Going to the movie theater is a dice roll and overall bad experience

[u/DaArio_007]

Wasn't always like this though. I'm in my late 30's and grew up with movies and lost count of how many times I went to the movie theater.

However with COVID, obviously everyone had to take a break of that. It's only last year that I started experiencing theaters again and it kind of hit me how bad the experience has become. The reason I go is to enjoy a movie, free of my phone, of distractions, of anything: just me, a good story, good surround system, and popcorn. However lately it has become impossible to do any of that. Whether it's people checking their phone here and there (which is a true distraction when it's pitch dark and you see that bright light hit your face), kids laughing or chatting, some a-hole knocking your seat, people moving around, some nerd with the main character syndrome yelling references, etc.

Not to mention, the last movie I watched literally showed its trailer minutes before it started. Now I'm a picky one for those, but I absolutely hate getting spoiled any detail about a movie. I won't even watch the trailer because I want it to be a surprise, and here I am getting blasted on a giant screen with the key moments of the movie I paid for, like wtf? Pretty sure someone dropped the ball on that and it was a one-off, but still.

Lastly the ads: I timed it, 25 minutes worth of shitty ads. Sitting through 25mins of ads feels like it's 1995 again and I have to suffer commercial break for 5mins before I can watch another 5 mins segment. Yea I could arrive later and show up on time to avoid those, but sue me for wanting to settle in before the movie starts.

A few years ago I thought ''who are the crazy ones who are going to pay $25 for a movie on Amazon Video?'', well I'm joining that club. 25$ to have complete silence, no need to drive, no $250 for a popcorn and a soda, having to find parking, and having my experience ruined by people who have no manners or are clueless about the 101 of movie theater.

[u/qualityvote2]

u/DaArio_007, there weren't enough votes to determine the quality of your post...

[u/LuteBear]

Oh man, you must live in a bad area. I've genuinely maybe experienced some of this stuff maybe once my whole life. Most people generally are well behaved in the movie theater. If it is bad they are more than helpful in refunding us our money.

Edit: as for food prices I don't blame movie theatres specifically. Everything is expensive nowadays. I think it's way more crazy that a regular burger combo from 5guys is $22 dollars. That's fucking insane.

[u/TallFutureLawyer → u/LuteBear]

I see people’s phones in the theatre way too often (and it was already like that before the pandemic), but not usually any of the other things OP listed. I definitely wonder what’s going on if OP is encountering them frequently.

[u/DisgracedTuna → u/LuteBear]

I remember living on the east like 15 years ago and a cheeseburger combo with a loaded bag of fries was like $7-8.

It was always so good and cheap. Now 5 guys is like maybe once every couple months because I don't want to spend $35 on 2 burgers and a small cup of fries for me and the wife.

Cant imagine taking a whole family there.

[u/275MPHFordGT40 → u/LuteBear]

The worst I’ve experienced in the past 5 years is when I was watching Sonic 3 and a kid was super excited to see the characters. Easily ignorable.

[u/LuteBear → u/275MPHFordGT40]

If it's a kids movie like that I will try to avoid going near the opening week, that seems to be when all the freaks want to go to the movies. At least try to let the movie be out for a little bit before I go see it. It seems to help.

[u/cdevon95]

I agree with the ads part. If I buy tickets for an 8pm movie I don’t even show up to the snack counter until 8:15. It’s ridiculous

[u/StevenGrimmas]

I agree with the ads, however the experience is great outside that. Got even better after COVID with assigned seats and being extra clean. Plus the popcorn and enjoying with an excited crowd is great.

[u/DaArio_007 → u/StevenGrimmas]

don't get me wrong, if I could enjoy a quiet experience, I would deal with the ads. There is no denying that movie theaters makes the experience better, but the odds haven't been favorable for me lately and so the theater lost its edge.

[u/StilgarFifrawi]

Agreed.

Agreed.

Agreed.

It's so fucking annoying. I go to the movies almost every weekend. We splurge on the "nice" theaters (IMAX or whatever the chain's "upscale" theater is) to avoid kids. Works about 50% of the time. Theaters are all, "Waaah. Why aren't you coming out?" People on my end keep screaming, "Fucking kick out the screaming kids!" But they don't, so we have a 50/50 chance of dealing with idiots.

[u/CitizenPremier → u/StilgarFifrawi]

You agree so why do you go?

[u/StilgarFifrawi → u/CitizenPremier]

Because I’m in a movie group and it’s an integral part of the friendship and the source of some of my greatest joy

[u/YogurtclosetDull2380]

I hit $5 matinees on my day off and the theaters are always empty. It's pretty sweet

[u/Sarcastic_Rocket]

I'm so curious as to what people's experience is like when they say this

I have a subscription with my theater chain, I'm in a theater seat 2× a month sometimes up to 4 times a month. I go on peak hours, peak days, peak movies. I saw both dunes, the Batman, Oppenheimer, barbie, Deadpool and Wolverine, opening night, and 6 movies on a special discount day where the whole theater is packed.

I have never NEVER had these annoying bad experiences that people have every time when they complain about theaters

Also our chain does exactly 15 minutes of trailers, ads are before the official start time, once the movie is supposed to start there's an ad for the chain itself to get their subscription service (which is why I got it) then some movie trailers that are in line with the genre of the movie you're about to see, the emergency exit info, then the movie starts.

[u/DaArio_007 → u/Sarcastic_Rocket]

funny enough, I saw all the movies you listed. I'm a diehard Dune fan, and for Part 2, some girls were chatting a few seats next to me and she kept pulling her phone up. I made an effort to lean on my arm to not see her screen, but the chatting got to me. I hate confrontation, but I had to throw ''do you mind?'' at her. She obviously couldn't believe someone had said that to her, and as you would expect, they both made it worse and I regretted it.

Same thing happened for the 2nd Avatar, a full row of cell phones opened (probably people who didn't enjoy the movie as a group)

[u/Sarcastic_Rocket → u/DaArio_007]

I guess people from Boston still understand movie theater etiquette and they don't where you live

[u/ifeespifee → u/Sarcastic_Rocket]

Maybe Boston is different. I go almost exclusively to AMCs as well as Apple cinemas and Alamo Draft house. The first two attract demographics of the type of people that OP mentioned (teenagers, YA) but as soon as the movie starts they are typically very respectful.

[u/Buhos_En_Pantelones → u/Sarcastic_Rocket]

May I ask, are you in the US?

[u/Sarcastic_Rocket → u/Buhos_En_Pantelones]

Boston, so yes

[u/LateResident5999]

If there is an Alamo draft house in your area, maybe try that, they're super big on kicking people out for using phones/talking

But I agree with you, it's become so damn expensive and the ads are super annoying. They're trying to make the movie theater a luxury experience lately, constantly pushing you to buy some $20 drink or something. It used to be an affordable thing to do for fun. I get that time's are changing, but honestly I don't see the movie theater industry lasting more than like another 30 years tops unless something changes 

[u/t_will_official]

I’ve definitely noticed this too. Feels like more often than not anymore unless I’m going to an empty theater, there’s gonna be people talking throughout the movie.

But like you said, it’s a dice roll. For Sonic 3 last week, there was a diehard fan in the row behind us that was absolutely losing his shit at the entire third act (in a good hype way, not a yelling complainy way) and that honestly enhanced the experience for me lol

For the ads, dude I 100% agree. I don’t necessarily mind trailers, but lately they’ve been playing commercials in between trailers and that annoys the crap out of me. I guess it does take the pressure off if you’re stuck in traffic or whatever, but when it’s a movie I really wanna see, I like to make sure I’m there by the start time so it does suck knowing you still have like a half hour to go until the movie between all the trailers and now commercials too.

[u/AcademicBumblebee279]

Clearly you haven't tried shitting in the seats in the back, it gives you quite the rush.

[u/DaArio_007 → u/AcademicBumblebee279]

lmao
I always pick the back seat, cuz I'm thinking at least I avoid the a-holes kicking the seat. I think the downside of that is that I see 100% of the room, i.e. anyone who might bring up their phone

[u/BoltActionRifleman]

Another reason I don’t like to go is all of the people who pour a gallon of cologne or perfume on themselves before going out.

[u/Entropy907]

Nobody understands separation between private spaces and public spaces anymore. Smart phones have destroyed that.

[u/Deora_customs]

Yeah, which is why, we would leave sometime, before the movie starts, I was lucky to only watch like 3 adds.

[u/AriesAsF]

And its WAY too loud.

[u/vonshiza]

I'm blessed to live in a city with a ton of local run movie theaters. If I can avoid a mainstream movie theater, I will never go to one. At the smaller theaters, concessions are affordable, there's usually none to three trailers before the movie plays depending on what it is, and the other people that are there are there to see a movie and not be assholes.

The few times I have ended up at a main theater because it's not playing at the local theaters or just worked out best to go to one has been a semi negative experience, but 9 out of 10 times at a local theater, the experience is great and that 10th experience is usually not that bad.

[u/astropastrogirl]

Don't join Amazon, they have recently started charging individually for lots of their movies ( not all )

[u/Billy_Bob_man]

Have you tried going to a different theater? Sounds like the people that visit yours are just rude in general. And as far as the ads go, find a theater with assigned seats and just arrive 20 minutes after the "start" time of the movie.

[u/Chapea12]

Other than the terrible prices, I have none of these experiences, and I’ve lived in major US cities since 2016 and attend a couple movies a year.

It’s a pretty consistent experience for me. The prices price out a lot of people who just fuck around (which is a shame in a way. As a teenager, we’d always go to the movies and stay for hours)9

[u/Prestigious-Mine-904]

Yeah this is why I always get to my showtime 20-25 minutes late. I usually walk in right as the opening credits are coming on, it’s nice

[u/assflux]

try going to a revival theater (if you're interested in older movies but they should still show some new releases too). they're generally cheaper and have far better audience etiquette BUT when it's a packed screening or a really popular movie it can be hit or miss. honestly i never even go to any of the big chain cinemas near me anymore.

95% of my time at my go-to old school theater has been awesome except: 1. group of teenagers on their phone during pulp fiction 2. packed halloween screening of texas chainsaw massacre where people behind my friends & i wouldn't stop commenting on every damn scene

[u/revengeofthebiscuit]

Go to a better theater - at Alamo Drafthouse they will absolutely toss people for bad behavior. It really makes a difference in the experience if you have one near you.

[u/Cranks_No_Start]

We used to go on average maybe twice a month in the summer when all the good movies were hitting and a least once a month the rest of the year. The theartre had a Starbucks counter so it was a Large coffee and a some kind of ??? for the Mrs and then we would share a super Nacho thing. and it was $40 ish

Since Covid hit and then they were requiring masks and assigned seating, we just never went back. Last look tickets were $21 each and I can only imagine the food pricing. So I just invested in a large screen Tv and a decent sound bar.

[u/Largofarburn]

I don’t feel like this is that unpopular.

Outside of the dice roll on your fellow audience members (I feel like it can go both ways, a good audience can definitely add to the experience.) I hate not being able to pause if I need to take a piss or grab a beer or something too.

And maybe I just have a good setup at home, but I feel like strictly sound and picture wise it’s consistently better too. Half the time they’ve got the volume cranked up way too loud at my local theatre. And last time the picture just cut out and they had to wind it back like 5 minutes and restart.

Plus I don’t have to drive into town or put on pants or worry about what nasty things have happened to my seat.

And if we want snacks it’s not gonna be another $20+ on top of the $20-30 we already paid for tickets. Plus stuff comes to streaming so fast now it’s not like back in the vhs days where you’re waiting for a year or more.

[u/CitizenPremier]

Down voted because it sounds like it is a bad experience due to the poor manners of the people around you.

Also some theaters have good enough seats that you hardly can see people around you, so if someone does pull out a phone you're unlikely to be bothered.

[u/RockAndStoner69]

An ad for the movie you're about to see at said movie? That's admittedly pretty nuts, my man. I generally aim to arrive about 15 minutes "late" just to avoid a good chunk of trailers. It's absurd.

Regarding all that other noise--just a bad area, I guess. I also see late showings and that thins out the crowds.

[u/Duck-Lord-of-Colours]

That sucks. I feel like it's going in the direction of many theatres becoming shit, with a few gaining a reputation of excellence that sets them apart. Im ok with that I guess; I personally rarely want to see a movie in cinemas, so I'm happy for it to be a once-every-so-often but high quality treat.

[u/athiaxoff]

... get a refund? like i get that the movies can occasionally suck but do people forget we are adults spending money? you're allowed to ask for your money back if the product/service wasn't to your standards. quit lowering your standards and letting other moviegoers ruin the experience for you. yell at someone, get a theater worker, literally anything other than sitting there and just letting the annoyance play out without voicing your concerns only to do so on reddit is actually funny.

[u/WitchPHD_]

I would say that usually staying at home, especially if you have a dark basement with surround sound, is a better experience.

I do like that theaters have no windows, and there’s something nice and special about theatre popcorn instead of popcorn you make at home as well. Plus they have a cleaning staff so if some popcorn crumbs spill or butter oil drips a bit, I don’t have to be responsible for.

I also live in a nice area where it seems like people don’t do shitty stuff as much.

[u/DrNanard]

What kind of movies do you watch? To me, this is a problem I encounter only with blockbusters and mainstream cinema. Avatar 2 was probably the worst experience I had in my life. But go see indie movies, movies with lesser marketing budget, movies where you'll be like 12 in the room. Went to see Emilia Perez and it was a fabulous experience.

[u/parisiraparis]

I live in a metropolitan area and I find that these issues only happen in major chain theaters. The smaller locally owned theaters don’t usually have these issues because no one knows they exist, but the downside is they don’t have the giant IMAX screenings and they usually don’t stay in business for too long.

[u/IndividualistAW]

Movies also just suck now which isnt the theaters fault.

No one wants to watch CapeManXProMax part 25

[u/Dude_with_the_skis]

Downvoted because this really isn’t an unpopular opinion.

The movie theater industry is hardly holding on at this point. Movies are getting worse and worse, food is so expensive I’d rather starve, and why would anyone see movies at a theater when streaming has most the things you need?

[u/DaArio_007 → u/Dude_with_the_skis]

I respect your opinion. However you might be the 10th dentist like me.
My social circle still enjoys theaters and they're always shocked to hear about my experience, I figured I wasn't among the majority

[u/Dude_with_the_skis → u/DaArio_007]

Confirmation bias maybe? Or maybe I’m influenced by confirmation bias? Either way I’ve only heard negative things about the cinema industry the last 10 years but hey maybe I’m wrong who knows.

[u/Both_Tumbleweed2242]

When I was a teenager I went to the cinema every weekend. Didn't matter what film was on, it was what we did. Either that or to the video shop to get a rental of a film to watch at a friend's house. Plus always a Chinese takeaway and so many sweets! I literally saw almost every film released from about 1998-2006 lol.

Now I go to the cinema only a few times a year, and mostly for showings of older films like anniversary shows or Hallowe'en theme events etc etc. The last time I did a new movie at the cinema was barbenheimer. And I fucking hated Oppenheimer. One of the worst movie I've ever seen.

I miss being so excited for new releases or enjoying the cinema so much. But it's so expensive I'd rather go to something that gives me nostalgia now. Or has a more "theatrical" feel like sing-a-long Rocky Horror.

[u/AmandaCalzone]

Ugh, downvoted. Post-covid I have had the following experiences at multiple theaters:

Barbie: group of teenage girls. We kept hearing this grunting/moaning from them, I thought maybe they had like...brought a disabled friend of theirs? Or something? idk man I was trying to be understanding. But nope, then they started to take turns going to the bathroom and making that same grunting noise running down the aisles while the rest of them yelled YOURE SO ANNOYINGGGG. They later chose the end of the movie, the big Rhea Perlman scene, to start watching videos on their phones.

Oppenheimer: man in his 50s or 60s straight up took a phone call during the movie and had an entire conversation. Neither his wife nor his son stopped him.

The Creator: A family of 5, 3 kids under 10, just talked the entire time. The kids were asking a lot of questions because, obviously, its not a movie for their age group. Their parents did not seem to care at all and were talking right back to them at regular conversational volume. The entire movie.

I really love going to the movies but it really is such a gamble. Lately, if I go at all, I try to pick when I think the movie is right at the tail end of it's theater run so there will be less people.

[u/South_Willingness330]

Okay but why don't you say anything?? People used to shush each other in movie theaters. I still do this and it works 90% of the time because the rest of the theater will support you. Stand up if you feel it's wrong instead of sitting through 2 hours of being annoyed

[u/DaArio_007 → u/South_Willingness330]

Did you even read the post?