greg928gts Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 I just wrote this email to Flagship Cinemas, thought you all might get a kick out of it. _____________________________________________ I just went to the last movie I'll ever go to in a movie theater. After putting up with 3 whining infants for the entire movie, I'm undecided which offends me more, the ignorance of the parents who brought those kids to the theater, or the managers lack of willingness to do anything about it. If your industry will not support the desire of the majority to enjoy a pleasant movie-going experience, we will not support you. If the attitude of your industry is anything like the attitude of the manager at your Waterville theater, movie theaters will certainly cease to exist in the near future. Your manager told me that he could not do anything about the whining infants. He said that in the past when he has asked parents to take their children out of the theater, the theater has been sued. To that I say, take it to court and stand up for your industry. Don't you have a "backbone", or a survival instinct? You can't let a few ignorant parents dictate how you run your business. You need to set clear rules and make people follow them. You have that right, this is America you know. In the meantime, while your industry figures out what to do about declining ticket sales, I'm going to enjoy my Klipsch home theater, in my own home, with digital quality picture and sound, fresh snacks, no whining infants, no disruptive teenagers, and for a lot less money. Am I rubbing it in, your damn right I am. I'm pissed off, and I'm part of a growing number of people who are pissed off. Will you stand up and do anything about it, or will you roll over and succumb? War Of The Worlds was the last movie I ever saw in a movie theater. Greg Roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 Amen! I am glad that I am not the only one who feels like they just got hosed over for the admission, and then the snacks!! Jeeze, not that I have a family, but to take even 2 kids out to the theater nowdays will cost around $ 50.00 for the tickets (cdn), then at least $ 10 at the concessions. For most people that is getting a little on the expensive side. Not to mention: cellphones, kids crying, sticky seats and floors, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackbean Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 i cannot remember the last movie i saw in a theater. just 2 darn expensive, about 50.00 seems right for 2 people when all is said and done. i'll wait for the dvd thanl you. the only thing more aggravating paying top dollar for good seats at a nascar race, then you can't see because 100,000 people decide to stand to see . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclonecj Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 ---------------- On 7/2/2005 5:42:25 PM greg928s4 wrote: ....no disruptive teenagers ---------------- Funny... My home theater still has that problem...... However, I completely agree with the rest of the letter. I have not been to a theater for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMcGoo Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 I rarely watch movies in theaters for the same reasons. Ticket sales are on a negative trend. I can own the DVD for less than a trip to a theater. When Time-Warner set the DVD price low, they started the financial decline of their industry. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 I went to a movie last night (War of the Worlds). First movie I have been to in some time. While I enjoyed it (and it's hard not to like the screen size), there were little kids in front of me making a lot of noice. I think they were about 5 - 7 years old and the mother sat 4 or 5 seats away from them (don't even get me started on having kids this age in a movie this intense). Anyway, enjoyed it, but the whole time I'm thinking "can't wait to get this on DVD". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DONNY-D Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 Unfortunately, What we are all encountering is a macro trend. My wife and I also went to see the War Of The Worlds and besides the sound being mis-adjusted,ther were three people, one in front of us one beside us and one behind us, who at various points in the movie were taking calls. Theaters which are hurting, will do nothing about this because they need every paying admission.I bouht my home theater because I love movies and enjoy going out to a movie theater when things are as they should be. But lately with more and more situations described in this thread, I have backed off going to the movies for all but those films which demand a big screen experience such as War Of The Worlds. Until theater chains assemble focud groups to once again tell them why their attendence is down it is only going to get worse. Oh by the way,don't be too surprised when the studios and theatrers try to pin the blame for declining attendance on the CE companies for producing electronics, speakers and video displays that rival the theater. All things being proper I would still prefer the theater experience for the first viewing of a good movie..But unless they address these issues, they will drive us all to our livingrooms. And this does not bode well for Hollywood. In the end it will be bad for all of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 I feel the same as all of you. The only theater our family regularly go to is the drive in. Works great esp since you don't need a baby sitter and the youngest usually falls asleep and we put him in his carseat with his pillow. Just were there last night. The only distraction was the local town shooting off fireworks at 10 PM. Was a good added bonus. JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 The wife and I go to the movies about every other month just to get out of the house but we have recently added the PJ to our HT and we may be spending more days like yesterday. We went to the local video rental store and bought 6 DVDs at the sale price of 3 for $25. We then bought some popcorn for the microwave, some candy and we spent the whole day watching movies on our new 100 inch HT setup. It was great! No phones, no kids, etc. If we need to use the restroom, we both took a break and started the movie again, no missed plot or anything. It was great!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 The only time I can enjoy a night out at the movies is during the midnight show. No kids and I take my own snacks (sometimes a beer if I can slip it in!) You can't really blame movie theatre mangement though. They have huge overheads and obnoxious customers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotdc Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 Agree with you wholeheartedly on the problems with distractions in theaters. However, at a good quality cinema with proper calibrations, nothing at home can compare with the awesome spectacle of a 60 foot screen and a few thousand watts of audio. Star Wars in DLP projection was an unrivaled experience. I try to time a movie about two or three weeks after its release and while everyone else is heading to the latest release, I head to the weekday matinee when there is only a handful of people. I'm mostly successful that way. However, on your side, I believe the experience can be better at home, with the ability to pause, get you own snacks and drinks, and control the environment. I do watch about 75 percent of my theatrical releases on DVD now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wally flick Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Yup. Only one of the several reasons Hollywood is in a 19 week, and counting, slump. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050704/D8B4NGN80.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shane_0_mac Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 I have small kids, 5 year old and 6 month old. And I agree with you. We do not take our children to adult movies. Now finding nemo etc thats different as they are for kids, but I will still not take my infant. If the children do not know what they are watching then there is no sense taking them. Heres a novel idea, Hire a babysitter! The cell phones are worse than the kids, the only thing worse than a cell phone in the theater is a cell phone on the golf course. I very seldom go to the theater, same reasons you guys stated above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAS Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 While I wholeheartedly agree with all of the sentiments, I will still probably visit the theater several times a year. When we do it is usually a very late show after dinner. There's still a bit of romance to a dinner and a movie...even to a couple who've been around the block several times. Nothing like a delicious, darkly-lit Italian meal followed by a show-stopping night at the cinema. I don't mean to put a damper on all of the anti-cinema sentiments. I guess I've just never been hit hard by the teenage/cell phone/sticky floor syndromes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 Darn, I thought I'd posted to this thread, must have crashed on me. Anyway, I agree with Greg about the kids thing. Was in total agreement with the theatre managers not caring until yesterday. Went to WOTW. Noon matinee. The lady at box office at my local Kerasotes theatres tells me that it is Wednesday and the earliest shows are for Mom's day out. She informs me that if there are little children in attendence that they reduce the sound levels to protect the kids hearing and not scare them. If no little ones are there, it is a normal showing. Figuring no right thinking Mom would take the kiddies to WOTW, I buy the ticket. I ask to speak to the manager and thank him for this program. What a GREAT PROGRAM, it gives the Moms and kids a movie time where they can see whatever they want, cry all they want, and have a reasonable volume. If I don't like the screaming kids, I can get a pass to a later showing. Works for everyone. Maybe some places don't have showings like this, or the Mom's and Dad's want to see movie together, or don't care about the public in some cases. But it was nice to have a management that was at least trying to implement a solution. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonrpayne Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 But I thought Piracy was killing the industry?.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schwock5 Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 You all forgot to mention that War of the Worlds completely sucked ***. All your reasons for boycotting the theater are valid, but let's be honest, those reasons don't matter if there's NO MOVIE YOU WANT TO GO SEE IN THE FIRST PLACE. I used to go 3 times a week, I'd be shocked if there's 3 movies I want to see in a season now. If you need justification, i'd be happy to rant and rave more. The refund policy for Cindarella Man is a great idea so far. Also, when I saw LOTR II, the theater was so crappy, or so poorly maintained, that the projection got so hot it melted the reel 20 minutes before the end of the film. We all got our money back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texxas guy Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 ---------------- On 7/4/2005 8:35:28 AM DONNY-D wrote: . Oh by the way,don't be too surprised when the studios and theatrers try to pin the blame for declining attendance on the CE companies for producing electronics, speakers and video displays that rival the theater. Yeah, that would be a real pain if the FCC decided that the CE manufacturers needed to put a chip in their units that limited how loud they could play! You never know these days. Just joking...........I hope! That would start a real war of the worlds! Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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