posted
So, when we were in the theatre waiting to see Serenity, a guy comes in and starts announcing movie rules and things that will get you kicked out without a refund.
He starts off sensibly enough with cell phones. Visible lights or any sounds from the cell phone and you're gone. Okay, lights are a bit extreme, but I can deal.
Next, excessive talking or noise. Makes sense, don't want people talking loudly and disrupting the movie.
But then we move on to moving around in your seat too much or getting out of your seat often. Huh? I can't switch sitting positions? Out with you people with weak bladders! How dare you come to OUR movie theatre!
Are all theatres getting this regulatory, or did we just get a bad reaction to earlier noisy serenity people?
Posts: 3493 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Seems to me that giving rules that are not commonly known, enforced by a no-refund expulsion, after people have bought a ticket is a little late.
I've never heard of such a thing. Usually it's a cheesy comedic vinnete with people from a bad sitcom.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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They secretly don't want any customers. Hence the really high prices and now some pointless rules.
Posts: 1621 | Registered: Oct 2001
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maybe they meant it to be somewaht less extreme. Like if you're getting up every five minutes or something it's pretty disruptive to the people around you. I know some of the movie theaters around where I live have chairs with backs that bend backwards a bit but then will push forwards, so if you're so inclined you can more or less bounce yourself off. I've seen some kids do this during movies, and it's rather annoying. They might have been talking about stuff like that. It all depends on how much is "too much" and how often "often" is.
Posts: 187 | Registered: Jan 2005
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I've never heard rules like that, but I wish I had, and that they were enforced. Well, except that I'd remove the word "excessive" before "talking."
Posts: 884 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Who actually enforces these rules? Does the theater actually put someone in there the whole movie?
Posts: 2437 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I think Shmuel hit it on the head. Movie theaters are suffering. People are not going to the movies. One of the biggest things people blame for staying home is a generally negative movie experience - talkers, cell phones, other patrons constantly moving in front of you, etc.
This still seems extreme, but at least they are trying.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I wouldn't know if the theater put someone out-I was watching the movie and I doubt anything short of an earthquake would have caught my notice
Posts: 3493 | Registered: Jul 2001
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A poll found people don't like going to the movies because of obnoxious other people, commericials and high ticket prices, and lack of original films more or less in that order.
Apparently they've decided to yell at everyone to make people will go to the movies more, instead of actually fixing the product.
Posts: 1757 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Perhaps the rules on lights and noises on cellphones were more to prevent piracy than disturbance.
Posts: 624 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Far and away, my worst movie experience began with an employee demanding to search my backpack (which never happened before or after this), and finding I'd gone grocery shopping. Wait for it. I had pasta sauce and English muffins, and things like baking powder. No candy, no drinks, no chips. I'm not that stupid. So I explained it was just groceries and promised I really wasn't going to break out the Ragu with a straw halfway through the flick but she'd have none o' that. Fine, it's policy, I understand. But then when I said I didn't have a car and asked where I could leave my bag during the movie, the response was a deadpan "There's some bushes outside by the parking lot. You can hide it there". And what do you say to that?
I argued for literally ten minutes and was finally let in after being told I should know she wasn't stupid, and she *knew* I was going to eat something in there, and she'd tell the ushers to keep an eye on me, and I would be kicked out in two seconds with no refund if I even opened the zipper, and...
Hardly an enjoyable 12 dollars spent.
Posts: 624 | Registered: Mar 2005
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The big movie theatre near us has a "No backpacks" rule. They claim it's for security reasons, but we all know it's to keep people from sneaking food in. So I just stick cookies or fruit leather in my pockets. (Yes, I know.....but I wouldn't eat the movie theatre food even if it weren't overpriced.)
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
My purse can easily hold all the food I want to bring in. Not that I bother going to the theater very often. I'd rather stay home and Netflix it.
I do make an exception for certain movies -- I saw all the HP movies in the theater, for instance.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Theatres are not safe places to work anymore so yay for them cracking down. The "please don't leave your seats" rule isn't for people who have bad bladders, its for the kids who treat the theatre as social hour and wander in and out every 5 minutes. While a set of movies are running, employees are usually gearing up for the next run and don't have the time to play security for wandering pre-teens.
My theatre doesn't regulate outside food. We have a policy against loud food like a large bag of potato chips or foods with particularly strong smells.
The backpacks rule is for security reasons. We've had bombscares and we've had weapons brought in.
Ushers do make screen-checks. For shows where we've already spotted potential problem customers, we will put a staff permanently in the show.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I've never had a theater search my bag-- I just bring my regular (huge) purse. Even if they did search my bag, since the ones I go to (when I very rarely go to a movie theater) don't have clearly posted "no outside food or drink" rules, they would be in for a fight if they tried to confiscate anything. (What if someone is diabetic and needs to have that in their purse for an emergency or needs to eat on a regular schedule, and can't eat their food? What if, like me, they're pregnant and carry soda crackers in their purse for nausea emergencies? I might even bring up the kosher/halal religious diet issue.) And Astaril, it's ridiculous that they didn't offer to check your bag for you. I'd stop patronizing them if I had that kind of experience, for sure.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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As for the searching bags/ outside food issue...
Most people don't understand that movie theaters do not operate like most businesses ---
Most businesses do one basic thing, and they make their money from doing whatever that thing is. Take, for example, a sandwich shop... They make you a sandwich, and you pay them for it. At a video store, they make their money renting you videos. Mechanics make money by fixing your car. Etc.
But at a movie theater, the only place they really make money is at the snack bar. Yet that snackbar money has to pay for a lot of different people doing a lot of different things. Things they can't make any money from, but they have to do them to show movies.
The snack bar at a movie theater pays for:
1) someone to sell you your tickets. 2) someone to sell you your popcorn 3) someone to thread the projectors and operate the booth (which is a job requiring a great deal of knowledge and skill) 4) someone to clean the theaters and bathrooms after every round of shows
etc.
That is why concession prices are so high at movie theaters -- they have to be, otherwise movie theaters could not afford to be in business.
It is also the reason why most movie theaters do not allow outside food and drink.
If you took a sandwich and a bag of chips into a restaurant, would you really expect them to serve you coffee and let you sit there and eat?
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:If you took a sandwich and a bag of chips into a restaurant, would you really expect them to serve you coffee and let you sit there and eat?
Depends on the restaurant. I have done this at several. (Not coffee, but a similar idea.) And I know other people who have, for various reasons, including religious dietary restrictions and food allergies, as well as just not liking the food but wanting to be with their friends. If theaters don't have a clearly stated, clearly posted policy against outside food and/or drink (and the ones I go to don't), they shouldn't try to enforce it.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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It's like this. If you like going to that movie theater -- if you have good experiences there -- support them by buying snacks. That's how they stay in business.
It's just the nice thing to do.
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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On the other hand, if they treat you like crap, sneak in whatever you want.... They deserve to lose out.
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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I'd fight them, for the reasons I already stated. They post their other rules. Why should they not post a rule they want people to follow?
Of course, if they did have it clearly posted, I would not bring outside food or drink in.
I would probably also take my business to another theater most of the time. If I'm paying $9-$10.50 a ticket, I'm not going to want to pay for food on top of that.
Plus, what if all the food they have makes me sick? Right now the thought of movie food is about to make me lose my saltines. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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For those very reasons I prefer to watch movies at home.
If I could get a dvd/hd-dvd released at the same time, I wouldn't ever go to the theater. However if I wanted to be with a ton of people, it would be cool to rent a theater, but that would mean I knew everyone in the theater. If need be I could kick them out too Posts: 1132 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I wonder if the reason they thought to give this speech was the Sci-Fi/Fan Love of Serenity. They didn't want a bunch of Sci-Fi wierdo's doing strange things to their theater.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
I generally refuse to patronize places that search me or my belongings. If stores want to ban outside bags, I'll respect that. But entering a store does not give them consent to search me. I've refused to be searched or have my receipt "checked" on the way out of stores - Best Buy and CompUSA use to try this, but I never let them do it.
Were I to enter a theater with a bag, I would refuse to allow it to be searched. If a sign could be seen prior to buying tickets that bags would be searched, I wouldn't buy. Had I already bought when I found out I would be searched, I would demand to be let in without being searched or a full refund.
Tacking on conditions after sale is not something I tolerate.
If everybody else would stop submitting to these things, most places would stop doing it.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I understand the food/drink need to sell, and the policy. My complaint was the ridiculousness of the enforcement in my one case. It never happened before or after that one time, so I assume the girl just had a bad day or it was her first shift or something.
TL, I agree with your 'invisible' comment. I was an usher at a stage theatre for a while, and that's exactly how we were taught to do our job. Of course, having only one stage, we could spend the entire performance standing to the side of the audience, scanning them for food and cameras, which cinemas don't have the luxury of being able to afford.
Posts: 624 | Registered: Mar 2005
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My local theater 'checked' my bag for security purposes ONCE, andthat was done by a security guard in the first month following 9/11. Didn't happen again.
Astaril - I agree with you that that was ridiculous. Ragu? Oy. I HAVE sneaked protein into a theater before, because sugars and carbs just don't do it for some of us. Usually , though, I buy what's there or do without.
I HAVE brought entire kid's meals along with my children to a restaurant. They can have my money for the grown-up's food and deal with my kid's peanut butter sandwich. My eldest will not touch Mexican food, but my Beloved loves it. *shrug* We don't do it at fancy places, natch, but no one has ever minded. I do usually ask if it's okay, at least the first time.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote:Originally posted by TL: As for the searching bags/ outside food issue...
Most people don't understand that movie theaters do not operate like most businesses ---
Most businesses do one basic thing, and they make their money from doing whatever that thing is. Take, for example, a sandwich shop... They make you a sandwich, and you pay them for it. At a video store, they make their money renting you videos. Mechanics make money by fixing your car. Etc.
But at a movie theater, the only place they really make money is at the snack bar.
I have heard this argument before. And I am sorry, but I just ain't buying it.
If it is true, why on earth have ticket prices gotten so ridiculously high? And it's not like there aren't other places with ridiculous concession prices -- ballparks and amusement parks spring to mind. I refuse to buy their food as well.
It's not a "*whine* We can't stay in business otherwise!" issue. It's a "We've got you over a barrel and we're gonna stick it to you!" issue. I won't buy overpriced crap at a theater (in addition to the fact that the majority is not kosher), and I don't appreciate the attempted guilt trip. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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This is why I loved the theatre on my college campus. Tickets were $2. The popcorn was cheap as well, I think it was in the $1.50 range for a big bag. Of course, there were usually only older movies showing, but occasionally there would be free sneak previews. Unfortunately, they tore the theatre down when they rebuilt the student union. Apparently there is a new theater in the new student union, but I have no idea how good it or its prices are.
CrowsWife, I had fun watching the $2 movie with my almost-step-sister when I visited her at NAU. And yes, when we went there, we bought the (cheap) popcorn and sodas they sold (the only things they sold, and reasonably priced, too!) to help support them and because they weren't cheating us.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Concessions is where the money is supposed to be made. But surprise surpise, with people bringing in outside food, it doesn't support a theatre anymore. My theatre tries to keep ticket prices down and has only had a 50 cent increase in nearly 3 years but yeah, the majority of the 7.50 we charge goes to the movie production companies. There is a system around these prices. For instance, a movie that just comes out has nearly all its profit go directly back to WB or Fox, or whoever. The longer we keep a movie, the bigger our precentage becomes. But its a balancing game because sometimes we can make more keeping a popular older-released movie but instead we're forced to give up that screen for a newly-released crap movie that won't get any audience even opening weekend.
The concessions and a tiny part of ticket prices is what pays the employees (which I will tell you is nothing!), pays for maintenance (which is a nightmare because guests seems to go out of their way to destroy seats and bathrooms), etc.
If you don't want to feel guilty, then don't. Go to your movie and whenever you have a problem, go speak with a manager so we can be aware and do what we can to fix it. If not, stay home.
On another note, another reason my theatre doesn't allow bags is because they're a hazard for other patrons. Theatres are dark and if someone needs to get out of their row for a bathroom break, its easy to trip over bags and such. We allow purses which can be held in the lap or shoved safely under the seat, but most backpacks won't fit. Some customers have "promised" to safely tuck them away and have not resulting in injury. So we have to make a blanket policy to protect our patrons. My theatre and my old one, which was located in a mall, would lock all personal and shopping bags in the box office for safe keeping.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
At the theatre I used to go to (in *sniff* New Orleans), you could bring in any food you wanted. It was located right above the food court of the Target mall (seriously, about the only stores there were Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond). I loved it because I could get Subway and eat it while I watched my movie.
I love movie food, though. Like those big pretzels. Yum.
I've never had my bag searched before going into a theatre. Then again, I generally only carry a purse, which is pretty small.
I was, however, somewhat annoyed when a movie theatre near my parents' house decided to start having a POLICE OFFICER check IDs outside the doors to R-rated movies. That seemed like a waste to me. I can understand a theatre employee checking tickets at the door to keep people from sneaking in, but is a cop really necessary?
quote:I love movie food, though. Like those big pretzels. Yum.
They have pretzels? The theaters I usually go to sell chicken wings, corn dogs, nachos, fries, really really disgusting reheated hamburgers (some of them) and really bad popcorn, along with horribly overpriced soda. A better bet is the vending machines in the hall, which have ice cream bars. If they want people to eat their food, why don't they make it more appetizing?
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:The theaters I usually go to sell chicken wings, corn dogs, nachos, fries, really really disgusting reheated hamburgers (some of them) and really bad popcorn
So, what is the ideal movie munch? I'd think it would have to be something quiet (like the soft pretzel), non-messy (chicken wings? nachos? Oh no!), and not too smelly. If the theater is going to be selling chicken wings and burgers and nachos, you are really going to need a table to go with that.
Do you want to sit where some kid was just wiping his greasy little paws? And dripping fluorescent orange cheese? Do you want to step on chicken bones on the way to your seat? How gauche!
Maybe movie food can be like astronaut food -- in these cool space-age squeezy tubes. And the concession stand can sell Tang to wash it all down.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Mmmm, ideal movie food. First of all, the classic: popcorn. But not the warmed-over junk they serve now. REAL popcorn. With real butter optional, and several choices of seasoning. That's what we eat at home. Second: chips. I like potato chips with my movies, and they never have them there. Third: there should be healthier options available-- fresh fruit cups, for example. Baked pretzels are a good option. And instead of greasy, high-fat entrees poorly prepared, frozen, then microwaved, how about a fresh sandwich bar? I love the idea of Subway sandwiches at the movies! Last: more selection in the drinks department. I would love some juice to wash down my popcorn. How about that as an option?
And of course, keep the selection of candies, but maybe in packages that are easier to get them out of without disturbing everyone in three rows either way?
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:I was, however, somewhat annoyed when a movie theatre near my parents' house decided to start having a POLICE OFFICER check IDs outside the doors to R-rated movies. That seemed like a waste to me. I can understand a theatre employee checking tickets at the door to keep people from sneaking in, but is a cop really necessary?
Yes, sometimes the employees are too busy doing other things to spare one person to watch a door. Our cops are there for security and since R-rated movies attract alot of trouble, thats what we use them for. Besides, a cop is a bit more intimidating to an underaged minor trying to sneak in. We always put the cops out there when we have certain patrons there. We have a blacklist of banned guests. We also have a list of people with already one offense. If one of these guests tries to sneak into an R-rated movie and then cusses out the person at the door, we want a cop there instead so that guest can be arrested and removed from the property.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
My ideal food: Pretzel bites and a Code Red.
The only time I had Subway at a theatre was during "Trilogy Tuesday," where for $15, you got unlimited soda and popcorn, a sub, and a hot dog with chips. Not too shabby for a 12+ hour marathon.
And when I saw AotC, a guy brought in an entire big bucket of KFC. He wasn't supposed to, but he did. And the guys we wound up sitting with brought in the "everlasting bottle o' Gatorade," which was, actually, wine in a box. (Also very not allowed).
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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I actually get sick from preservatives. I tell you, there is nothing at a movie theatre that I could eat.
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Shanna, I have to say, your theatre sounds like its in a far worse area or at least attracts a far worse crowd than I imagine many of us (myself, at the very least) probably are familiar with. Bombscares? Weapons? Cops? Banned lists of people who need to be arrested?
Wow. No wonder no one wants to go the movies anymore.
Posts: 624 | Registered: Mar 2005
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