I saw a bit of one once, and the quality wasn’t great at all. But some people apparently don’t care. (See her movies on DVD or in theatres)
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I don’t think that pirating movies becomes okay just because movies are outrageously overpriced. I support the copyright laws. You want to see the movie, you pay the people who made the movie.
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I think the anti-pirating commercials are sactimonious, cheesy, and unlikely to have any effect. I can almost picture the pirate with his little camcorder, slapping his head: “Holy cow! I had no idea that this is illegal, and now that I see that hardworking stuntman is upset, well, I’ll just pull this tape out right now and never break the law again.”
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It is outrageous that I have to watch commercials at the movies. I like previews. Show me previews, by all means. But no commercials belong before my movie, no matter how shiny and overproduced they are. It’s fair to assume, since I’m at the movies, that I am interested in other movies I might want to see. It isn’t fair to assume that, since I’m at the movies, I must also want a sports car.
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Now that the cost of going to the movies is more or less equal to the cost of buying the DVD and watching it in the comfort of my own home, with no cell phones, whining children, seat-kickers, amateur narrators, or sticky seats, I practically never go to the movies. Only when it’s something I can’t wait to see (like Lord of the Rings) or something with special effects that I want to see on the big screen (like- er- Lord of the Rings).
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In conclusion:
Good things: Movies worth paying to see them in the theater, previews. Also, Netflix.
Bad things: Commercials, pirating, anti-pirating advertisements, the price of popcorn, and people who have forgotten or never learned the basic rules of Movie Etiquette.
There’s a lawsuit with your name on it.
One really good way to hold down the cost of buying popcorn at the movies is not to buy any.
I’d pay a little extra for that. But only if they possess Real Ultimate Power. 
The Arclight Theatre in Hollywood, Ca
About 14 bucks per seat(for the matinee I went to). I bought tickets throught the kiosk. THe computer gave me a choice of front, middle, or back sections. My tickets printed with assigned seat numbers. An usher actually showed us to our seats. The theatre was one of the smaller ones downstairs but the concession stand there was open during the 1st show.
There were NO ad’s. Not for the LA Times, not for the anti-piracy drive, nothing. Before the show, an usher went to the front of the screen and addressed the audience. He told where the bathrooms were, where the emergency exits were, and to please, for the love of God, turn off your cell phones and pagers. Then he pointed to the screen and said “our feature begins now!”
THen came the previews. During which, the projectionist actually focused the film.
How long is it between the time theaters stop showing a movie and when the DVD comes out? If people are talking about a particular movie, and you wait until it comes out on DVD, then by the time you see it, everyone’s already forgotten about it and you have no one to discuss it with. You never see a CS thread pop up that late either, and it’s of course a Very Bad Thing to revive the old one, and a waste of time to start a new one.
I suppose they have to wait until there are absolutely no theaters left showing it, but I still think they’d sell more DVDs if it came out very soon after it was in theaters.
Also, is it inconceivable for a theater to charge different prices for different movies?
It’s gotten a lot better over the years. Yesterday I watched two movies… one was about dodging balls and the other was about wizards. Both were what they call “telesync” movies, that is the video was recorded by putting a camera in a theatre, but the sound was captured via the system provided for the hard of hearing, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (irony, anyone?) - typically, this is a plug in select seats that have headphone jacks.
I believe that both of these movies were taped from the projection booth, given the angle of the picture and the lack of any humans in the picture. Many of the better telesync films are done this way and it leads to yet another irony, in that the people that project the same annoying commercial we all hate are the same ones doing the pirating!
I did find both movies to be totally watchable. The quality was actually better than a VHS tape - DV camera + MPEG2 = DVD or SVCD although I certainly wouldn’t pay for it. The extreme right side of the picture was cut off in the dodgeball movie, but for the 30¢ I paid for two blank CDs, I can deal.
Now, “Cam” films are just that - movies where both the video and the sound are captured by a video camera, usually by someone in the audience. So you get your own personal laugh track, coughing, cell phones, etc. You also get the occasional jolt as the camera gets bumped by the taper. I wouldn’t watch one of these for any reason, much less buy one.
Once again, I’m grateful for my work schedule. I’m off every other week, so I see my movies in the middle of the week, early in the afternoon. I show up 20 minutes after the movie supposedly starts, walk in, pick up a $5 ticket from the computer kiosk, grab some popcorn if I’m in the mood, walk in, and still get a great seat, usually in a mostly empty theater free of idiots. There are never any lines anywhere, I pay half price, and I can miss all the previews and ads. It’s the only way to go.
They wouldn’t make as much money that way. Because gasp ONE person would go out and buy it (or rent it) and they lose out on the 5 people relaxing in their living room watching it. And they do wait for it to get through all the theatres… there’s the main ones, the ones overseas and the cheapo theatres then about a month or so later they come out on VHS/DVD. Unfortunately that’s the way it works.
So I usually wait till it comes out in the cheapo theatres because that’s even cheaper for myself to go to than to rent the DVD
I was at a movie last week and at the end of the anti-piracy ad I yelled “BOO!” and everyone in the theater cracked up. I bet that would be true pretty much anywhere except maybe L.A.
BURN HOLLYWOOD BURN. You make 99% crappy movies anyway. Anyone who remakes “TRON” or “Psycho” or any other crap movie should not only be denied their income but should be removed from polite society as well. Preferably forced to clean public outhouses or scrape chud from the underside of movie theater seats.
Arrrrr! Ahoy matey!
I read today that the MPAA is offering theatre employees a $500 bounty for catching people recording a movie.
That may put a dent in pirates.
There was a remake of TRON? Did I miss that?
Yes, the Arclight rocks! My wife and I are members and we regularly drive over from Westwood (which alreadys has lots of good theaters) just because the Arclight is so superior.
Pardon? Psycho was crappy? Or did you just mean the remake?
Doesn’t seem to be any news on that lawsuit for about a year now, though.
I NEVER buy food at the movies any more. Jeez, you can eat before, and after if you want. Who can’t go 2 1/2 hours without food? Friend of mine just crams her purse full of candy that she bought at the dollar store.
I used to go to a Ritz theater in NJ where, instead of ads, trivia, and dancing candy bars before the previews … they actually showed an ART SHOW with classical music. Mostly (maybe all) local artists/exhibits (near philly). I guess its ads in its own way… but anything to spare us from dancing candy bars.
Aside from the idea of paying to watch ads on a big screen … I quit going because of my aversion to other people, particularly teens who simply cannot shut up. I’d rather see the ninja dice up the teens while talking on a cellphone.
I don’t think I ever have bought movie food. The system in my family is that you either get a few pocketsful of whatever you want at the grocery store, cram whatever fits into said pockets, and then just go to the movie and not pay 500% retail for crappy candy there. I managed to cram most of half a pound of sesame sticks into one pocket of my shorts which aren’t really all that baggy anymore.
I saw HP3 on Sunday, and they’ve actually gotten rid of the incredibly dorky “Don’t litter/smoke/blah blah blah” thing and replaced it with something actually entertaining. FWIW, I saw no actual ads except for MovieTickets, which is expectable, and the standard movie trivia/information which is so boring that it could actually put me to sleep if it were on long enough.
Then again, I go to the movies so rarely anyway…
I’m anti pirating. I like the whole movie going experience and I experience it a lot. There’s something about seeing it on the big screen with a $4 pop and $4.50 hotdog. I don’t have any love for the commercials though, that’s why I show up 5 minutes late (or so) so I still catch the trailers.
There are plenty of ways to cut down the cost of seeing a movie and to eliminate the previews. 1) show up late 2) go to second run theatres or matinees 3) don’t eat.
Looking at that website, I’d say it’s worth it. They offer FREE popcorn and soft drinks! Heck, that alone would make up the price differential. Not to mention the fact that the ticket holders can purchase wines and cheese platters from the bar, and bring them into the theater. Sounds pretty nice.
On a somewhat related note, one theater chain around here has started refusing to allow kids 6 and under into R-rated movies after a certain time. I believe it’s 6 PM. This announcement was greeted with great approval from most people.
I’ve actually only seen one anti-piracy commercial, and I was actually standing outside the theatre waiting on my husband. I laughed at the sheer stupidity of it. I hate the commercials before the movie with the white-hot passion of a thousand burning suns. I try to arrive late enough to miss the commercials, but early enough to catch the previews. Lately, the dumbest commercial before a movie (even dumber than that Levi’s commercial with the guy roping the car) is the Revlon commercial that’s some sort of Italian music video. It was on before Troy! Apparently, none of that crazy “target audience” crap for them.
I will tell again of this theater in Atlanta that my 7th grade English teacher talked about: they had bodybuilds with muzzled dogs walking the aisles during the feature. She said it was the most pleasant movie-going experience she ever had.
Now that’s Real Ultimate Power.