Am I the only one that loves movies, but hates the theater experience???

[CelticWarrior]

Im done with the whole experience. I visited Imax Cardiff and the screen was nowhere near the size of an Imax I visited in the US
and on top of that people just coughed, munched loudly or text the whole way through.

 

[Wes R]

In the 80s and 90s we went to the movies tons and it was nice. There was a few folks that would talk and whatnot but it was enjoyable. Towards the end of the 90s the cellphones and crying babies invaded. We have 2 theaters in town. One that lets teens go wild and has a cop car always stationed there and one that's classier and more family friendly but still i want nothing to do with it. I'd go if they were opened at 10am on school days as it wouldn't be busy and would be nice and quiet. Last time i went to a movie was in 2006 and there were about 10 of us for the film. Mind you school was still in so that helped.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

If it's something I REALLY want to see, like Star Wars, I'll go to the theater. Otherwise I'd rather watch it at home. I like being able to pause the movie to go to the bathroom, get a drink, etc.

 

[Laspector]

I'm pretty much the same as most of you. Unless it is something I really really want to see, I will wait for the dvd/blu ray. Sometimes I can't wait that long, but I NEVER go to a big movie until it's been playing at least a week or more...Let those crowds die down a bit, and even then I usually try to hit it on a week night. No kids, no teenagers, no babies!!! I hate 'em all when it comes to the theater experience. I will admit I always get popcorn and a coke but I chew very quietly opcorn :angel

 

[Shendorion]

I dislike absolutely everything about it except the big screen and the permission to not do anything but experience the movie.

 

[wuher da brewer]

I hate high fructose corn syrup soft drinks, won't pay $5 for a bottled water, usually foul tasting Dasani, don't want candy, hate processed cheese nachos, don't want microwaved soft pretzels and worry about GMO corn popcorn. At least at home, I know I'm getting real, quality food.

 

[MaddMaxx82]

I have had my fair share of bad experiences at the theaters, but I still love it. I love the whole deal. Poporn, soda, candy, movie and all. If the movie is only mildly entertaining I still feel like I got something out of it.

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[CJS]

The experience in canuckistan can be just as horrible. Almost everytime I've been to the theater there.s always jackasses. Sci fi movie? there will always be a bored blonde chick updating her FB status. "OMG this is the dumbest movie evAR!!! OMG" Me and the GF just complain and get passes all the time. We got a dozen passes after we got the usher to come in twice and did nothing. I'm not the typical laid back person that lives here. I speak up and so does my GF. Once a guy was being such a dick, I put him in his place and the full theater erupted in applause. If someones pissing you off you can guarantee everyone in their peripheral vision is probly waiting for someone to say something. Its a business. Money talks, complain during the movie and get everyone to complain that you can. When they see lost revenue from free passes exceeds the loss of getting strict and deterring phone idiots they will bring in better policies. Best movie I have seen crowd wise was last year when they played 5th Element. It was a perfect audience. As for up here there are just as many idiots, but everyone up here just takes it. And the jerks take advantage of the passiveness and a general sense of good manners.

 

[Michael Bergeron]

Maybe I'm watching the wrong movies. :lol

Overall my experience is good and I'm definitely not one to just take it if someone's got their phone on. It does happen, but not to an extent that I'd call it a deterrent.

Then again I usually don't go during what would be considered peak times.

 

[ooSuperman23]

That's why any movies I want to see in theater I wait until they've been out a few weeks, and then go see them on an early weekday or something. That way there are fewer people talking/eating/texting.

I've actually been to two or three different movies where my girlfriend (or friends) and I were the only ones in the theater, that was awesome...

 

[Zombie_61]

...Then again I usually don't go during what would be considered peak times.

That's why any movies I want to see in theater I wait until they've been out a few weeks, and then go see them on an early weekday or something. That way there are fewer people talking/eating/texting...

Sadly, these days it seems these are the best ways to see a movie in a theater without some nitwit(s) ruining it for you.

 

[dascoyne]

I do miss the days when going to movies was a bigger deal. It just seemed more exciting back then. At home, even on a big screen, it's too convenient to pause a film to grab a snack or check my email ... as a consequence the style of popular movies probably caters to our shorter attention span.

It was an exciting event to go see Midway (in Sensurround!). Anyone else have fond memories like that?

 

[Zombie_61]

It was an exciting event to go see Midway (in Sensurround!). Anyone else have fond memories like that?

Although I wouldn't necessarily call them "events", I have fond memories of seeing movies like Jaws, Star Wars (before all of the "Episode IV, A New Hope" stuff), 2001: A Space Odyssey, Apocalypse Now, several classic Universal horror films, and countless other movies for the first time in a theater. I enjoy being able to watch them any time I want to now thanks to DVD and Blu-Ray, but there's still nothing like seeing them on "the big screen" the way they were meant to be seen.

 

[norgs79]

When I was a kid, our movie theatre had an interval! The film would stop half way through, the lights would come on and the screen curtains would close for 15 minutes so that people could get more refreshments or visit the WC. It made it seem more special, like you were on a night out.
My worst experience at the cinema was watching Phantom Menace for the first time in '99. I went with a friend during the day and it was packed full of noisy school kids. Plus the film was lousy compared to the OT. It really put me in a bad mood ha ha.

 

[Kt Templar]

I'm getting the opposite. I think my local cinema is dying. I went to several films in the first week they were on and there was only maybe 20 people in there.

Dredd, maybe 10. Star Trek Into Darkness 20 or so MOS. Even Skyfall was only half full.

Part of the cinema experience is the audience. Comedies are funnier and horror movies are also more fun when you see everyone else jump. Losing that and you might as well watch the movie at home.

The cell phone thing is rare around here and people are usually fairly quiet. The part I hate is people turning up late. They show maybe 10=15 mins of commercials and trailers, so surely you can turn up in time before that!?

 

[Wes R]

I'm not even sure if the drive in opened this year. He's been trying to sell it for nearly 20 years and it needs some work but every summer he'd open it up to make cash (probably to pay the taxes) and fleamarkets in the fall on sundays.

 

[Therent]

I try to get to the drive-in every summer as the experience is still fun however the last in-theatre movie I watched was Return of the King. I find there is a lot of compromise involved with a theatre movie compared to my home theatre viewing. The seats are far less comfortable. This is particularly an issue for two-hour plus movies. The inability to pause the movie means I can't go to the restroom unless I'm willing to miss some of the film. Then of course there are the distractions from the other viewers. Back in the 80s you could see a film for $5 and it was a fair deal given the alternative was VHS on a 19" TV with a cropped picture. Today, the movie better be damn good for the price of admission given that you can potentially have a superior experience watching the film at home if you have the right set up, which is becoming more and more the norm today.

 

[Stealth_Cylon]

The older I get the more I have a hard time staying awake in the theater. Even for the really good movies after an hour I'm struggling.

 

[Laspector]

The movie theater in my town closed down about 8 years ago. I have to drive 50 miles to get to a theater, so the movie has to something I really really want to see for me to make that journey.

 

[red4]

To me the theater isn't even a worthwhile option anymore. People flashing their &*%*&*#@#$ cellphones is quite a bit more than I'm willing to bear for something I paid money to see. Allowing cellphones in the theater is like selling a flotation device full of holes, or melted icecream, or flat soda, or bandages with asbestos. I get frustrated just thinking about it.