Commercials at the movies..

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 9:16am

I know we've discussed this before but I have to vent a little.

Yesterday, I went to see Finding Neverland (which I loved) at the ONLY theater in Downtown Chicago that's playing it.

After paying $9.75 to get into a 4:15pm show and $8 at the concession stand, I selected a seat in this old, run-down theater.

At 4:15 the lights dimmed and the commericals started.. 20 minutes of them. That's right: television-style commericals for twenty minutes. THEN there were the normal 15 minutes of trailers.

Am I the only one that thinks the pre-movie commericals have gotten just a bit out of hand?
Updated On: 11/29/04 at 09:16 AM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 9:19am

Find somewhere cheaper to watch a movie at. I always get to the movies too late to actually watch the commercials, all I see is about a minute or two of the trailers. Lucky me, I guess.

[AbsolutKnight]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 9:30am

We have Regal around us. They used to play commercials but now intead they do this NBC Twenty or something before the show, which is pretty much like the slide shows they used to have up. But becuase of that the previews start right when they should.

I don't think it is bad if the commercials are before the show, but I dont like the idea of the commercials making the movie start 10 minutes later.

[joeyjoe]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 9:30am

Rodney, i TOTALLY agree with you... To pay you money to see a film, and then have to be subjected, as a captive audience, to 20 minutes of the same thing you can see on broadcast television is too much... i think advertising in general has gotten out of hand, and to think at one point i actually considered is as a career... (no offense, Addy)...

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 10:11am

I have more important things to be concerned about.

[mabel]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 11:48am

I also saw Finding Neverland this weekend (at a Loews in Mass) and there were about 20 minutes of commercials before it as well. It was a bit much! Between the commercials and the 15 minutes of trailers (several of which I'd just seen at Bridget Jones the day before...I swear, if I never see another trailer for Spanglish or In Good Company again, that'll be just fine w/ me!!!)

If only there were more places like the Wilton Town Hall Theatre in NH...they play two movies in the town hall (one in the small screening room and the other in the larger theatre), usually they're independant movies (Sideways and Being Julia now) and they only show one or two trailers (and they're always good ones!)...oh, and it's only 5 bucks!!! Can't beat that!

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 12:06pm

The first time I experienced a real commercial at the movies was when I saw the first Harry Potter movie. It took so long to get to the actual movie and when it finally did there was an ovation.

[camerangel]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 12:10pm

I hate being subjected to them. If I wanted to see commercials I would have stayed home and watched tv. It's getting out of hand that the moive actually starts 20 minutes later than it should. Makes it hard to stick to schedules.

Mabel- Wilton NH? I've been there.. Nice little town..

[mabel]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 12:24pm

I'm actually from the next town over, but we always go to Wilton to go to the movies. It's always one of the highlights when I'm home from college. HAVE to catch at least one movie at the Wilton Town Hall Theatre! After paying an arm and a leg to see crap at the jumbo cineplexes, it's nice to have that small town, homey feel (they even have curtains that they open in front of the screen...it's really cute!)

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 12:26pm

Feel lucky to have seen Sideways. It's on my top ten list :)

[Matt_G]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 12:26pm

You'd think with all the money these theatres are getting from the companies force us to watch their commercials, that they could keep ticket prices down a little more. I *might* be able to tollerate them if they did that.

[Plum]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 12:46pm

That's not the idea, of course. The idea isn't "how can we change the way we make money?" It's "how can we make more money?" So they'll have the commercials and the high ticket prices, make their top executives a little richer, and leave the rest of us slightly pissed off. Yay!

I actually like trailers, but the non-movie ads annoy me. But it's true that if you go to a small, cheap theater- especially those little 1-3-screen wonders all over suburbia- you won't get so many ads. The sound and image quality suffers, too, but what can you do?

[Matt_G]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 12:48pm

What really irks me is when people shush you if you talk during the commercials. HUH?!?!?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 12:59pm

Commercials at the movies is only recent in the US. It's been going on in the UK and Europe for years. The difference is, over there, they give two times for the movie schedule listing. The first time is when the commercials and trailers begin, the second time is when the actual movie starts. It's more helpful if you want to skip the commercials, but if you want a good seat, you have to sit through them anyway. It's actually no different than the awful slideshow and radio commercials you have to sit through before anything starts. At least the commercials are less coma-inducing.

[Plum]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 1:01pm

Commercials: better or worse than Muzak?

It's worth contemplating.

[camerangel]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 1:04pm

I agree with Matt_G if the commercials helped keep the ticket prices down I could tolerate them, but oh no.. It's all about milking us for every penny they can..

I dont usually mind the movie trailers though.

[mabel]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 1:06pm

I think the commercials are a bit worse, because they shut the lights off, and like Matt said, you get people who shush you for talking during them, since it's got the whole "lights off, movie's started" vibe...but w/ the bad music and slide show things, the lights are on and you're more free to chat (usually complain about/make fun of the bad slide show/muszak!!!) Just a thought...

[Matt_G]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 1:07pm

If you want to really make me mad, you'll make me miss the trailers. That's my favorite part of going to the movies.

[broadway_star_tomorrow]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 1:51pm

I think the slideshow/muzak is worse. of course, that could also be because I worked at a movie theater for a year, and had to spend at least 20 hours a week LISTENING to the stupid muzak.

[Penalers]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 5:02pm

i always said it was a matter of time before this started happening. Although it is as annoying as f**k, its realy a great idea from a business standpoint.