posted
I guess the most puzzling thing about the row full of children (4, by my count) is that they were at "Open Range" which is apparently rated R.
But I am aware of realities where one simply can't find a babysitter. Any further justification of this family's actions would have to include some kind of obligation on the part of the parents to see the movie. Maybe one was a movie critic. More likely someone lost a bet where the punitive consequence was having to go to the next Kevin Costner release. Sounds like the seed of a really bizzare story.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
You know, people who bring kids to movies don't bother me nearly as much as people who go to a matinee when they are suppoed to be in the office and have their calls forwarded to their cell phone while they are there.
I've seen this happen several times, but I think the worst was when I went to see Contact, when it first came out. Some guy had his cell phone ring at least five or six times during the film (I lost track after awhile). He was sitting way down front and would always answer it as he walked up the aisle toward the back. I knew he was taking business calls because everyone in the theatre could hear him answering loudly with the name of his business and cranking up the conversation before he left the theatre. The worst was when he got a call right during the climactic testimony scene at the end of the movie. He never actually completely left the theatre that time, and so I didn't hear most of that scene, which ruined the whole film for me. It was so bad I complained to the manager and got a pass to go see the film again. Unfortunately, I never got to go see it again because I was too busy and the theatre was too far away from my house (it was approximately 25 miles from my house).
I don't know why this guy couldn't have just stayed in the office and gone to the movie after work. Sheesh.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I went to see the first Harry Potter movie on opening night (Yes, I know, I brought it on myself), and there were screaming kids everywhere, and a bunch right behind me spilled M&Ms or some other small hard candy and the whole theatre heard them roll under the seats all the way to the front.
Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Unintentional disruption is one thing. I could understand and forgive if somebody dropped some candy. But when there are kids in a movie crying and yelling...grrrrrrrr...
Example: I went to a near-midnight showing of "Pirates of..." (approx. 11:30) and some lady brought her infant son to the show. He cried almost the entire time, and she didn't once take him out of the theater. What kind of parent are you to bring your infant child to a movie that late at night, regardless of the rating!?!?!?!?!
posted
I think opening night is fair game for obnoxious behavior. After standing in the snow for 12 hours and missing a final just to be among the first to see The Two Towers, I fully deserve to holler and whistle at Orlando all I want. Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
I laughed out loud when I saw that OSC mentioned Lil' Kim in that article. I am now dying to know how he heard about Lil' Kim.
Posts: 4600 | Registered: Mar 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
I saw LotR with my husband and it was my first night away from my baby since he'd been born. (He was not quite two months old.) A couple of rows in front of me was a woman with a baby the same age as mine. You know how the adventure scenes of movies get really loud? So did the baby...and that dumb woman never once took that child out of the theater. I'd waited months to see the movie and all I could think about was that poor little baby with bleeding ears. I still don't remember any of that movie. Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
it seems to me that a newborn at the movies is a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too thing. let everyone else absorb the cost of you having a baby. Posts: 196 | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
What I don't understand is why Usher's dont take them outside. If Ushers will take people outside for making a rucus, why wouldn't they take people out for cell phone use and screaming babies? Just give the lady a free ticket and send her and her child on their way. That situation is completely untolerable and totally unacceptable.
posted
Why give them a free ticket? You disturb the movie and keep everyone else from enjoying it, so why should you get a another chance to watch the movie again for free? They should be kicked out without a free ticket so they won't waste the money to disturb the movie again.
Posts: 981 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I wouldn't give them a free ticket, but Im pretty sure a movie theatre would simply to avoid the situation being a bigger pain in the rear than it already is.
Posts: 752 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
I think the free ticket should be movie specific for a movie that fits what they were doing.
For example: A woman talking on her cell phone during a movie would be given a free ticket to Phone Booth. Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
| IP: Logged |
You guys really don't know the friggin half of it. How many of you who sat in a theater with a screaming baby got up and complained about it? Sure, when a bunch of kids are throwing ice and popcorn, it's nearly your patriotic duty to get up and complain. People react differently towards a mother with a screaming baby. Personally, I think it's easier for people to complain about rowdy kids than it is about a loud baby.
The ushers don't stand by the door the whole time. If they did, it would have been a much more tolerable job, to just sit and watch the movie. Instead, they are outside in the concessions, or tearing tickets. Just some friendly advice: if there is something really annoying going on that you feel justified to get up and complain about, then get up and complain about it, or do something about it. Screaming babies aren't any fun to have sit in the theater, but unless someone gets up and does something, what do you expect to happen?
Oh, and just some more friendly advice: if you do take a baby to a movie, DON'T change it's diaper in the theater. ::shudder::
Posts: 9754 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
I have absolutely no patience or pity for anyone with a crying baby in a movie, because I've paid my dues. When my children were young I walked out of quite a few movies (and restaurants, and stores) rather than disturb others. I've paced in theater lobbies, walked up and down steps in front of the theater, and even driven around the parking lot until the child in question fell asleep. Teres and I would take turns on really bad times, meeting at the door to switch off so that neither of us ever got completely screwed. I feel that I've earned the right to expect a pleasant evening out. I've certainly done my best to provide it for others.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yay, T_Smith! I was waiting for someone to say something along those lines, who'd been the movie theater staff and knew what it was like!
As a matter of fact, I just returned from a seven hour shift at the theater I work at and were I had to go ask some people to be quiet. They were in Freddy Vs Jason and were yelling instructions at the characters on the screen while their small child ran around and cried becuase he was scared. I was told to go %#$@! myself. Repeatedly and loudly, which made the other angry about the noise worse. The joys of minimum wage jobs...
And that's not even the worst patron I've ever kicked out. I can't go into it becuase children may read this, but let's just say in involved things that glow in the dark, malt liqor and those shadowy seats in the corner of the theatre.
quote: I was told to go %#$@! myself. Repeatedly and loudly, which made the other angry about the noise worse. The joys of minimum wage jobs...
Yes, it stinks when that happens. Luckily, we could kick them out.
quote: And that's not even the worst patron I've ever kicked out. I can't go into it becuase children may read this, but let's just say in involved things that glow in the dark, malt liqor and those shadowy seats in the corner of the theatre.
::nods:: If its what I'm thinking about, I know exactly what you mean.
Posts: 9754 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Why do people bring malt liqour to the movies? Never any other alchol. It's like there's people that sit at home saying, "I'd sure like to go the the movies, but then I have to go TWO WHOLE HOURS without malt liqour. And that would kill me."
Posts: 33 | Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Well, for me, I can barely stand to see a movie without a large coke in hand. I assume it's the same for some people and alcohol, and movie theaters can't exactly sell Liqour to customers. And other customers bring in food and drinks all the time (not that it's the right thing to do, and we can debate all night about that one) so why shouldn't they bring in a refreshment of their own choosing.
I just get upset when people don't clean up after a mess that they brought in. If they want to bring in malt liqour or food, and I don't find out and they don't cause a problem, then... whatever, so long as they cleaned up after themselves.
Edit: And I have found plenty of other alcohol beverages lying on the floor, or sitting in the cup holder. It ticks me off when they even leave it half full, tempting some underage kid to take a sip.
quote:It ticks me off when they even leave it half full, tempting some underage kid to take a sip.
...said T_Smith drunkenly.
Actually, I've been to two different theaters that sold beer. Are there laws against theaters selling alcohol in your area?
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
There are a few theaters around here that serve beer and wine. I thought it had to do with the fact that most theaters don't think it's worth the trouble of getting licensed to sell alcohol.
T, what did you do if the rowdy patrons looked like they might get violent if you tried to kick them out?
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
When my wife and I went to see the second Harry Potter movie, there was an older lady in the front row with apparently her mother. They talked loudly with each other throughout the movie as if they were at home watching TV and would now and then shout instructions at the screen.
When, after about the 15th shhhhshing they turned back to the audience and told US to hush up, I figured it just wasn't going to get any better.
Can movie theaters kick someone out? And what does it take to get that done? Is there a magic number of complainers? I'd really like to know.
Posts: 2848 | Registered: Feb 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:And other customers bring in food and drinks all the time (not that it's the right thing to do, and we can debate all night about that one)
People wouldn't take food and drinks into the theatre from outside if the theatres would charge reasonable prices for them. I'll only give one example: the last time I bought a bottle of water in a theatre (16.9 oz. size), it cost me over two dollars. I buy the same brand in a regular grocery store (not a discount store) by the case, the cost averages to right around 19 cents per bottle (including CRV). How many hundred percent profit is that?
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
No laws against the selling of alchohol. Just most theaters would rather hire 15-19 year olds as staff, and then there would be getting the license, and then there would be the cops always checking to see if they are following the rules, and then there are the annoying little kids that would always try to buy some. Because lets face it: if someone tells you "no" to something you really want to do, you have two options: either agree with them or sidestep those rules and do it anyway. Theaters say "no food or drink" yet customers can't go without food, so they bring it in anyway. ::shrug::
"What do they do if customers get too rowdy when trying to throw them out?"
"Can movie theaters kick someone out? What does it take to get that done? Is there a magic number of complainers?"
Ahhh yes, I've dealt with a good deal of those people, Zan. I don't know about all the theaters, but both of the theaters I had worked reserved the right to kick people out, and few details depending (for example, how long it was into the movie), give them a cash refund. If they didn't leave, we told them we could easily call the police(the scary thing is that we actually could). If they didn't leave, it was a matter of hitting speed dial, getting the cop over there, and listening to the customer complain for an hour about how they were right.
If you feel justified that the person in the theater is ruining your movie experience, get up and tell the person taking tickets. They will more than likely get the manager, the manager will ask that customer to please shape up. If the customer doesn't, and you complain again, the manager will basically just sit in the theater and make sure. If it does happen again, then the manager will ask the customer to step outside to talk. If said customer doesn't want to step outside to talk, the manager go through the "throwing out" process and just say we can get the police here.
Basically: if someone is ruining the movie for you, just tell someone. If telling someone the first time doesn't get the other person to stop, tell them again. If that doesn't work, tell the manager that that person didn't stop and ruined the movie for you and that they didn't fix it and you want to get a refund (which will turn out to be a ticket to come back at a later date).
Is there a magic number of complainers? Yes. 32 is the magic number of complainers a night. Posts: 9754 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Well, I recently learned, the hard way, that my five-year-old does not have the attention span for Pirates. It would have been okay, but I chose a seat in the center of the screen (that's where I love to be). The kid who will go for eight hours without going to the bathroom now had to go three times in the course of the movie. I will now, when attending with my child, park myself on the aisle.
But the worst movie behaviour I have encountered was from a group of teenagers. When we went to see the remastered A New Hope years ago, a group of these reprobates mulled around behind us, making all kinds of "oh, m' god!" comments. At one point a particularly rude female didn't seem to notice that she was sitting on my wife's head. She and her friends thought I was the rude one when I put my elbow where no man had gone before! I hate that kind of confrontation.
Also the theater was sub-standard. If it wasn't for good theaters within driving distance, I would have given up going altogether. And Rude: I think it's rude for the management to offer you a scratched up, out of focus, harmonically distorted soundtracked, tease of a movie. I gave up going for years until a new theater opened up nearby with quality. I don't even have to pay extra for it!
I'm just glad that I can attend feature films again.
Posts: 1843 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
LMA: believe me, I know the prices and the differences the store offers. Thats why we can debate it all night. And since this is the day, and I have to go to a class, I will wait until night to debate it with you.
PS: The bottled water is the second worst thing a theater sells in terms of price and value. Candy being the first. A box of friggin nerds for 2.50 just is an outrage.
Posts: 9754 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
littlemiss- The drinks etc. are so expensive because that's the way the theater makes it's money. When you pay your admission, you are paying the movie makers, not the theater. All of their revenue comes from concession sales. It's how they keep running.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sopwith, I had a similar problem at one of my viewings of Fellowship. The family behind us talked at full volume (not even whispering) through the whole movie, kicked the seats as they shifted CONSTANTLY, and gave away salient plot details to anyone within 50ft (here comes that great death scene for so and so!). I told them to be quiet, and I'm the most tolerant person I know of that sort of behavior.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
quote:The drinks etc. are so expensive because that's the way the theater makes it's money. When you pay your admission, you are paying the movie makers, not the theater. All of their revenue comes from concession sales. It's how they keep running.
I am well aware of that. However, I am also aware of the volume of business that most theatres do at the concession stand. Especially in the megaplexes, they rake in hundreds of dollars per hour in concession sales, thousands on weekend nights. They have a captive audience -I have been in theaters that don't even have water fountains, or have them but they don't work, so that the customer has to make a purchase if they even want a drink of water. Sheesh, even most fast food restaurants will give you a courtesy cup to get a drink of water. Theatres charge extra for a cup and ice even if you buy a bottle of water.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
There's a local talk radio host around here who has come up with the idea of movies where you have to be over 21 and agree not to talk at all during the movie. If you break the rules, you're out, no questions asked, no refund. He thinks that even if the theater charges a little more, a lot of people would pay it to watch a movie in peace.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
When I was in Europe this summer, I noticed that nearly all theaters, auditoriums, churches, lecture halls and the like now have no cell phone signs posted at the entrance. I wonder how long it will take to get these in the US.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
Rabbit, not all babies (or parents) are created equal. I took both of my kids to movies as babies. Rayne in particular tends to sleep through movies...we took her with us when we went to see Finding Nemo and she slept through most of it. We took her when we went to see xXx (yeah, we're horrible parents -- we were out of town and had to kill time waiting for our red-eye flight so we went to a late movie). When she wasn't sleeping, she was smiling at the bright lights and laughing at the loud music. She wasn't disruptive at all.
If she had been disruptive, we'd have taken her out.
Having said that, I do get particularly crabby at people who take kids to movies (and restaurants) that are wildly inappropriate for them. We went to see The Musketeer, and there was a little three year old sitting in front of me. She was so bored with it all, she spent most of the movie turned around in her seat staring at me. It could have been worse, but I found it irritating and wanted to have a serious talk with the mom. Another time, we went to a really nice restaurant here for our Date Night. On Date Night, I usually don't want to see kids. So we go places that kids really shouldn't be. Like R rated movies, and fancy restaurants. This place was very elegant, and had suitably slow service to let you really savor the food between courses. Three tables over, someone had chosen to bring their 5 year old. It was nearly 10pm. He was cranky. So they changed him into his jammies, right there. I was pretty speechless about the whole thing, but thought about complaining to the management, that if I was going to spend over $100 for the meal, I really wanted to be able to enjoy it without whining, crying, screaming, overtired children.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I wonder why it isn't right now. It seems like people who think it's OK to use a cell phone in a movie are in a pretty small minority.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
quote: We went to see The Musketeer, and there was a little three year old sitting in front of me. She was so bored with it all, she spent most of the movie turned around in her seat staring at me.
This kid's mom probably thought that her kid was behaving perfectly, if her child wasn't making any noise. It all comes down to this: are we the kind of people who think about others first or ourselves? In my position, if my kid was standing in a chair turned around, I would be very worried that he was blocking a view/bugging someone. This mom probably didn't care what her kid was doing, as long as the child wasn't bugging her.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote: We went to see The Musketeer, and there was a little three year old sitting in front of me. She was so bored with it all, she spent most of the movie turned around in her seat staring at me.
That's a smart kid. I saw The Musketeer. I wish I'd thought to turn around and spend the movie staring at the person behind me. It surely would have been more entertaining than whatever was happening on the screen.
posted
Hunh. Well, if an adult turned around during the movie and started staring at me, that would just downright freak me out.
Might be fun to try at a kids movie sometime.
(Am I bad for liking The Musketeer? I didn't think it was that bad... the scene on the ladders was cool.)
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged |
quote: 2. Large groups of underage kids at R rated movies gotta love getting them kicked out
Not as much as we love kicking them out, believe me. Call me an evil jerk, but it always brightened my day when I got to tell a 15 year old that he couldn't go see "so and so's" naked body.
::looks::
LOL, I still group myself in with ushers.
Posts: 9754 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
quote: (Am I bad for liking The Musketeer? I didn't think it was that bad... the scene on the ladders was cool.)
Watch Once Upon a Time In China sometime. The fact that the best scene in The Musketeer was shamelessly ripped off a kung-fu movie classic, and about 1/10 as good as the original, is yet another in a long list of reasons that I hate that movie. I could list many more, but I doubt anyone is interested.
You are entitled to your opinion, though. Posts: 2804 | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Laugh]](graemlins/laugh.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Mad]](mad.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Evil]](graemlins/evil.gif)
![[Grumble]](graemlins/grumble.gif)
![[Wall Bash]](graemlins/wallbash.gif)
gotta love getting them kicked out ![[Evil Laugh]](graemlins/evillaugh.gif)
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
