So mad about the people at the movies!

[marder]

I avoid going to movies as much as I can, if I go it's for the children or the wife. I have a big flat screen at home and a good 7.1 surround system so I can watch movies at home with a much better convenience and better sound.

What I hate at movies, besides the waiting and the 30 min. of advertisement, is that I feel like I am in a restaurant rather than in a theater.

Come on, if I wanted to have the noise and smell of people eating next to me, I would have gone to a restaurant, not to a theater ! Why is it that you HAVE to eat and drink when you watch a movie ? This completely ruins my enjoyment.

[Shalom]

"Can we go? This is getting boring; I don't like the movie, etc. etc." was the expected monologue. I seem to remember being quiet enough to not bother the other people who were somehow enjoying the picture.

Oh lord, that brings back memories. My family went to see a double feature (remember those?) Two Walt Disney films: Alice In Wonderland and Fantasia. Now bear in mind that I was maybe six.

Alice I enjoyed immensely. Fantasia bored me literally to tears. I kept going out to the bathroom, the water fountain, the bathroom again, etc. and asking my mom "Is this going to be over soon?" If I'd somehow managed to sit still until the Paul Dukas segment with Mickey Mouse came on, I might have enjoyed that part, but classical music, even Beethoven, wasn't my forte at that age, and Stravinsky is definitely not for six year old children, dinosaurs notwithstanding. We bailed in the middle of the Rite of Spring, as best I remember. Probably a good thing too, as the Moussorgsky would have scared the piss out of me.

As an adult, of course, I wanted very much to see the film. It had been out of theaters since 1981, and I'd been waiting for home video, or even for it to come back to the theaters, for years, but no dice, Disney wasn't relaxing their grip on that property for a moment. Fantasia was like the holy grail of hard-to-get films; it never even went on TV once (except for small bits), etc. There was a mystique surrounding that film.

I even signed up for Film Studies at Brooklyn College because rumor had it that they had a old 16mm print of Fantasia that they would show during the 13th week of class. (Although the colors were said to be rather faded, and without the stereo sound it loses a lot of the effect.) Unfortunately when week 13 rolled around they "couldn't find" the print. I found out later that it wasn't lost, just hidden, because with all the 50th Anniversary Of Fantasia hype going on at the time, they didn't want to call the Mouse's attention to themselves. God knew how or from where they'd acquired that print, or whether they were even supposed to have it in the first place.

Fortunately I was able to catch it in the theaters after that. I wound up seeing it three times (once each with a different family member, including once with my brother the classical music major: at the end of the Bach segment which led off, I looked over there and he was literally . I'd thought that was only a cliché, but he was literally sitting there with his jaw hanging open), and bought the VHS and later the DVD when they came out.

[ADoyle90815]

Sometimes even going to the matinee showing isn't enough to avoid people who talk during the movie, text, or "forget" to turn off their cellphone so it rings. Even then, I still wait several weeks before I see a movie, but with Avatar, even waiting a month wasn't enough to avoid the crowd and standing in line before the scheduled time. At least this time, nobody talked or texted during the movie. The only real issue was that someone had on a strong perfume that when they walked down the aisle, it was like walking into the perfume section at a department store.

[Zoom]

I was an STP (Sucky Theater Patron) only twice in my life that I can remember. Thrice if you count the first time I ever walked out of a movie.

1. Went with Mom to see Dumb & Dumber. Protagonist says "My name's Eric Christmas; what's yours?". Female lead answers "My name's Mary (something or other)."

I burst out laughing, leaned over and whispered to Mom, and she burst out laughing. Obviously, if the male and female leads got married, her name would become "Mary Christmas". It was a spontaneous thing. People were spontaneously staring at us.

2. Went to see Star Trek: First Contact. It was a cold day, so the family bundled up well. But for once, the theater actually had heating, so I opened the jacket and sprawled it out on the next seat.

Then I realized I'd chosen very poor seats, and I needed to sit a bit closer to the screen and nearer the center instead of the far left edge. Besides, the rest of the family wanted to sit closer anyway. I grabbed the jacket and we moved to a better spot.

Then it started to get crowded. Very crowded.

About half an hour into the movie, I suddenly realized I'd left my hat and gloves on the seat under where my jacket had been. I had to get up, walk in front of five people to the aisle, walk back a couple of rows, walk in front of ten people, grab my hat and gloves, then walk all the way back in front of the same fifteen people.

After that, I stopped going to the movies unless it wasn't crowded.

3. (Bonus) I was five, maybe six. I didn't like the movie. All these serious people on the screen whom I didn't recognize were being boring with adult stuff. My parents had no babysitter so I was there.

"Can we go? This is getting boring; I don't like the movie, etc. etc." was the expected monologue. I seem to remember being quiet enough to not bother the other people who were somehow enjoying the picture.

Finally my parents relented. I suppose they didn't like the movie either, or were expecting it to be funnier or something. I never found out why they agreed to leave.

What I did find out later, however, was the name of the boring man in the film.

I had walked out of a Zero Mostel movie!

Now that's class!

[greensinestro]

Reminds me of when "Titanic" came out. I actually went five times during its theatrical run, and I went because I loved the film. However, at least two of those times we had people like this, like the guy behind us who the entire time was going "Oooh, look at those special effects. Magnificent!" or "Oooh, that's awesome. I feel like I'm in one of those lifeboats." One of the other times, when Leonardo di Caprio's character is in the water and is obviously dead, there were so many women actually pleading with "Wake up! Wake up! You can't be dead!"

Seemed like this stuff happened during the nighttime showings. The daytime ones had fewer people to cause disruptions.

[zzapp the witch]

Used to date a guy that worked at the local theater in high school. Still friends with the manager to this day. He always comes in when he sees what movie I've come to watch and whispers to me to see if everyone's behaving themselves. And yes, I WILL tattle on your ass on opening night.....unless I find your hijinks somewhat entertaining.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Then again, you didn't complain (to management) either. Not criticizing, I've been in the same situation. When I see rude moviegoers, I keep hoping the jerks will knock it off and start behaving. Besides, it's not like you can pause the movie so you don't miss anything. I also go with friends and don't want to appear "rude" in front of them by complaining. Yeah, I know it doesn't make sense. ~shrugs~

I always complain, and yep, I've gotten quite a few people chucked out of the cinema. I guess I'm just a bitch.

[RavenStarr]

I really hate the parents who bring a baby or toddler. Then when he starts crying, they won't take him out of the theater.

[Sunsetsky]

I usually don't have to deal with people playing with their cellphones in theaters. The worst problem I had was some preteen girl behind me kept kicking my chair during the movie. When my mom found out what was going on she turned around and growled something at the girl. The rest of the movie was a lot quieter after.

[AccountingDrone]

I have to agree, I hate going to the theater now, rude people just ruin it for me.

I prefer to wait until I can watch something at home, with my own diabetic friendly munchies, and snuggling with hubby and the cat in comfort. Nobody yapping through it, and I can pause it whenever we want.

[Pagan]

Not to mention that if you need to go pee or want to get a snack, you can stop the movie!

[Flying Grype]

I'm saving all my movie-ticket money for a big-screen TV... my livingroom has no sucky theatergoers, and there's a much bigger selection of what to watch.

[greek_jester]

The last was The Fantastic Mr Fox (ugh, I want my time back

I adored the book as a child & was very interested to hear that it was being made into a film, but I could tell as soon as I saw the trailer that it wasn't worth going to see. I'd have started screaming at the screen & throwing popcorn in disgust.

[Hyndis]

Complaining to management will sometimes get you a voucher to see the movie again, but you still risk dealing with another batch of them. This is why I usually goto the movies during the day, rather than at night. Less ass hats like this to worry about. I like being in a 200+ seat theatre with only 5-10 people in it.

CH

Same.

I never go to movies on the first weekend. Even the second or third weekend. I wait until the end of the run, then go during the day time, preferably the very first showing. Even if its at 9am.

I love having the entire theater to myself.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Also wasn't Regal doing those handheld devices that you could put in a code and it would request a manager to come in, you could even put in what row and seat the trouble makers were in? was that something that had already started or maybe I saw it on tv as some cool new thing that might be implemented some day??

They have them at some sports stadiums. Or some number you can call or text to report problem spectators.

Of course, that can abused any number of different ways ("Hello? Miller Park security? There's this guy who keeps running onto the field, and he doesn't belong there. He can be identified by the big number 37 on his jersey." ).