# reality check at the movies **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 26, 2005, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150 "2005-07-26T01:14:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/41 "2005-07-26T18:37:26Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > All the circuits report that they get very few complaints about ads. They got some when the practice started but it has dropped off dramatically. > > Maybe people don’t think their complaints will be heard. > > Maybe most people like them. > > If you don’t like the ads, tell them. > > A few years ago, I would get a DVD that had previews that I had to watch. Now all of them allow me to hit the menu button to go past them. > > But go to a football game and look at all the ads all around. How much did you pay to get in there? > > Or watch a baseball game at home on your tv. Sure there are comercial breaks, but there is a changing sign behind the batter. > > I think the selling of ads is now the biggest sector of our economy. A sector that must grow and grow. You sell ads. People buy the stuff. The people who made the stuff buy more ads. It is the great circle of life and it must not be messed with! If I spent all my time actively campaigning against everything that pissed me off, I wouldn’t have time to do anything else. So I pick my battles. The rest, I vote with my wallet. I suspect that’s what most people do and explains the drop in sales. Have the people whose pockets are hit the worst trying to find out why ticket sales have dropped? I’ve seen lots of complaints here and elsewhere explaining why people don’t go to the movies any more. The answer is out there for them, but they don’t seem to be interested in making the necessary changes. Theater owners/studios: here are my reasons for rarely going to the movies, in order of annoyance. I’m certain I’m not alone in these annoyances. 1. Ads. Why in the world do you think I want to see a perfume ad before I watch the film? I’m at the point where I’d rather miss the trailers than see a single ad. 2. More and more trailers before the movie. Come on, guys, I love trailers, but 10 of them? 3. Prices. I go during matinee, don’t get a drink (because I couldn’t make it through the movie without having to go to the restroom if I did) or food (diet), so the prices aren’t horrendous at that rate, but if I went at night, got a popcorn and Coke, I’d pay close to $20 per person. 4. Loud customers/annoying children/ cell phones. I’m an amazingly tolerant person toward bothersome sounds (I can handle my husband playing drums in the same room as me for hours), so this is at the bottom of my list. For this to even make my list, it has to get bad. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/42 "2005-07-26T19:09:11Z")
For some reason, I almost NEVER have problems with loud people in theatres. Sure, it’s happened, but for me, it’s the exception, rather than the rule. Maybe the fact that I live in silicon valley means that other moviegoers are hip young people who appreciate the movie-going code? Anyhow, there are at least three reasons I still go to movie theatres (probably once a month on average): (1) Big screen, loud sound system. I don’t care if you have an 84 incher. It’s still TINY compared to a real movie screen. And whatever the “resolution” of film is, it’s much higher than the 440 scan lines of a TV. And most of the theatres around here have good sound systems. The last time the sound was bad, I got a refund. (2) When I’m psyched about a movie, I want to see it NOW (3) It’s fun to be in a room full of psyched people for a big exciting movie (For those complaining about popcorn and soda prices, by the way, why not just NOT BUY POPCORN AND SODAS???) ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/43 "2005-07-26T19:36:14Z")
There is a chain of theaters here on the Left coast (and possibly to the east, I dunno) who have made “No Advertisements”\* a part of their chain appeal, and those are the ones to which I go when I want to see a movie. The Twenty has to be the worst possible offender, though. \*Well, no advertisements other than trailers. But I like trailers. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/44 "2005-07-26T20:19:49Z")
I just found my new favorite theatre. “The Heights” near Minneapolis is a historic theatre that has been operating since 1927. I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory there this past weekend for $8. Before the show they had a lady playing music on an organ and during the last song she and the organ lowered into the orchestra pit. Then they showed a Tom and Jerry cartoon, 1 preview for The Corpse Bride, the it was showtime. The only ad I saw was a poster in the lobby advertising the Blizzard of the Month since the two guys that own the theatre also own the Dairy Queen next door. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/45 "2005-07-26T20:28:31Z")
Here in New York, they are legislating change. The proposed law will require a movie’s listed start time to be the time that the movie starts, not when the ads or trailers begin playing. I like to sit in the middle of the theater, so I always get to the show 20 minutes before the advertsied start of the movie, subjecting me to commercial after commercial. But so what? That’s the price I pay for getting the seat I want. I say that you do not have a leg to stand on if you have commercials projected in front of you from 4:00 until 4:19:59, if your movie is a 4:20 start. The price of your ticket doesn’t buy you anything but the movie- _but that movie damn well better start when the ticket I bought says it’s going to start._ Kwitcherbellyachin’. 4:20 movie means the theater can project whatever it wants (within legal limits) until 4:20. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/46 "2005-07-26T23:57:22Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > You’re describing a rather sizable capital investment up front My home theater setup: projector, less than $1000; matte screen, $150; stereo, $400; projector mount, $130; assorted cables and hardware, $20. I rarely see Hollywood movies in the theater any more. I go to the cinema for arthouse and repertory releases I want to support in the marketplace (remember, dollars = votes), but I won’t see Spielberg’s _War of the Worlds_ until it’s on DVD and I can watch it in the comfort of my living room. And with the ever-accelerated release schedule, that should be next week sometime. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/47 "2005-07-26T23:58:47Z")
Oh, and I forgot to mention: I think it’d be an interesting experiment for a megaplex to put two screenings side by side, one with the full gamut of ads and previews, and the other with no ads and no more than three previews. Charge five extra bucks for the latter. See whether people show up. Would you? ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/48 "2005-07-27T02:08:20Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I realised something was wrong when I went to the movies a couple of years ago, asked for a medium Pepsi and a medium popcorn, handed the cashier a ten-dollar bill, and got a quarter in change. :eek: I’m impressed they actually just gave you the food. Last time I bought food at a movie theater I practically had an argument with the girl there who would not. give. up her attempt at upselling. I wanted a small popcorn and a small coke. I’m one person, I don’t need a gallon of freaking soda! Oooooh, but if I get a LARGE coke, it’s only 50 cents more! And I get ten times as much soda! Except I don’t WANT ten times as much soda, and I don’t want to spend the extra 50 cents! Stop fucking around and give me my damn popcorn and coke! ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/49 "2005-07-27T02:36:05Z")
I guess the worst thing about it for me is the movies now start later and later because of the adverts. At my local theatre, the adverts plus trailers have run for as long as 28 fucking minutes after the scheduled showtime. And I do hate the monstrous tubs of popcorn and soda they sell. Their price point is about $10 for a popcorn and soda, and even if you downsize to a manageable size, you save all of $0.50. And it’s no wonder so many kids at the theatre are morbidly obese or heading that way, when Mom and Dad are loading each one up with a cubic foot of buttered popcorn, a gallon of non-diet soda, plus the possibility of a 2000-calorie side order of nachos and malted milkballs for dessert. Good Christ, I think I saw a row of 4 kids last time that had between them $60 of trash food worth about 16,000 freaking calories! ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/50 "2005-07-27T02:40:34Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > For some reason, I almost NEVER have problems with loud people in theatres. Sure, it’s happened, but for me, it’s the exception, rather than the rule. Maybe the fact that I live in silicon valley means that other moviegoers are hip young people who appreciate the movie-going code? Same here. On occasion I have some annoying noise, but 9 times out of 10, the people shut up the second the movie starts. That may be because I rarely go to shows before 9pm or so, though. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/51 "2005-07-27T02:48:27Z")
Ad time is yell-at-the-screen time. Trailer time is “wow” or “man, that is gonna BLOW” time. Movie time is shut-the-hell-up time. Most people get this. There are certain theaters in NYC that are more prone to in-movie talkers than others, and I avoid these like the plague. ---
**Author:** ![Pedro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@Pedro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pedro)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/52 "2005-07-27T02:49:59Z")
Oh good, a movies rant. Going to the movie theater has become a thoroughly unpleasant (and expensive) experience for me. Mainly because movies are utter crap these days but not only. Why oh why did they stop reserving the seats when purchasing the ticket? To save a measly minimum wage to a pimpled teenager now it’s a first-come first-choice basis. That’s great except that when the room is filled at around 50% it’s impossible to find a space for more than two people (and even then…) because all the groups leave an empty seat between them. You have to scout the room in the dark and inconvenience everyone to get half decent seating. Bastards. I’ve sworn to never again support this incompetent, overpriced and greedy business. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/53 "2005-07-27T14:53:27Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > No, that’s not it. It’s “forget about that crappy **$3.75** fountain drink.” I can rent an entire movie for what snacks cost. Yikes. Take your wife and/or kids and you can buy the DVD for what the snacks cost. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/54 "2005-07-27T15:02:39Z")
> [@FordPrefect](#): > > Take your wife and/or kids and you can buy the DVD for what the snacks cost. How about _I_ take _my_ wife and/or kids 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/55 "2005-07-27T16:46:31Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I’m impressed they actually just gave you the food. Last time I bought food at a movie theater I practically had an argument with the girl there who would not. give. up her attempt at upselling. Her effort woulda made me smile. See, a couple years ago I needed a computer to replace one at my office. I knew exactly what I needed and didn’t want to fuck around. The sales guy (CompUSA) offered some sort of extended warranty. I said no thanks. He argued. I said, “if I can’t get the computer without an argument, I’ll go across the road to BestBuy”. And I did. Ever since that epiphany, I _refuse_ to say “no thank you” more than once. Sure, it may make me look like an ass. Sure, it leads to extra work on my part. But it is A BLAST to see the look on their face! I’ve walked away from 4 sales all together in ~ 2 years time. The movie concession woulda been number five. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150/56 "2005-07-27T17:11:05Z")
> [@Una Persson](#): > > I guess the worst thing about it for me is the movies now start later and later because of the adverts. At my local theatre, the adverts plus trailers have run for as long as 28 fucking minutes after the scheduled showtime. I saw a film a large cineplex in Berlin a little while ago. The ads on-screen went on for 20 minutes. Then a guy came out offering to sell ice-cream bars. Then the lights went out again, and another fifteen minutes of ads played on-screen. All told, it was about 40 minutes past the declared time before the film acutally began. :eek: Nobody batted an eye, though. Apparently this, and billboards on every building, is normal in big-city Germany. (This is one of the reasons I like my local IMAX theatre. They rarely even have so much as trailers. ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-check-at-the-movies/314150.md?page=2)