Movie theaters: Rants and raves

[Smues]

So this thread is probably mainly going to consist of bitching about the movie going experience, but please do mention the good things too, when they happen.

I was inspired to create this thread by a common nuisance many of us encounter: MOTHER FUCKING CRYING BABIES IN THE MOVIE THEATER.

Look, I'm not unreasonable. If I go to a G-rated cartoon movie I expect kids, lots of them, and babies too. It's still annoying, but I know what I'm getting into. But with PG-13 and R rated movies I feel I have the right to complain about crying kids. Especially in the evening and night. There's just no excuse for that, and in fact at least one of the theaters here doesn't allow kids under 6 into R-rated movies that start after 6PM. This would be a godsend, but because it only applies to R movies and not PG-13 movies I still end up having to deal with the crying babies a lot. And it's also only a rule at one of the two theaters I go to, so if the movie I'm seeing is only at the one without a baby rule I'm screwed.

Tonight's fun was a crying baby at Wolverine: Origins. PG-13 and it's not the theater with the rule anyway, so at a 9:35PM showing in the back of the theater there was crying and baby jibberish for the first 30 or so minutes of the movie. Obviously it was only for the first 30 minutes because they left or the baby went to sleep right? Oh I wish. No, it was only in the back of the theater for the first 30 minutes, then it was DIRECTLY BEHIND MY SEAT IN THE AISLE for the rest of the movie. Christ this was annoying. So not only did I get to here up close and personal the crying and gibbering baby the rest of the movie, but I got to listen to it's parents SHHHH and STOP THAT it all that time too. I'm a non-confrontational loser so I never said anything to the parents, but it wouldn't have been wrong of me to ask them to shut it the fuck up would it? It's 9:35 at night, take the damn baby home.

I can't be the only one this happens to can I?

 

[Jaxxxson Mayhem]

Should have turned out and asked if Smues was gonna have to slap a bitch.

 

[Big Beard Booty Daddy]

When I saw SEED OF CHUCKY in the theater, it was a 10pm showing and there were kids running around the theater like I was seeing a 12pm show of TOY STORY. I am a huge horror fan, and plan to raise my kids, when I have them, to enjoy the genre, but there is a limit to bringing kids to a theater to see a horror film, especially at that time of night. If you can't get a babysitter, then stay the fuck home for the night. Don't ruin a movie for everyone else, because you don't want to miss a movie that is going to be out for a few more weeks.

 

[wnyxmcneal]

I ranted about a crying baby when I saw I Love You, Man. It really hurt the first hour of the movie for me.

The whole thing was stupid. It's an R-rated movie, so why are you bringing your kid there in the first place? Plus, it's an infant, so it's not going to listen to you when you try to quiet it, b/c it's a fucking baby.

Then about an hour in, the parents gave up and left. So I didn't get to enjoy the movie, and they didn't get to enjoy the movie either. It made me so mad, the theatre shouldn't have let them in.

This is also the same theatre that I am currently feuding with over my love of bringing Wendys into the theatre.

 

[Smues]

Another thing from last night that bugged me and happened a lot. I got there before the previous showing was out, so I waited outside with the others. In short time we had a decent sized line outside the theater. The thing that bugs me? All the people who ignore the line, ignore the closed door, and march right into the theater. Then they get pissy when they realize the movie is still going. What's worse is once the previous showing is out and the theater employees are cleaning before letting us in. The door is shut, there's a large line, and there's a SIGN IN FRONT OF THE DOOR saying the theater is closed for cleaning, and still people just march right past all of that and march into the theater. Again they're pissy when they walk out, having been told they have to wait. Yes lady, we're all waiting outside this theater just because it seems like a good spot to hang out.

As far as things that amuse me in movie theaters, the people who show up at or past the scheduled start time of a large movie on opening weekend, who then act surprised that there aren't any good seats left. Gets me everytime. Epecially when it's a group of like 10 people. The listed start time is say 10:00pm, they walk in at 10:20 because of course why should they have to watch the trailers, then as soon as they get in they act like it's the biggest shock in the world that the theater is packed. Then of course they get mad, when it's entirely there fault. I don't expect everybody to how up 30-40 minutes early like I do, but don't show up late and get mad that there aren't seats left on opening night.

 

[wnyxmcneal]

You show up that early? Dude.

Going on weekdays is the way to go. I love being the only person in the theatre.

 

[Mattdotcom]

At least the group of 10 late people wasn't a group of 9 with one person saving their seats for all of them.

 

[RedJed]

At least the group of 10 late people wasn't a group of 9 with one person saving their seats for all of them.

Hahah yeah exactly, THAT annoys me to no end since I've seen it go down many times. One of the times I went to Dark Knight, tried to sit down 4 different times, only to find out the seats were being saved. Finally had to sit in the second row, but whatever, it was what it was.

And I hardly ever actually get to a movie on time, moreless 5-10 minutes after the start time to avoid the stupid commercials (not necessarily the trailers) plus there is nothing more uncomfortable to me than sittin in a theater before the movie starts for some reason (especially if I'm going to the flick solo and/or am a little bit under the influence herbally).

I also very rarely will go to a movie on opening night, wait for at least a few days to avoid any huge crowd. Needless to say, I'd much rather be in a theater with nobody or next to nobody than a packed house.

And I'm in agreement on going to flicks on weekdays, particularly weekday evenings during the last show of the night, nine times out of ten there is only a few people there, if even that. Sunday evenings are usually really dead too.

 

[wnyxmcneal]

It amazes me that people still don't understand that the light reflecting from your phone is annoying to others. My friend texts a fair amount in movies, and finally I explained to him how annoying it was, and he didn't even know.

 

[Smues]

I don't have the option of going to the nice mid-week showings, trust me I'd prefer it. But 99% of the time I go it's with my wife, and her schedule means it's got to be weekends, and her being crazy means it has to be opening weekend. I have no problem getting there earlier, it's just the waiting outside in the line then watching people just waltz right in that bugs me. Plus I'm kind of picky about getting my seats, so I'll sacrifice the extra time to make sure I can sit where I want.

 

[Smues]

Since I do get to movies so early I have the phone going with the internet and stuff until the trailers start, but I put it away that moment and it never comes back. The worst is the people who actually take calls in the theater and don't take them to the lobby. Doesn't happen often, but it's quite annoying. Oh, and when I'm waiting in that line outside the theater, the people who walk out of the previous showing on their cellphones spoiling the movie to whoever they're talking to. Thanks, assholes.

 

[wnyxmcneal]

Get a divorce.

I always sit in the very back. I think the person in front of me was taking pictures of Fighting with her camera phone. I didn't mind since a) It's Fighting and b) That's just funny

 

[ChrisMWaters]

One thing I have to laugh about.

Most of the time I go to the theaters, there's always seats open (exceptions being when I saw "Revenge of the Sith" and "The Dark Knight" on opening day, the latter in IMAX)

One time though, I went to see "Get Smart" in theaters. It had been out one...maybe two weeks.

I was the ONLY one in the theater.

...so, I got to talk during the movie, MST style when I felt like it.

 

[wnyxmcneal]

I'm the only one in the theatre all the time.

 

[Smues]

I've yet to be the only one in the theater. I've been one of like 5, but never just the only one, even when I've tried and gone at off times during the week.

 

[Gary]

I'm the only one in the theatre all the time.

The only time that ever happened to me was when I saw "Rules of Attraction." There were like only 2 other people when I saw "Mullberry Street."

As for those complaining about kids in R-Rated movies-there were several families when I saw "Watchmen."

 

[wnyxmcneal]

I don't mind kids in R-rated movies, just STFU.

This year I've been the only one in Haunting in Connecticut, Bride Wars, Informers and Monsters v. Aliens

 

[Big Beard Booty Daddy]

My friend and I were the only ones for JOE'S APARTMENT, on opening weekend.

When I went to see FRIDAY THE 13th in February, as we are leaving someone came out behind us and told the entire line waiting for the next show what happened in the movie. I've never seen so many people try to beat the shit out of one person before. And the asshole was just laughing.

 

[foleyfanforever88]

I love going to the movie theater, but I can't justify spending $10+ on a movie that I can most likely download within a few weeks for free. Matinee showings are where it's at, but even those I rarely go to because other things (work, etc) are going on during the day. I think the only movies I plan on seeing in theaters this summer are Up!, Bruno, and Harry Potter.

 

[Smues]

One more gripe from last night, though this one is actually the theater and not the people. The concession stand at this theater just changed from normal menu board to digital screens for all the menus. This would be fine, if not for the fact that like every 30 seconds all of the screens, even the ones with all the actual items listed and not just the ones with pictures of the food on them, start showing ads for the various food and what not. So while you're trying to decide what you want and figure out how much it costs, the fucking menu will disappear and be replaced with a dancing pizza. It's incredibly annoying, and stupid, and I would hope they'd turn that shit off pretty quickly. I can't imagine going to McDonalds and having the menus start playing commercials so I'd have to wait for them to end before I could see the menu items again.

 

[Jingus]

I've worked in a couple theaters, and the corporate owners are about the worst people this side of beer vendors in a sports arena when it comes to bilking people out of their money for concessions. I know this is because they only get something like 10% of the ticket money and mostly rely on concessions for their income, but it's still annoying as hell. The old "would you like to supersize that?" routine is a soul-killing one for those who work behind the counter, since you know it's a con, but your employers still require you to do it. (I once got an economics professor who chewed me out for five minutes over this policy, oblivious to the line behind him, and went on to argue with the manager for ten minutes more.) And charging $5 for a drink or a bag of popcorn is surprize secks of the highest order.

Also, depending on the theater: don't buy the popcorn at the first showing. Some theaters literally take the leftovers at the end of the night, bag them up, and then reheat them the next day. Even worse, one that I worked with did this with the hot dogs, sticking them in the fridge overnight and then putting 'em back on the warmer the next day.

Don't complain about how long it takes the sweepers to clean the theaters in between showings. You wouldn't believe how filthy they can get, especially after a kids' movie.

Also, I've said it before but I'll happily say it again: if you've got a problem with people talking during the movie, don't just angrily storm out and draft the first employee you see. Go get the manager, someone with power to actually do something. Do not grab the scared 16-year-old ticket-taker and demand that he go force that big group of thug-lookin' homies to shut up. This is not a hypothetical story, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do to keep the Nashville chapter of the Crips from speaking their mind during that showing of Speed 2.

 

[Mazto]

I'm glad that the two theaters here in town have both a No children under 6 to R movies, and as a super-special bonus, you can't save more than one seat for people on opening weekend (or week if it's a summer blockbuster that isn't a matinee).

My theater is really actually quite clean and organized when dealing with big crowds. My main gripe is that both theaters are owned by the same guy and oftentimes I can't get to see movies I want because the owner just decides he doesn't want that particular movie in the theater.

So I couldn't see The Wrestler unless I wanted to drive 2 hours to Vegas.

He bought out the dollar theater and closed it down too just because he didn't want competition.

 

[Big Beard Booty Daddy]

I've worked in a couple theaters, and the corporate owners are about the worst people this side of beer vendors in a sports arena when it comes to bilking people out of their money for concessions. I know this is because they only get something like 10% of the ticket money and mostly rely on concessions for their income, but it's still annoying as hell. The old "would you like to supersize that?" routine is a soul-killing one for those who work behind the counter, since you know it's a con, but your employers still require you to do it. (I once got an economics professor who chewed me out for five minutes over this policy, oblivious to the line behind him, and went on to argue with the manager for ten minutes more.) And charging $5 for a drink or a bag of popcorn is surprize secks of the highest order.

Also, depending on the theater: don't buy the popcorn at the first showing. Some theaters literally take the leftovers at the end of the night, bag them up, and then reheat them the next day. Even worse, one that I worked with did this with the hot dogs, sticking them in the fridge overnight and then putting 'em back on the warmer the next day.

Don't complain about how long it takes the sweepers to clean the theaters in between showings. You wouldn't believe how filthy they can get, especially after a kids' movie.

Also, I've said it before but I'll happily say it again: if you've got a problem with people talking during the movie, don't just angrily storm out and draft the first employee you see. Go get the manager, someone with power to actually do something. Do not grab the scared 16-year-old ticket-taker and demand that he go force that big group of thug-lookin' homies to shut up. This is not a hypothetical story, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do to keep the Nashville chapter of the Crips from speaking their mind during that showing of Speed 2.

With the exception of the hot dog thing, that sounds just like the theater I worked at for my first job. I can understand the high prices of food since like you said, they only get a small portion of the ticket money. Where I worked, I told people not to buy the nachos since we had to water down the cheeze-whiz to get it to cook.

 

[Jaxxxson Mayhem]

Also, I've said it before but I'll happily say it again: if you've got a problem with people talking during the movie, don't just angrily storm out and draft the first employee you see. Go get the manager, someone with power to actually do something. Do not grab the scared 16-year-old ticket-taker and demand that he go force that big group of thug-lookin' homies to shut up. This is not a hypothetical story, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do to keep the Nashville chapter of the Crips from speaking their mind during that showing of Speed 2.

This was fucking hilarious.

 

[RedJed]

Has anyone seen any local deals that theaters around your area are doing to try to drum up business on off days of the week?

Tuesdays around here are the big discount days at both main theaters in town. The one has discount Tuesday all day, where any flick anytime is $5, and at the other theater, they have 16 oz sodas and medium popcorn bags for $1 a piece.

 

[NoCalMike]

Has anyone seen any local deals that theaters around your area are doing to try to drum up business on off days of the week?

Tuesdays around here are the big discount days at both main theaters in town. The one has discount Tuesday all day, where any flick anytime is $5, and at the other theater, they have 16 oz sodas and medium popcorn bags for $1 a piece.

Boy do I wish. Out here "matinee" prices are about to hit $7, which is a joke.

 

[Smues]

I always feel bad for the theater employees having to push the stupid combos. I know for a long time the Regal theaters had signs up that said "If your cashier doesn't offer you a candy combo please see a manager for a free ticket." Yeah a free ticket i nice, but I'm not getting the employee in trouble for being nice and not shoving his stupid combo on me. I know there were several times I wasn't offered a combo and could have gotten a free ticket, but I never did because I was happy they didn't shove the stupid combo at me. It's especially bad when you're already buying a fuckload of food because you're getting food for your whole group that's already in the theater, and they still have to ask about a combo. "Ok that comes to $65.50. Would you like a candy combo with that?"

What's really annoying is at Regal theaters combos don't save you any money. "I'll take a large popcorn and a large Orange Hi-C please." "Oh you want a combo #2." "Uhhh....yeah whatever. It's not really a combo but whatever makes you happy."

 

[foleyfanforever88]

Has anyone seen any local deals that theaters around your area are doing to try to drum up business on off days of the week?

Tuesdays around here are the big discount days at both main theaters in town. The one has discount Tuesday all day, where any flick anytime is $5, and at the other theater, they have 16 oz sodas and medium popcorn bags for $1 a piece.

The shitty theater 5 minutes away from my house has $6 movies on Tuesday nights, and the nice theater 10 minutes away has $7 movies on Thursday nights, but I wouldn't be surprised if those deals are no longer offered (I haven't been to either theater since Burn After Reading was out).

 

[wnyxmcneal]

Yea, don't eat the hot dogs. I have no qualms admitting that I served many a hot dog that had dropped on the floor

 

[mellow]

Yeah, theater employees get fucked pretty bad. Thanksgiving and Christmas are two of the busiest days of the year, so they get stuck doing that shit (sure it's time and a half, but it still isn't worth much when you consider the wage that they are getting paid in the first place).

I worked for a movie theater for three years when I was in high school, and the only good thing that I have to say about it is that it was a great place to meet girls. That's pretty much it. And the projection booth is a good place to be if you don't want to deal with asshole patrons (of which there was never any shortage).

Jingus is correct about the companies having to push their concession stand products to the maximum, though, as they make next to nothing on ticket sales (they have to pay to obtain the movie prints, and then they only retain close to 5% of sales). But pretty much all corporate theater employees on the upper and middle management levels are complete dildos, so it's hard to feel motivated enough to line their pockets and inflate their bonuses.