This is distinct from what we watched. This is more about the experience of watching qua watching.

I went to see Hot Fuzz on Saturday. And it was the perfect movie viewing experience. There was, literally, one other person in the theatre and I never even heard him laugh.

I was seated more or less front and center, and just before the movie started, an older woman wandered in and asked me whether this was the theatre for Away From Her.

I was completely enchanted by the irony of the confused older woman lost on her way to see a movie about a confused older woman.

Then the next day when I saw Away From Her, there was a much older man seated behind me who, as soon as the film started (and for those who haven't seen it, it begins VERY quietly), began rattling a candy wrapper. It went on so long that I was tempted to turn around and ask him if he needed HELP to open his fuckin candy, but just then the woman behind him asked him to put it away. She had to repeat her request to him because he didn't catch it the first time. Then his (elderly) friend asked him, "Are you okay?" and he said, "Some girl behind me just poked me but I don't know what her problem is." LMAO.

Then he fell asleep, and you could tell from his breathing but he didn't snore. It was great. God bless Sarah Polley. She's really captured the geriatric market, if I do say so myself, lol.

Brought to you in part by (Dallas Mavericks owner) Mark Cuban. Swiped from the L.A. Times:

>AT THE MOVIES

In this darkened corner …

From screen to popcorn tub, the Landmark and ArcLight ready for battle.

By Chris Lee
Times Staff Writer

May 24, 2007

From screen to popcorn tub, the Landmark and ArcLight do battle. Ask anyone who has ever whiled away a few hours in a darkened auditorium at Hollywood's ArcLight Cinemas: Not all movie theaters are created equal.

Unveiled in 2002, the ArcLight multiplex almost single-handedly shifted the Southland's moviegoing paradigm. With its assigned seating and grown-up attitude toward alcohol — the theater was the first in California to allow booze inside its auditoriums — the movie palace billed itself as "Los Angeles' premier film experience," boasting a high-end snack bar, the best screens and most comfortable seats in town.

But now a rival upscale multiplex on the Westside, the Landmark, has put the ArcLight in its crosshairs and is out to challenge just about every innovation that has made the theater an Angeleno institution. Think of it as the ArcLight on steroids; if everything turns out as planned, the Landmark could explode notions of what a "specialized" (don't say "art house") movie theater can be, providing a cultural outing that's closer in spirit to a night at the theater than simply catching a movie.

"We're looking for an adult crowd," said Ted Mundorff, chief operating officer of the Landmark's parent company, the national Landmark Theatres chain. "We don't put video games in the lobby. We want a discerning moviegoer who appreciates cinema, who wants to see it in a mature atmosphere."

Construction on the $20-million, 12-theater complex, scheduled to open June 1 at the intersection of Westwood and Pico boulevards across from the Westside Pavilion, wasn't complete when a reporter toured the site this week. But Landmark executives remain insistent that the scope and thrust of the finished project — namely, its commitment to environmentalism, cutting-edge screen and sound technology, high design and even gourmet hot dog toppings — will go beyond anything comparable at the city's other luxury movie halls, the Grove and the Bridge among them.

With that in mind, and in the spirit of good fun, we make some preliminary comparisons between the upstart Landmark and its still mighty inspiration, the ArcLight.

Viewed a certain way, the Landmark's concession stand exists as a microcosm of the theater's commitment to putting millennial topspin on the quotidian "night at the movies" experience — right down to the "junk" food.

Take the pretzels. In place of the heat-lamped twists of once-frozen dough that movie fans have come to expect (and in some instances, love, despite themselves), the theater offers mahogany-colored beauties imported fresh from La Brea Bakery and served warm with an array of artisanal mustards such as raspberry wasabi. Cost: $4 for a long pretzel stick versus the usual $3.50 or so.

The Landmark's Hebrew National hot dogs? Maybe not so much of a stretch. But they are wrapped in a La Brea Bakery bun to be topped with locally made, handcrafted pickle relish. "It's not what you'd necessarily expect to find in a movie theater," said Rita Meno, Landmark Theatres' director of concessions and retail sales. "When you walk in, it's important that you know it's different here."

But then, you wouldn't necessarily expect to find the popcorn popped in sunflower oil and served with — gasp! — real butter, the Alternative Baking Co. vegan cookies, the Peet's Coffee or the low-carb pizzas courtesy of Pizza Rustica, a mini-chain of restaurants voted Los Angeles' pizza "hot spot" by the Wall Street Journal. The theater will even offer all-natural Yogurberry frozen yogurt, an up-and-coming rival to the cultishly popular Pinkberry fro-yo franchise (Yogurberry claims to have more viable yogurt cultures, if you care about that kind of stuff). In addition, a veritable United Nations of hard-to-find premium snacks is there for the scarfing — most notably, chocolate Tim Tam biscuits imported from Australia, among the most addictive in the world.

Although none of it is engineered to chisel waistlines, the goodies are easy on the conscience. Many items are organic and self-consciously top-shelf — the "culinary" soft drink at the Landmark, Dry Soda, will be served in Champagne flutes — and created by small-scale "indie" purveyors, most of them local. And all the snacks are priced to be competitive with the de rigueur movie markup you get on a $7 box of Red Vines (which will also be available, along with Junior Mints, so relax).

"We're cognizant of how things were grown, where they were made, how many calories they have, if people had to die for us to get them," Meno says with a laugh. "Our audiences tend to be very informed customers. And people in L.A. are very discerning."

Bottom line: After a taste test of nearly all the offerings, the Landmark wins the snack battle. (Sorry ArcLight: Those apple-chicken sausages just don't compare.) Furthermore, the stand's exotic offerings are available to everyone, not (Tim Tam fanatics, take note) just ticket buyers.

Advantage: Landmark.

Rethinking the contents of the Landmark's concession stand is only the opening salvo, however. Almost every component of the traditional movie outing has been somehow tweaked or otherwise deconstructed to contribute to an overall luxe experience. (At $11 a ticket, even for reserved seating, prices remain on par with the nearby Westfield Century City's AMC 15 theater admission as well as the ArcLight's weekday prices; on Friday and Saturday evenings, tickets there shoot up to $14.)

Pass beneath an oddly sloped patch of ceiling, an architectural holdover from the pitched stadium seating in the auditorium above it, and the moviegoer observes a small retail area offering specialized books, DVDs and CDs — indie filmmaker memoirs, "Director's Series" music video compilations, Criterion Collection movies and the like. These have been selected to appeal to the discerning cinéaste, with an eye toward broadening the cultural effect of the film he or she may have just seen inside the theater. Well thought out and practical (and a far cry from the ArcLight's generalized Hollywood curio and tchotchke shop-cum-magazine stand).

In the customer satisfaction and amenities department, the new theater owes a debt to its Hollywood forebear: the concierge, the absence of commercials before films, allowing alcohol inside the theater and a dedicated staff to ensure high sound quality — these are all ArcLight innovations.

And speaking of booze: Earlier this week, a layer of fine dust coated the louvered wooden screen separating the lobby from the Landmark Lounge — a warm walnut and stone oasis. Neither the love seats nor its sectionals had arrived during our inspection, but even without them the bar's ambience was preferable to that of the ArcLight, which can feel like an airport waiting room even under the best of circumstances. According to bar manager Nino Chaddah, the Landmark's 250-seat boîte will be decidedly "non-elitist." "We're a sophisticated place for the everyday Joe," he said. "It doesn't matter how much you know about wine."

As with the concession stand, the Landmark hopes the Lounge will become a destination in its own right.

Bottom line: The Landmark's look is sleek, understated and elegant, and it gets bonus points for positioning recycling bins throughout the building. But we worry about congestion during prime show times — especially in the Landmark's retail hall, which is the only way to get to the theaters on the first level. And the Landmark's bathrooms, which had been described as super cool, were merely pedestrian (despite the club-like blue-tinted halogen lighting) and less spacious than the ArcLight's.

Advantage: Neither.

The innovations don't stop inside the Landmark's 12 auditoriums. Its leather-upholstered chairs are 26 inches wide — 3 inches wider than the industry standard — and are padded with foam designed by NASA. Each offers what theater executives insist is an unobstructed sight line. On the other hand, the two front rows in several auditoriums were at least 10 feet closer to the screen than at the ArcLight.

Fortunately, in the smaller auditoriums that's not the case. Called Living Rooms and built to accommodate up to 50 people, they're being kitted out with plush sofas and foot rests in an effort to capture that cozy, intimate, never-left-home vibe lacking at your everyday megaplex.

Then there's the parking: 3,349 spaces provided for as long as you want to stay and free of charge. Take that, ArcLight, with your $2-for-four-hours avarice!

"We're not looking for a fast dollar," Landmark executive Mundorff said. "We want to be thought of as the place where you go to see a movie."

Bottom line: We'll forgive those two rows of seats that are way too close to the screen (one of the ArcLight's greatest gifts to the moviegoing public) because of the free parking and those nifty Living Room auditoriums.

Advantage: Landmark (by a nose).

The Landmark West Los Angeles

Where: 10850 W. Pico Blvd., L.A.

When: Opens June 1

Info: (310) 470-0492, www.landmarktheatres.com

www.tickets.landmarktheatres.com
______________________________________________________________________
Ay, yo Pete
There's a girl on the phone...

They've started a new thing where a theatre employee welcomes you to each screening.

Strangely, they don't tell you to turn off your cell phones. I'm like, why ELSE do you get the audience's attention? It seems self evident.


~~~~~

It is painful in the extreme to live with questions rather than with answers, but that is the only honorable intellectual course. (c) Norman Mailer

With it being a short bus ride from me an all.

I don't eat popcorn at the movies that often (usually only when I don't have time to go get real food between SIFF films), but when I do, it's only theirs. Mmmmm, real butter. lol

Hey, Seattle okps, maybe I need a late pass, but on Saturday when I was driving by The Metro theatre, I saw something about "Metro Classics" showing sometime in June. Is this new? I like this idea.

Too bad I'm preparing for a movie theatre boycott. lol


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kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

they already closed their little hole in the wall theater in the pavillion. i used to go there all the time, so I can't wait.

i'm thinking either "paprika" or "paris je'taime" .. but i've gotta see "knocked up," too

the audience was all very respectful and only really made noise laughing at the hockey commentator.

if not actually believable, lol.

But i want to know what made you want to be a nun? and then what made you change your mind to be an atheist?

go back and really read my answers. It's all there.

...a movie theater employee? Don't know if that's within the parameters or not.

I say do it. This thread is all over the place anyway, lol.


~~~~~

It is painful in the extreme to live with questions rather than with answers, but that is the only honorable intellectual course. (c) Norman Mailer

Which is probably why Buck missed everything, 'cause he was hiding in the utility closet.

So, almost every day someone would come up and ask, "Excuse me, when does the 7 p.m. show start?"

Once, the theater was showing the "Pocahantas" Disney movie, and a woman comes up and asks, "Does Pocahantas appear in all of the movies you're showing here?" Yes lady, Pocahantas makes a very special appearance in "Judge Dredd." I promise.

Then I had to deal with the especially loud and often crazy patrons. One time we got multiple complaints about a guy screaming out obscenities and punching his arm-rest during a showing of "I Love Trouble." I mean, I find Julia Roberts annoying too, but damn.

There's other, but time is getting short at work here. I'll post 'em up later.

definitely keep 'em coming

I spent my days hiding in the utility closet eating free popcorn.

Which, you know, is still how I spend most of my time. Only now I don't get paid for it.

which is: The staff doesn't care. Or they think it's funny.

I'm almost positive it was mrhood who told me this.

In writing, of course. On a website. Not in person.

I mean, I'm just sayin.

But yeah, why should they give a fuck?

But then again, I don't think anyone ever had sex in the theater I worked at. Employees would occasionally cop a feel on each other in the good ol' utility closet, but that's about it.

I'd be like "HELLO...TRYING TO EAT POPCORN HERE"

There was some excellent comedic genius in there.

Or maybe it's the other way around

It was actualfact/navajo joe.

>which is: The staff doesn't care. Or they think it's
>funny.
>
>I'm almost positive it was mrhood who told me this.



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kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

well, let's all blame him for my sordid past, then, lol


~~~~~

It is painful in the extreme to live with questions rather than with answers, but that is the only honorable intellectual course. (c) Norman Mailer

Movies theaters bring out the biggest idiots on the planet, even at the "artsy" theater I used to work it (though it mostly became artsy after I left).

Who didn't have the good sense to hide in the utility closet and eat popcorn


I'm sticking to my guns here man.

At the screening of Red Road Friday night, I got sandwiched in between two strangers, one of which was a bigger-than-average woman who felt the need to sit right up on me even though she had an empty seat next to her. I felt like I was in the middle seat on an airplane.

Saturday afternoon at The Singer: I'm sitting toward the back of the theatre. After the movie gets going, a SIFF volunteer comes in, sits down behind me, and goes to town on a big bag of popcorn, rustling the bag noisily (trying to dig for every last kernel, apparently), until I did the "Hmm, what's all that racket back there" quarter-turn. Then she stopped so immediately, I almost laughed.

Saturday night at Fish Dreams: This was my breaking point. This is my 4th year going to SIFF, okay? Lots of people go by themselves, and if they want to go to the bathroom or get something to eat, they leave their jacket, water bottle, etc on their seat and it's understood that someone's sitting there and will be back before the movie starts. Right?

Okay, well, I put my pashmina on the back of my seat and leave my water bottle in the ARMREST cup holder. I leave for 5 minutes, come back, and there's some woman in my seat. So, I tell her that she's in my seat, that's my stuff she's sitting on. Well, she's a total bitch (one of those salt-and-pepper short-haired pinched up-looking middle-aged women, probably from the East Coast), and refuses to get up, telling me it's easier for one person to find a seat than two (she's with a friend). Then she points to another seat, with someone's jacket in it, and says I could sit there. I'm like, "Um, no, that's SAVED." It's really crowded and I didn't want to cause more of a scene than I already had, so I just tell her (among a few other things) she's very rude and walk away. By this time most of the good seats are taken except for the reserved seats for the platinum pass holders. Luckily, an usher found me a seat, which turned out to be at the opposite end of the same row I'd originally been in. But I was so LIVID, it took me a good half hour to be able to concentrate on the film.

I just don't get how you can see someone's stuff draped in a chair and decide to sit in it anyway, let alone have the gall to refuse to apologize and move if you do make that mistake. I mean, my water bottle was still in the fuckin' armrest when I got there...she hadn't even moved it to the floor or something. WTF?

This is probably part of the reason I blew off 3 films on Sunday. I swear, if I hadn't already bought so many tix ahead of time, I probably wouldn't go to any more until you come to town, janey. As it stands now, I probably won't go to any after you leave. Besides, I'm moving next month (just found a place Saturday, yay!), and need to spend time packing and painting.

Grrrrrrrr.




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kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

>Okay, well, I put my pashmina on the back of my seat and leave
>my water bottle in the ARMREST cup holder. I leave for 5
>minutes, come back, and there's some woman in my seat. So, I
>tell her that she's in my seat, that's my stuff she's sitting
>on. Well, she's a total bitch (one of those salt-and-pepper
>short-haired pinched up-looking middle-aged women, probably
>from the East Coast), and refuses to get up, telling me it's
>easier for one person to find a seat than two (she's with a
>friend). Then she points to another seat, with someone's
>jacket in it, and says I could sit there. I'm like, "Um, no,
>that's SAVED."

That's just all kinds of fucked up. See, this is why it's good to carry a taser on your person at all times. After some shit like that, I'd definitely use it on her. I'd probably have ended up in jail, but it would've been worth it.

>I just don't get how you can see someone's stuff draped in a
>chair and decide to sit in it anyway, let alone have the gall
>to refuse to apologize and move if you do make that mistake. I
>mean, my water bottle was still in the fuckin' armrest when I
>got there...she hadn't even moved it to the floor or
>something. WTF?

Just out of curiosity, was complaining to the management on option? Or were you too understandably pissed at the time?

>That's just all kinds of fucked up. See, this is why it's good
>to carry a taser on your person at all times. After some shit
>like that, I'd definitely use it on her. I'd probably have
>ended up in jail, but it would've been worth it.

Yeah, see, I was trying to avoid doing or saying anything that would make me look crazier and/or bitchier than the culprit, ya know? My friend (Dawn) said if she'd been there, she would've sat on her. lol



>Just out of curiosity, was complaining to the management on
>option? Or were you too understandably pissed at the time?

Well, after trying in vain to find a good seat on my own, I did tell a couple volunteers and they were very sympathetic. (In fact, one was there for the next screening I attended, and when she saw me walking out of the theatre to the restroom, she told me she was going to watch my seat for me. :-) ) One of them got an usher's attention, who found me a seat. I don't know if they'd have been willing to ask the woman and her friend to move because, before they could offer, I said I didn't want a scene, just a decent seat.


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kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

otherwise, I'd be completely furious and sad for you. Yeah, that woman was a complete bitch and yeah, I am getting closer and closer to leaving everything to dvd myself.

ESPECIALLY when you're at a festival where in theory people are more educated audience members. That is just fucked up. My friend told me about going to a play last week at one of our larger theatres and one of the volunteer ushers sat a few seats away from her and her friend and proceeded to TALK during the play. "What's that supposed to mean?" and so forth. I mean, USHERS are supposed to keep people QUIET. arg.

And you know, then I go see Hot Fuzz and there is literally one other person in the movie theatre.

But I'm happy to hear that you found a place!

>otherwise, I'd be completely furious and sad for you. Yeah,
>that woman was a complete bitch and yeah, I am getting closer
>and closer to leaving everything to dvd myself.

I just don't know if it's that I'm getting more anal about movie theatre etiquette as I get older, or if moviegoers are getting ruder and ruder. I wonder if it has something to do with the increased availability of DVDs. People are watching more movies at home (not to mention TV with 600 channels), and when they do go to a theatre they act like they would in their own living rooms.


>
>ESPECIALLY when you're at a festival where in theory people
>are more educated audience members. That is just fucked up.

EXACTLY. That's really what broke me this time. In the past, I could count on the SIFF crowd to be better-behaved than the average moviegoers. Obviously, that hasn't been my experience this year. :-/



>My friend told me about going to a play last week at one of
>our larger theatres and one of the volunteer ushers sat a few
>seats away from her and her friend and proceeded to TALK
>during the play. "What's that supposed to mean?" and so
>forth. I mean, USHERS are supposed to keep people QUIET.
>arg.

That's terrible. I hope someone complained. I don't like sitting at the back of a couple of the older single screen theatres, because the ushers will stand outside the doors talking in regular tones of voice, and the sound carries into the theatre.


>
>And you know, then I go see Hot Fuzz and there is literally
>one other person in the movie theatre.

I love when that happens. The last time was when I saw Oldboy at The Egyptian. It was a hot summer weekday afternoon, and there were fewer than 10 other people in the theatre. It was bliss.


>
>But I'm happy to hear that you found a place!

Oh, I know! I'm so relieved! :-)


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kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

People are getting spoiled by their personal home theatre experience and have decided to bring that into the local movie theatre. That and the American Public is by and large getting ruder and dumber by the day.

I feel bad for you just thinking about that. I would've gotten straight ignant (more than just ignorant) over something like that. Oh man, that would just bring out the 8 year old li'l brother in me. Where it becomes a mission to either get back the seat or ruin the movie for both of us.

Personally though I could never leave my stuff at a seat to save it unless a friend was there already. But maybe that's just Chicago in me. In fact in your situation I might have been like "Bitch you stole my drink!" Before I ever thought about the seat being taken.

a couple of weekends ago, I left my jacket and bag when I went to the bathroom in the middle of a movie.

Well, I hardly ever have to leave a movie to pee. I'm usually really smart about how much I drink and when, but for some reason I misgauged and had to leave the theatre briefly.

And it took probably five minutes of wondering if I should bring all my crap with me or if I should just take the chance that my stuff would be stolen, in the middle of a movie, from a seat relatively near the front of the theatre, so basically it would have been backlit for the entire rest of the audience if someone had grabbed my stuff.

And yet, it still took me five minutes of wavering and wondering and pondering the pros and cons before I could actually walk away from my stuff.

KS is a stronger person than I am. lol

I figured, as often as you go to movies solo, you must leave your stuff all the time.


>KS is a stronger person than I am. lol

Necessity made me stronger. Like being forced to kill spiders myself once I started living alone. lol


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kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

>I feel bad for you just thinking about that. I would've
>gotten straight ignant (more than just ignorant) over
>something like that. Oh man, that would just bring out the 8
>year old li'l brother in me. Where it becomes a mission to
>either get back the seat or ruin the movie for both of us.

Ugh, I didn't want to get ghetto on her. For one thing, it's not in my nature. And secondly, I was very likely the only brown person in the entire theatre, and didn't want to come off as the stereotypical loud black (or Latina - most people aren't quite sure what I am, lol) bitch. Ya know? Better to make her look like the bigger bitch.


>
>Personally though I could never leave my stuff at a seat to
>save it unless a friend was there already. But maybe that's
>just Chicago in me.

Well, I would NEVER leave my handbag there, or, like, a leather jacket. But the pashmina really has more sentimental value (a friend brought it back from NYC) than monetary value. It's not pure cashmere or anything. Which I think might mean it's not technically a pashmina. lol. But I digress.

I do the leaving of stuff in my seat because with SIFF, there's no time to go to the restroom and then go find a seat. People don't trickle in like a regular movie. We wait in line forever and then are herded in like cattle. Probably TMI, but I have a thing about always trying to go pee right before a film starts, even if I've been conservative with liquids (I *never* go out for pho or tom yum right before a film, lol), because I don't want to get up in the middle and miss stuff and annoy people by climbing over them. That's one reason I always make a beeline for an aisle seat. That, and if someone nearby does something annoying, it's easier to move.



In fact in your situation I might have
>been like "Bitch you stole my drink!"

Ewww, why would someone want to steal someone else's drink? lol


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kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

It would have been my dead grandmothers and I only bring it to the film festival because that is something we did together. Then you run away cryaning and then get a manager. That is the rudest thing. She could have waited for you to return and then ask you to move. Your a better person than me.



Siena Blaze
http://www.myspace.com/sienablaze

Maybe I could've pulled it off if I were a better actress. :-) Then, of course, there's my whole being so shocked by someone's unnecessary rudeness that I don't think of the perfect comeback until 15 minutes later problem. lol


>It would have been my dead grandmothers and I only bring it
>to the film festival because that is something we did
>together. Then you run away cryaning and then get a manager.
>That is the rudest thing. She could have waited for you to
>return and then ask you to move. Your a better person than
>me.



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kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

And then maybe pretended it was an accident.

On some, "Oh my bad. I didnt see your feet there. You know, like you didn't see my jacket & drink there?"

I'm guilty of that one myself.

The logic there is that if you open the candy very very slowly, it will make less noise.

But the truth is it makes the same amount of noise, but for the longer amount of time.

It's very awkward spending 2 hours trying to peel open a butterschotch.

and we wish you would open that motherfucker QUICKLY and during a LOUD moment in the movie.

goddammit

I'm just going to have to start doing it on purpose.

not only waited until the extreeeemmmmmely quiet beginning of Away From Her but, just to add insult to injury, had REFRAINED from opening his fucking candy during FIVE OR SIX VERY LOUD trailers.

DUDE what are you THINKING?

The man wanted some candy okay? is that a crime? I'm sure he was trying to resist the urge until the movie was over, just for you and kurlyswirl, but in the end (or the first 5 minutes, rather) temptation got the best of him.

Or more likely, he had forgotten he even had the candy, and got excited once he found it. Nobody can resist found pantspockets candy.



...Maybe he's diabetic, did you ever think of that? Did you?!!

Or, even better, unwrap the damn things before the movie starts.

>and we wish you would open that motherfucker QUICKLY and
>during a LOUD moment in the movie.
>
>goddammit


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kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

Or hey how about this... don't sit so damn close to me in the movie theater.

I mean, open them shits up during the previews.

>Or hey how about this... don't sit so damn close to me in the
>movie theater.


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kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

leave them the fuck home! if you can't afford/find a babysitter, you don't just bring junior to a movie while he's motherfucking teething. you watch a fucking dvd.

and who the fuck brings their infant to 300? i mean, i know they're all young and prolly don't understand that shit, but it just seems wrong. there's no way all the decapitation can be good for a toddler.

that's my $.02

rick

I always think of that scene where they're talking about imprinting on babies when this subject comes up, lol.

We publish these as often as we get them. Send yours in - get published.

http://www.nerve.com/nerveblog/screengrabblog.aspx?id=107e7535#7535

~~~~~

It is painful in the extreme to live with questions rather than with answers, but that is the only honorable intellectual course. (c) Norman Mailer

http://www.nerve.com/nerveblog/screengrabblog.aspx?id=107e4925#4925

get a sitter. I hate the people that bring babies to the movies.



Siena Blaze
http://www.myspace.com/sienablaze

It's fine to be crazy. But crazy AND violent? Fuck that noise. Someone has to pay.

Children learn what they live, as the old motivational poster read.

...Which I may have posted before, but what the hell.

I don't know if this was common practice everywhere, but down in the good ol' Bible Belt it was common practice for entire church congregations to rent out entire theaters for "private" screenings. So, you know, they'd all show up in the church bus, pile into a theater, watch the movie, have a quick sermon, with popcorn, and holy roll out.

One such congregation had rented out the theater my wife and I happened to be sitting in, unbeknownst to us. It became evident once the movie had ended, and a man jumped out in front of the rolling credits with a bible and a Steve Harvey suit, encouraging us to join hands and thank God for various things. You know... Jesus, bread, Mel Gibson. The usual stuff.

Now we're go with the flow kind of people, so we joined in. Grabbed a stranger's hand, thank God for Mel Gibson, why not. Then came the group hugs. This was a little more awkward, but after such a gruesome, exhausting, and not especially good snuff flick such as The Passion, we took it as a well timed comic relief. Perhaps a gift from above, for having just endured such a film.

We sang and prayed and hugged our way out of that theater as fast as we could and laughed about it all the way home.

Though you posted this once a while ago, shit is still funny.

Though I'm surprised you didn't seek out the nearest utility closet to hide in and snack on popcorn.

From Businesswire.com:

>Regal Guest Response System Offered in 114 Theatres

Regal Entertainment Group’s Innovative Customer Service Initiative Adds 101 Locations

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE:RGC), a leading motion picture exhibitor owning and operating the largest theatre circuit in the United States, today announced 114 locations are now utilizing the Regal Guest Response System (RGRS). With RGRS, patrons can utilize an in-theatre paging device to alert management of any disturbances in an auditorium. In addition to Regal’s existing program of auditorium checks by staff members, RGRS provides another way for management to be better informed and to react more quickly.

“Our initial test of the Regal Guest Response System was a success, and we are happy to offer this service to more of our moviegoers. The Guest Response System works in combination with regular auditorium checks by our staff to assist managers in providing superior customer service,” stated Dick Westerling, Regal Entertainment Group Senior Vice President of Marketing and Advertising. “We work hard to ensure the best possible moviegoing experience in our theatres, so if a guest has a concern, we want to know about it. With the Guest Response System patrons can be our extra eyes and ears to alert us if there is a disturbance without having to miss part of the show.”

Regal Entertainment Group theatres participating in the Guest Response System invite selected patrons to carry a paging device with them into the auditorium. One patron may participate for each of the theatre’s auditoriums and for each movie showtime. The Guest Response device is a hand-held pager with four buttons. Each button alerts local management of a different problem such as: sound, picture, piracy or other disturbance. When the patron pushes a button, a message goes to a pager worn by a manager which tells them the nature of the concern, and in which auditorium.

Those patrons assisting in the Guest Response System are also members of the Regal Crown Club loyalty program. Through the Regal Crown Club, moviegoers accumulate credits at the box office and concession stand to earn free popcorn, soft drinks and movies. For their participation in the Guest Response System, Regal Crown Club members receive extra credits toward earning these great rewards. Regal Crown Club membership is free and is available either at REG theatres or online at www.REGmovies.com.

The Guest Response System was initially tested in 13 Regal Entertainment Group theatres. After receiving positive feedback from both managers and guests, Regal now offers RGRS in 114 locations. Regal will continue to roll out the Guest Response System as the program is further developed.


And this is what the device looks like:

http://media.newsobserver.com/smedia/2007/05/30/02/15-reg-1646418-1055910.embedded.prod_affiliate.3.jpg
______________________________________________________________________
(I REPEAT)
... and all that could have been...

So one patron is supposed to be aware of all goings-on in the auditorium?

Something about this idea reminds me of school hall monitors. lol


>One patron may participate for each of the theatre’s auditoriums and for each movie showtime.



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kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

Wow...

It seems like the main reason they started doing this is to catch picture and sound quality problems, as those are the top two buttons on the remote. Which makes it a good idea in my mind since I've hopped out of the theatre numerous times to let management know that the picture or sound is jacked up.

And if the disturbance is loud or obnoxious enough that it can bother anyone in the theatre they can handle that. Personal business you have to handle on your own.

I think it's a decent idea.

Which leads me to one conclusion: never see another indy movie, then I won't have to deal with those raucous assholes that go to them.

We hold higher expectations from better educated audiences, that's all.

I mean, I don't have bad experiences at mainstream movies for two reasons: (1) my expectations are very low; and (2) I almost never go to them. lol

>We hold higher expectations from better educated audiences,
>that's all.
>
>I mean, I don't have bad experiences at mainstream movies for
>two reasons: (1) my expectations are very low; and (2) I
>almost never go to them. lol
>


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kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

I take my Grandma to the movies almost every weekend and for her it's more about the experience of getting out of the house and sitting somewhere dark for a couple of hours, but she will talk/comment/ask for candy whenever she feels like it and in her regular voice, no whispering for Gram. The good thing is we are seeing whatever popular crap is out, so I don't feel too bad about disturbing whatever idiots are also paying to see Shrek 3 or whatever the case may be.

Janey, what did you think of Hot Fuzz? Have you seen Shaun of the Dead?

Grandma could sit in the crying room with the babies and talk all she wanted.

There's a theatre here in SF that has BYOB day (Bring Your Own Baby). Special screenings for mommies and daddies who can't find babysitters. Grandma would be fine there, too.

I LOVED Hot Fuzz, lol. And the thing that made me go see it was how much I loved Shaun of the Dead. I think Hot Fuzz is better, though. :-)

I'll see if I could get her in the crying room next time.

I was expecting to be disappointed in Hot Fuzz just because of how much I loved SOTD, but I enjoyed myself immensely.

****spoiler alert****
I nearly fell out of my chair when he did the flying karate kick to the old lady's face. The homo-erotic overtones were well done. I haven't seen all of the buddy cop movies they spoofed but I have seen enough to enjoy most of the references.

Not a movie I would take Gram to see.

of why I avoid multiplexes.

The good thing is
>we are seeing whatever popular crap is out, so I don't feel
>too bad about disturbing whatever idiots are also paying to
>see Shrek 3 or whatever the case may be.


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kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

This was a tricky one. I went with a friend to see the midnight show of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. People are yelling lines out and all of that, which honestly annoys me a bit, but it’s a midnight movie and that sort of behavior is par for the course. Even if people keep getting the lines wrong and yelling them out too early or too late. But anyway, it’s an environment where audience noise is generally acceptable.

But right behind me, there’s this guy there on a date, and it’s obvious he’s afraid his date doesn’t like the movie, because he’ll laugh at something, but then say something like, “This is the dumbest movie ever.” He’s not whispering, but he’s not yelling either. But his stupid running commentary continues through the entire movie. When he’s not talking about how the movie is stupid, he’s doing really bad impressions of Pee Wee Herman, or giving the most obvious commentary in the world. “He gave them the gum from the magic shop.” “That’s a lot of bicycle chain.” “He’s chaining it to a clown.”

Anyway, it was really annoying, but I didn’t know what to say. Everyone was talking and most were much louder than he was. But he was just so much more annoying because first, he wasn’t bright and his comments reflected it, and second, he was talking crap about the movie, even though he kept laughing throughout it, because he wanted to get in the good graces with some deficient girl, which is despicable to me. I didn’t see anyway I could ask him to be quiet without explaining that my real problem was I hated him as a person.

I didn’t
>see anyway I could ask him to be quiet without explaining that
>my real problem was I hated him as a person.


This is potentially sigworthy.


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kurly's Super-Duper Awesome DVD Collection:
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl