Terminalcoffee discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Feeling Nostalgic? The archives
>
The Moviegoing Experience
date
newest »
newest »
My bf and I went to the theater yesterday to see "Rachel Getting Married." Bad move. Nowhere to park, long lines. I'd never seen it so crowded. We bailed. I like going to theater, but only during the week and early in the day when no one is there. I don't know why it didn't occur to either of us that it might be a little crowded on New Year's Day.It also depends on the movie. When we saw "Batman" this summer, there was no escaping the crowds. We waited for the third week and it was okay but there were tons of kids. Three 10-12 year old boys sat behind us kicking our seats and running their mouths the entire time. My dirty looks over the back of my chair did nothing to discourage them.
Overall, though, if it's a movie I'm excited about seeing I'd rather go see it on the big screen.
I like seeing films in the theatre. I like the BIG screen and the BIG sound. I prefer an empty theatre to a packed one b/c it's such a cool intimate experience, but even with a lot of people there, most people are quiet and turn phones off, so I can't imagine giving up the movies just because of cell phones. I try to go to matinees, though, since it's gotten so damn expensive. Yeah, actually price would be the only thing that would inhibit my theatre going.
Mod
I prefer to go to the local independent theater, especially in the middle of the day.
I like going to the theatre, but I loathe listening to people talk about the movie while I'm trying to watch.
I like going to the theater with friends, and we try to go to the first matinee showings on the weekends. Usually the earlier you go, the smaller the crowds.Plus, we go to things kids usually don't want to see, like Milk, which had a responsive, very pro-movie audience in attendance, and Slumdog Millionaire which I'm going to see on Sunday.
For things that are more likely to attract big, rude audiences, like Tropic Thunder, I wait and watch them on DVD.
I like to watch movies with special effects at the theater. I also like to watch sweeping epic dramas and films that are likely to be Oscar-nominated at the theater. Comedies and chick flicks can usually wait.
Me too, Sarah.I hate seeing the bright light of someone's cell phone during a movie. It makes me want to throw my shoe at them.
Throw both of them, Michelle. That really makes a statement.
Mod
I love going to the movies. Even though I feel very angry when people distract me with their cell phones and talking. More than once I have yelled BE QUIET!! It's really hard to do, to break the taboo I have inside of me about yelling like that in a movie. But it's ridiculous. I didn't go to the movies for over 20 years because that was considered a sin in the church I was very much a part of until I was 43. I think I'm making up for lost time. I also don't have a tv. I have a portable dvd player with a 6 inch screen. We weren't supposed to have tv's either, and for me personally, after living all those years without one, I don't want one. I like to watch movies, though, so this is a good solution for me. I like having a device to watch when I want to and then close up and put away. Like a blender or a hair dryer.
So....I love going to the movies!!!!
i personally talk to much during movies at home which annoys everyone except me but at the theatre i am quiet and watch. the experience is better at the theatre but at home you can watch it when you want, rewind, FF, watch special features (a fav of mine), read a book while 'watching' or just fall asleep and rewatch it later. the snacks are better and cheaper at my house BUT epic movies are not the same at home.
I've started taking my own snacks to the theater and hiding them in my purse. There is a gas station down the street from both of our local movie theaters that sells the movie-size boxes of candy for about $1. I usually get red vines and a cherry coke (I never drink cherry Coke except at the movies) and pop my own popcorn. I can't believe that they charge $5 for a small drink at the movies! What a rip-off.
Do you guys have dollar theaters in your towns? We have two and that's where I usually go. They probably make 90% of their profits from the snack bar, but that doesn't stop me from bringing my own food. Although--fresh movie popcorn is really good and I do indulge once in a while--even if it is a rip-off!
Sometimes I'll splurge and get the $5 soda just because fountain drinks taste so much better than bottled or canned, but then usually my husband and I share it.
there was nothing cooler than going to the drive-in with a paper grocery sack full of home popped pop corn (with the entire bottom of the bag dripping with melted butter and getting everything greasy) and root beer. heck, you could even take sandwiches or fried chicken. talk about the original flat screen experience. seeing back-to-back-to-back Planet Of The Ape movies was the pinnacle
The film society doesn't care if you bring in food, so a lot of people basically picnic up in the balcony, eating pizza and bottled drinks.That's the same theater here with brewer's yeast to put on your popcorn if you want. They have better prices than the chain theaters, too.
I never buy refreshments at the chains, but I often will smuggle in candy from the grocery store. For one thing, I don't WANT a king size box of Junior Mints. I want the regular size! And I don't want to pay 4 bucks for the size I didn't want to start with.
We used to go to the drive in when we were little. My mom would have us take a bath and put on our pajamas, then we'd stop at the grocery store on the way there and dad would run in and gets all kinds of junk food and soda. Then, before the movie started, he would carry me all around on the playground they had--from the swings, to the slide, to the merry go round, since I didn't have on shoes and the ground would be covered with gravel. Then we'd watch the movies--always a double feature--and one by one fall asleep and not even know it when we got home and our parents carried us up the stairs, into our apartment, and tucked us into the bed. It was so so fun!
I used to love going to drive-ins. My brother and I would sit in the back of our station wagon with pillows and blankets. It was never about the movie, but about being together.
i agree. the drive-in's were about family fun (or making out with your date when you got a bit older if you got dad's buick for the evening) Leslie - you described it perfectly. the playground and people walking around. the speaker hanging off your window
Mod
It was fun, too, because I was the oldest. Dad carried me around the playground while the "little" kids stayed in the car with Mom. And they would always fall asleep first, and I would sit in the middle of the back seat, hanging over into the front seat, in between my mom and my dad. You're right, the movie was the backdrop and the reason for being there, but it really wasn't about the movie, it was the whole experience. Even waking up the next morning all safe and happy in my bed was part of it. For us it was often a Disney double feature with a bunch of cartoons first. It makes me want to take my daughter.
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Do you prefer to see films in the theater or at home? Are there some you go see immediately and some for which you'll wait? What's the standard? What do you like about going to the movies? What do like about watching at home? What do you dislike about both?
I don't go to movies very often outside of summer. In fact, I'm trying to think of the last movie I saw in the theater and I'm having a hard time thinking back that far, seriously. I could go see movies later at night, after the kids are asleep, I suppose, but I usually want to read quietly or do something else while I have the opportunity. Also, when my wife and I get babysitters we usually want to talk with each other rather than sit in a darkened theater (although we have symphony tickets this year, so sometimes that's not true, I guess).
So I have to be REALLY excited about a movie to catch it in a theater between September and May. I don't have too much of a problem with noise or distractions in theaters, but I haven't gone to a movie (except for kids' movies) on weekends in years. During the summer I have more time and catch more movies. I like the cool, dark refuge of a theater on a summer day.
I also like the fact I can fast-forward and pause at will with a DVD. I'm notorious for putting the closed-caption on and watching at double-speed to get through the boring parts.
And...you?