me Too
Movies, anybody not a fan.
- Thread starter David in Boston
- Start date
me Too
My last movie was at a drive in, a Star Wars episode. I'm just not paying that much for a ticket. I wait for the DVD if I really want to see a particular movie.
I watch Turner Classic Movies a lot.
the essay isn't Ebert's, I can't remember the author, but Chaz reposted it on Roger's site because she thought it was important. It was about a teacher showing his class Signin' In the Rain and how the class found it corny and out-of-touch. The essay went on to say that the lack of sophistication wasn't on the movie's part, but on the students' part for failing to appreciate an artwork.
I hate the movie theater. I refuse to pay that much money to deal with loud and obnoxious patrons. I wait for the dvd if I really want to see something.
Here is the original essay: http://blogs.indiewire.com/pressplay/from-russia-with-love-is-not-unsophisticated-you-are
Here is, in my opinion, a particularly well thought out response: http://www.npr.org/sections/monkeys...ames-bond-gene-kelly-and-the-limbs-we-live-on
I find myself falling more in line with the latter view. I like From Russia with Love, and am basically indifferent to Singing in the Rain, but I don't think that necessarily makes me unsophisticated. Just means I like Bond movies better than musicals. Both are thoughtful essays.
On topic, I go to the theater probably once every five or six years. Too expensive, too few films I am really excited to see.
Great semi-rebuttal. But it still leaves open that vast expanse of viewer who would never dream of seeing a black & white, let alone silent, movie just because it's black & white or silent. If one is unable to appreciate, let alone watch, something like a Murnau classic, or even Citizen Kane, then it really does boil down to a lack of sophistication. A great barometer to this is to go on IMDB and read some of the negative reviews of something like a Citizen Kane.
So I'm not disagreeing with either of the essays (I do partly agree with both sides of this debate), but I do get frustrated by what I see as a decline in our ability as a film-going community to give a chance to something outside a rigid formula. Of course, our modern filmmakers are to blame as well as we have the umpteenth sequel and reboot of a franchise.
Anyway, it's nice to rant about something other than politics.
Hey! I grew up on them thar B&W movies. Color isn't the same.
I was born in the 60's so movies were in color, but there was still a lot of B&W TV.
My son wanted to see the latest Star Wars movie so we bought tickets early. The theater was a sell out and a very large family came in complete with children under 5. The movie started and so did the family, up and down, talking loudly and on their phones. At the 10th time the family got up another patron lost it, I thought there would be a fight. The manager came in and tried to calm everyone down and it stopped for 5 minutes. Then to pacify the loud crying child the mother starting playing a cartoon on her phone at full volume.
We got up and went out and explained that we wanted a refund or comp tickets. The manager said, " They are really having a rough time with that baby" . My comment was that is not my problem and they should know that this is not a movie for small children. At just that moment the father walked out with the screaming kid and the entire lobby turned and looked in amazement. Other patrons were following us and waiting for the manager. I would imagine 15 or so people left that day due to one family.
All and all kind of a reflection on society today. Lack of manners and respect for others seem to be the norm. I told my son that was my last movie in a theater.
We got up and went out and explained that we wanted a refund or comp tickets. The manager said, " They are really having a rough time with that baby" . My comment was that is not my problem and they should know that this is not a movie for small children. At just that moment the father walked out with the screaming kid and the entire lobby turned and looked in amazement. Other patrons were following us and waiting for the manager. I would imagine 15 or so people left that day due to one family.
All and all kind of a reflection on society today. Lack of manners and respect for others seem to be the norm. I told my son that was my last movie in a theater.
I've not had an experience quite that bad yet. Some of our local theaters have the "no cell phone" policy. If you're caught using your phone during the movie you get ejected without a refund.
I would have used my phone to record the unruly patrons as proof and demanded refund with the theatre corporate office .
I go to the theater a lot less than I used to. It is pricey so when I do go, it's always a matinee so I can get the discount price and I rarely buy any concessions. One of the theaters I like to go to sometimes has movies showing as early as 10:30 in the morning. I've been to a couple of movies there where I was the only one in the theater. When I do go to the theater it has to be a movie that I really want to see and even then I research it and probably won't go if the movie didn't review well. I think I've only been to 2-3 movies in the theater so far this year.
My movie attendance has gone way down in the past 10 or more years. But, I thought I should give it a try again recently, at least for big spectacle type movies that can benefit from a theater and its sound system. So, I've seen things like the new Star Wars movie and so on. Those type of movies seem like a better experience in the theater than they would be at home. But most movies are fine at home on the small screen.
When you compare the overall experience at home to going to the movies, home just has so many pluses. A comfortable seat, the ability to pause and use the bathroom, the ability to rewind if you didn't hear something or your attention wandered. For me, I even have to pause sometimes just to straighten out a plot point for myself if I get confused. (Yes, the brain gets weaker as I get older, but some movies are terrible at exposition and some just have plot holes). Then there is always the realization that the movie is junk and not worth finishing. That is no issue on Netflix, say, but it would be a waste of money in a theater if you walked out.
When the cost of one movie is more than the cost of a streaming service for a whole month, no wonder so many don't bother to go out the theaters!
When you compare the overall experience at home to going to the movies, home just has so many pluses. A comfortable seat, the ability to pause and use the bathroom, the ability to rewind if you didn't hear something or your attention wandered. For me, I even have to pause sometimes just to straighten out a plot point for myself if I get confused. (Yes, the brain gets weaker as I get older, but some movies are terrible at exposition and some just have plot holes). Then there is always the realization that the movie is junk and not worth finishing. That is no issue on Netflix, say, but it would be a waste of money in a theater if you walked out.
When the cost of one movie is more than the cost of a streaming service for a whole month, no wonder so many don't bother to go out the theaters!
I like going to movies, but I typically don't because I hate to put $$ into the pockets of Hollywood. I can't say anything political. I'll just leave it at that.
Last edited by a moderator:
Is this a fact, or is it a somethingIfoundontheinternet?
If it were the number two source, one would expect surveys of pest control companies to be reporting high numbers of movie theaters in their clean ups.
But they don't.
http://www.slate.com/articles/healt...aters_trains_and_luggage_but_don_t_panic.html
http://www.pestworld.org/all-things-bed-bugs/where-bed-bugs-are-found/
83% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
60% of the time, it works every time.
