking about, and those prices are just about the same. Or the Grove, for that matter . . . after parking, it's MORE expensive than ArcLight!!
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I don't really get that for being IN theatres . . . I always thought that going to the movie was to get AWAY from your living room . . . if you want to eat an actual meal while watching a movie, GO RENT ONE! Never made it out to the Alamo so maybe I can't judge, but the idea of waiters running around during a film just boggles my mind. UGH.It just seems that exhibitors think they need to compete with home theatres by RECREATING home theatres in their multiplexes, and that is NOT the way to go!! GIVE ME BACK MY MOVIE PALACES, DAMNIT!! Thankfully Grauman's still kicks ass for a midnight premiere . . . the people who are there WANT to be there!
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Ged do dah choppah!!!!!!
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do i really need to say more than that
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do i really need to say more than that?
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$9 is already too much to spend on a single movie viewing. There is no way in hell I am ever going to spend $35 on a single movie, even on DVD. I will happily wait for DVD release to rent a movie or, most times, cable. The good news, in my opinion, is that this move means that the traditional movie studio system is in it's death throes, and the official demise of the hollywood studio system can't happen soon enough.
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Every time I've had to tell someone of the Mexican persuasion to be quiet, they've been apologetic and kept quiet.
Only once with a Mexican guy I had to threaten to get the Manager when he wouldn't keep his 4-year old daughter quiet during - get this- "Children of Men". Yes, the moron took his kid to a 9:30 PfuckingM show of this.
The ones I usually end up having to yell at are white teenage kids. -
or even yet. all you can rib night = One messy theatre.
How a place like the Alamo got by with beer being present I will never understand. -
slightly different dbl post!
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I agree with you about the waiters and such. Seems like a huge distraction to me. We're all complaining about people talking during movies, can you imagine trying to watch something while, right behind you, a waiter rattles off the day's specials and answers questions about transfat or carb counts? (Of course maybe that last part only applies to people here in LA)
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Theater distribution will end within the next 10-15 years, IMHO. Movies will go pay-per-view then straight to download or whatever media is used in 10 years a month after.
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almost all the annoying d-bags in the theatre, if not the whole frakking world, are rich white kids
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Yeah, you are delusional. Hollywood, after suffering a very, very small dip has bounced back with record profits. Plus, all those DVD's, cable movies and such that you are watching are still the same old crap pumped out by the studios, so they are still taking your money. They are far from their death throes I'm sorry to say.
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I once heard that the studios make most of their money off concession stand sales, and ever since I've smuggled in snacks and drinks whenever I've gone to the theater to see a new release. I try to do whatever I can do to send as little money as possible to the retards that run Hollywood. I'm sure that studios like Paramount and Sony aren't going to be THAT negatively impacted by the imminent death of the theater release system, but if everything goes DTV or something then at least the playing field will be leveled a little bit and there will be more chances that different types of movies will be made besides stale Gen Y remakes and shitty "vs" movies.
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Tell me you don't want to see SuperJesus vs Dinosaurs.
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Black and gays are pretty annoying too.
Asians are nice, though. They ALWAYS follow the rules.
/end sarcasm
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And some ushers to make people keep quiet. That's what the people really want. Why hasn't anybody else in this talkback ever thought of that?
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but most of the time, its white kids who dress gay (cause that's so awesome) or white kids who wanna black kids (just without all the debt and predisposition to crime and prejudiced actions)
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something fringing on racism about them too
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Mar 26, 2008 9:09:03 PM CDT
It's not better at the Arc Light ... why should this be differen
by only1ofme
I actually don't buy into Arc Light's guarantee. My local theater was taken over by the Arc Light (another poster called it the Arc Light Lite, which is apt). We paid $14 for tickets, listened to the spiel about how we were getting superior picture and sound quality and how our film going was being monitored to "guarantee a great experience!" We then proceeded to sit through a film that had more problems with picture and sound quality than the dollar matinee theater we'd attended a week before. We had poor reel changes, sound drops, color issues, dropped/jiggled picture, sliding focus, and a mis-framed picture. So I think the Arc Light's talk is just that - talk. The teeny boppers are annoying, too. Los Angeles daycare: drop your kids off at the theater Friday afternoon and pick them up Sunday after church.
I don't know who these new, expensive theaters hope to attract in terms of audience. Yes, it makes sense to create a differentiated product in a recession - but I think every couple might go once and then never go again. While someone might pay for that "snob" factor on a first date, or to impress friends, I don't see wealthy film lovers consistently paying for it. There's just not enough value added--comfy chairs? Nice stadium theaters have that. Haute cuisine? Why not just go to a nice restaurant before or after? I don't know about the rest of the country, but the wealthy film lovers I know in Los Angeles area and Seattle area all have awesome home theaters. They revel in the fact that they can invite all of their friends over for movie night and have total control over their movie-going experience.
I think if theaters want to bring more people in, they first have to improve the qualities of movies. There are always ups and downs in terms of good and bad movies coming out, but there have been a ton of stinkers lately. I can't afford to spend $28 on an evening that's a dud, so my boyfriend and I don't even risk it anymore. We wait for the DVD.
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... while technically illegal in most countries, is very easy to do. You can pick up portable devices off the net, small enough to carry with you, and almost impossible to trace without a huge expense and inconvenience to other patrons.
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I just know that this whole argument is retarded. If the movie theaters have better screens and better seats, it won't mean anything, because the service will suck. This is America. People are only willing to do just enough to not get fired. And not only will the service suck, so will the movies. And the audience. So, yes let's force more and more people to pay more and more for tickets to go see movies that they don't really care about anyway, and if they do its only because the TV told them to. But its okay because the seats are more comfortable.
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hollywood doesnt make money off of snacks, the theater does.
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don't know what came over me
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...as the dominate form of Popular Art, which will now be the internet(YouTube-esque things). The same thing happened to live theatre at the begining of the 20th century, before movies the best way the masses had to tell stories was theatre and it was cheap ($5-10 for a broadway show,adjusted) and plentiful. Then movies came along where you could reach much more people for a fraction of the cost, and the audiences for live theatre dried up. To keep itself alive, theatre moved from being a popluar art to a upperclass art (like Opera)and now is attended mostly by older, wealthier people partially as a status symbol. That is exactly what cinema is doing NOW as it loses the next generation to the internet.
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The last time I went to the theater with any regularity was in grad school. It was an outing for friends, usually in the afternoons because it was cheaper to go to a matinee. Lots more often we would just rent movies and watch them all night at someone's house and had a better time. We might splurge for an event movie, but it had to be big. the point is, the more expensive it was, the less we cared about going, especially when we could watch movies at home and control our environment completely. I imagine a lot of people feel that way.
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All food really. Eat first, you bloody children! No food (only drink) and I will lay-down $20 for a fucking lawn chair and questionable projection.
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I think the last movie I saw where I bought popcorn was Matinee (the Joe Dante film) back in 1993. Not only too expensive, but, if I'm eating, I'm not paying attention to whatever I'm watching. Whatr kills me is seeing people inhale half-a-bucket of popcorn, a tray of nachoes, and a hot dog slathered with ketchup (washed down with a 50-ounce tumbler of soda) during the advertisments and trailers, then GETTING UP TO GET MORE FOOD sometime during the second reel. Un. Fucking. Believable. If you can't go without eating for two hours, you have some serious health problems brewing. I ALWAYS see an afternoon matinee of a film, then go and grab some chow after. Why pay $7.50 for a small popcorn and a thimbeful of soda when I can get a pair of giant, soft pretzels and a HUGE soda for about $4.00 at BJ's?
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The movie theater.
Inflated prices, stupid people, media that panders to the lowest common denominator, etc. The sad thing is these people eat it up. I had the misfortune to see 10,000 BC. What a bullshit movie. Like the white tribe wouldn't have slaughtered the black tribe on sight but no, they work together and develop friendship. And white dude saves blue-eyed honly girl and black tribe at the end. The sad thing was, I think the audience I saw it with ate it up. There's something seriously wrong when people find bullshit, lowbrow entertainment worth 20 bucks, hell, 30-50 with concessions. Me, I have my big screen 1080p tv. I download movies at 720p and I watch them all for free. Fuck the theater chains. I could give a shit about the experience. I'm there to watch a fucking movie and not care about the idiots in the audience. -
The talkbacks seriously need edit features. If only theaters could somehow edit the dumbfucks who plague the auditoriums....
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My cousin and I went to see above mentioned film. Oh say about 20 minutes in, these obnoxious teens won't STFU. They're giggling and texting. Now, if I had seen some flick without a hard R rating and it involved teens, I deserve all the abuse I get. Look, I'm a fanboy, a dork, a movie buff (I wouldn't be here if I didn't care)
but, I'm not Milhouse. I lift weights and have trained in martial arts my whole life. I am a very calm dude, polite, but, not this time. I got up, walked back three rows as if possessed by the Devil himself. I din't care if These kids were strapped or Steven Seagal. So I went over and loudly stated the following: "ISN'T THERE SOME ICE FUCKING CUBE MOVIE PLAYING LIKE THREE SCREENS DOWN?! YOU LITTLE FUCKS ALL OWE ME TEN BUCKS IF YOU DON'T SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTHS!".
Well low and behold they shut up. Then quietly left the theater.I could have been arrested. Now, this wasn't right but, it had been building. I feel Like Michael Douglas in "Falling Down" every time I go to a theater. I will no longer see things opening weekend. I go at odd times to avoid kids.
The last film I saw in theaters was "Episode 3" opening night at midnight. I dealt with many a horrid thing. People were dressed up, there were lightsaber battles, costumes. I have no problem with fandom, but, damn! This crowd exploded with noise for anything. So many folks just so desperate for anything. Most of the stuff we want in life is unattainable. The movies (especially genre pictures) are a cathartic escape. We all would love to break boundaries and be maverick killers. The reality is, all we can do is yell at the screen like apes.
Whether they charge 30 bucks or 3, the apes will still scream and throw feces or popcorn.
I just wanna sit and enjoy a movie, so I can escape. I react too. I make noise when something happens that is really cool. We're only human and that is what makes movies fun, they are becoming less and less human. Also as A side note look up me up on myspace, I have a personal page and a music profile and I'm looking for a few good fan boys or girls... -
That is so bizarre, because I swear that's what happened right before we went in. I think I was the guy who yelled Star Trek. Actually nah, it wasn't me I was so sedated via Xanax, I forgot what I was going to see. Then I saw Ewoks and remembered it was "Heathcliff:The Movie". See drugs aren't all that bad. I didn't have to hit anyone that night except my ex-girlfriend for showing up late. But, I guess that's why she's an ex and not "Current" girlfriend. Yeah. Yep. I was the Star Trek Guy. We were in Queens....
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It was the purple lightsaber man. It angered people. I swear.
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I'm signed up on preview lists and go to the free screenings the press go to, and believe me, the people that go to these things don't use their cellphones or talk or break out in fights or whatever else I'm reading about here on this board. Everyone's there to SEE THE MOVIE!!
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I'm saying it anyway. They should do this without the ticket price increase. I remember in the olden days some competitor would do something similar to this and try to destroy the other guys. In other words, giving us what we've wanted for years shouldn't mean we have to pay double. It should be what you've been doing all along, and that's why they have a hard time getting people in seats. It's been too long since the movie going experience has taken a leap in quality. Oh sure, IMAX. How long have we had IMAX now? Let's see... I was a little kid... so that would be... WAY TOO FUCKING LONG!! What else has happened? Well, there's finally good 3D. I can say that. But if my memory serves me well (and it should at minimum wage with benefits) I seem to recall theatres getting tinier and tinier and crappier for decades now and the prices keep going up and up. Let me guess the next step. Every other chain will adopt really crappy, cheap versions of everything they're proposing here and just double their prices. Is that a fair prediction? I think it is. Bring on REGAL LUXURY! 6 dollar coffee, real chairs, bigger screens (by 2 feet) and "this is how it feels to fuck you in the ass"-flavored popcorn that costs 15 dollars a bag. (BUT THE 20 DOLLAR ONE HAS FREE REFILLS!!)
I'm kinda sick of this shit and I'd like to see one of the very few chains say screw this... let's just improve and show those other guys how it's done. But I get this feeling that's not gonna happen.
Conspiracy? Well, I've been to several chains in this country and I have to say the experience was pretty consistent. Consistently BAD. Why would they all be so similar when owned by different entities? Maybe I'm paranoid, but it seems like a very convenient consistency.
Let's see what the least we can give to a moviegoer is before he wants to leave the theatre and ask for his or her money back. Then take it up a half a notch from there, guys. That's the line we're drawing and none of you go above it. Is it a deal? -
I ended up going to a midnight show of Return of the King when that premiered, and there were the usual idiot mallrats and freaks in costume, but the crowd was into it and it really made for a fun moviegoing experience. And then it got to the bit near the end where Frodo passes out on the side of the volcano, and Sam gives his little inspirational speech and drags him up further towards the lava and the audience is just wrapped up in it all and then some guy in the back of the theater cries out "RUDY!!!!!" and everyone starts laughing and cheering. That's why it's fun to see stuff in theaters, but that's because the audience is into it. The problem is, we go to the theater to get that kind of movie-going experience but the theaters only want to fill the seat with any fucking mouth breather who just wants to go to the movies on a weekend night as some kind of vestigial urge for bright lights and loud noises. The idiots don't care what's playing and if it's any good and the only possible way that their movie experience can be fucked up is if someone yells at them to shut up so they can enjoy the movie. There's money in selling tickets to idiots who don't care about movies, it's harder to sell tickets to a movie buff who actually wants a good movie and a good theater in which to watch it. I don't think the solution is overpriced sushi, but just to pay some person to hang out in the theater and kick out the people who are causing the problems. I think the best idea is to arm them with superpowerful flashlights and just shine them in people's faces until they shut up or leave, like the cops do. Nobody likes a flashlight in their face.
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Where do you people see your movies? Occasionally, people talk at the movies, but on average, not too often. I have to say, I see a lot of movies at theaters, and also I live in Jersey. The land of annoying douche bags. And even I don't come across too many talkers.
Anyway, I totally miss the drive-in experience! My parents used to take my brother and I to the drive-ins all of the time. They were the perfect place to bring little kids for a movie. By the time I was a juvenile delinquent, most of the drive-ins were gone, replaced by shopping malls, so me and my scumbag friends missed out on smoking j's and drinking beer while watching a movie in one of our hoopties. (sigh) -
My favorite part of the Variety article is the last paragraph:
"This is a top-end experience," Burke said. "People want to get away from their blues. I don't think the recession will affect it one iota."
It seems to me that the people that would need to "get away from their blues" the most are the ones that probably can't afford $35 a ticket.
For that amount I could rent, make dinner for two and plenty of chilled martinis.
Or I could take a date to the Opera or symphony, w/ people that go to events to actually see the event.
I think it will be a snob magnet.
I just keep thinking about how many movies I rent and turn off half way thru or that I watch all of and think "wow I'm glad I didn't waste my time seeing that in a theater."
I don't think I'll be checking out one of these anytime soon. -
I agree. When you get the RIGHT kind of crowd at a screening it's the best. I attended a midnight screening of Terminator 2 on opening night and the theater was packed with real fans. As soon as Arnie's name appeared and everyone started cheering it set the tone for the rest of the show. Everyone was quiet during the appropriate parts but went apeshit at the right "fucking hell!" moments as well. It's one of my favorite moviegoing experiences. Unfortunately, this is a very rare thing. Most of the time it's just assholes acting as if they're still at home killing time in their own couches.
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of course you wouldnt go, neither would i. we're poor. if i had the money i'd go though, i want a nicer experience at the cinema, i like drinking beers and comfortable seats.
actually what am i talking about? just go the arthouse cinemas...booze, cheaper, less idiots. Dendy is king. -
God save us all.
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Whats the point of this? No one is going to pay for a barely noticable difference in quality just so they can get drunk while watching Spiderman 10. They are completely missing the point here. If they want to do a high end theater then do a high end theater. Decent projectors, decent screens and most importantly decent sound systems, something better than the usual Klipsch Ultra 2 stuff you see in most IMAX. Yes its loud but there is no detail there. The best theaters I've ever seen were the ones in people's homes, and it doesn't necessarily need to be a system that costs more than $100,000. I've seen ones for $15,000 or $20,000 that smoke IMAX's in sound quality and look freakin amazing.
There was a theater like what they are describing here up North where I used to live, it was one screen out of 12 but it had reserved seating you could take decent food and stuff from their bar in there but it was 5 bucks more a movie. I did it once or twice but I didn't think it was worth it cause the movie was the same thing. If I'm paying that kind of money the whole experience needs to be better and thats not just having a freaking waiter at my beck and call. -
I agree that it's the Archlight Lite, but compared to the old Pacific Theaters in the Galleria, it's 100% better. I had some of the worst movie experiences of my life in that theater, a lot of times parents would jsut drop their kids off at the movies so they can shop or go to the 24 hour fitness, now that's almost impossible due to the reserved seating and the fact that they actually LOOK AT WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO SEE! I've seen tons of kids turned away from R rated shows, I've seen texters booted from the theater and I saw the usher scrambling to kick out a couple having sex (and give free movie vouchers to everyone else in the theater). It's not perfect but if I'm not seeing something worthy of the Cinerama dome, I'm going there rather than dealing with obnoxious armenian kids in their armani express yelling through the movie at the AMC Burbank, the human wasteland that is CityWalk or the Regal in winnekta that takes an hour to park at.
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How to boost ticket sales? Gee, let's see... Leave the prices the same, clean up after a show, show only TRAILERS before a movie (not damned commercials), have ushers toss people out for talking or answering their phone. I had quit going to movies because of all those things until a small mom & pop theater opened near me about 2 years ago that does all this. There's no digital projectors and only a couple of screens, but the place is absolutely PACKED every single night. There are 2 huge full digital 20 screen megaplexes right down the road and this little theater routinely kicks their ass. Like anything else, it's all about the service. This idea of "Oh, so you want a CLEAN seat... that'll be an extra $20" is fucking stupid.
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I love the look of film projected onto a white canvas. Can't imagine enjoying Lawrence of Arabia or Citizen Kane on a big screen any other way.
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The best talkback in years!
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than the drafthouse. it's just not. all theaters should be drafhouses. movies are better with pizza and beer. or cheescake and wine if its one of the artsier ones.
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Sometime this year. Danny, get back on the booze and my wife and I will applaud you as you scream out the screen "I hope Mike Myers and his whole family get fucking lung cancer" during The Cat In The Hat 2. It'll make me want to go back to LA more often.
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I used to see a movie every week. But after my billionth bad experience, I stopped going to the movies altogether.
All of my reasons have been discussed here by other people, so I'd just like to present you with a tiny list:
"Johnny Mnemonic" - I watched in shock as someone brought a bassinet into the theater.
"The Crow" - A drunk man came in, danced around, and pissed in the corner. He was not ejected.
"The Sixth Sense" - A teenaged girl kept kicking the back of my seat. When I asked her to stop, she sneered "SORRY!!!". Later, I had to ask again.
"The Exorcist Special Edition" - The whole theater started shouting at a group of teenagers who refused to shut up. They eventually left.
"Monsters, Inc." - During the movie, a boy kept shouting to his friends a few rows down. I told him he needed to sit down and be quiet. His father, who had done nothing to make his son behave, flipped out on me.
"Daredevil" - Someone played with a bleeping electronic device all through the movie.
It is IMPOSSIBLE to police a theater well enough to ensure an enjoyable time for everyone. There are just too many people in this world who are thoughtless, inconsiderate, and feel they are entitled to do anything they want. They clod through life with their personal philosophy of "I DON'T CARE!!!!"
...and I don't want to waste time, money, and peace of mind by watching a movie next to them.
Because of this, I feel that movie theater are going to go the way of the drive-in. All movies will be released direct-to-video, and the investors in these theaters will lose their shirts. -
that made 2 good movies so much better.Saw The Brady Bunch Movie opening night. The theatre was packed. It's a stupid movie but everyone in the crowd was into the movie (Gary Cole rules!). I've seen it since and it wasn't nearly as funny as it was with a theatre full of people all enjoying themselves.Toronto is a hockey town and it was very evident when I went to see Mystery Alaska on a Saturday afternoon. The crowd was enjoying the film but went nuts when they got to the hockey game. People were cheering every time the Mystery team scored and booed the Rangers. It was like being at an actual game. It was great fun.
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Digital Projection doesn't suck, but it still pales compared to a good old fashioned film projection. Unfortunately, most theaters never get it right. Every time I go to the movies, there is some problem with the projection, and I have to leave to complain. When I was at NYU film school I might see three movies a day, but it has become so hit and miss (mostly miss) with the projection that I usually just stay at home. That being said, there is an awesome theater in White Plains, NY that has this sort of pricing scheme, and it is worth it if the movie is good. We pay more for IMAX, right. BTW if you have a problem with people talking on their cell phones, you can purchase a cell phone signal blocking device for around a hundred bucks, which will block all cell phone signals for about a fifty foot diameter. Of course, they are illegal, so I'm not suggesting that you actually buy one or use it. Because that would be against the law.
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When I was in LA, we went to the huge theater at the Promenade at Howard Hughes down by Culver City all the time. You select your seat concert-style so there's no waiting in line. A real usher brings you to your seat when you go into the theater. For the big released, there's pre-show entertainment (not the ads they call pre-show entertainment in other theaters) like a comic, juggler, whatever. Carts came around with a subset of the snack bar so you could order without leaving your seat. Disturbances were not tolerated, as an usher remained in the theater throughout the presentation. Kids were 100% forbidden after a certain hour, period. It was pitched as a place for adults to enjoy a film the right way, and it was WELL worth the money. We have Studio Movie Grill (think Alamo Draft House) here in Dallas, and we haven't been to a traditional theater since arriving. Who wants to drop 8-10 bucks a ticket to sit with a bunch of theater-hopping teenagers and giant migrating flocks of Mexican families in movies thoroughly improper for their kids?
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Its ridiculous how that piece of crap theater with its run down decor and 1990 state of the art system can exist in the same mall that is shelling out luxury brands and some high end restaurants.
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I avoid The Grove like the plague. Arguably the most overrated complex in LA (with The Landmark running a close second). When I want to see my flicks done right, I go to Arclight Hollywood/The Dome, Grauman's Chinese (not the craptastic Chinese 6 next door) or I go all the way old school and hit the Village or Bruin in Westwood.
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Mar 27, 2008 12:54:37 PM CDT
ANCHORITE LIVES IN LA!! ANOTHER CLUE TO YOUR IDENTITY!!!
by bringingsexyback
Haha just kidding for old times sake. I agree about the minorities. I wish they would reserve whites-only screens, except for movies that are meant for rowdy crowds. Then I don't mind hanging with the coloreds.
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From ever making another Austin Powers movie, then I'll gladly join forces with you Dan. I *can* call you Dan, right? Thanks Dan.
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Mar 27, 2008 1:10:06 PM CDT
If it;'s stioll full of pratts talking and shit.... then fuck th
by silentbobafett2
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Mar 27, 2008 1:24:52 PM CDT
I agree about the minorities mostly ruining the movie going expe
by detective_fingerling
leave it to 4-8 teeny bopper emo white kids to be the most obnoxious of them all.
My most recent worst experience was when my girlfriend and I went to see Bourne Ultimatum. Some teenage black thug was sitting in front of my girlfriend and he was violently rocking the seat back and forth and hitting my girlfriends knees hard as hell. I told her to kick the seat as hard as she could the next time he does it, so she eventually does, but its hardly a hard kick. The dude turns around and in this low voice goes " Next time you do that, I'm gonna fucking cut you bitch." So I hear it and lean forward and tell him to try it. He turns back around and ten minutes later he starts to rock back and forth again, so I kick the seat as hard as I can. He turns around like he is going to do something,but then just sits back in his seat. After the movie is over he stares at my girlfriend the whole way down the stairs and then does the throat slit thing, but we didn't see him after that.
I'd say that every other time I go to the movies now, I have to deal with the obnoxious white teens, or the big group of gangster kids (although they tend to sit near the bottom for some reason), but worst of all is the group of 4-6 black people who rock the seats and bring in nasty smelling food and talk/shout amongst themselves the whole time. I will literally get up and move to the other side of the theatre in such a way to minimize audible contact with them. I'm not a racist, but this is just what it has come down to.
Luckily, I haven't run into the Mexican problem yet, but I suppose it is only a matter of time. In the time since the bus has started running from the city to the mall I go to to see my movies, the gangster element has grown at least 400%. -
for some reason I don't believe you.
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...but their regular screenings do. The Landmark is the only theatre I've ever seen where you have to get your tix 2 hours before showtime on the weekend to avoid sellouts. Add to that those postage stamp sized screens, constant sound bleed in from other audtioriums, overpriced concessions (it's a helluva thing when the popcorn is the CHEAPEST item on the menu!) and the fact that they only show indie/arthouse joints there = One. Overrated. Experience.
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I try to sit away from all the pompous white people who believe the world revolves around them and constantly repeat "I'm not a racist but.."
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So I don't get cut or popped.
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Mar 27, 2008 2:18:26 PM CDT
I want you to get this fuck Mike Myers where he breathes!
by lordporkington
I want you to find this nancy-boy Wayne's World cunt, I want him dead! I want his family dead from lung cancer! I want his house burned to the ground! I want to go there in the middle of the night and I want to piss oh his ashes!!!
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Nuff said!
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No, it really is true. I'm a normal person... well, normal enough I suppose. I'm not going to lie and say I didn't think the dude wasn't going to do something outside of the theatre though.
Never really thought of myself as pompous, but I guess if the shoe fits. -
x-men 2 - having a mentally challenged little boy scream "hulk!hulk!hulk?!hulk!!" over and over.
someone having an ACTUAL NEWBORN INFANT IN THE THEATER! w/ swaddling clothes and all.
having a woman spoil the ending of the movie at the very beginning... "yeah, see it's awesome in the book when she finds out the ghost is her grandfather!" i actually turned around and stared at the woman and she was too dumb to know why.
having a woman begin to read and DESCRIBE everything in the film as if to a blind person.
being packed into an a.i. sneak preview where the sound was too low. then (someone must have asked for the sound to be turned up)and being blasted with ear-splitting sound for the remainder of the film.
seeing the first midnight screening of rots and having the film break/stop SEVEN times.
having teens or adults talking, babies crying, kids running or playing in the aisles, food crunching, crinkling or fuckin' slurping, texting, having phone conversations, phones ringing, in every movie i have seen in a theater in the last ten years. -
yeah, i knew it wasn't the kids fault but the uncle or father or whoever wouldn't do anything. so it was like "HULKHULKHULKHULK!!!!"
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GOD-DAMN AMERICA! so sys a "christian pastor. look, god's not gonna damn me for what someone else does i got enough sin of my own. racist twat pastor.
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I eat your girlfriend's pussy ungarnished.
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The only way you saw those flicks there, numbnuts, is for some cheap ass test/pre-release promo screenings. Screens the same size as Arclight? LOL! You obviously don't know jack shit about movie theatres. Heh...you ain't even from LA, are ya? BUSTED!
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Maybe when you got off that bus from Mississippi, someone took you to the AMC Century 15 and told you it was The Landmark. That's why you think you saw Rambo and Cloverfield there. I get it now! Hee-hee.
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At least us whitey's know when to keep our mouths shut! well, except for the teens, elderly, mentally handicapped and twats.
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DannyGlover: You are MARK CUBAN and you know it!
If you don't get THAT joke, then you're a bigger POSER than everybody on this talkback thinks you are! -
A FUCKING MEN!
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The movie experience died the day cell phones became a common day item. People don't shut their phones off, and now even feel entitled to use them while the movie is on. To get me back to the theaters the owners should focus on this problem first. Also they should bring back the "usher" to kick out those people that ruin the experience for others.
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some of the stories I've read on here make me wonder where the fuck some of you people live? jesus, I would think riots would have broken out because of this shit. I can honestly say I haven't had that many problems in the theater lately. I sure as shit haven't had people talking on their cell phones during a movie, I'd stab the Motha fucka in the mouth with a no.2 pencil before they finished a word. WORD!
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i hate that bitch.
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at SpiderMan 3 turns to his wife and says loudly at a quiet point in the movie.."Oh I get it Peter Parker is Spider Man"
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it was probably mark cuban.
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maybe anchorite can meet up wit dickblood and confirm his claims. also take a pic so we see what kinda person comes up with dannygloversdickblood as a screenname. dats almost as crazy as I kick tits.
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...Mark Cuban OWNS The Landmark. The address to HIS OFFICE is probably that Ventura Blvd. one that he posted earlier. Now that his cover's blown, he's dissappeared into thin air...or, at the very least, back on his private jet for the Maverick's latest loss tonight. Hee-hee.
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Maybe people *did* get it, but just decided it was fucking shit? Hee-hee.
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I love the people who turn off their ringers and then check the phone every ten minutes, resulting in sudden flashes of light coming from 4 seats down. I also have to give props to those morons with bluetooth growing out of their ears and are nice enough to treat us with an entertaining flashing LED throughout the show. Awesome.
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too bad using these are illegal in the US:
http://www.globalgadgetuk.com/Personal.htm -
I found a few comments where people seem to think the studios make money off concessions - where people yell at the theatres for charging too much for tickets, etc. I manage a theatre that's part of a small mom & pop chain. Worked for several other theatres in the last 20 years. If you want to know why concessions cost so much in a movie theatre... here is your answer - and it surprises me that all the highly educated people on this board haven't really said anything... Movie theatres barely make any money on ticket sales. Unless you're a 10-20 screen multiplex that can afford to have a movie sitting around for several months... you ain't making a dime. The studios take a large percentage of ticket sales... enough where if you're a small theatre like mine (4 screens) you will never see any significant revenue off ticket sales. Consequently - concession sales - which the studios don't see a chunk of. Theatres charge so much for concessions because the main profit they make is from this. And while you may think that the ridiculous prices only make theatres rich - understand that all bills are paid out of these profits. Rent, Gas & electric. Your payroll. Insurance. Advertising. Everything... Studios are getting richer - not theatres (at least those of us who aren't uber-big 20 screen tuna can theatres). And while I agree that we should have permanent ushers and projectionists who continually man their stations - if we had to provide that we would very quickly go out of business. If you want to yell at someone yell at the studios who at least in my case have been behind every instance of our raising our ticket prices. If the studios were a little more fair - we could all profit and make the experience a little better. Remember - movie theatres are NOT making money off movies. We're making money off popcorn. Movies are just the "draw" to get asses in our seats so we can sell more popcorn. We are snack bars with in-seat entertainment. That's our business - your fat asses.
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I'm just speaking from the last two times I went to the Winnekta 21 (A pacfic that I mistakenly called a Regal). last time I was there was for a 9ish showing of Cloverfield, we got there early to stand in line and ended up walking in about a minute before the movie started... we were circling in the parking lot the ENTIRE time. At least 10 spaces in the lot were taken up by the portable outdoor lighting. The same exact thing happened a few months before with I Am Legend. It's a cool theater and maybe this isn't a usual situation but after 2 experiences like this, I refuse, especially with the Arclight in SO within walking distance.
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Just, no.
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Aren't most of the big theater chains owned by the same corporations who make the movies that these theaters show? Or did I hear that wrong from wherever it was I heard that? Either way, the tickets are barely worth the $9, and the food isn't worth a fraction of what they charge. If that's the business model then you can see why it's failing.
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i doubt that this idea will actually make money, it's bad enough they try to charge you $4 for a diarhea inducing soft drink, now they're gonna try to charge us $6 for a burger worth $0.50 and charge us for leather seats that are covered in soda and popcorn.
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Go watch the documentary 'This Film is Not Yet Rated' and then tell me your opinion... I've rarely been as FURIOUS after a film as that.
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Are you a devout following of 2for2true and the Church of Chang?
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Shall I send you some freshly sharpened pencils anchorite?
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Oh yes, I am a devout follower of the 2for2true coda. In fact, I just stocked up on no.2's and am ready for a matinee...BTW Fuck $35 a ticket, I have a hard enough time paying $12!
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Paying $11 for just one is crap, especially considering a pristine movie experience is just too far and few between. However, I did see "The Other Boleyn Girl" and it was as close to perfect as I'll get (not surprising considering the demographic for that film). But since I don't have time during the week, weekends (which are the worst) are the only days I can see it.
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I'm 37 and I feel (and probably am) ancient. Does everyone need to be talking and texting every second of every day? As soon as the lights go down dozens of cell phone screens instantly appear. I guess that's what you get when mommy and daddy pay for the tickets.
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