Good Movie Manners Cost Nothing

[Deleted]

Oh those Sleeper Flicks!

I was at the Cheapie theater watching Finding Neverland,(which was very good BTW---a two hankie movie). At the beginning of the movie, we watch Mr. Depp as J.M. Barrie watching the premiere of one of his plays. Mr. Depp is watching the audience who in turn are talking to each other, squirming, doing personal grooming---all the good movie manners mentioned here. One of the play's patrons has already sunk into a snoring slumber. The play is not a hit.

Five minutes into the movie, I am thinking that the point has been made, let us all move on. Why is that play patron's snoring still in the sound track of this movie? Is it some sort of musical theme concerning dreams and the suspension of belief that will be used throughout the movie? Bad Idea. But wait, no it is not the movie's sound track; it is a Movie patron sleeping noisily behind me. He only woke up for the credits and then sat there and watched them.

[phenobarbara]

During the last few minutes of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, the lighting goes from dark to light a few times during the last scenes. Most of the audience kept getting up, then realizing it wasn't over, sitting down, then getting up, then realizing it still wasn't over...good times.

When I saw Scorpion King, some doofus answered his cell phone and started chatting away. People around him started yelling at him and he retorted: "who are you, the movie police?" The stupidity of that retort made me spew out the Pepsi I was drinking.

[roseland]

During the last few minutes of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, the lighting goes from dark to light a few times during the last scenes. Most of the audience kept getting up, then realizing it wasn't over, sitting down, then getting up, then realizing it still wasn't over...good times.

Seriously? I hope this was the theater's employees fucking with the audience. Because that would be some funny shit. I mean, my friend and I went to see RoTK and we had to go to the bathroom really badly but didn't want to leave before the end of the movie and I remember sitting there and thinking at least four times "This HAS to be the end of the movie. How many endings can it have?" And yet, there'd be another ending.

[phenobarbara]

"This HAS to be the end of the movie. How many endings can it have?" And yet, there'd be another ending.

Yep, that's what happened. People kept thinking it was the end, but then oops, there are the hobbits again, okay, now it's over, ooops! there's the hobbits saying goodbye, okay, it's over, no wait...there's Frodo again.
;D Pretty funny.

[duskwolf]

About 2 1/2 years ago, I saw The Ring on a Saturday night. This is probably the reason why I barely ever want to go to the movies anymore, let alone Saturday night.

I was in a packed movie theater and I was seated next to a group of obviously teenage girls (I was 23 at the time). At one point, the one next to me was saying something to the extent of "don't go in there. Don't fucking go in there!"

First of all, I really wish I could have told this kid how truly unattractive it is for a girl to use swear words (with guys, it's not that great either, but for girls, it's especially unattractive). And I really wish I could have knocked her out, too. There's no reason for someone to TALK to the movie, at least when the rest of the audience isn't on board (for instance, the Rocky Horror Picture Show).

Then, later in the movie, you had the obligatory someone-sneaking-up-behind-the-hero(ine) moment with some sort of weapon-type-thing. And some idiot in the audience decides it's absolutely necessary to scream. Now, I'm aware a movie can scare you, and cause you to jump or gasp, or even let out a mild yelp, and I'm fine with that. But, this was the kind of scream-your-head-off scream that only happens if someone IN REAL LIFE IS TRYING TO KILL YOU. And that's the kind of thing I really have a problem with. Do that in your own home, fine. Don't do that like an idiot out in public.

And people wonder why I never go to the movies. Okay, this was a horror movie. But still. People are rude.

[Alexis Machine]

I recently saw Sin City, or I should say I saw and heard the first 20 minutes. A giant group of fratboys came in and at first were relatively quiet. That is until one of them decided to make rude comments, such as "Look titties!" and "I'd hit that!" Everyone in the theater started shushing him, and finally, one by one, his friends moved to the other side of the theater. When he tried to join them, one of them yelled, "Get the fuck back over there!" He ever so slowly, and quietly, skulked back to his seat, and didn't say anything else.

[Deleted]

My husband and I went to see Sideways and the guy behind us would repeat every single funny line--THREE TIMES to his date. I am not kidding. If someone said "somthing funny", butthead would stage whisper and laugh, "something funny, something, funny, something funny". ALL. THROUGH. THE. MOVIE.

I actually didn't like the movie because of it.

I also hate when a movie is halfway stupid, but can kind of go either way and someone behind you decides it is stupid so they are going to totally mock it they ruin it for you. For example, I was in high school and went to see A Walk in the Clouds. Not a great movie, at all, really, but I was 17 and it was romaaaaantic, right? Well some sarcastic college-aged people behind me decided it was a slapstick comedy and laughed at every "serious" thing in the movie. Totally ruined it. Was it Shakespeare or Oscar-worthy--hardly! But I wanted to pay my $$ and see some appealing cheese and they snarked it into total crapdom.

That is what BLOCKBUSTER IS FOR, people!!!

Rent it, mock it, enjoy! But at the theater, ZIP IT!

[underjoyed]

I've seen two movies (The Interpreter and Be Cool) in the past four days and both times the whole experience was marked by very good movie manners. How can this be, you ask?

I saw the movies in their "original version" (no dubbing/no sub-titles) in Vienna. I have a theory that if you see movies in a city where, for most of the audience, the movie itself isn't in their first language (and, crucially, also lacks sub-titles to help them along) the audience is much more likely to be paying close attention to what's going on and much less tolerant of anyone forcing their attention away. For both movies, the audience chatted quietly until the lights went down, intermittently during the previews, and not at all during the actual movie. The only noise came at the beginning from a group of American teens (in town on a class trip or something) who were given the Withering Glare of Death and Frowning of a Lifetime by, literally, the ENTIRE theatre. It was a heartening experience.

There's only been one occasion where my theory didn't seem to work, when a couple (sitting directly in front of me) had what appeared to be a totally wordless fight. This being Vienna, you could tell they didn't want to make too much noise, so they essentially mimed an entire argument in front of me, punctuated with sighing, sniffs of contempt and why-am-I-with-this-person shakings of the head. Then, periodically, one would get up and leave. Then evidently have a change of heart and come back. Following more miming, the other one would get up and leave. Then return. Rewind. Repeat.

They were on the aisle so they didn't need to climb over anybody else to get out (except each other, whilst exaggeratedly trying to avoid physical contact). Actually, it was pretty entertaining, although I couldn't help wondering, given the potential for miscommunication whilst miming in the dark, whether they were arguing about the same thing. Nonetheless, it almost made the eight Euro I shelled out to see Constantine worthwhile.

[Deleted]

The kid runs up the aisle, throws a condom at someone who I think he thought he knew, but apparently didn't because this person screamed, "WHAT THE FUCK KID?",

Tell me... TELL me we're talking condoms in their sealed wrappers and not used ones?

[ladymadonna]

Hee! What fun!

When I went to see The Grudge the frat-boy guy next to me (I am 31, married, with kids, not exactly date matierial) grabbed my leg several times while screaming like a girl at all the scary parts. I don't know who he was, or why he was SO scared that he had to grab a perfect stranger for support, but he was funny.