MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > I'll more than likely never return to th...

I'll more than likely never return to the movie theaters


And I say that for various reasons. I'm mostly pointing the finger at AMC theaters in this case. But going to the movies just isn't what it used to be. Maybe it's just me. I can't bring myself to return to the theaters. At least not anytime soon. Back in early October, I went to see a screening of Joker. It at least seemed like a film worth seeing. Aside from my terrible movie theater experience, I really did enjoy the movie. But here are the reasons why I won't be returning to the movie theaters:

1.) I'm appalled that AMC theaters has assigned seating nowadays. This is beyond idiotic and awful, in my opinion. One of the biggest joys of going to the movies, was entering the theater, and being able to pick your seat of choice. It's what added to the comfort factor. But I guess that's just not the case anymore. I even asked the guy at the ticket booth if there was assigned seating, and he clearly looked me in the eye and said, "no", and then shortly after, asked me to pick which seating placement I wanted. I mean, WTF?! But still, I really wanted to see the movie, so I just settled with my assigned seat. But still, from the start, that upset me.

2.) The audience was extremely obnoxious. They made little comments every minute and talked out loud. They were very disrespectful. It was so annoying. For a moment, I really thought I was going to walk out of the theater.

3.) Yet again, going back to the assigned seating factor...this created a lot of confusion within the theater. Instead of people just picking their seat of choice and sitting down, everyone kept searching for their seat number. This created so much unnecessary confusion.

4.) Yet again, at the ticket booth, I clearly asked the guy at the booth if I was paying for a "dine-in" theater, and he clearly told me no. But regardless, there were still buttons on the seats that had the option to request food and beverage services. This was also very distracting. During the middle of the film, some random audience member could push the button, and an employee would come rushing to their service. I mean, literally, during the middle of the movie, in front of everyone, someone would suddenly realize that they wanted some popcorn or a mini pizza. It was so distracting. This is a movie theater, not a dang restaurant.

5.) This guy next to me kept making these little snickering laughing sounds. And this lady next to me smelled like a combination of spicy chicken wings and beer. Yet again, super distracting. lol

6.) At one point throughout the film, I had to use the restroom. Believe me, I didn't want to. I didn't wanna miss the movie. But dang it, I had to go. When I got up to use the restroom, a bunch of people got really mad at me. They basically hissed. And all I kept thinking was, "Oh, so people can request service every 5 minutes and make comments throughout the entire film, and you're cool with that. But I gotta go take a piss, and I'm being as quiet as possible...and I'm the annoying one. Nice."

7.) And lastly, I guess I've just lost my patience for movie theaters. I'm used to enjoying movies in the comfort of my own home. There were way too many distractions.

So, yeah. There you have it. I apologize for my little rant. But these things needed to be said.

reply

I gave up on theatres years ago. They have always been a crapshoot.

Most of the reasons you gave aren't really all that different, especially the food service complaint. To me, that's no different than people who get up every 20 minutes to run and get more popcorn. Or when someone shows up late, looking for their friends and distracting everyone. Or the guy behind you who keeps kicking the back of your chair.

I've been in good theatres with quiet people, and bad theatres with the most annoying. I cant even imagine how bad theatres have gotten since the explosions of cell phones. The best crowds are usually during the weekdays, but you just never know when that one guy will show up with his 2 stupid kids and ruin it for everyone.

Also, having to use the bathroom at a movie theater has always been the most inconvenient thing to me. Not only do you have to shimmy your way through a sea of annoyed people's knees, but you never know when to go, because you might miss something important.

The worst part now is that it used to cost like $8 and films would stay in theatres for 6 months, but now its probably the same as the cost of the DVD that will be out in half that time anyways. Or free on Netflix...

So why put yourself through all that if you can just wait 3 months and watch it in the comfort of your own home.

reply

Exactly! Well said!

reply