criterionforum.org

Black Hat wrote:The only film I've ever walked out of was Mr. Turner at NYFF, not exactly the place you want to walk out of something, but I'd fallen asleep twice in the first 90 minutes, had no idea nor interest in what was going on plus Turner's grunting & humping was getting on my last nerve and on top of all that I was in a shitty mood as well as hungry so I had the choice of either staying there for another 90 minutes or getting the hell out of there and grabbing some Chinese food before it closed. My friend, who had managed to stay awake, said she was cool with leaving so I faked a coughing fit and ran the hell out of ATH with her right behind me.

Was the coughing fit really necessary? I understand you didn't want to seem to be going out of your way to express disapproval of the film by walking out, but I would think loud noises would just make you more conspicuous and irritating to others who are trying to watch. (I haven't seen the film, though, so I can't comment on its quality.)

As somebody who has never walked out on a film (although I rarely go to theaters anyway, so the opportunity doesn't present itself often) do people try to maintain a kind of etiquette when they decide to walk out? Does anybody have any experiences with people who have made a point of showing their vehement disapproval of a film as they leave?

Black Hat wrote:NYFF, not exactly the place you want to walk out of something

I guarantee you that the NYFF programmers walked out of plenty of films at other festivals during the process of selecting that lineup!

Definitely not something you ever need to feel self-conscious about ... unless, I dunno, your brother-in-law is the director, maybe.

mizoguchi5354 wrote:Does anybody have any experiences with people who have made a point of showing their vehement disapproval of a film as they leave?

I've had someone vocalize (an escalating serious of scoffs and grunts culminating in an all out verbal diss) such utter contempt and disgust for a film -- Carlos Reygadas' The Battle in Heaven -- that I was finally compelled to tell him off. He was sitting one row in front of me, when, right before the film's most shocking moment, he finally blurted out a fully articulated utterance: "This film is so stupid." To which I replied: "Then shut up and leave!" He didn't leave, but he did shut up, especially after a dozen other nearby audience members applauded my response. The craziest part of it all was that it seems like the film was actually working on him exactly the way it was supposed to, that he was just too uncomfortable with the way it all made him feel.

The worst movie theater experience I had (short of sitting next to falling asleep and snoring at Film Forum when we went to see a 3-fer of horror films), was seeing Superbad. I love(d) the film, but when Michael Cera and Jonah Hill start hugging in the second to last scene, a lot of really homophobic people starting moaning "ew" and "oh no." Very audibly.

I mentioned this already but I had a similar experience watching J. Edgar with my brother who had no idea about his personal life. It wasn't so much audible, but very uncomfortable body language. But I kind of enjoyed his discomfort as only an older sibling should.

Perkins Cobb wrote:

Black Hat wrote:NYFF, not exactly the place you want to walk out of something

I guarantee you that the NYFF programmers walked out of plenty of films at other festivals during the process of selecting that lineup!

I laughed and have no doubt this is true.

mizoguchi5354 wrote:Was the coughing fit really necessary?

Yeah after assessing my parameters, sitting in the center of a middle row, there was no other way for me, at 6'4, to get out of there. The coughing fit made my exit swifter as people had no choice but to move otherwise it would have been a slow burn of how dare you leave dirty looks, sighs and groans. The ATH/UWS movie going crowd are notorious self centered curmudgeons – I've had more than a few of these old hags yell that I sit before I even had a chance to take my coat off prior to a film having even started, another hag demanded I slouch or 'do something with my head' so she could see better, another insisted I switch seats with her friend who had a front row corner seat and when I gave her my 'are you crazy' look proceeded to curse me out. These people are hysterically disturbed.

Black Hat wrote:

mizoguchi5354 wrote:Was the coughing fit really necessary?

Yeah after assessing my parameters, sitting in the center of a middle row, there was no other way for me, at 6'4, to get out of there.

Less disruptive than a Gaslight-style hysterical crying jag. But just as effective.

Black Hat wrote:

mizoguchi5354 wrote:Was the coughing fit really necessary?

Yeah after assessing my parameters, sitting in the center of a middle row, there was no other way for me, at 6'4, to get out of there. The coughing fit made my exit swifter as people had no choice but to move otherwise it would have been a slow burn of how dare you leave dirty looks, sighs and groans.

Gotcha. More understandable.

Fred Holywell wrote:Less disruptive than a Gaslight-style hysterical crying jag. But just as effective.

I often wonder if going to the theater was a totally different experience in the nineteenth century, considering women apparently fainted at everything.

I saw Winter Sleep last night at Quad Cinema in NYC, and I felt the entire time that the film was just slightly out of focus. It was never sharp, and this didn't seem to me to be a cinematographer decision to film with soft focus (I could be wrong). How common is it for a theater to have their projector slightly out of focus?

I doubt that Winter Sleep was shot with a soft focus. It had to be the projectionist. FYI... Mr Cohen of the Cohen Media Group purchased the Quad and will be closing it shortly after the New Year for major renovations.

Saw Tales of the Grim Sleeper at MoMA yesterday night. Excellent albeit horrific film that was about a serial killer who preyed on prostitutes in South Central Los Angeles, it was a packed house but there must have been at least a dozen walkouts, all during the seedier interview segments. Seemed more notable given the subject matter and how this was nearly an entirely white crowd of well-to-do New Yorkers.

Oscar the Grouch explains why he likes to go to the movies (from How to Be a Grouch, 1976):

...and then got arrested for not wearing any clothes.

FrauBlucher wrote:I doubt that Winter Sleep was shot with a soft focus. It had to be the projectionist.

Yeah, I don't recall a single soft-focused shot (in the sense of the cinematographer just missing someone's face or whatever) in the entire film. 100% a projection problem.

Yes, for the most part sharp as a tack. A little less so in the low contrast indoor nighttime scenes, but not much.

Saw American Sniper this morning - first showing, $7.00 at a casino across town. Sat at the sports book watching replays of a slow motion horse race winner by a nose while drinking a cup of coffee. Walked over to the entrance and the lady says outside drinks are not allowed. Manager then chimes in from the right - what do you have in there? Just coffee. Oh, just coffee, and nothing else? Laughs, then says it's fine. I said Thanks and walked in.

D50 wrote:Saw American Sniper this morning - first showing, $7.00 at a casino across town. Sat at the sports book watching replays of a slow motion horse race winner by a nose while drinking a cup of coffee. Walked over to the entrance and the lady says outside drinks are not allowed. Manager then chimes in from the right - what do you have in there? Just coffee. Oh, just coffee, and nothing else? Laughs, then says it's fine. I said Thanks and walked in.

They show movies in Casinos?

Zot! wrote: They show movies in Casinos?

Can't speak for D50, but here in Las Vegas, nearly every movie theater is in a casino.

AMalickLensFlare wrote:

Zot! wrote: They show movies in Casinos?

Can't speak for D50, but here in Las Vegas, nearly every movie theater is in a casino.

Is it that every movie theatre in Las Vegas is in a casino, or that every public place is so filled to the brim with slot machines that they all essentially become casinos?
The only time I have ever been in a movie theatre outside of Canada was in Las Vegas, on the strip, not in a casino. The picture was slightly out of focus, but they had Cherry Coke, so it wasn't a total loss.

willoneill wrote:

AMalickLensFlare wrote:

Zot! wrote: They show movies in Casinos?

Can't speak for D50, but here in Las Vegas, nearly every movie theater is in a casino.

Is it that every movie theatre in Las Vegas is in a casino, or that every public place is so filled to the brim with slot machines that they all essentially become casinos?
The only time I have ever been in a movie theatre outside of Canada was in Las Vegas, on the strip, not in a casino. The picture was slightly out of focus, but they had Cherry Coke, so it wasn't a total loss.

Almost all casinos have theaters. On the strip, off strip local casinos also. Some have bowling alleys - Sam's Town hosts the Nationals.

My example with the happy ending, Manager letting me in with my drink, is offset by one guy who refused to throw away his outside drink and they called security on him and a few guards removed him from the premises - using trespassing laws.

Hopefully they keep the bowling alleys separate from the theaters.

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Hopefully they keep the bowling alleys separate from the theaters.

That'd sound similar to the blockbuster ear splitting dolby surround sound movie playing next door.

That reminds me: there used be (and perhaps still are?) two multiplexes in the Forum des Halles in Paris, underground. The older of the two was situated very close to a Metro subway tunnel, such that while sitting in a theater you could hear—and feel—the train rumbling by every few minutes. I wouldn't want to see every movie that way, but it was certainly fun once.

jonah.77 wrote:That reminds me: there used be (and perhaps still are?) two multiplexes in the Forum des Halles in Paris, underground. The older of the two was situated very close to a Metro subway tunnel, such that while sitting in a theater you could hear—and feel—the train rumbling by every few minutes. I wouldn't want to see every movie that way, but it was certainly fun once.

It sounds the perfect place to watch Luc Besson's Subway in!

jonah.77 wrote:That reminds me: there used be (and perhaps still are?) two multiplexes in the Forum des Halles in Paris, underground. The older of the two was situated very close to a Metro subway tunnel, such that while sitting in a theater you could hear—and feel—the train rumbling by every few minutes. I wouldn't want to see every movie that way, but it was certainly fun once.

The Orient Express you're refering to actually closed a year or two ago.