“Distractions from other members of the audience: 19%”
This is #1 for me. The worse part about going to a cinema today is the other people that go. I don’t know why you need to turn your phone on and browse tiktok for 15 minutes during the movie. I don’t know why you feel the need to converse with your seatmates at full volume during the show. Why are you bringing a screaming baby to a movie with loud explosions? Can you please have your small uninterested children not running back and forth in front of the screen laughing while the movie is going on?
I feel old, but I’m old at home watching on streaming with the other 2/3rds of adults I guess.
I agree with you, and not all movies are worth the theatre experience, ticket and food is expensive.
I love the Kung Fu Panda movies,but watch in a theatre, no thank you.I will wait till Kung Fu Panda 4 is available to stream and I can watch it peacefully and on my own pace.
Dune and Oppenheimer both of those were worth the price.
Barbie was worth seeing in the theater as well, to be honest. I’m a middle aged guy and it was a great experience to see that with the women all in pink cheering opening weekend. Like seeing a Marvel, DC, or Star Wars movie. The energy was palpable.
I saw Barbie at iPic because my wife wanted to see it in the theater. That movie is solidly in the “watch at home” category for me.
That’s not what they’re talking about. They specified the energy of the theater at a specific point in time, not the movie itself. I tend to agree with them. It was really fun going and being part of the event that was Barbie opening weekend. It was the best cinema experience I’d had in years.
I went opening weekend too, but didn’t experience any of that. Maybe because we went to iPic instead of a regular theater like AMC.
Why are you bringing a screaming baby to a movie with loud explosions? Can you please have your small uninterested children not running back and forth in front of the screen laughing while the movie is going on?
This is my number one. Teens annoy me for sure, but hey, they’re stupid teens and they’re probably on an awkward date or something, it’s a social event. I can eyeroll at them and move on with my night.
Parents who bring children to movies that are not children’s movies annoy the ever loving shit out of me. You want to watch it? Great, wait for it to be on streaming or get a sitter and go as a couple or with friends. Insisting on bringing your child to a movie that is not appropriate for them is irresponsible and very “I’m the main character” because obviously they don’t care about anyone else in the theater. I’ve heard all the excuses, and that’s all they are, excuses.
I hear what you’re saying, and both groups are obnoxious, but I have more sympathy for the overloaded parent trying to make it work, than for the obnoxious teen who is being disruptive on purpose.
Not to say there aren’t parents in the “obnoxious self-centered jerk” category-- for sure there are-- but some are just trying their best to juggle two different priorities and failing.
Nope. Teens don’t know better. I give them more leeway because they’re young and ignorant. They’re assholes, but going to the movies as a teenager is a defacto answer for “what should we do tonight”, plus they don’t have a ton of money so usually going to a nicer theater weeds most of them out.
Parents should know how their actions affect others, and everyone knows bringing a child to an adult movie will cause problems. I stick by what I said, if a parent wants to see it, schedule a date night or night with friends and get a sitter, or wait until it can be watched at home.
Completely agree. I thought it was pretty well known that once you have kids your life changes and you now have to make sacrifices. Some parents clearly don’t feel that way, and those people are selfish assholes.
There’s a reason I never had children of my own; because I know I’m selfish and enjoy my freedom too much. If you too want the freedom of someone without kids, it’ll either cost you in childcare, or you better have a strong family support system
That’s the number one excuse I see, including in this thread. “Parenthood just changes your life so much”. Right. Your life. Not mine. So the whole “It just affects us so much, we can’t get out much”. Right, was that a secret before you decided to have kids? I know that, it’s why I’m not having kids, because I enjoy doing things like going out regularly to places kids can’t be at, traveling, and generally having a quiet house. Call me selfish, but I know what I want and I’m not going to bring kids into this world if I know I’m going to resent them for changing my life.
If you have an Alamo Drafthouse near you I suggest checking it out. They take disruptive people very seriously and have a way to inform the staff without you having to leave your seat. It is not a discount place however the tickets and really decent food is expensive.
I watch most things at home but I needed to see Dune in the theater.
I exclusively see movies at my local Alamo Drafthouse for this reason as well. Though I saw Oppenheimer at an AMC since they have true IMAX and Alamo Drafthouse’s “The Big Show” isn’t quite the same.
Also I’m never ordering real food at a Drafthouse theater ever again. It’s dark in the theater so eating real food is pretty much impossible (unless you don’t mind making a mess!).
I immediately spilled cheese sauce on myself the last time I was there. ☺
What about when the staff and the food/drink process they have is the disruption that I want removed?
Which is to say, in SF I’ve had way better experiences at our AMC than our Alamo. I hate saying it because I feel like a shill, but it’s true.
Combined with the monthly subscription (which costs less than a single IMAX ticket, yet includes up to 12 up them if that’s your jam), the megacorp really is superior for someone who wants to see movies in theaters.
Hey you’re me! (And the guy below)
Alamo is far and away the best cinema experience you could ask for outside of IMAX full frame. They make their own in house mini docs and sketches about what movie you’re about to watch before the previews. Their food is actually really good pub food. They also have guest chefs and build custom menus/cocktails for big opening nights. Each theater has it’s own full bar outside that’s got it’s own cinematic theme - SF is kinda Rick’s Cafe, Brooklyn is a horror museum, and Manhattan is a newspaper printing press
And ofc like OP said, you can put up an order card to discreetly tell the staff someone is talking/on the phone. I’ve only had to use the feature once and it worked like a charm!
Man I get annoyed just by people eating chips next to me. Yours are horror stories.
Also, I can PAUSE the fucking movie!
- Need to handle some outside event. Pause the movie!
- Somebody needs to go to the bathroom. Pause the movie!
- Didn’t hear an important piece of dialogue. Rewind the movie!
- Want to go grab a snack. Pause the movie!
It’s almost like I set up a home theater for a reason…
I must be lucky. I think I’ve only had a bad experience once. A few teenagers were making a ruckus so I went and talked to them and asked them nicely to shut up. They did.
It cost over $100 to get the whole family in, buy popcorn, etc before greedflation for, what, an hour and a half of entertainment? I can think of a lot of things that are a much better value for family entertainment.
This is it right here. If you have kids, it’s ridiculously expensive, especially if you want to buy popcorn (and who doesn’t?). I’d rather eat popcorn and watch at home on my comfy couch for less than half the price.
I frequent the theater quite a bit and honestly I don’t see or hear much popcorn these days. Although the theater I go to serves real food so that might be part of it.
I no longer enjoy going to the Movies. The crowds, the rude people, the hassle and the price are no longer worth enduring
My wife went with her dad to see Oppenheimer last summer. She texted me 25 minutes in that the previews had just ended.
Fuck everything about that.
Shit… In my country the trailers start BEFORE the scheduled time for the movie, and the room is still partially lit, so the movie starts at its scheduled time.
Not to mention the 10+ minutes of ads beforehand.
We pretty much only go now when it’s an “event” movie - a Dune, an Oppenheimer, or similar.
Not to mention, they usually feel disgusting. The minimum wage employees don’t care enough to bother, and I definitely don’t blame them.
30 minute drive. Buy tickets at ~£15 each. Buy dry flavourless popcorn and drinks. Sit at the sides craning your neck because that’s the only seats left. Watch 45 minutes of adverts and trailers after the advertised start time. Sit through 3 hours of movie that should have been about 1h45. Miss some dialogue because modern actors mumble and sound mixing is terrible. Go for a piss after two hours and miss something anyway. 30 minutes drive home.
Or, just turn on nice OLED TV and surround system and watch at home. Big sofa. Optimal listening position. Pause when I like. Turn on subs for any action movie by Chris Nolan. Eat lasagne and drink cider while doing so.
If you’ve got a big IMAX thing in your town, then great. But most of us just have a shitty multiplex miles away. The last cinema to close in my town still has a poster for The Woman in Black outside it, and load of homeless crackheads inside it.
sounds like youre going to shitty cinemas- there are really nice cinemas out there with armchairs with footstools or recliners. these kinds of cinemas tend to have full bar service and some have full kitchens with servers bringing your food drinks at the beginning or halfway through the film.
I’m not sure if they have one where you are, but there are two here in Dublin, Ireland and when I was in Boston a few years back we say that shitty star wars ep 9. Terrible film, we almost walked out.
I too prefer spending less money for a better experience.
Meh better is objective. I think distractions are overblown, especially outside of frii/sat 6-10pm.
And you ain’t getting the sound and immersion at home unless you spend a few thousand dollars at least.
Maybe that’s not worth it to you, but I wouldn’t toss better out there at all.
Ditch the absurd trailers and it’s really not even closer IMO.
The right movie, at the right theater, is an experience unto itself. My home entertainment center can’t compete with the half a million dollar setup at the bad-ass Dolby Atmos, digital projector, luxury recliner, with wait staff, theater for a movie like Dune 2. I definitely prefer the theater for those types of movies. But whatever random romcom that just came out? Yes, I’d much rather watch it at home. It’s pretty neat that they serve alcohol at the theater now too. We used to have to sneak that in when I was still a drinker. I don’t drink anymore, but I’m sure those who do really appreciate that upgrade in experience.
Can confirm, we drove 3 hours to watch Dune 2 on IMAX and it was a blast. It’s a good movie no matter where you watch it but on the big screen it becomes a religious experience.
The only theater experience that’s worth it is when the entire audience is pumped to be there. When I saw The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy the audience was filled with hoopy froods who all had their towels. They laughed at the right parts, and burst into applause when the Heart of Gold turned into Douglas Adam’s head at the end.
Harry Potter movies were good for this, too. All the kids there in their robes and wands and buzzing with excitement. But most movies do not have that sort of vibe, and it’s not worth the money to see it in a theater with people who clearly would rather be on their phone. Like the time I saw a Star Trek movie and some idiot kept laughing at Chekov’s accent, even in dramatic scenes.
for me the alcohol is useless because i cant pause the movie to go piss😂 i had to suffer through thor 4 (before u say anything i enjoyed the movie, just had to pee for 2/3rds of it)
That’s a good point. We would take Yukon Jack back in the day and mix it with our sodas. That gets you good and drunk without needing as many bathroom breaks.
yeah what i had was the largest glass of beer they would allow. the bartender said thor would be proud 😂 but it made me have to pee. at least it was one of the shorter mcu movies
Also, for those of us living in a rural wasteland with poor Internet, streaming is a pain in the ass.
There was a Warren Theater within reasonable driving distance that used to have a wait stuff and serve full meals, like good restaurant quality plus cocktails. They stopped during the pandemic and last I knew they never started again.
After that, meh. We have a theater closer to home that we’ll go to sometimes if there’s a discount night or something we just can’t wait for. Otherwise we wait.
And I honestly can’t tell if it’s because I’m getting older and less interested or just more cynical towards wasting money like that when I know 100% I’ll be able to watch it later for no additional cost. But I’m being it’s a little of both.
I do the same with video games anymore. I still love to play a lot when I can but I absolutely cannot justify buying a game new for full price despite seeing all my friends playing it without me. (With the exceedingly rare exception)
Yeah those full serve theaters are pretty great. The closest one to us is about an hour away, but sometimes we feel like it’s worth the drive.
Yeah no shit. The theatre experience has been degraded into a capitalist wank fest.
Paying a ludicrous about of money for tickets and some of the worst snacks. To then be bombarded with annoying guests, obnoxious trailers and a sound systems so overwhelmingly base heavy that you can’t hear the dialogue between explosions.
No pausing for more snacks, to use the toilet or have a toke.
Let alone the film quality these days has been degraded to being glorified features length commercials. Nothing worth bearing through that shitshow of an experience, to get to watch something on a slightly bigger screen.
The theatre is arguably a worse experience in every way possible.
Want to watch a movie? Stay at home. Spend that money doing something else outside of the theatres.
I saved money and invested in a sound system, 4k TV, light blocking blinds and nice seating. All, just to enjoy @home
No shit. It feels like you’re being scammed when you pay to watch 20 minutes of commercials.
Not too long ago I got to the movie 20 minutes late after buying popcorn and drinks; and I still saw 20 minutes of trailers.
I went to see John Wick 4 with my brother and friend, when it came out. I think we spent like 70 bucks between the three of us.
Damn, not worth.
The last time I went to the cinema it was cold in the room. And the feature started with 20 minutes of ads. Not trailers. Ads. I just paid you 165 sek. Why are you showing me adverts? It just left such a bad taste in my mouth I haven’t been since. I even got a free ticket at home for Christmas from my employer. And it doesn’t get me back to the cinema.
Why would I want to schedule my entire day around a showtime, arrive early just to stand in line, pay a small fortune, skipping the popcorn and coke (overpriced and gone by the time the ads finish…), sit through 20 minutes of commercials (followed by trailers), for a movie that isn’t even that entertaining, with a sound system that is not particularly good (just loud) on a screen that is big but somehow less detailed than my TV at home?
At home I can pick from a huge variety of movies, start them on my schedule, eat/drink whatever I want. Pause to pee or even stop and watch the rest later. Adjust the volume to my satisfaction. Swap to a different movie if it is bad or doom scroll through the slow parts. If I want the movie theater experience I can just sit real close, turn the volume all the way up, and ban myself from using the toilet.
That said, what I do appreciate about theaters is getting to do something different, and breaking routines. That and the nostalgia factor. I want to like going to movies, but doing so is just a pain and takes more effort and planing than it should.
You’re speaking my mind. My home projector and sound system are the budget versions, and still offer better quality experience than the theater. They already paid for themselves in savings for tickets and the popcorn.
I still go to movies sometimes, but it’s got to be an experience: either a theater packed with like minded fans, or with a group of friends with whom I then go for a few pints over a game of pool.
I really like the movie experience myself. One, it’s nice to go out (I need every excuse I can on wfh days). It’s a nice little event or date night. I also think paying to go out and being with other people forces one to pay attention, talk less, and scroll on phone less. You get more of the artist’s vision and will probably catch more details. Also, my sound system can’t be that good because I live in a condo with neighbors who would complain if I upped my sound system too much. I also love watching movies with other people sometimes. The experience with a good Marvel movie when other people cheer, or with a comedy or horror and hearing other people laugh or jump is pretty great.
To me, the main problem is the money. Movie theaters are just so crazy expensive nowadays. Every theater needs to be a luxury experience to make it worth it. Theaters should be enforcing quiet and no cell phones, because it’s crazy to spend that much doe a night out and have someone’s little phone light or talking ruining it.
I will say I like the occasional movie at the theater near me.
Yes, it sucks that my schedule is bound by their showtimes, but hey, at least it means I’m unplugged and actually “present” for the movie.
The theater has online ticket sales where you pick your seat, you come in sit down in that fairly nice power recliner, wait staff come to take your order and bring decent food, and you can get more at will. The bathrooms are all individual private rooms, and the whole experience has a lot of cinaphile touch, including generally thoughtful “preshow” content. Like for a Disney movie there was lots of history of Disney and classic shorts. For a movie based on a 90s anime they rolled 90s era anime trailers for all sorts of content.
I do see at least some theaters have upped their game and offer a rather premium experience compared to “wait in line, wait in line again for crappy concessions, then walk on sticky floor to hopefully find a well placed seat and then fold it down and just live with it because how Else were you going to see this movie?”
I wouldn’t mind renting an entire small room with a good TV and sound system to watch things, especially with friends, and doubly especially if it had some game consoles and a wait staff.
Something a bit like a Japanese karaoke bar, where you rent a room for a while and can order drinks and food on a tablet. You get to hang out in a nice space with people you’ve invited, instead one big room full of shudder the general public.
God damn I was going to go to the movies later but now I won’t.
I love Chris Stuckmann, and I love his reviews, and I respect his opinion “the movie theater is important.”…
But I also know I don’t want to go to a “Movie theater” It’s not really an “Event” for us. if the choice is go to the movie theater or watch an episode or two of 8 our of 10 cats does countdown… We’d actually choose the latter.
I respect the movie theater, but at the same time I also hate the movie theater and that moving going experience.
I’d rather go to theatres but I’d rather not spend the money to go to theatres.
I bet if wages increased in the USA then AMC stocks would shoot up like a rocket.
yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
I’ve IBD so I can’t easily watch a two hour movie when my bowels decide to be a pain in the rectum. Watching movies at home means I can pause it which means I can enjoy the movie without any stress like rushing to get to the toilet, going multiple times in a ten minute period.
you could sport a diap’
How about fucking no? But I could get surgery to remove my bowel for you and let everyone get a fucking eyeful of a stoma bag that fills up when I take a shit because I won’t need to go to the bathroom anymore.
of course not, no.
multiple times in 10 mins sounds pretty rough
generally speaking, i only really like the movie theaters for tech demo movies (e.g Avatar) or if the audio experience is one of the largest aspects of the movie, else i dont see much of a reason to go myself.
The last movie I watched in the theater was dune part 1. I loved the movie but hated the experience. This time around I’ll wait till at the end of it’s run and watch with an empty theater. I prefer to watch all the latest movies on my vr headset.
Opening weekend for Dune 2 but the 10:45 am showing in a Sunday. Only like 6 people in the theater. Alas, one was coughing up a lung mid-movie but even he was far enough away I didn’t feel like I was getting COVID cooties.
Dune 1 I “streamed” via NZB (since they released it to streaming simultaneously) and then went and bought a ticket at the theater and threw it away without ever going in just to vote with my wallet for Dune 2 to happen.
Why did you buy a ticket just to throw it away?
just to vote with my wallet for Dune 2 to happen.
