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Post by impulse on Apr 25, 2022 9:22:19 GMT -5
Watching a movie on TV is like looking at a painting in a book. You do it if it's the only way to experience it, but when you take a work of art out of its proper context, you miss a thousand little details. I respectfully disagree. Perhaps I would agree that it is better to see movies in an ideal theater viewing setting than TV, but those seem increasingly if not virtually impossible to find near me anyway. Also the quality of home viewing screens has gotten drastically better over the years, and while I would agree that it's not the same as the best theater viewing, the gap is certainly closing. The modern equivalent would be like going to an art museum to see a Money exhibit, but the lights are flickering on and off, other patrons keep walking in front of your view and blocking it at times, people keep flashing lights in your face while you're trying to look. And instead of seeing a small print in a book, now you have giant high-res coffee table art books in large size that you can spend a lot of time with. Or even at some point I saw service where you can order a 3D print of a painting that even emulates the texture of the pain strokes. Again of course not one to one, but pretty darn close for the majority of people. If Alamo Drafthouse and their rule of ejecting movie talkers would come to my area, this would be a moot point. I respe- what?? Ok, them's fightin' words! jk. I am a huge fan of audio books, though I concede the way you can consume a printed book allows more options.
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Post by Cei-U! on Apr 25, 2022 9:53:14 GMT -5
Audio books simply don't hold my attention, at least in part because I have hearing loss in my left ear that makes listening to anything electronic (phone, TV, radio) difficult. I can't process the data the way I can the written word.
Cei-U! I summon the volume control!
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,785
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Post by shaxper on Apr 25, 2022 10:27:40 GMT -5
The absolute need to watch a film on a cinema screen is generally over-stated, I think...especially since 9 times out of 10 you'll have annoying b*stards all around you talking, looking at their phones, getting up to pee, and rustling their sweets and popcorn packets all through the damn thing. Hardly the viewing experience that the director intended for you. No doubt that a bad audience can dampen a film experience, but I still think there is an argument for films often being better when seen in the theater: 1. When you watch at home, it's easy for your attention to be divided. You get a text, the doorbell rings, or for any number of other reasons you find yourself distracted and not giving the film your full attention. On the rare occasion that I have time to sit down and truly watch a film at home, I have to make rules for myself -- no lights, no phone, no pausing the film unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise, my adhd kicks in and I end up not giving the film enough attention to fully get something out of it. 2. The resolution of a theater projector and screen is still so much better than what even the best television and HD blu ray disk can replicate at home, as is the sound. Oftentimes, this doesn't really matter, but with some films it truly does. I'll never forget seeing Fantasia 2000 in Imax back in the day, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice being blown up to that scale, where you could truly see the depth and texture of the moving artwork in a way that had never translated to home media. So it's more reason #1 than reason #2 for me in most instances. I'd still prefer the self-discipline and focus that naturally comes with seeing a film in the theater than trusting myself (and the world around me) to respect my focus while sitting on my couch. I'll take a few rude neighbors at the theater over all the distraction that happens at home.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,106
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Post by Confessor on Apr 25, 2022 11:05:23 GMT -5
I feel as if there's a side discussion to be had about what everybody's worst/most annoying cinema experience is. Myself, the absolute worst was when I went to see the Beatles documentary film Eight days A Week – The Touring Years back in 2016. I was there at the very first showing on opening night (I'm a BIG Beatles fan). Now, obviously there's a lot of music in a film such as that, but clearly its not a musical -- its a documentary film meant to be watched as you would any other documantary film. Anyway, about five minutes into the film a guy sat in the row directly behind me started to sing along with the music...quite loudly...and very, very badly. My wife and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes, but thought that he had perhaps just forgotten himself and that he would quieten down as the film progressed. Nope! He continued to sing along louder and louder in a dreadfully out of tune manner -- and nobody else in the cinema was singing, by the way. The final straw came when he started to drum along with the music on his thighs and knees as well -- right behind my head! And really out of time! I think I lasted another 5 minutes and then I stood up and exploded at him: "STOP F***ING SINGING AND DRUMMING ON YOUR LEGS!! THIS ISN'T SING-A-LONG-A-F***ING-BEATLES!!! JUST SHUT UP AND WATCH THE F***ING FILM!!!!" Honestly, I was absolutely furious! The guy looked mortified, but he did at least sputter a "sorry" and finally shut up. My wife said that a number of folks sitting near us were clearly glad that I'd said something, but to be honest I didn't notice, I was so angry and annoyed that it really spoilt the rest of the film for me; I continued to fume and just couldn't concentrate on it properly anymore. A close second worst cinema experience would be the ignorant lady a few seats along from me when I went to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon who insisted on talking loudly in an offensive mock-Chinese voice, saying nonsense things like "Ching-chang-chong! Chinny-cha-cha-chong! Hai-Ya!" at odd moments during the film in reaction to the subtitled Mandarin dialogue. Absolutely hateful individual.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2022 11:25:05 GMT -5
Well, I sat in a cinema with a famous director - watching a film he had directed. Or so I thought at first. Seems the guy thought he was there to do a director’s commentary. I did tell him to be quiet, and a few others did too. He shut up.
I won’t go to the cinema with my brother-in-law, last film we saw together was Spectre. He cannot keep off his phone. Apparently, he’s like it at home. My sister says it drives her mad. She’ll put on a film or series, and he’ll just be on this phone constantly, inevitably saying, “This film is boring, I’m gonna go and do something else.” Yes, it’s boring because you haven’t given it your attention.
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Post by impulse on Apr 25, 2022 11:34:24 GMT -5
No doubt that a bad audience can dampen a film experience, but I still think there is an argument for films often being better when seen in the theater: 1. When you watch at home, it's easy for your attention to be divided. You get a text, the doorbell rings, or for any number of other reasons you find yourself distracted and not giving the film your full attention. On the rare occasion that I have time to sit down and truly watch a film at home, I have to make rules for myself -- no lights, no phone, no pausing the film unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise, my adhd kicks in and I end up not giving the film enough attention to fully get something out of it. 2. The resolution of a theater projector and screen is still so much better than what even the best television and HD blu ray disk can replicate at home, as is the sound. Oftentimes, this doesn't really matter, but with some films it truly does. I'll never forget seeing Fantasia 2000 in Imax back in the day, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice being blown up to that scale, where you could truly see the depth and texture of the moving artwork in a way that had never translated to home media. So it's more reason #1 than reason #2 for me in most instances. I'd still prefer the self-discipline and focus that naturally comes with seeing a film in the theater than trusting myself (and the world around me) to respect my focus while sitting on my couch. I'll take a few rude neighbors at the theater over all the distraction that happens at home. I'm the opposite. I'd rather have the ability to better control my environment at home than being surrounded by random, selfish chaos agents at a theater. If there is an interruption at home, I can pause the movie, back it up, etc. At the theater, there is no saying who is going to start talking conversationally, who is going to holler at the screen, who whips out their phone every 2 minutes to text, blinding you, etc. At home I have some tools to salvage my experience. In public, I am fully at the mercy of the public, and their track record isn't great. Agreed on maximum image and audio quality in an actual properly calibrated and maintained theater being potentially better, but it's wasted on me if I'm fuming over the group of teenagers cracking up in the corner or people's kids running and screaming up and down. And at home, the quality is much better than it used to be, so not as much lost. I'd prefer a theater where everyone actually shut up and watched the movie silently and kept their phones pocketed, mind you, but that doesn't seem to happen near me anymore. I feel as if there's a side discussion to be had about everybody's worst/most annoying cinema experience is. Okay, worst is easy. Hands down has to be the time we had to evacuate the theater during the climax of movie after one person got tired of the other person who had been talking trash to the movie throughout the entire movie. He stood up and cursed him out. Talker guy stood up and cursed back. Various friends on each other's side stood up and started shouting at each other. This continued to escalate. For a brief moment, it looked like attention focused back on the movie and things would diffuse. Then someone shouts "I'll f***ing KILL YOU!" and the rest of us go welp, time to go, and run out. This was on a premier night of an entry in a major blockbuster franchise, and every theater in town was sold out for all showings except this one. Not in the best part of town as you might surmise. The worst one where I actually made it through the movie, or at least most noteworthy, was when this excessive selfish rudeness first made it self evident. I was seeing 28 Days Later. Tense zombie movie. In the actual climax, the quiet part at the end when you find out the fate of a character, what looked to be some teenage something girls nearby had one of their phones ring...and they ANSWERED. At least in my experience, this had been totally unprecedented before this. There was audible outrage in the theater. Someone loudly yelled "SHUT THE F*** UP!!" They eventually did, but it soured the mood for the rest of the movie. It's all been downhill from there. Good experiences!On the other hand, sometimes a crowd can be fun if it's the right crowd. When I was in my 20s and before I had responsibilities and kids, I loved to go to the earliest possible midnight premier of the biggest nerd movie of the day, whether it be the Matrix, Star Wars, superhero, what have you, because that tended to be THE MOST EAGER group of people to see it, and everyone was into it. Some amount of noise and exclamations and laughing added to the vibe because you were all experiencing and reacting the same. It's like the difference in seeing a big-name radio band at an arena where the show is kind of going on around you versus being at a smaller venue with a A- or B+ level band but EVERY PERSON THERE is a huge fan and wants to be there. You can ride the energy wave in the latter. On that note, Attack of the Clones was probably the most fun movie experience I attended. The costumes, the buzz, the Matrix sequel trailers attached before we knew the movies would be terrible, and while the movie aged poorly, it was fun at the time, especially the last half hour. I don't think I have ever seen a group of people more excited and in unison than when Yoda told Dooku well I guess we are settling this with lightsabers, dropped his cane and force-drew his blade. I suppose you could call it something similar to a musical performer who has charisma and stage presence, but instead of a performer drawing an audience in, the audience was just in sync with the vibe of the movie. At that point the crowd just absolutely lost it in unison. Gasps, cheers, shouts, clapping. I found myself out of my seat. Then Yoda is on him like lightning, and the "Oh SHIT!" look on Dooku's face when he saw he bit off more than he could chew. Man, I would love to have that kind of experience at a movie again. The buzz and the atmosphere 1,000% elevated the enjoyment of the movie on that first viewing. I suppose the next closest experience was seeing Endgame in theaters at the end. The absolute catharsis of a nerdy kid grown to an adult seeing this stuff fully realized and pulled off on a big screen after a dozens-part epic dominating pop culture and all the fan-service moments was just overwhelming. In the unlikely event someone still hasn't seen it who cares, {Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler} specifically Cap drawing Mjolner and saving Thor/laying out Thanos, "On your left" and "Avengers... ASSEMBLE!" were the closest to childlike joy I've felt in a long time. Well, this was longer than It thought it would be. As a frequently frustrated movie viewer, I am sure a lot of people appreciated you.
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Post by badwolf on Apr 25, 2022 12:22:51 GMT -5
My worst movie theatre experience was... a bit like this: Only the ending was different.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 25, 2022 14:06:02 GMT -5
My own worst movie experiences were due to a full bladder; can't blame that on other viewers.
There was this one time, though, that's worth mentioning and more cheerful! The movie was Capricorn One, a conspiracy-type film in which a manned space flight to Mars is faked by NASA. When the empty "returning spaceship" very publicly crashes and burns after a malfunction, the hapless astronauts who had been sequestered for a year have to be eliminated! Daring escapes and feverish pursuits ensue, and at some point a few Secret Service types barge through an apartment's door to catch one of the fugitives. It was just a case of a sudden bang! in an otherwise quiet scene, but one of the ladies in the crowd SCREAMED in surprise at the top of her lungs, generating a wave of laughter from the rest of the room!
It didn't help the seriousness of the movie one bit, but I can fairly say that everyone who was there that night still remember that scream with a smile!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2022 14:18:12 GMT -5
Most of my worst cinema experiences come form the two and a half years I spent working at a cinema while I was at university.
I feel there are far more uncontrollable distractions and annoyances trying to watch a movie at the cinema than at home. Up until the pandemic, my wife and I divided movies into two types-story based movies that every piece of dialogue and cinematography are essential to getting the full experience of the film-these are movies we will wait and watch at home where we can minimize distractions, interruptions and ambient noise overpowering the dialogue-and movies that are visual spectacles (super-hero and sci-fi blockbusters mostly) that are enhanced by seeing them on the big screen and if you miss bits or pieces of dialogue or such it doesn't adversely impact the viewing experience, those we see in the cinema. Post pandemic, the range of films we will see at the cinema has narrowed even more. I think we have been twice since the pandemic, and we're uncertain if we will make the effort for most of the upcoming films to see them in the theatre or not.
-M
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 25, 2022 21:22:39 GMT -5
I don't really have a worst experience at a theater, other than sitting through Mary Reilly, with Julia Roberts doing an atrocious accent. However, I didn't pay to see the film, so I give it some slack (I went as the guest of a friend, who worked at the theater and got in free). I was checking my watch 10 minutes into the film (a sure sign the film bores me) and that was not a good sign. It went downhill from there, as it was longer than that to reach the end.
The most fun I have ever had was probably a screening of The Adv of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, at the local art theater, when it was first released nationally. I knew a little going in, that Terrence Stamp was in drag, which is why I wanted to check it out (knew nothing of Hugo Weaving or Guy Pierce). A bunch of co-workers were going so I went with the group. I'd say the theater was ta least 50-50 gay to straight, maybe 60-40 on the hetero side; but, everyone was laughing hysterically and tapping and stomping their feet to the musical numbers. It was just such a surprisingly wonderful film that just made you feel good. It was even more of a delight to see the costume designer win the Oscar, while wearing a dress made out of American Express Gold Cards. That was probably the single most-deserved Academy Award, ever. There are costumes and there are COSTUMES; and, she created some amazing things for the film, on a small budget.
Other than that it is probably getting to see Superman fly, in 1978, and hearing a theater of people cheer as he swoops up to save Lois from falling from the helicopter...
You can call it cornball, you can say he is a blue boyscout; but, everyone in the theater who saw that, in that moment, believed in a hero. That was the power of Superman and the power of the sincere performance that Christopher Reeve gave him. He embodied it, without winking at the camera, without obvious self-consciousness in the costume, without a trace of irony. Every superhero movie that followed owed a debt of gratitude to Christopher Reeve and Richard Donner.
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Post by Icctrombone on Apr 26, 2022 6:00:15 GMT -5
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,106
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Post by Confessor on Apr 26, 2022 7:50:17 GMT -5
HA ha...that's great! Now, where can I get one of those costumes.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 26, 2022 7:51:39 GMT -5
HA ha...that's great! Now, where can I get one of those costumes.
Which one?
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Post by Icctrombone on Apr 27, 2022 6:28:40 GMT -5
Sorting comics while watching the Watchmen Movie ? Priceless.
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Post by tartanphantom on Apr 27, 2022 7:47:20 GMT -5
Sorting comics while watching the Watchmen Movie ? Priceless.
I see that you've graduated from living in your parents' basement to living in your parents' attic. You're sure moving up in the world.
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