Cinema screenings - what do you prefer?

[Perdide]

Originally Posted by The Yeti

One of the heads of a cinema chain in the US thinks allowing texting in a film is a good idea, as it'll bring back teen audiences, who seemingly can't last 2 hours without using a phone.

My arse it will. They'll only be filling the seats left empty by others heading for the door if this happens. Idiot woman.

Well that's a self-defeating policy if there ever was one! If they can't sit though a 90-120 minute film without reaching for their mobile then perhaps they should give up going to the cinema anyway. Whats the point of those "dont use your phone" adverts. Plus it's only a short hop from texting to actually calling someone or (crazy idea) FILMING the film on your phone! Seriously bad idea I think.

"luk @ this crzy scene! LOL" ... Uploads to YouTube in the cinema...

The whole trending thing is balls too, that only works for a broadcast, there are many showings of films, all that would happen is that twitter would self implode into a spoiler hell for those who've not seen it, plus these people are generally talking to mates who are also enjoying the same thing... Who would presumably have to be with them at the same screening or their tweets would be all out of kilter.

Plus the big thing about the trending stuff is that they're in the privacy of their own homes usually, or at a big social like a bar (for sporting events) so doing other stuff is fine... In a dark cinema or a theatre... Not so fine.

I think it's not a case of being old and fuddy-duddy, it's a case of getting he kids and teenagers to know what's appropriate and when. Otherwise, like The Yeti above, I reckon the cinemas will just die as people who want to watch films give up and wait for the DVD/BD/Download so they can enjoy in peace.

[Midnighter]

Originally Posted by Space Cadet

And I'll never, ever go and see kids' movie at the cinema. The little gits don't know how to behave! When I was a kid, it was an occasion to go the pictures, not an excuse to behave even worse than at home.

The only thing worse than kids is babies. Yes, I have actually been in a screening where someone had decided to take their wee rugrat. I thought there was nowt worse than the incessant munching of pocorn, playing with phones, talking, etc and then had to put up with a child crying for most of a film. Parents!

Originally Posted by The Yeti

One of the heads of a cinema chain in the US thinks allowing texting in a film is a good idea, as it'll bring back teen audiences, who seemingly can't last 2 hours without using a phone.

My arse it will. They'll only be filling the seats left empty by others heading for the door if this happens. Idiot woman.

You mean some moron actually wants to make that jokey Orange 'phone break' ad a reality. Only in America! (I Hope.)

For me it all depends on the film. I prefer an empty cinema but, if the film's bad enough, a full cinema can actually add to the experience and make the film almost enjoyable.

[Son of Solo]

Originally Posted by Midnighter

and then had to put up with a child crying for most of a film.

I got someone kicked out because of that.

Not my finest hour but it was a day time showing of Attack of The Clones and it was the first time I'd seen it.

Obviously now I wish I'd not bothered. The crying kid would of been far more entertaining.

[Mr.Lavigne]

Even my full screening of American Reunion the other night, full of teenagers, were on best behaviour. And loved the movie.

[Sensei Ping]

I recently went to see "Marvels Avengers Assemble" [sic] in my local (and indeed only) cinema - predictably was populated by

> loathsome parents and their obnoxious offspring
it is possible to eat doritos and salsa and popcorn without despoiling an area six foot square [I've seen it done] - but not for them, apparently

> texting, chattering teenagers

> people who've drunk two pints of alcohol beforehand - and need the lav six minutes in

> wailing brats brought by people too cheap to hire a babysitter - the showing was at 8pm - I don't know much about young children but aren't they supposed to be in bed at that time, or something

the biggest cheer of the night after "Hulk....smash!" was when a responsible adult told them to take their brat home...and they did, thank fuck...

> the obnoxious brat "sat" next to me [attention span 1.8 milliseconds] managed to kick me during his glucose induced writhings - I'm ashamed to say I kicked him back - but not that ashamed

needless to say, said film is 12A classification, the classification that must be destroyed

is it any wonder I watch most films on DVD in the comfort of my own home?

bliss it is to watch a movie in a half-empty theatre with an audience of consisting mostly of people born before 1985....

[The Yeti]

Whilst much of the above is true, particularly in multiplexes, sometimes the local arthouse full of people of a more, say, elderly persuasion can sometimes be as bad.

I have involvement with one such establishment, and the average age is 65+. So there are different problems ...

- people who insist on sitting in the seat number on their ticket (even if there are plenty of spaces to spare)
- it is not uncommon for one half of a couple to whisper to their other half. Unfortunately if both are deafish, that 'whisper' can be heard by just about everyone else
- the urge to discuss a plot point in great detail, especially if its a historical film and they remember it happening the first time round. They can be worse than the kids for talking.
- the deafening whine of a hearing aid at crucial and deathly quiet moments in the film
- the forgetting to turn off the mobile phone, and then when it rings, forgetting how to turn it off
- the urge to have a pee. Of course, evey age has this, but this lot are not exactly spry on their feet, and so clambering over everyone else can take a while
- coats, bags, hats, umbrellas, more coats. Just bring 'em all in.
- people who haven't been near a cinema since the 1960's. I'm not kidding either. Whole rafts of them turned up last year for the Kings Speech. Cinema for them hasn't exactly moved on.
- I'm still asked if there's an interval

[Shining_Knight]

Bring back the interval I say along with the B Feature . I went to see a NT play beamed to my local Odeon and it had an interval and it was good idea. People went to the loo and had munchies in the interval. This did not disrupt the showing at all with people munching and getting up during the performance.

I remember fondly Mum used to leave us at the Saturday Morning Kids Show and do her shopping. The cartoons, Children's Film Foundation Films and either Flash Gordon / Buck Rogers Serial. Those were the days, Kids today have the attention spans of a goldfish.

[Saul Iscariot]

I wouldn't mind seeing a return of the interval. As a diabetic I sometimes get carried away on the snacks when I visit the cinema and it can cause me to want to pee a lot.

[Wee Little Puppet Man]

As I own a Cineworld pass I tend to visit the cinema on a very regular basis and 99% of the time there's never any problems with other people but when I saw The Avengers last week I had the misfortune to be sat next to an annoying kid who couldn't stop talking to his brother throughout the whole film. His dad told him to be quiet early on and I even told him to shush myself at one point but to no avail. For the first half hour he insisted on naming each of the main characters when they first appeared onscreen and then saying obvious things like "Thor vs Hulk" when Thor and the Hulk were fighting on the SHIELD helicarrier which annoyed me no end. I know he was only a kid but for crying out loud other people were trying to watch the film as well.

So that's one reason why I had to watch the film again this weekend, the others being the crappy 3D, Odeon's extortionate prices (not to mention charging me for an adult ticket for my 15 year old brother) and the fact that it's the epitome of awesome.

So while the screening I watched it in yesterday was just as full, thankfully everyone was there just to watch the film.

[Happy-Hangman]

There is a simple enough strategy to avoid annoying children/teenagers/arses at Cineworld. I, too, have an Unlimited card, and my Mondays are usually spent - from around 10am to 8pm - screeen-hopping. Of late the only impediment to my viewing have been the members of staff who deliberately walk in front of the audience every 20 minutes or so, to disturb the line-of-sight of would-be pirates.

Fairstly, don't go to see a blockbuster or animation on a Saturday or a Bank Holiday. You know in your heart, they will be chock-a-block with exciteable kids, and have only yourself to blame if you get annoyed.

For 'big' movies, go to an early screening. First one of the day, if possible. The auditoriums tend to be quiet early in the day, the teenagers are at school or still in bed, and the ditzier parents are still trying to prepare their progeny for the day ahead.

For mainstream comedies, the early afternoon works best for me. This is the temporal domain of pensioners, and with any luck the old biddies will fall asleep - sparing you even the clickity-clack of their dentures on the Werthers Originals.

Late afternoons, perhaps surprisingly, are good for animations or family-fare: the kids have had their lunch, and tend to be rather more settled or sleepy - and the rowdier teenagers would consider themselves 'too cool' to be seen going to see a kids' flick when so many of their peers are about.

Early evenings are good for dramas or more character-based comedies: the post-dinner audiences have yet to emerge, and the teenagers have sloped off in search of cider. Occasionally you'll get the odd couple of giggly office-girls in comedies, enjoying a post-work titter, but this is the second lull of the day for many cinemas, and the comparatively small audiences make them easier to avoid.