I live in a small town, and my husband and I als only go to matinees. We like to sit on the aisle, so we get there at least 30 minutes early. Of course I bring my ipad so I am online until the lights go down, so getting there early doesn’t bother me.
I like to get to the theater first to get a good seat, and second to see the previews. 30 minutes in the burbs on a Friday night is enough to do that. But I know lots of people who don’t care about their seat and want to miss the previews. I don’t go to movies with them twice.
Whoa!
All three of the theatres in my neighbourhood have assigned seeing so I just show up when the ads are over 
…assigned seating can be so dumb tho. One time I went with my kids and there was someone in my seat. Pretty much the whole row had to move so I could sit and then I felt like an idiot because the theatre didn’t fill up and I could have sat anywhere. So the next time it happened I decided not to make a fuss and sat two rows down. My daughter ended up with a creepy guy in my seat who mumbled and swore thoughout the whole movie… / hijack
Likewise. Except all theaters here have that.
I’m cheap and tend to arrive between 1 minute to 5 hours before the movie begins. Sometimes, I’m pretty late or miss the movie altogether. That’s because it’s hard to judge how long it takes to dig an underground tunnel from the theater parking lot and then up into the theater. I’ve also noticed it’s getting more difficult to find a date for movie night.
LOL. I don’t have the balls to actually do this but I would love to walk into an empty theater, find the one guy sitting all alone and sit in the seat right next to him, just to see the WTF reaction from him.
The weird part is that Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey was far more entertaining than either Jurassic Park or Batman.
Sounds like a Candid Camera skit.
I went to a fancy-smancy flickhouse. Arrived a couple hours early, picked out the seats on a touch screen. Left, had dinner, came back and watched the coming attractions in my chosen seats.
Where is this magical place of which you speak?
Late enough that I don’t have to wait while they finish cleaning the theater after the last show.
I get good seats, and don’t miss the trailers. Also, it gives me plenty of time to sob quietly by myself in the dark, without anyone bothering me.
Most theaters in Europe and Asia that I’ve been to have assigned seating.
What, you don’t talk to your husband or smooch? Marriage is boring if that’s what married folk do on dates!
Israel, although I understand it’s common elsewhere.
Sometimes a married couple going to see a movie is a “date”; sometimes they just want to see the movie.
From what I heard, seating at Jack and the Giant Slayer isn’t really a problem, it had a pretty bad opening day.
No pre-booking seats in the US then?
None that I know of, although it’s been years since I’ve been to a US theater. None that I know of in Australia, either.
is there an upside to not having assigned seats?