What the flying fuck makes you think that what you have to say is any more interesting to the strangers around you than the previews that a lot of us enjoy seeing?
Ok, I didn’t mean the Cialis thing in that way. I just put down the first goofy commercial I could think of. My apologies. Please substitute the Gecko commercials in that question.
No, I don’t do any of that ONCE THE MOVIE BEGINS (except the farting). But the previews are much, much, much closer to a TV commercial than they are to the actual movie.
I believe he’s saying that he uses his phone to go onto the Internet to find out if there’s an end-of-credits feature, doing so while the previews are still playing. That’s not as inconsiderate as using the phone during the movie, but still annoying. Silently using your smart phone while the credits are rolling, that’s fine as far as I’m concerned.
So refusing to watch their commercials are poor manners? If I get there for a Coke or Geico commercial I ignore it and proceed to my seat, take out my phone to check for messages then silence it. Talk in a normal voice. Sorry to disturb your enjoyment of the latest Toyota ad. If the lights are at mid-dim and the previews are on, I am more careful to make sure I am not blocking anyone’s view and to whisper.
What about the incessant ads and promotional material that runs *before *the scheduled start time? Am I supposed to sit there in respectful silence then too?
Hell, when I was a kid I’d go to the movies with my parents and we’d sometimes go in in the middle of the feature, stay through the beginning of the next showing, and then note “This is where we came in” and leave. I guess I was raised by heathens. Except that literally everyone else in the theater would be doing the same thing, coming and going at random times.
Poll any number of people as to whether they enjoy the movie previews shown at theaters, and I’ll bet any amount of money that it will be a higher number than the amount of people that enjoy the conversations of perfect strangers at that same theater. The thing is that anything you have to say short of “OMG!! I’m having a heart attack!!” can be postponed until later, but those previews can’t.
I started a poll:
https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=885284
All the things discussed/debated in this thread contribute to my having only been to a movie theater twice in the last 15 years. Do whatever you want at the theater, I’ll be at home streaming.
Who? People who have guzzled about a gallon of liquid in the last hour, that’s who.
Another one in the column of “I think it’s rude as well.”
You have all day to live on your phone. Your life is so truly amazing and important that you can’t leave it off for another 20 minutes? People like the previews as well. Why ruin that for others??
Really, 20 additional minutes in the end of the world for you?
Once again, I’m not talking about Coke or Geico commercials; I’m talking about previews. Calling them “ads” and lumping them in with actual commercials isn’t making the point that some people here seem to think it does.
Just out of curiosity, is it not possible for you to refrain from talking?
And yes, I guess we now know who is to blame for your cinema cluelessness.
Actually, I think the analogy between movie previews and a musical opening act is pretty apt. Some people don’t care about them, some people do. I might have no idea some movie is coming out until I see it at the cinema previews. So it may be I’m very interested in that preview, and would like to see it with minimum distraction.
One word: Gatoraid Bottles
I’m thinking that pissing into a plastic bottle during the movie has to be worse than looking at your phone during the previews.
Better than the bottle poopers, though.
Now *that *we can agree on.
So I shouldn’t start another poll?
I love bringing people together.
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Whenever two or more people are assembled for a single purpose, the device should be OFF. Got it?
That applies double for live performances. You are disturbing the actors, you ill-mannered, impolite asshole.
The house lights haven’t been dimmed during the part with the ads and promotional material, so I’m OK with people doing whatever they want (talking, playing on their cell phones, whatever). But the lights are usually dimmed at the posted start time and then 15-20 minutes of previews play. It’s during this time (and of course during the movie itself) that I expect respectful silence and no cell phone usage.
The whole come in the middle of the movie and stay through a second showing to get caught up hasn’t been done in decades. You may remember that at showings of Psycho, people were specifically not allowed to do that. And with reserved seating, you can’t just watch part of two screenings, not without sitting in someone else’s reserved seat.
But they are ads. They are enticements for you to come back to spend money on a product. That is the definition of an ad. They are of a lower priority than the movie - that’s why the lights are still partway up during the previews. In older theaters with curtains, the curtains would not be fully opened during the previews and only fully open when the feature started.
And they are not an opening act. Movies used to have short features - those would be an opening act. Previews are more like when they dim the house lights to signal when it’s time to get to your seat at a live show.
I said that during previews I whisper - usually my wife and I are asking each other how many more fucking previews do we have to sit through. You would not be able to hear me if you were sitting next to me.
At least my parents taught me to think for myself so I can figure out that the scheduled movie start time is bullshit the theater posts to try to scam people into sitting through 10-15 minutes of commercials and another 10-15 minutes of promotional material.