i usually go to regal, and it still has an ancient promo that they updated a couple years back to include "no texting."

the low point so far has been seeing someone playing a game like candy crush during a movie there.

i really think it ultimately comes down to people not having a filter. i saw 12 years a slave with an enraptured audience. this old woman sat next to me because the theater was at or near capacity. she was really into the movie, but as soon as her friend went to the bathroom, she took out her smartphone and scrolled through it. i almost took it away from her and would have been prepared to tell her i would give it back at the end of the movie but instead fought to ignore the bright screen glaring right in my eye. she put it away when her friend came back and never took it out again. it was just what some people do when the company they are with departs for a moment, leaving them briefly alone, only this happened to be in the middle of a packed, darkened theater.