Good Movie Manners Cost Nothing

[ladytrentham]

Jul 14, 2018 15:46:34 GMT -4 scarlet said:

This morning, at the last minute, I decided to go see the first matinee of "Three Identical Strangers." Go on Fandango and select my seat and, at that time, there are no other seats selected. So I get to the theater, walk in...and there's only two other people in the theater in the two seats right next to the one I selected. What kind of weirdos, when told to pick their seats, pick the two next to the ONLY selected seat in a theater?

This wins the Tiny Moist Hand Award

[Deleted]

So what wound up happening? Did you sit somewhere else?

[scarlet]

Jul 14, 2018 21:23:36 GMT -4 @mulva said:

So what wound up happening? Did you sit somewhere else?

Yes--especially because when I walked in I swear the woman in the couple glared at me, like she knew someone had that seat but was ready to be all pissed if I actually sat there.

At least it was an empty theater and I didn't have to worry about taking someone else's seat. And the movie was good, mrspickles. I'd definitely recommend.

[forever1267]

Look, you might have the kids for a Monday afternoon, but there are better choices for your 3 under 7 y/o daughters than the PG 13 and heavily violent and complicated Mission: Impossible. Especially since at least one of your kids was PLAYING GAMES ON HER PHONE.

And if you have to take them, DON'T SIT IN THE 3RD ROW!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the plus side, Henry Cavill is still hawt

[Mugsy]

Jul 14, 2018 15:46:34 GMT -4 scarlet said:

This morning, at the last minute, I decided to go see the first matinee of "Three Identical Strangers." Go on Fandango and select my seat and, at that time, there are no other seats selected. So I get to the theater, walk in...and there's only two other people in the theater in the two seats right next to the one I selected. What kind of weirdos, when told to pick their seats, pick the two next to the ONLY selected seat in a theater?

Maybe they took the movie title too literally; they thought they had to sit in groups of three strangers. 😁

[Babycakes]

Sigh. Where to begin.

Seeing Avengers:Endgame has been an ordeal. I couldn't go see it in the first 5 days, but I didn't really mind. I don't like seeing event movies with huge crowds. More chances that there'll be talkers, phone users, etc. So I finally find a theater with less than a half full showing this morning. I buy my ticket online 45 minutes before the screening, and drive to the theater. My seat is left of center, middle of theater, no one on either side of me.

I get there and what has happened? The showing has of course sold out, and since I stopped to pee before entering the theater, I have people already seated and reclined on either side of my seat. FUCK. MY. LIFE. I don't care for people in general. I don't like sitting next to people I don't know at the movies, or on a bus/train. I'm kinda particular that way. I considered leaving and coming back another day, but spoilers are getting harder to avoid. I then thought I should just suck it up, and sit down since I already had driven there in the rain. I chose poorly. I sit and immediately silence my phone and put my purse on my lap and my coat on top of my purse. Both people on either side of me are slurping drinks and chowing popcorn like there's no tomorrow. Doesn't matter, they're still showing trailers.

10-15 minutes go by, and the room goes black and I hear the first coo and shush. There's a baby in the theater. All the way at the top. Great. The movie finally starts and I hear a what I bet they think are hushed voices explaining who Hawkeye is, and why he's wearing an ankle monitor. I take a deep breath and let it out. Movie plays for maybe 15 minutes and someone down the row decides maybe they should have gotten popcorn. Not the 10-15 minutes ago when they were playing trailers. Everyone has to unrecline to let the young girl out. They have to do it again when she returns 10 minutes later. Hour or more in, things seem to be going fine, then another coo and shush. This turns into a whine and shush. Prolonged whining and shushing. I'm doing calm breathing and trying to focus on the screen. I don't even know how far in we are when someone down front starts texting. He sets off a string of copycats. "If he's doing it, I might as well too!" No more than 4 people start checking their phones, including the jerk on my left. Not discreet checking. Hands held high and right in front of their faces, screens lit up like Times Square. I'm more than 2 hours in at this point and just want to finish the movie. No point in walking out now. Last 30 minutes is action galore and a complete spectacle. It would be hard to distract me at this point. That is, until the woman sitting on my right, leans over and touches my arm and says, "This is the best part of the movie!" smiling brightly. I nearly punched her in the fucking face.

I know I must sound like a monster. A snowflake. A whiny beeyotch. But my time and space are precious to me. I hate when people treat the movies like they're at home watching Red Box/Netflix. The time I take to get dressed, drive, park, and pay actual money to have a cinematic experience is a huge deal for me. I can't get why people are so rude and self-absorbed to deny other people their own private experience. If you're so important that you can't cut off your phone, don't go to the theater. Can't find a babysitter? Don't go to the theater. I guess I'm going to have to wait until stuff goes to VOD to see it from now on. I can't keep dealing with these types. I'm one bad experience from losing my shit on somebody.

[hamhock]

Babycakes, I am right there with you.

[peagirl]

It makes me so angry when people act like they were raised in a barn when they go to the movies. I feel like I'm one of the few who actually enjoys the whole experience; but there's always at least one person who ruins it for me. Cases in point:

I saw the Avengers movie its second weekend in release (mainly because it was practically the only movie I hadn't seen, and was taking up at least four screens). Nearly every showing was still sold out; so my eyes rolled out of my damn skull when a group of literally twenty people who hadn't thought to reserve tickets for a 7pm showing were pissed in a Speak To The Manager kind of way that the only showing they'd have a chance to all sit together was at midnight. Are you new?

At that showing, I went to use the restroom beforehand since I knew it was a long movie. A gaggle of teenagers from the prior showing paraded into the restroom and started blabbing spoilers left and right. Now, I'd not a diehard fan by any means; but that was a shitbag move.

Just my luck, the seats next to me were taken by a couple and their very wiggly TODDLER. At a THREE-HOUR ACTION FLICK. People who don't grasp that there are sacrifices to be made when one becomes a parent get zero sympathy from me.

And the woman proceeded to TAKE OFF HER SHOES AND SOCKS, AND RECLINE HER SEAT SO THAT HER BARE FEET WERE IN DANGEROUSLY CLOSE PROXIMITY TO ME.

AGREE to everyone who has expressed the sentiment that a movie theatre is not your damn living room.

[Babycakes]

After my last terrible theater experience (just scroll up) I decided to strategize better this go round. I knew I wanted to go to a matinee (which usually means fewer people) so I checked all the showings before noon. Then I went through and found a showing with a smaller auditorium (less than 50 seats). Then I picked a seat that almost guaranteed that I wouldn't have any one sitting next to or near me-- I bought the seat at the end of the wheelchair aisle. I don't especially care for sitting that close to the screen, but I sacrificed to not have rude row companions.

The way it's set up you have 7 total seats in the row--Seat 1 on the end, Seat 2 is a wheelchair companion seat, space for a wheelchair, space for a wheelchair, space for a wheelchair, Seat 6 is a wheelchair companion seat, and Seat 7 on the other end of the row. If you buy a wheelchair companion seat, they reserve the right to ask you to move if someone shows up that needs it. But fortunately for me, no such grouping happened. I can't even remember the last time I saw someone in a wheelchair at the movies. And those seats next to the wheelchair seating are almost always empty. So this is my new strategy. Buy a ticket for the wheelchair aisle which almost guarantees a buffer between you and most of the riffraff.