Bad Movie Theater Experiences

[simbob4000]

Not really a bad one, but my screening of "Guardians of the Galaxy" had some weird guy in the front row who was really easily impressed with what was happening on screen. He would clap really loudly/enthusiastically at every action or mildly comedic moment.

After a point, watching his reactions became more entertaining than the movie itself.

Whenever I went to see Marvel's The Avengers there was a guy letting out the biggest laugh any time anything that was meant to be funny happened, it was like having a terrible laugh track with the movie. Same kind of thing when I saw Despicable Me 2, there were some teens and they were laughing way too hard a jokes meant for very some children...I really hope they were just really stoned.

The last time I went to a movie and there was just a group of people talking, and not even about the movie, just like they paid to sit in a theatre to have a conversation, was Open Range.

[d.w washburn]

Not "bad" so much as funny. I was in the "low rent" theater watching some Horror Movie. I can't recall what but in the next theater they were playing the "my little mermaid" movie. The walls of the theater were so thin that the songs form mermaid would drown out the horror movie. Usually at the most serious parts too. People were laughing their butts off.

[Amibo_Amore]

My all time personal favorite experience was Avengers. One of the few times I felt a movie was worth the price of admission. Funnest movie experience I ever had.

When the Hulk beat up Loki, I don't think I've ever seen an audience react so much. I couldn't even hear what the Hulk said afterward (puny god).

I've had plenty of good theater experiences. Although I'd probably say my best one, was when I went to see Captain America: Winter Solider. The audience was really engaged, and I could tell that they loved every minute of it. You could literally feel the tension in the audience when Fury sees the Winter Soldier from his wrecked car.

[Legato]

When the Hulk beat up Loki, I don't think I've ever seen an audience react so much. I couldn't even hear what the Hulk said afterward (puny god).

I've had plenty of good theater experiences. Although I'd probably say my best one, was when I went to see Captain America: Winter Solider. The audience was really engaged, and I could tell that they loved every minute of it. You could literally feel the tension in the audience when Fury sees the Winter Soldier from his wrecked car.

That and the audience in my movie lost their **** during the Thanos reveal in the post credit scene

[AndrewCrossett]

The Hulk/Loki scene was a huge audience reaction, but (being old) the biggest reaction I ever experienced was when Darth Vader grabbed the Emperor in Return of the Jedi. It was the first time I'd ever seen an entire theater audience get to its feet in unison and cheer.

[Iron Fist]

Most audiences here are pretty good with the talking, can't blame people for talking during the trailers etc.

The only memorable thing was when we went to see the Hobbit part 1 and we were early and as we walk in, there's only one other person in the cinema at the back and when he sees us a woman sits up beside him. It was one of those moments and we were just like 'erm hi?'

[billdo75]

Another odd one here. I went to see Nacho Libre one early afternoon. Some guy sits at the end of the row and settles in with his multiple buckets of popcorn. During the movie, he found some parts extremely funny. The weird part, however, is that anytime he started laughing he would look at me, see I wasn't laughing as hard as he was, and just stop laughing and turn back to the screen. This happened about ten times throughout the movie. It was so bizarre. Not only that, but homeboy went out for refills. He must've gone through 3-4 buckets of popcorn..

[spacegoatpurrp]

I remember going to the movies last year to see "2 Gunz" and the people next to me was laughing at every little thing, I mean I know its okay to laugh in a movie theater but laughing at every little thing even when its not that funny is just annoying to me =/ thats why I'd rather watch films at home

[Ultimates]

I had a thunderstorm knock out power when I was maybe 45-60 minutes into Inception. I got two tickets out of it, but I had no idea what was going on in the movie or if it was worth trying to see again. Also watched the last Harry Potter with 3 drunks a few rows behind us. They talked out loud off and on, but even worse was the smell of booze from those guys. Just nasty.

[DebkoX]

When watching Avatar. We found the cinema was oversold. Que anger from many.

[ROM Spaceknight]

Being a huge film aficionado, some of my best experiences in the past have been seeing films theatrically - primarily in the late '90's & 200X's. There are definitely a lot of great films that are amazing on the big screen, i.e. the Star Wars films; Blade Runner (saw the 2007 cut in a limited theatrical release), and too many others too list.

However, as time went on I realized that it was becoming a huge hassle to see films in the theater. In fact, in my experience, non-issues with theatrical audiences are the exception rather than the rule. I used to go see movies in the theater 2-3 times a week in the 200X's, from huge Hollywood blockbusters to small art house films. And, whether I was in a large theater or a small one, the a-holes would all come out of the woodwork. Here are just some examples:

-Seeing a horror film in the early 200X's; a family thought it was a good idea to bring their infant to this violent film, and the kid kept crying throughout. At the same film, a women kept leaving the theater multiple times to talk on her cell phone. WTF?!

- People talking throughout the showing of an indy drama in the early 200X's, even when various audience members told them to keep it down.

I've got numerous other examples. But, in general, I've seen the following many times when I've gone to see films in the theater: people coming in & then leaving the theater multiple times, people coming to the theater very late & disrupting the film while they find their seats in the dark, kids crying/screaming, drunk/high/obnoxious or mentally ill audience members, etc. can make going to the theater a truly messed-up and unpleasant experience.

I just don't see the point of making an effort to get expensive tickets online (or wait until you get them in the theater), drive there, and sit down in a crowded (maybe) theater to put up with this. My free time is valuable, and I would much rather use it to watch DVD's, Blu's, and streaming. In addition to all of the irritations already discussed, having to see a movie theatrically involves driving to the theater (or taking public transportation, if that's available to you) which may take a while, sitting through the previews/trailers, filing out with everyone at the end, and driving home. And, note that whether or not you like assigned seating, if you do have to deal with this - it ends up resulting in another set of potential issues. So, just taking the time to do all of this (and not counting the running time of the movie) and I could already have watched a TV episode in the comfort of my own home, or may even a full-length film.

The viewing experience @ home is a lot more pleasant, easier, and stress-free.

[KOSLOX]

Now that they've switched to designated seating I've had like two awkward situations and one terrible. In both the others it was a pretty simple case of someone wanting to sit with friends and then moving when they realized those seats weren't open.

The awful situation happened last fall. My wife, her best friend (and husband), and I went to go see a movie (obviously). We were all in our assigned seats when a fairly large group of people came in. They all proceeded to sit down and loudly yell at each other, which is annoying but prior to the show start it's just whatever. Anyway one girl/woman (she was late teen, maybe 20) stood in front of the other guy in our group and started demanding he move.

He told her no and showed her his ticket. We all double checked and were like, "No, we're good."

So she leaves, and comes back with an usher. She says we stole her seat and told the usher to have us removed. We show him our tickets, and then he looks at hers. She's in the wrong row.

Instead of taking the L and just realizing she's in the wrong she goes ballistic, starts swearing, knocked the popcorn out of our friends lap, and starts doing this thing where she tries to block his view of the screen.

It was dumb as hell. EVERYONE is just like "What the #### is happening here?"

So anyway she ends up being escorted out, and while that's going on her friends start threatening us. So they all got kicked out too.

My wife was all worried because they looked real rednecky, and she thought they'd be waiting outside with pickup trucks or whatever. But I wasn't scared of a group of 17-18 year old kids so we just asked for a refund, which we got and new popcorn.

They let us stay for the movie as well, and some of the other people around us were just like, "Thank god", "I think she was drunk", and stuff like that.

[TriggerWarning]

Batman vs Superman.

Guy sitting one row in front of me and a few seats down kept letting out louds whoops and cheers every time somebody did something on screen. He sounded like he was having an orgasm when WW showed up near the end of the movie.

Its why I have really mixed feelings about seeing genre films on opening weekends. On the one hand I really want to see them, on the other there are usually guys like this one who can't hold it in and ruin the experience for everyone else.

[Cyke]

Batman vs Superman.

Guy sitting one row in front of me and a few seats down kept letting out louds whoops and cheers every time somebody did something on screen. He sounded like he was having an orgasm when WW showed up near the end of the movie.

Its why I have really mixed feelings about seeing genre films on opening weekends. On the one hand I really want to see them, on the other there are usually guys like this one who can't hold it in and ruin the experience for everyone else.

That reminds me, X-Men: Days of Future Past. A dude behind us was cracking up with enthusiasm at the activation of every single super power. Which is bad since it's a movie with, y'know, 2 dozen mutants.

I mean, I got the excitement for the film, especially since it was the return of Singer and his cast and the crossover between that and First Class. But goddamn, this is the fourth movie we've seen with Storm flying in it. He applauded at routine flight. It's not meant to be mindblowing, dude. Calm down.

And he wouldn't shut up around his friends during those moments. "Did you SEE THAT?! DID YOU SEE THAT?!" Yes, yes, we all saw it. The screen is 30 feet tall by 90 feet wide. I think he clapped less when the X-Men saved the day, or the Kelsey Grammer cameo, or even the return of Scott and Jean.

[ROM Spaceknight]

I absolutely hate assigned seating - which is another reason I hate going to see films theatrically these days. I remember not that long ago, when you could just go to a theater early & get good seats. It was a first come, first serve basis - which is the way it should be. And, if you didn't like your seat & there were extra seats somewhere, you could move.

Now that we have assigned seating the following occurs:

1) You typically can't choose the seats that you want - not necessarily due to others sitting in them - but due to the theater blocking out all the best seats.

2) You will get to your assigned seat & find someone else sitting there. Then, you will need to argue with them about your right to sit there. They may get belligerent, and you will then need to decide whether you want to bother getting into a physical confrontation with them (which almost happened to me once), threatening to call management, etc.

3) You may/will be forced to sit near people you don't know/have no connection to & who may be obnoxious/drunk/on drugs. As a result, you may want to get up & move your seat to have more room/space, but can't do so due to the other assigned seats.

Again, this is a lot more hassle than I need - when all I want to do is watch & enjoy the film. Life is too short to have to deal with this kind of crap.