Movie Theater Experiences

Message

#601 Post by **mfunk9786** » Sat May 16, 2015 3:36 am

At least, fuck seeing movies that are made 3D in post in 3D. I will have no problem seeing something like The Walk in 3D, for example.

#602 Post by **domino harvey** » Sat May 16, 2015 3:44 am

Ah yes, the Walk, one of the endless stream of trailers which played before Mad Max. I could not believe how long the previews went on (not commercials or theatre-PSAs, just coming attractions), to the point that I had to commit the theatre faux pas of checking my phone to see for sure: 22 minutes. Surely that's some kind of record?

flyonthewall2983 · Sat May 16, 2015 3:46 am

I used to love coming attractions before the internet. 22 minutes would have been like heaven for me.

hearthesilence · #604 Post by **hearthesilence** » Sat May 16, 2015 4:09 am

mfunk9786 wrote:At least, fuck seeing movies that are made 3D in post in 3D. I will have no problem seeing something like The Walk in 3D, for example.

I'm beginning to think the whole enterprise is dubious, outside of experimental films. But it's certainly a worthless and slimey rip-off when it's done in post.

thirtyframesasecond · Sat May 16, 2015 7:13 am

If I was going to see something like the Avengers movie (I wouldn't), I'd find the most anti-social time to go. Some films are improved by audience twattishness though.

When I saw 'Hanna', with the really sombre start, there's a bit that cuts to a shot of a duck or something. After minutes of pure silence, someone went "quack quack" and the whole audience lost it for ages. I liked the film though, mainly for Tom Hollander's bad guy.

flyonthewall2983 · Sat May 16, 2015 10:34 am

I haven't seen something in a big audience in awhile. The screening of Interstellar I went to was packed but I don't count that because the only seats we could find were in the front damn row, so I wasn't really able to feel part of it.

I think I'd rather see comedies with a crowded room than one that's relatively empty, which is when I've tended to go for the last several years. Though I have to admit I can't think of one I've wanted to see lately.

TMDaines · #607 Post by **TMDaines** » Sat May 16, 2015 11:01 am

I was only taking the piss out of CSM because of the vitriol and snobbishness in his voice.

I'm just glad that my cinema of choice is pure art house and thankfully you don't get any children or kids there.

dustybooks · #608 Post by **dustybooks** » Sat May 16, 2015 1:23 pm

I saw Gravity at an actual children's museum that supposedly has one of the larger IMAX screens and what was obnoxious about it was not the presence of kids (I can't recall if there were any) but the way that we were herded inside; everyone had to line up for the sold-out screening before the doors opened in a Disneyland-style queue with a staff member (clearly more accustomed to dealing with non-adults) demanding to know "who's ready to see Gravity!?!?!?! I can't HEAR you!!!" etc.

During the wait time, a war of words broke out between some guy and a woman accusing him of cutting in line; all the scattered murmuring was interrupted by her shouting "C... U... N... T... That's what he just called me when I wouldn't let him skip me!" I then abruptly remembered why I tend to avoid "event" pictures, or really "events" in general.

hearthesilence · Sun May 17, 2015 11:33 pm

Just to be clear, Gravity is a very unique example - no other 3D movie converted in post can really be compared to it. As mentioned, from the very start, it was conceived as a very complex and ambitious 3D movie, and having that as a primary goal affected every step of the film from pre-production down in too many ways to count. A key element of the 3D conversion process was done during production, and that was preceded by a ton of planning over the course of six months of pre-production. Going into production, they had a meticulously plotted depth map for probably every single shot. The non CG elements had to be done with great care, otherwise they weren't going to seamlessly integrate with the 3D CG. With something like the Marvel movies, the 3D is so unimaginatively done, it feels like it was executed with very little thought.

#610 Post by **mfunk9786** » Sun May 17, 2015 11:54 pm

George Miller has said he prefers Max Max: Fury Road to be seen in 2D and that's literally all I need to convince me when it comes to making the decision on how to see a film.

lacritfan · #611 Post by **lacritfan** » Mon May 18, 2015 2:36 am

domino harvey wrote:Ah yes, the Walk, one of the endless stream of trailers which played before Mad Max. I could not believe how long the previews went on (not commercials or theatre-PSAs, just coming attractions), to the point that I had to commit the theatre faux pas of checking my phone to see for sure: 22 minutes. Surely that's some kind of record?

I did the same thing at Avengers, your theater beat mine by two minutes. It's to the point I know I have at least a 10-15 minute buffer to any start time at AMC, etc.

jindianajonz · #612 Post by **jindianajonz** » Mon May 18, 2015 1:28 pm

One nice thing about my small town theater, aside from the fairly low prices, is that they only show a single trailer before each movie. It's certainly spoiled me- I get frustrated whenever I see a movie out of town and have to sit through even three or four trailers.

Dr Amicus · #613 Post by **Dr Amicus** » Mon May 18, 2015 1:51 pm

My local cinema, although far from great (or even good...), has two big advantages. Firstly, they don't charge extra for 3D screenings and alternate 3D with 2D through the day and secondly has NO trailers at all. There are the usual ads, but about 12 mins in total at most, but no trailers - except for TV series where they are advertising as a normal ad (eg True Detective, Fortitude).

As to children in unsuitable films, years ago I saw Lawrence of Arabia at the Odeon Marble Arch (big cinema with stalls and circle and a price to match) where someone had taken her two young children. Cue "Is that Lawrence?" and "What's going on?" every few minutes - they didn't come back after the intermission.

Which reminds me - I read somewhere that when Man of Iron came out in Britain the distributor asked that, unlike Man of Marble, it not get a U certificate. Apparently the earlier film had been mistaken by several parents as a family film (?) and thus there were several screenings disrupted by bored, noisy children...

tenia · #614 Post by **tenia** » Mon May 18, 2015 2:51 pm

In France, most of our theater complexes have 15 min of ads + trailers. It's almost clocked to 15 min, so there's no surprise : you're not going to have less than these, but at least, you know you're not going to have more.

hearthesilence · #615 Post by **hearthesilence** » Mon May 18, 2015 3:02 pm

It's been a very long time since I've been to a film at a multiplex with less than 15 minutes of ads and trailers, and the only saving grace is that it buys you time to get to the theater. If you're 10 minutes late, no problem, you still have enough time to pick up snacks before the show starts. This only works for films that have been out for at least a few weeks though - now that everyone rushes to opening weekend, you're likely to be stuck with a terrible seat or a sold out show.

PillowRock · #616 Post by **PillowRock** » Tue May 19, 2015 3:21 am

Dr Amicus wrote:My local cinema ... has NO trailers at all. There are the usual ads, but about 12 mins in total at most, but no trailers - except for TV series where they are advertising as a normal ad (eg True Detective, Fortitude).

I'm probably about to show my age here.

To me, movie trailers (plus the possible concession stand ad) are the *only* ads that feel "usual" or normal at a movie.

Within some limits on the number, trailers strike me as a normal part of the movie going experience. Any and all other ads (again, aside from the possible "Let's go out to the loooobby" concession ad) still feels like an unnatural and unwelcome intrusion in a movie theater.

The Fanciful Norwegian · Tue May 19, 2015 6:33 am

mfunk9786 wrote:George Miller has said he prefers Max Max: Fury Road to be seen in 2D and that's literally all I need to convince me when it comes to making the decision on how to see a film.

Miller now says "I'd see it in 3D" (and claims he planned to shoot the aborted 2001 version of the film with scenes in anaglyph!)

On the subject of trailers before the movie, I'm like PillowRock in feeling that trailers are a natural part of the theatergoing experience, though to be sure, few of the trailers I see these days get me excited for the movies. I certainly prefer the mix of ads and trailers I get at theaters in the U.S. to what I get in China, where the ads before the movie are overwhelmingly for stuff like cars and perfumes and wedding photographers, and any ads you might get for actual movies are usually just 30- or 60-second spots. (On the other hand, China also requires movie theaters to begin the feature within a few minutes of the posted showtime, and since all theaters use reserved seating, you can book the ticket in advance, show up a minute or two late, miss all the ads, and not worry about getting stuck with a crappy seat.)

thirtyframesasecond · Tue May 19, 2015 9:36 am

I was watching 'Phoenix' in a multiplex and before it started they had a special featurette, e.g. five minutes, for the new Rock movie, San Andreas. I assume it's on before any film showing at that chain, but it seemed particularly ill judged.

TMDaines · #619 Post by **TMDaines** » Tue May 19, 2015 9:52 am

At the two art house cinema that I am familiar with in the UK (Warwick Arts Centre and Home, Manchester), you get about 20-25 minutes total. First adverts and then several trailers.

tenia · #620 Post by **tenia** » Tue May 19, 2015 10:34 am

PillowRock wrote:To me, movie trailers (plus the possible concession stand ad) are the *only* ads that feel "usual" or normal at a movie.

I'm "only" 28 but I agree with you.

Movie theaters is about movies, so trailers and teasers are fine, but other ads are as distracting as they can be on Youtube or Screenrush or whatever websites, when you want to watch a trailer and you have to first get through a 30 sec ad for whichever new car or smartphone or other completely unrelated things like this.

It's intrusive and feels highly mercantile and unrelated. When you get an ad "it's still time to get a Coke before the movie starts", OK, why not. But about, I don't know, an electricity company ? What's the link ?

thirtyframesasecond · Tue May 19, 2015 10:46 am

I'd be curious to know (well not really) what ads are worth to the cinemas. I tend to go into movies once they've started and everywhere does booked seating anyway but if ditching them meant I paid another £5 on my ticket, I'd take the ads any day of the week. Ads in Curzon type places tend to be for the very 'aspirational'; fancy cars, domestic goods and whatnot.

MichaelB · #622 Post by **MichaelB** » Tue May 19, 2015 12:32 pm

thirtyframesasecond wrote:I'd be curious to know (well not really) what ads are worth to the cinemas. I tend to go into movies once they've started and everywhere does booked seating anyway but if ditching them meant I paid another £5 on my ticket, I'd take the ads any day of the week. Ads in Curzon type places tend to be for the very 'aspirational'; fancy cars, domestic goods and whatnot.

I can't speak for today, but running ads in rep cinemas back in the 1990s was most definitely worth our while financially, although we did make a point of hiring the shortest packages (you could book them at various lengths).

#623 Post by **domino harvey** » Thu May 28, 2015 1:44 pm

A refreshing dose of sanity from the internet today: A woman brought her infant child to an unnamed Disney movie and when her son made too much noise a fellow moviegoer confronted her. She penned a self-righteous open letter in response and amazingly 90% of the commentators are rightly calling her out for being inconsiderate and disrupting the enjoyment of others. The way she frames her child's medical history so as to make the man's reasonable actions out to be a hate crime is sickening, but thankfully even the super-liberal apologists of HuffPost aren't letting this slide past the plate

#624 Post by **mfunk9786** » Thu May 28, 2015 2:06 pm

I have absolutely zero sympathy for anyone who goes to an afternoon screening of a children's movie and doesn't expect to contend with the laughter or tears (or chatter) of children. It's an entirely different story if you're going to a late evening screening - but if you, an adult that doesn't understand what to expect out of small children's behavior in public, really need to seek out a movie that's intended for children to enjoy, be reasonable and seek out a time when there likely won't be young kids going to see it, or watch it at home.

That being said, rubbing some random stranger's face in your kid's illness as if it has anything to do with the situation whatsoever is just as irritating, so I'm =; about this whole thing

TMDaines · #625 Post by **TMDaines** » Thu May 28, 2015 2:44 pm

Coward in the Dark wrote:I saw a Disney movie today and am happy to report that the three year old behind me absolutely had a blast. He screamed and shouted the whole time and his (lousy, shit-sucking) parents didn't have the heart to say shut up (preferably followed by a slap upside the head). Judging from the incoherent nature of his drivel, I get the idea he has little to no comprehension of the English language, but all the same I am absolutely certain he understood and appreciated the film he sort-of viewed while hopping around behind our seats. Thank goodness his parents realized the ability of non-verbal toddlers to comprehend and retain the memory of fast-cut action films. It would be a pity to deprive him of the experience.

And thank goodness the theater gives kids under five free admission to adult films because they "sympathize with parents who can't find a babysitter".

I sympathize too, but my advice is stay home and deal with the incredibly stupid and selfish decision you made to breed. Idiots.

Site Menu