Here, I’ll help you with a direct link. Here is the rottentomatoes.com page for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back:
you can get a refund for any reason up until a half hour after the movie starts
after that it has to be a mechanical failure and they give out these movir buck gift certificates or free passes
Let’s try once more. I am not talking about good movies, I’m talking about bad movies. I will freely admit that critics will often praise crap. But when you go to rotten tomatoes and you see that only 15% of the critics there had anything good to say abotu a movie, you can probably assume the movie is bad. We’re talking about bad films. And if you look at most of the films people bring up when discussing bad films, you will find that most of them got awful, awful reviews.
As for “thinking for myself,” I have never stuck myfinger in an electrical socket - I trust the advice of those who have been there and know better.
Thanks for the link, OpalCat - bookmarked it. Still, I think my point stands. The very name - Rotten Tomatoes - conjures up the I-hope-they’re-bad-so-we-can-throw-spoiled-fruit-at-them attitude. I don’t really even agree with the idea of ‘critics’. I much prefer a review. Ironically (because I have current thread on what is ‘good’ art), I don’t go to movies for arts sake. I don’t disagree with the concept, it’s just that I’m more of a it-matches-my-couch guy when it comes to movie art. I want escapism. A mini-vacation. A place where things happen that could never happen in real life. Now this usually means ‘The Usual Suspects’ but can mean some Jet Li thing that ‘critics’ hate. I think critics fall into the ‘Those that can - do. Those that can’t - criticize’ catagory. See the last part of my 2nd post in this thread.
Legomancer, you slipped in under my last post. Point taken about bad movies. However (see my previous post), sometimes I like bad movies.
When it comes to life and death matters I, too, consult the experts. But you are talking about scientific, repeatable, emperical experiences. If the matters are much more mundane, I’ll trust myself. Art is subjective. Besides, I don’t believe movie critics “have been there and know better”.
Okay, then, fine, you think critics are worthless. That’s okay. So then what about waiting for word of mouth? What about not seeing it on opening weekend?
I don’t care what movies anyone likes, I’m not trying to convince people to like movies they don’t or not like movies they do. All I am saying is that this is a thread about wanting your money back for a bad movie and I am making the case that for movies, any consumer has, at his or her fingertips, many resources they can use to try to avoid bad movies. Whether or not you use these resources is certainly up to you, but if you choose not to, and instead say, “I won’t listen to any other views on this movie, because I will think for myself, and I won’t believe the trailer, because it may not be right, and I will go see the movie the second it comes out, before anyone is expressing any opinions at all on it,” then I have far less sympathy for you when you see a bad movie.
On the other hand, I think it’s fair to say that I agree with the person who said that all the theater is promising you is acess to see a movie in a reasonable environment, free of mechanical failures. If a theater also gives refunds or passes for bad movies, that’s certainly lagniappe and admirable, but I think it’s above and beyond their call of duty. Do people bring books or CDs they don’t like back to where they purchased them for a refund? Does any place do that?
This is a slight hijack (with apologies to the OP), but I have a question for the theater managers. Do you ever have parents who ask for their money back because they felt misled by a movie’s rating? I don’t have children, but I have sometimes been in a PG-13 movie and thought “Wow, while this might not technically been an R movie, I would feel uncomfortable bringing children to see this.”
If this ever happens, are you more liberal with your refund policy? Provided, of course, that the parent is marching his/her children out halfway through the film, and not waiting until it is over to complain to you.
Sure they do. I’ve shopped at more than a few bookstores and music stores that have fairly liberal return policies. However, we’re talking apples and oranges here. If you take back a CD you didn’t like, you are returning the product. You no longer have use of the product. This is not possible with a movie that you have seen, because what you’ve paid for is the opportunity to see the movie. The theater provided that. I think it’s a little ridiculous to ask for your money back after you have seen the movie.
Yes, if the movie sucks so bad that you leave within the first half hour or so, you might sort of be within your rights to ask for a refund, as you haven’t got what you paid for (a full viewing of the film). But still, think of it as going to a restaurant. If you order something that you have never tried before, and happen not to like it, are you within your rights to simply not pay for it because you didn’t care for it? No. Now, if something is hideously wrong with the food – it’s spoiled, or the steak is done improperly, or whatever – that’s different. But to carry the analogy over to movie theaters, that would be like the film breaking, or the projector breaking down. Obviously in cases of mechanical failure, you have every right to get your money back.
To address your other point, Legomancer: I am the type of person who hates to find out anything about a movie before I go to see it. I don’t read reviews beforehand, I try to avoid other people who talk about it, and I do my best not to see trailers. This is because I hate having plot surprises ruined for me. However, I am also not the type of person to demand my money back when I’ve seen a movie that I think sucks. Again, this is because I got what I paid for – the opportunity to see the movie. If I happen not to like the movie, that’s my tough luck. The theaters aren’t in the business of showing good movies, they’re in the business of showing movies.
My final thoughts:
Legomancer, MsWhatsit kind of answered the book/CD part. And I also think it’s an apples/ oranges thing, but in a different way. They get their product back to re-sale. I never go to a movie on opening weekend so there are always empty seats in the theater when I walk out. The movie is playing one way or another.
And I don’t buy the restaurant comparison either. More apples and oranges. Menues just list the options available. I have never thought of asking for a refund on my bad choice of picking food. On the other hand, I can be setting in the privacy of my own home, watching TV and a trailer will come screaming out of the screen - 'This is the best movie -EVER!!! (yes, I realise restaurants advertise, too, but not as aggressively). Theater owners have access to trades that should help them pick the best movie for their demographics.
Look, I feel for theater owners, but no one is making them be in a biz where they take shit for Hollywood.
And, MsWhatsit, for the record, again. I have NEVER "demand"ed my money back. The movie sucked, I was leaving anyway so I ask. Very low key. And as a free citizen I do believe I am “within my rights”. If they say no - no biggie, that’s their right.
Further,as I’ve said, it only happened a few times and I always patronize theaters when they do this courtesy. Hell, I might even buy an x-tra bag of popcorn.
By the way, you do realise that that’s where their money comes from, don’t you?
I’m a former theatre manager as well. I used to do in NYC about 5 years ago. A very tough crowd to deal with let me tell you.
Point 1: I never ever said managers weren’t friendly. Reread my post. Point 2: Uh, what did you think I did, roll my eyes and raise a hissy in front of the customer? Of course I’m going to appear pleased as punch to make the patron feel better, but I doubt you’ll find any manager who actually would prefer opening the tills, doing the refund paperwork, and making sure it registered in the evening balance. Do theater managers give refunds regularly for bad movies? Sure, but they’d rather not. It’s strictly “customer service.”
Mouthbreather: I was a manager in San Francisco and also opened a megaplex in Santa Clara (the largest in No.CA at the time). Left 3 1/2 years ago but continued to do floor ops for Film Festivals for a while. Fun job in a way, but quitting saved my life, health, and marriage I’m convinced. Much happier now (and I never saw fewer movies in my adult life than when I managed a theater, so there you go…)
In my expierence (14 years) this hardly ever happened. Mostly parents that are that concerned ask before hand and I tell them bluntly what’s in the film. “A couple of scenes of bare brests and lots of uses of the f word” for example.
If they leave befor the end of the film I would give passes. Refunds for not liking the film after watching the whole thing were out of the question. Belive it or not some people would abuse this policy and try to see all their movies for free.