In Contention

Tag: Arclight

  • Is pre-selecting seats really a big deal?

    I’ve got to get some reaction to this.  Our friend John Campea at The Movie Blog has cooked up another bitch-fest (he’s given to them), this one regarding the system of pre-selecting seats at movies.  It seems the poor guy has been spoiled senseless by living a mile up the street from the glorious Arclight Theater here in Hollywood (though now he’s taking in the rays in glorious Corona).

    Anyway, I should say I’ve been spoiled too, by press screenings, and I generally avoid midnight showings like the plague.  So when I do dish out the bucks, I prefer the time-honored tradition of showing up on time and picking a seat when I get inside the theater, thank you very much.  But this is an entertaining rant nonetheless.  Give us your thoughts:

  • The theatrical experience sucks…there, we said it

    movie theaterTime to be perfectly honest.  I get a little irritated every time someone talks to me about the “sanctity” of a movie theater.  The “house of worship” B.S. that tends to precede a holier-than-thou, painfully romanticized assessment of seeing films on the big screen, in a packed house, it just rings a terribly false note with me.  Maybe I’m getting older and crankier.

    Maybe I’ve been spoiled by years upon years of seeing films in studio screening rooms surrounded by a handful of people who know how to shut the hell up for two hours (though you’d be surprised).  Whatever the reason, one thing is for sure: if your line is that seeing a film in a movie theater with the public is the only way to see a film, I’m not buying.

    This was more or less the point of Noah Forrest’s recent piece at Movie City News, and though Forrest gets smacked around from time to time for going against the grain, I’m arm-in-arm with him on this one, and I’m glad someone in his racket said it.  Here’s a taste:

    My problem remains that going to the movies now doesn’t offer much of an escape. And if you’re a kid, you might not want to blow all your allowance money for a single movie ticket and then break open the piggy-bank if you want some popcorn and a soda. And if you’re an adult, you’re stuck watching movies that are either out of focus or not properly displayed on the screen amidst a sea of rude people who will gladly put their stinky shoes right next to your face while they text message their friends about how bored they are…

    The problem of cell phones is not merely the nuisance of being around someone who is texting, calling or twittering constantly but the concept that people are bringing the outside world into a movie theater. For me, going to the movies was a sacred experience; again, not just watching the movie but watching the faces of the people around me and laughing with an audience or crying with an audience. Now, I find myself resenting the audience I’m around because they don’t want to immerse themselves fully in the film; they want to do business or talk to friends on their phones while the movie plays in the background. I understand bringing a cell phone with you and keeping it on silent in case of an emergency or if you might use it as a watch, but you should be in that theater to watch a movie – or to make out, which is fine with me as long as you’re not puckering too loudly.

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