# Share your strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie stories **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375 "2010-11-12T01:00:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/81 "2010-11-15T22:33:13Z")
I went to see **Blade** when i was 17 or 18. At the end of one of the climactic fight scenes when Wesley Snipes is slaughtering a bunch of vampires with a sword (cool right?), including a vampire that stole his sunglasses (and at the end he snatches the sunglasses out of the air or something). I think the theater was generally quiet as we’re all basking of the awesomeness of a vampire sword fight someone yelled: “REWIND THAT SHIT, PLAY THAT AGAIN!!” the theater erupted with laughter and cheers, and i’ll never forget it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/82 "2010-11-15T22:48:09Z")
I’ve told this here before, but I’ll say it again… My wife and I were watching the upcoming previews/trailers prior to… hell, I don’t recall the movie, not that it matters. Anyway, the first preview was for _Dumb and Dumberer_, the sequel to, of course, _Dumb and Dumber_ . Anyway, the trailer for D&D sucked, but what did one expect, really? The next trailer was for _The Core_, a movie so jawdroppingly stupid that at the end of the trailer, I yelled out: “Now **THAT** was dumb and dumberer!” ---
**Author:** ![FrigidLizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@FrigidLizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrigidLizard)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/83 "2010-11-16T00:51:01Z")
So, so many… When I went to see the Star Trek reboot, there were only about 12 people in the theater, and the woman at the end of my row had to name every damn character as they appeared. “There’s Uhuru.”, “I see Chekov.”, “OH MY GOD, IT’S SCOTTY!” The funny part is, she said it all in a really loud whisper. The last line of dialogue in the first Spiderman movie, when Peter says, “Who am I?.. half the row in front of me chimes in, “I’m Spiderman!” There was a guy two rows in front of me who had to repeat every damn line Eddie Murphy said in the first Shrek film. Too many times to list: people reading aloud text on the screen, kids asking questions. The worst was my second viewing of Return of the King. Even though the movie had been out for several weeks, the theater was packed. A group of about seven teenagers shows up ten minutes into the movie. Of course, they can’t find seats all together, and have to split up. A few of them even resort to crouching down in the wheelchair space. Three of them keep marching up and down the stairs to confer with their friends who are sitting halfway up the rows. One kid either had the biggest wallet chain ever, or a pocket full of quarters, because he went “chingchingchingchingching!” every time he went up and down the steps. After about 20 minutes of this, I can’t believe they haven’t been cussed out yet, and I go fetch the usher to kick them out. I remember feeling distinctly nervous ( get off my lawn you damn kids) that they were going to wait around and beat me up after the movie. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/84 "2010-11-16T01:00:33Z")
People around here are generally quiet during movies, so I really only have one incident I can remember. It’s a bit more than talking, but it’s the biggest distraction I’ve ever witnessed in a theater. About halfway through **GI Joe** a couple of guys came tumbling through the large middle aisle, fighting. From what we could make out, it sounded like guy 1 found out guy 2 had been sleeping with his (1’s) sister and he was _not_ happy about it. I was a little sad when an usher broke them up, since the movie was terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Sealemon2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Sealemon2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon2.0)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/85 "2010-11-16T01:27:00Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > **Titanic** > Two older women were talking after the film. They couldn’t believe that the elderly Rose threw the Heart of the Ocean into the ocean. They thought she should have sold it. As the end credits were rolling I heard a couple of teenage girls whining because the ship hit an iceberg and people died. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![smaje1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@smaje1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaje1)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/86 "2010-11-16T01:45:01Z")
I’ve confronted a few movie-talkers in my time. One of the worst was at the Arclight in LA - it’s expensive, it’s fancy, it’s where movie stars go to see movies. So Mr. Smaje and I thought the audience would be a little classier. We were watching There Will Be Blood and this man behind us kept up a running commentary of the movie to his two adults kids, who were sitting next to him. I turned around once and asked him to stop talking. He started mocking me. It was crazy, this middle-aged man mocking a 20-something woman for asking \*politely \*that he not talk during a relatively quiet dramatic movie. He then continued to keep talking to his kids about the movie, occasionally throwing in a rude comment about me. Finally I got up and went to the lobby to bring back a manager. As the manager and I were coming up the aisle, the man stood up and loudly said “Oh, you must be here for me! Yep, I was talking! And she didn’t like it!” The manager spoke with the man and told him to be quiet or to leave. The man stayed quiet for the rest of the movie, but I could feel his eyes glaring into the back of my head. I just can’t wrap my head around \*why \*someone would act like that! I mean, barring any impairments or mental problems. ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/87 "2010-11-16T01:58:18Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > If her arm was broken, why didn’t you call the amber lamps? I see what you did there.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/88 "2010-11-16T02:51:32Z")
The worst was when I saw the movie **My Cousin Vinny** , the guy sitting in front of me must have been a lawyer because he pointed out every little thing that wasn’t perfectly legally correct to his friend. I remember it because he spoiled the joke when Vinny was scheming to get a look at the prosecutor’s files. “He should just ask for them, it’s called disclosure. He has to show him everything before the trial”. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/89 "2010-11-16T07:06:18Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Dude you were watching the movie in your living room and that “old woman” was your mother. Get off the drugs. Believe it or not, I really did lost count the number of times I watched Fellowship of the Ring at the cinema. It could be more than 10. I watched the Two Towers about ten times. The Return of the King? About three times at the cinema. The ending fatigue really did get to you. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/90 "2010-11-16T07:31:28Z")
> [@Jet\_Jaguar](#): > > The worst was when I saw the movie **My Cousin Vinny** , the guy sitting in front of me must have been a lawyer because he pointed out every little thing that wasn’t perfectly legally correct to his friend. I remember it because he spoiled the joke when Vinny was scheming to get a look at the prosecutor’s files. “He should just ask for them, it’s called disclosure. He has to show him everything before the trial”. :rolleyes: What did he say when Marisa Tomei told Vinnie the same thing? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/91 "2010-11-16T10:12:01Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > [The Argonath](http://www.theargonath.cc/argonath.jpg)? (Statues of Isildur and Anárion.) That was the poster for Fellowship though, not The Two Towers. Aragorn’s quote as they pass beneath them is “The Argonath… Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old…my kin.” I don’t remember them actually being named. Well, that “the kings of old” was translated in the books as “the ancient kings” and in the movie as “the foreparent kings”. And the theaters just thundered with the response. I’m not surprised if I got the specific movie wrong, I’m used to treating the trilogy as a single very-thick book. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/92 "2010-11-16T12:16:52Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Well, that “the kings of old” was translated in the books as “the ancient kings” and in the movie as “the foreparent kings”. And the theaters just thundered with the response. I’m not surprised if I got the specific movie wrong, I’m used to treating the trilogy as a single very-thick book. Wait, someone in the movie actually utters the phrase “The Foreparent Kings”? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/93 "2010-11-16T12:18:04Z")
In Spanish, yes. “los reyes antepasados” rather than “los reyes antiguos” (book) or “mis antepasados” (my foreparents). It sounds like shite, it’s not just a different translation but a construction nobody would use without being paid for it. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/94 "2010-11-16T13:08:06Z")
Sorry to be all metathread, but one memorable experience was when I posted on a message board how I thought that that American blacks talking during movies was an example of some stereotypes having an element of truth. I thought I’d never hear the end of it. I thought this one white boy from DC was going to hurt himself tripping over furniture trying to get to the keyboard so he could type RACIST. Perhaps tellingly, he had nothing to say about the stereotype about his mother being favored by long distance truckers. The most recent talking-in-movies experience I had, I was the chatty stranger. My wife and I went to see Kickass. A lone male sat on my left. I suppose that movie could cause giggles for some people, but I found his enjoyment of kill shots delivered by a child distracting. Anyway, I was disappointed by the soundtrack-- misled by the Dickies being featured prominently in the ad, no doubt-- and late in the film there’s some triumphant brass cheese playing while they fly away into the sunset. I say to my wife–quietly, I thought-- “Suddenly it’s ‘Rocky’” and inappropriately-giggly-goes-to-the-movies-by-himself-guy gives me a look like I just ruined his entire filmic experience. I guess he hadn’t come yet. I did get in a fight once because two assfaced monkey humpers thought they were Crow and Tom but I can’t for the life recall the name of the movie. Just goes to show that in many cases, the American blacks are correct. The shit onscreen is just forgettable shit, you may as well yell. If you want dead silence from the peanut gallery you should maybe watch at home. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/95 "2010-11-16T14:48:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Sorry to be all metathread, but one memorable experience was when I posted on a message board how I thought that that American blacks talking during movies was an example of some stereotypes having an element of truth. I’ve experienced this enough times to not be bothered when such a thought enters my head. The last time was during ‘The Hangover’, when the AA dude sitting next to me regularly - and loudly - shouted such exclamations as ‘Here we go! Here we go!’ and ‘Woooooh! I know _that’s_ right!’. He also had an odd and troublesome laughing routine: while laughing, he would rock forward and back, clapping his hands loudly. Because I was seated right next to him, he often bumped my shoulder while rocking (and laughing and clapping). The worst part is, he found the movie to be VERY funny. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/96 "2010-11-16T16:10:06Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > In Spanish, yes. “los reyes antepasados” rather than “los reyes antiguos” (book) or “mis antepasados” (my foreparents). It sounds like shite, it’s not just a different translation but a construction nobody would use without being paid for it. Oh wait, by translations you mean from English into Spanish? I was confused what you were talking about because they’re called The Argonath in both the books and films, and I thought you meant the mistranslation was from Sindarin to English, like it was something that Peter Jackson/David Salo got incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/97 "2010-11-16T16:51:41Z")
Saw \*\*\*The Grudge \*\*\*at an “urban” theater in Toledo. Between people in the audience yelling at the characters on the screen, and the guy behind me who answered his unsilenced cellphone every five minutes (and each time told whoever it was “I’m at the show, I’ll call you back in five-ten minutes”). Last time I saw, or will see, a movie at a theater that caters to people with those kinds of cultural and social movie-going norms. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/98 "2010-11-16T17:37:16Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Oh wait, by translations you mean from English into Spanish? I was confused what you were talking about because they’re called The Argonath in both the books and films, and I thought you meant the mistranslation was from Sindarin to English, like it was something that Peter Jackson/David Salo got incorrect. I guess I will watch TTT sometime soon because I swear they either use the name Isengard for the tower of Orthanc at some point, or confuse some of the landmarks in or nearby Cirith Ungol, but I might be mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/99 "2010-11-16T20:30:40Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Saw \*\*\*The Grudge \*\*\*at an “urban” theater in Toledo. Between people in the audience yelling at the characters on the screen, and the guy behind me who answered his unsilenced cellphone every five minutes (and each time told whoever it was “I’m at the show, I’ll call you back in five-ten minutes”). > > Last time I saw, or will see, a movie at a theater that caters to people with those kinds of cultural and social movie-going norms. Amen, dude. I really feel the same, the problem is that I dont know if it’s me that has become an old grouch, or if it is that basic manners have really disappeared at the theatre. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375/100 "2010-11-16T20:51:55Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Went to see ‘Secretariat’ today. Average movie. But in the row behind me, a couple of seats over, was a kid around 10 years old who would not STFU during the film. He _constantly_ barraged his grandpa with questions about what was happening onscreen, and in a normal-conversation volume level. > > “Grandpa, what’s he doing now? Are they at the triple crown yet? What’s that thing in his hand? Where is that guy going?..” When Dad took the family to see _Star Wars_ at the Starlite Drive-In, one of my sisters invited her best friend along. Best friend (age 13) spent the movie asking Sis pretty much the same questions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-strangers-talking-in-a-theater-during-the-movie-stories/560375.md?page=6)