Discuss: How Bad a Theater Can You Stand?

I've had some bad experiences. But when that happens, I have a very good excuse to never go back to that theater.

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Those are some of the main reasons I don't watch movies in theaters. The "communal experience" you say you like is the biggest deterrent for me; I want quiet and privacy when I watch something. And few movies really benefit from a big screen in my opinion, maybe the big blockbuster types, but I am fortunate to have a drive-in nearby.

Like I have said before, I refuse to pay 6-12 dollars to be captive for 2 or so hours in an uncomfortable seat, surrounded by people who will Not be quiet, crappy sound quality and a muddy (at best) screen. I will continue to wait for the dvd or find a "screener" torrent so I can watch movies in the comfort of my own home, with my own equipment, and the pause button handy whenever necessary. More studios should offer the same-as-theaters on-demand service like they have for World's Greatest Dad.

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I absolutely refuse to go see movies anywhere other than the Alamo Drafthouse. They're the only game in town that seems to give a crap about the entire movie going experience. When I saw Moon at the Arbor, the sound was out for 1/2 of the previews, the seats were uncomfortable and people talked during part of it.

That was the first time I had gone to a non-Alamo theater in years and I'm not ever going back.

Regular movie theaters, at least in Austin are garbage in comparison and not worth my cash.

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Many of my local theaters have HORRIBLE service and ultimately that's what keeps me from going to the movies. For every ten cash registers, only two are open, ticket machines are always broken, surround sound systems are never turned on, and the people working there are always annoyed if you need to speak to them. I was at an 'Ice Age 3' screening at a local theater and the projector stopped working right before the last scene. There was nobody in the projection room because it's all automated now. Same with the lights. They'll stay on well into the movie until you get somebody, and that's after they blow you off and say they're supposed to turn off automatically. The times I've run out to get popcorn during a movie, it can take up to ten minutes because whoever's working the register is still talking to their friends or moves at a snail's pace. It seems like you just have to pass the sniff test to be employed and I have no idea why there are such low standards when they need to be pulling bigger profits. This isn't rocket science. It might be tedious working at a theater, but it isn't difficult.

Sorry for the mini-rant. This has been pissing me off. I love going to the movies and I especially love watching with an audience, but if the people running it don't give a shit about the job they do, I'm going to stay home.

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I haven't even finished reading the first paragraph of this post yet, but I have to voice my agreement NOW. I cannot believe how often--is it ever not the case, actually?--that projectionists these days cannot even get the damn movie on the screen correctly. There seem always to be several feet of the picture projected past the edges of the screen. I was amazed during a screening of Terminator Salvation this summer that a bouncing, jerking picture seemed to go unnoticed by everyone else in the theater except for one woman. I saw her leave to complain. Later, I left to complain. Was the movie stopped? No, of course not. I was told: "We're working on it." Every time I looked into the projection booth, I saw no one there. They were not working on it. A manager later offered me vouchers via email. I didn't want vouchers. I want them to do their jobs correctly. The theater was owned by Cinemark, incidentally.

An upscale local theater owned by Apex has had a terrible echo in their largest auditorium since the theater was built 14 years ago. Have they ever done anything about it? No. The employees all know about it. You might be told: "It's not that bad, though. Not all the time." I find dialogue unintelligible half the time I'm in that auditorium.

There are no standards anymore. Throw in the way the average person now jabbers to himself during a movie as if he's a schizophrenic, and I can have a better experience watching a DVD on my 13" laptop than I can have in a theater. I grew up in the midwest watching all the best films on video anyway. The romance of the movie theater means nothing to me.

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Just last weekend I went to see a matinee of "Away We Go" at a local -- and non-chain -- theatre near me (I won't name it because it actually has an excellent reputation), and from the very beginning there was like a "ghost image" of the projection. It was almost as if it was a 3-D film shown without glasses. I'd never seen anything like it. They kept trying to adjust the focus but it wouldn't lock. Some people went out to the lobby to complain, including me, but were told that they'd have to take apart the lens module "and they couldn't do it while the film was running." WTF??? So they were just going to keep it out of focus for the duration of the reel (or longer). Maybe it would have been fixed for the 5:30 show, but I can't believe that the rest of the crowd would prefer that to waiting for the lens to be checked. Plus it seemed unusually dim, but of course, the response there was "Oh, that's the print." Yeah, like even the studio's logo was underexposed. So I left after five minutes, and did receive my money back with no problem, but I wonder how many other people in that auditorium gave up as well.

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I have an AMC that is 1 1/2 mile from me, but we avoid like the plague simply because the other patrons are "hoodly," (IE: trash folk).
We then drive 15 miles away to a more "upscale" theater.
(Nothing like paying $12 a ticket just so some a**hole next to you can chat loudly on his cell to his "boo")

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There was one company I wrote to about their service and technical problems. I got an e-mail that was 90% form letter and 10% "shove it".

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I live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, and thankfully technical problems at the theatres I frequent are few and far between. Now if we could only do something about people talking during the movie.

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About an hour into Brokeback Mountain, just as things get interesting and less epic-shotish, the movie turned upside down and backwards. Happening in a comedy, that's tolerable -- a long, pensive movie? Not so much.

Or watching Hellboy 2 and the entire last scene and conversation were silent due to a sound glitch.

That being said, I sometimes enjoy a movie in an iffy theater -- like watching Touch of Evil with an old print in a sound-crappy theater. It made the experience better.

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Living in Austin, I too have become spoiled by the Drafthouse, not only because the concern they have for the moviegoing experience but also for the beer and food. (I went to another theater the other day and it felt weird to just... sit there.) However, if I wanna see movies that I know are going to be silly or just plain awful, there is a theater in town with notoriously rude audiences. Sometimes listening to them make dumb comments like "Don't go in there, snakes on a plane!" is better than the actual movie.

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I live in Connecticut where Showcase Cinemas are pretty much the only choice unless you're willing to do some driving. The theater in my town has actually never had any problems of any sort.
The last time I ever experienced any techinical problems at a theater was probably about 10 years ago at a different theater 20 minutes from me. They have since come under new management and I have gone more recently. No issues this time, though it's in an urban area, so the crowds are rather obnoxious.

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i usually see movies in a nice megaplex with great picture and sound. but when crouching tiger hidden dragon first came out and was on limited release, i had to endure one of the older style theaters in pasadena that didn't have stadium style seating and the seats were small and cramped. but it was easy to forget once the movie started. i can endure it for the right movie.

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Like my dear husband, noahphex, noted above regarding our non-Drafthouse experience at Arbor... I refuse to cave to his willingness to sometimes see independent films at other theaters from here on out.

I was forced to see Moon at Arbor and was cranky through the entire experience (except for my blatant disregard for my waistline and proceeded to gobble and entire box of Reese's Pieces). I was even more cranky once we walked out of the theater.

Between the talking policy and the kid policy at the Drafthouse and their willingness to remedy anything gone awry they really serve their customer base. I only remember once when the sound was bad and I notified the server and about 10 minutes later the sound was fixed! I recall another time in recent memory where we weren't served promptly and were given vouchers to a movie. All that said, they take care of their base and Tim League/Drafthouse are always working to bring the base the best experience possible, unlike any other theater.

That being said the 3 greatest things about the Drafthouse compared to other theaters are: 1. the seats are comfortable 2. the only thing you need to get out of that seat for is to pee and in most of their theaters you will never get in the way of the other movie goers and 3. the only "commercials" you will see are for upcoming events/trailers... what you do see before your movies are cleverly orchestrated pre-show videos. For example old Transformers cartoons before Transformers, or that crazy Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch before Mission Impossible III.

Who wouldn't want to see a movie at the Drafthouse rather than home?

I can't imagine living in a place where the Alamo Drafthouse does not exist.

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But those seats at the Paramount! So very very tiny.

My problem with Highland tends towards whole families that go to any and every movie, PG to R, violence galore, with infants even. It keeps driving me away from there for long periods.

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I guess I'm pretty lucky in rural Illinois. We have two multiplexes, one art house theater, and one second-run/classics theater all of which are in good repair.

My occasional trips up to Chicago and the burbs also tend to be pretty good.

My only real gripe with the theater experience these days is the enormous number of asshats that can't go more than 10 minutes without looking at their phones. This is especially bad in and around Chicago where you will see constant pools of bright blue lights in the lower-tier seats throughout most of the show.

I definitely prefer seeing most films in the theater but I don't understand the level of distraction that would make you pay $10+ for a ticket and then ignore what's going on up on the screen. If you can't detach from your gadgets for 2 whole hours, stay home!

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