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March 28, 2024, 06:48:58 PM

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Cinema etiquette

Started by small_world, May 22, 2011, 06:56:48 PM

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Artemis

Christ, that newspaper story is depressing. It makes me feel validated for avoiding places where things like that are reported.

An tSaoi

The one that annoys me most is when someone points out the previous roles an actor has played. I saw Pirates of the Caribbean 4 yesterday, and someone said "Hey look, it's Uncle Vernon" when Richard Griffiths appeared.

Yeah, it's amazing the way a professional actor would appear in more than one film. Besides, he's Uncle Monty, not Vernon.

alcoholic messiah

Quote from: Harpo Speaks on May 23, 2011, 12:34:58 PM


QuoteYou're in a cinema - you have come here to watch, not to discuss. Or 'engage', or 'participate', or 'explain' or whatever. More importantly, no-one in the cinema has paid £8.50 to hear your director's commentary on the movie. Just sit down and shut up.

The hypocritical Brockenhurst twat:
QuoteFilm critic Mark Kermode's reaction was to shout "Il est merde! Il est merde!" (He was probably trying to say "It is shit!" in French, although the correct interjection would be "C'est de la merde!") from the back of the auditorium during the official screening of the film at Cannes, a spontaneous review for which he was ejected from the venue.

El Unicornio, mang

Quote from: Harpo Speaks on May 23, 2011, 12:15:45 PM
American cinema-going sounds so different to here - people clapping, cheering and booing during the film. I was listening to a podcast, and they described a bit in the film (I can't remember which film) where people in the cinema started chanting 'USA! USA!' Sounds like hell.



It's not really that different from the UK, although if the film is good they applaud at the end (or if something really good happens in the film). Children are allowed into films which would be 18 only in the UK though, which can be a bit weird, and it's not uncommon for people to bring their babies. Also, if you go to a cinema in the US that is showing a Tyler Perry movie, prepare for a lot of noise.

SteveDave

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on May 23, 2011, 02:24:46 PM
although if I have to watch that Rio/ Orange ad again, I'll explode

YES! I had no desire to see the film but from seeing that advert for about 4 months in the cinema now I want to destroy everyone who has anything to do with it. God help you if you laugh at the bit where he gets turned orange in my presence.

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on May 23, 2011, 03:50:17 PM
My most bizarre experience was when I went to see the re-release of The Draughtsman's Contract, and one person started translating the film, line by line, in to French for their friend. After about five minutes I asked them to be quiet, and they were quite offended and one stroppily asked "How is my friend supposed to understand the film now?" I did feel a bit guilty at first (I was a nicer person back then), but I'm amazed they thought they could do such a thing without annoying everyone around them.
ARRGHHHH FUCK OFF AND DON'T WATCH A FILM IN A LANGUAGE YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND

Sorry, I was so annoyed on your behalf that I got angry with people I've never met.

Talking of instant reviews,  I once booed the end of a film (Urban Legend 2), and felt much better afterwards. I went to demand my money back and my mate who worked at the cinema reminded me he'd signed me in for free.

holyzombiejesus

Quote from: SteveDave on May 23, 2011, 06:07:49 PM
YES! I had no desire to see the film but from seeing that advert for about 4 months in the cinema now I want to destroy everyone who has anything to do with it. God help you if you laugh at the bit where he gets turned orange in my presence.

It seems so much longer than those other Orange ads too. That Gulliver's Travels one was pretty annoying but at least it was over relatively quickly.

lipsink

Quote from: SteveDave on May 23, 2011, 06:07:49 PM
YES! I had no desire to see the film but from seeing that advert for about 4 months in the cinema now I want to destroy everyone who has anything to do with it. God help you if you laugh at the bit where he gets turned orange in my presence.

I find the Orange RIO advert thankfully easier to put up/ignore than the horrible 'A-Team', 'Gulliver's Travels' ones that were around for ages before it.

Those new Red Bull TV ads they've started showing with those 2 boneheads go on for fucking ages though.

CaledonianGonzo

Quote from: El Unicornio, mang on May 23, 2011, 05:58:00 PM
Children are allowed into films which would be 18 only in the UK though, which can be a bit weird

I went to see Kill Bill in LA and the horrified whimpering of the toddler sitting next to me as he flinched away from the death-by-door-slams-to-the-head bit has stayed with me longer than anything in the movie.

kidsick5000

The worst thing about noisy people in the cinema is that something has to be said, but saying it sets everything on edge.
afterwards it's the same as having to sit next to someone after an argument. Really fucking awkward and then your senses are pitched to everything but what's on the screen.
It's just horrible and ruins the movie for yourself and whoever you're with the frosty atmosphere.
Also every time I read a horror story about cinema shootings, beatings and stabbings I realise I should look at who I'm about to berate.

Especially those times when, I thought justifiably, i told people off just minutes into the film. Those occasions, the offenders had basically been yakking from the moment they came in, through the ads, the trailers and then into the movie. No sign of stopping, or even noticing the damn thing had started.
Bingo. Atmosphere ruined.

Peru

You should try Japan - pin-drop silence and everyone sits all the way through the end credits.

VegaLA

Quote from: El Unicornio, mang on May 23, 2011, 05:58:00 PM
Children are allowed into films which would be 18 only in the UK though, which can be a bit weird, and it's not uncommon for people to bring their babies.

Yes, I find this strange as well. I still have the scars of being turned away from an AA film (That's 15, young 'uns!) when I was around 10 somewhere in central London. My Aunt took us so we were accompanied by an adult. It was onl the 'Blue brothers' too, but the ticket guy was not having none of it.

I saw Underworld 2 and was upset to see some mother with 3 of her children, one of which was a baby, sitting just a few rows in front of me. She did get visibly concerned during the sex scene and I remember thinking "Yeah, well you shouldn't be here with your kids to see a horror film." And WHY ON EARTH do you really need to see that film now? Do you expect it to be so bad that it will be pulled off the screens by the end of the week and you can't find a babysitter? Why would you want to see a film you expect might be shit anyway? Was the latest Disney flick booked out and figured this would be a good alternative since the kids were ramped up to see a movie? Does your cousin Brad have a walk on part? WHY?

I'm all for VerbWhores starting their own Cinema business. If I had one here i'd enforce the age limit. I'd also show the original 'Dawn of the Dead' on opening night but you know me...

kidsick5000

Quote from: VegaLA on May 23, 2011, 08:36:53 PM
Was the latest Disney flick booked out and figured this would be a good alternative since the kids were ramped up to see a movie?

Not quite the last bit but that does happen quite a lot.

ersatz99

I'm also one for sitting still and shutting up but many years ago Danny Baker mentioned he would cheer whenever the movie title was first mentioned in the dialogue and ever since I have been unable to resist the urge to do this too.

scarecrow

I work in an 'arthouse' cinema and get annoyed by most of the things highlighted in this thread on a daily basis.

HOWEVER, the most irritating thing that people can do is to ignore the 'reserved' signs found on some of the seats. These seats are for ushers or people with disabilities. An usher will sit in on most screenings so that any technical problems can be reported to projectionists, so that latecomers can be apprehended and so that disruptive people can be told off. They're not there to enjoy the film, they've probably seen it four times already. You can sit in ANY other seat. Don't confidently announce to your friend that the seat isn't actually reserved and then act put out or shocked when it's pointed out to you that it's reserved. Trying to sit on a 'reserved' seat, it's the real mark of a cinema piece of shit.

Also, when someone's been to the bar or toilet and you ask to see their ticket upon re-entry and they say that you tore the ticket in such a way as to suggest that you have learning difficulties which prevent you from remembering such a momentous event when it is your job to check hundreds of tickets every single day.

Taking store-bought/home-made popcorn into the cinema- THE CINEMA HAS OBVIOUSLY DECIDED NOT TO SELL POPCORN- AN OBVIOUS MONEYMAKER- FOR A REASON. And leaving anything on the floor that isn't a plastic cup- why should anyone be expected to pick up your used tissues and sandwichn crusts with their hands? Just BEHAVE.

Leaving the cinema just before the film ends with the intention of beating the crowd- disrupt everyone so you can have a corridor to yourself?

Moving seats during the film- fine if you do it to distance yourself from noisy people, otherwise moving a couple of rows forward makes NO DIFFERENCE. Pick a seat and stick with it.

kidsick5000

Quote from: ersatz99 on May 23, 2011, 10:08:29 PM
I'm also one for sitting still and shutting up but many years ago Danny Baker mentioned he would cheer whenever the movie title was first mentioned in the dialogue and ever since I have been unable to resist the urge to do this too.

He also encouraged people to have little parties in Saturday morning screenings of films.

Herbert Ashe

http://www.internettreehouse.co.uk/audio/stun5.mp3 is the classic example of ^

I don't get clapping at the end of a film, which seems to be just self-congratulation, especially when it's one man out of about thirty people in on a weekday afternoon.

Santa's Boyfriend

I've never done it, but I always get an urge to take a photograph of the screen when the don't-record-this-movie card comes up.  Oh and to shout "Ker-Ching!" whenever blatant product placement appears.

Duckula

I went to the cinema once when I was a student dreadfully hungover. I made it to the very end of Starsky and Hutch but had to open my empty large coke cup. I then proceeded to fill it to the very brim with piping hot vomit. I somehow did this discreetly and put the lid on it.

I wiped my mouth and dropped the warm cup into the bin on the way out.

Yeah, you probably shouldn't do that.

holyzombiejesus

Quote from: Herbert Ashe on May 24, 2011, 09:17:15 AM
http://www.internettreehouse.co.uk/audio/stun5.mp3 is the classic example of ^

I don't get clapping at the end of a film, which seems to be just self-congratulation, especially when it's one man out of about thirty people in on a weekday afternoon.

I've never understood that either. It seems to be mostly old people that do it; it's certainly popular when I go to my local cinema's Classic Matinee performances.

My boyfriend will tell people talking to keep quiet, and they're usually so surprised that they do. Phones are a different matter.

When I went to see The Social Network there was a big group of 12 year old girls in front of us who obviously liked Facebook, but weren't so keen on watching a fairly serious drama about the founding, and related legal and political wranglings, of the website. I say they obviously liked Facebook because instead of watching the film they were talking to each other on Facebook via their extremely bright phones.

What can you say to someone on the phone? Especially if they're a few rows away. They're getting more and more common in the cinema and they are really distracting. Who can't just put their phone down for a few hours Are they that important? I'd propose some sort of electric jamming thingy that just turns the fuckers off when you walk through the door. If not, flash-frame subliminal messages in the trailers, reading 'THIS IS NOT YOUR FUCKING LIVING ROOM.'

Funnily enough while I'm otherwise largely against 3D, this is less of a problem in 3D films. People are engrossed, or at least can't be bothered to raise the glasses to check their phones.

'Don't get me started' on people's reactions to the characters singing in Sweeney Todd.

Utter Shit

Quote from: scarecrow on May 24, 2011, 12:22:12 AM
I work in an 'arthouse' cinema and get annoyed by most of the things highlighted in this thread on a daily basis.

HOWEVER, the most irritating thing that people can do is to ignore the 'reserved' signs found on some of the seats. These seats are for ushers or people with disabilities. An usher will sit in on most screenings so that any technical problems can be reported to projectionists, so that latecomers can be apprehended and so that disruptive people can be told off. They're not there to enjoy the film, they've probably seen it four times already. You can sit in ANY other seat. Don't confidently announce to your friend that the seat isn't actually reserved and then act put out or shocked when it's pointed out to you that it's reserved. Trying to sit on a 'reserved' seat, it's the real mark of a cinema piece of shit.

Also, when someone's been to the bar or toilet and you ask to see their ticket upon re-entry and they say that you tore the ticket in such a way as to suggest that you have learning difficulties which prevent you from remembering such a momentous event when it is your job to check hundreds of tickets every single day.

Taking store-bought/home-made popcorn into the cinema- THE CINEMA HAS OBVIOUSLY DECIDED NOT TO SELL POPCORN- AN OBVIOUS MONEYMAKER- FOR A REASON. And leaving anything on the floor that isn't a plastic cup- why should anyone be expected to pick up your used tissues and sandwichn crusts with their hands? Just BEHAVE.

Leaving the cinema just before the film ends with the intention of beating the crowd- disrupt everyone so you can have a corridor to yourself?

Moving seats during the film- fine if you do it to distance yourself from noisy people, otherwise moving a couple of rows forward makes NO DIFFERENCE. Pick a seat and stick with it.

1. "Apprehend latecomers"? Explain.

2. If you don't want people to bring their own popcorn, don't mark up your popcorn by 4000%.

Harpo Speaks

Quote from: Utter Shit on May 24, 2011, 11:53:28 AM
2. If you don't want people to bring their own popcorn, don't mark up your popcorn by 4000%.

He said that they don't sell it at all.

small_world

Quote from: scarecrow on May 24, 2011, 12:22:12 AM
Taking store-bought/home-made popcorn into the cinema- THE CINEMA HAS OBVIOUSLY DECIDED NOT TO SELL POPCORN- AN OBVIOUS MONEYMAKER- FOR A REASON. And leaving anything on the floor that isn't a plastic cup- why should anyone be expected to pick up your used tissues and sandwichn crusts with their hands? Just BEHAVE.

Two points on this. I heard an interview with some exec from a major cinema chain, where he said that they didn't actually make all that much money from popcorn and drinks (or not as much as people think) and I just can't believe that. I mean, it's a few quid for a coke, and maybe a quid more for pop corn.

Also, crossed from the other thread in GB about littering. Why is it more socially acceptable to litter in a cinema? People leave all sorts around the seats, bottles and bags of food, shit they've just discarded through the hour or so. Madness.
I always take out whatever I take in with me, there's a fucking bin just outside.
Sometimes you leave your seat and the entire row is virtually filled with litter.

Utter Shit

Quote from: Harpo Speaks on May 24, 2011, 12:05:51 PM
He said that they don't sell it at all.
Oops - the point still stands, though. If people are able to eat it quietly and without making a mess, what's the problem?

The Roofdog

I worked in a multiplex whilst I was doing my A-Levels and popcorn is the worst for leaving a mess. Especially when it's groups of kids: they never finish it and just start chucking it all over the place. Sweets were better because (if bought in the cinema) you're paying about 80p per Minstrel so you're not going to start flinging those around.

A lot of "art-house" cinemas seem to have relaxed their food rules recently, in London at least. The NFT lets you take food and drinks in now.

The Roofdog

Quote from: small_world on May 24, 2011, 12:13:55 PM
I heard an interview with some exec from a major cinema chain, where he said that they didn't actually make all that much money from popcorn and drinks (or not as much as people think) and I just can't believe that. I mean, it's a few quid for a coke, and maybe a quid more for pop corn.

Yeah that sounds like bull: the mark-up on soft drinks in particular is immense.

scarecrow

Quote from: Utter Shit on May 24, 2011, 11:53:28 AM
1. "Apprehend latecomers"? Explain.
Latecomers, if left to their own devices, will often take ages trying to find a seat that's to their liking. It's far less distracting if they're directed to a seat upon entry. If it's a particularly busy screening and they're very late(no excuse considering the 15 minute buffer that the ads and trailers provide), they should be sent back to the box office to negotiate a ticket exchange or possible refund. Most latecomers though are actually morons wandering into the wrong screening room with supreme confidence- in which case they should be corrected as quickly as possible, before they sit down amidst others- or over-eager donks turning up at the correct screening room 40 minutes too early, disrupting the end of the film that they are about to see.

Quote from: Utter Shit on May 24, 2011, 11:53:28 AM
2. If you don't want people to bring their own popcorn, don't mark up your popcorn by 4000%.
As I said in the original post, this particular cinema doesn't sell popcorn at all, in spite of the fact that it could make a load of money from it. It has obviously considered whether to sell it or not. People should respect the stance on popcorn and not bring any. It seems pretty simple. Eating anything that isn't standard confectionary seems greedy and selfish to me. Why must people insist on stimulating all their senses at the same time? A man produced a fish supper from his bag once. If you allow people to take in things like popcorn and nachos, where does it end?

Quote from: small_world on May 24, 2011, 12:13:55 PM
Two points on this. I heard an interview with some exec from a major cinema chain, where he said that they didn't actually make all that much money from popcorn and drinks (or not as much as people think) and I just can't believe that. I mean, it's a few quid for a coke, and maybe a quid more for pop corn.
Yeah, my cinema actually makes the majority of its money from food/drink sales.

Quote from: small_world on May 24, 2011, 12:13:55 PM
Also, crossed from the other thread in GB about littering. Why is it more socially acceptable to litter in a cinema? People leave all sorts around the seats, bottles and bags of food, shit they've just discarded through the hour or so. Madness.
I always take out whatever I take in with me, there's a fucking bin just outside.
Sometimes you leave your seat and the entire row is virtually filled with litter.
The worst is after school screenings- filth everywhere. It's sad to think that teachers and parents don't make a point of dissuading kids from littering. Some seem to actively encourage them to regard the cinema as a place where you can cut loose in every respect. Often kids will climb onto the slight raised bit in front of the screen and run about, chasing each other. If you try to impose any rules on them, however, the parents make no attempt to mask their resentment of you. Nevermind the fact that they're fucking around in the vicinity of electrics and extremely expensive equipment, it's just fucking annoying to have them treat an otherwise pleasant environment with no respect whatsoever.

Utter Shit

Quote from: scarecrow on May 24, 2011, 12:38:21 PM
Latecomers, if left to their own devices, will often take ages trying to find a seat that's to their liking. It's far less distracting if they're directed to a seat upon entry. If it's a particularly busy screening and they're very late(no excuse considering the 15 minute buffer that the ads and trailers provide), they should be sent back to the box office to negotiate a ticket exchange or possible refund. Most latecomers though are actually morons wandering into the wrong screening room- in which case they should be corrected as quickly as possible, before they sit down amidst others- or over-eager donks turning up at the correct screening room 40 minutes too early, disrupting the end of the film that they are about to see.

Ah right, by 'apprehend' I presumed you would give latecomers a bollocking or not let them in.

QuoteAs I said in the original post, this particular cinema doesn't sell popcorn at all, in spite of the fact that it could make a load of money from it. It has obviously considered whether to sell it or not. People should respect the stance on popcorn and not bring any. It seems pretty simple. Eating anything that isn't standard confectionary seems greedy and selfish to me. Why must people insist on stimulating all their senses at the same time? A man produced a fish supper from his bag once. If you allow people to take in things like popcorn and nachos, where does it end?
Popcorn is a cinema standard. Saying you can't let people in popcorn because it's a gateway snack leading to harder snacks is transparently bollocks. I can understand drawing the line at strong-smelling food or food that is impossible to eat without noise, but if I want to sit watching a film and enjoy some popcorn without making a mess or affecting anyone else's viewing then what has it really got to do with 'respecting your stance'?

An tSaoi

Quote from: Utter Shit on May 24, 2011, 12:18:19 PM
If people are able to eat it quietly and without making a mess, what's the problem?

If being the crucial word.