The Moviegoing Experience Circa 2013

[KalElFan]

On Friday, here in the Greater Toronto Area, I saw a 12:20 p.m.
showing of Man of Steel. Loved it and posted my A+ reviews
here (non-spoiler and spoiler-filled). So no complaints there
at all, but here were the sequence of ads and the like, and
the trailers, starting at 12:20 p.m. and running for 25 minutes
until the movie started at 12:45 p.m.:

1. "The Last of US" Uncharted Video Game
2. "Mortal Instruments" pitch under a "Pre-Show" banner
3. An interactive smart phone game for people in the theater.
with a free drink or some such as the prize. Seems like a
part of the rationale is to get people to turn off their cell
phones after it's over.
4. Coke Zero Ad
5. Milk Ad
6. Restaurant Ad (pretty sure it was Moxie's but it ran by quick)
7. Gillette Ad (Superman connection at least)
8. Cenovus Oil Sands Ad
9. Pantene Ad
10. Mr. Clean Ad (also Superman-evoking believe it or not)
11. Cover Girl Ad
12. Westjet Ad
13. Interac Ad
14. Another Coca-Cola Ad
15. Mini (the car) Ad
16. A "Coming Soon" CGI bit signalling the trailers
17. Lone Ranger
18. R.I.P.D.
19. Pacific Rim
20. Gravity

Just one of many reasons (and not the most important) that
I wait at least the 3 1/2 months nowadays for the Blu-Ray,
and only then for movies I want to see that soon. I've seen
well over a thousand movies in theaters over the years but
mostly the 70s through 90s. Prior to Man of Steel, I'd been
to only two movies in theaters in almost the last two years.
It seems to have got worse with the barrage of ads during
that period, because I don't remember it ever being quite
as over-the-top as it was on Friday. I'm not averse to ads
and product placement, but that seemed a bit much.

[BTR1701]

One of the great things about the Arclight in Los Angeles is that other
than trailers they have no ads at all.

[Edward McArdle]

In article <b26g3r...@mid.individual.net>, "KalElFan"

It's the same here in Australia. I go in the day (being retired) when
there are not a lot of viewers, but a lot arrive fifteen to twenty minutes
after the supposed starting time!

I don't mind trailers, but twenty minutes of ads is annoying.

--
Edward McArdle

[Your Name]

"KalElFan" <kale...@yanospamhoo.com> wrote:
> On Friday, here in the Greater Toronto Area, I saw a 12:20 p.m.
> showing of Man of Steel. Loved it and posted my A+ reviews
> here (non-spoiler and spoiler-filled). So no complaints there
> at all, but here were the sequence of ads and the like, and
> the trailers, starting at 12:20 p.m. and running for 25 minutes
> until the movie started at 12:45 p.m.:

<snip>

Seems a bit excessive. I know the movies here in New Zealand don't
actually start for about 10-15 minutes after the scheduled time.

It's possible that they had some sort of problem with the movie and kept
playing trailers / adverts until they had fixed it.

> Just one of many reasons (and not the most important) that
> I wait at least the 3 1/2 months nowadays for the Blu-Ray,
> and only then for movies I want to see that soon. I've seen
> well over a thousand movies in theaters over the years but
> mostly the 70s through 90s. Prior to Man of Steel, I'd been
> to only two movies in theaters in almost the last two years.
> It seems to have got worse with the barrage of ads during
> that period, because I don't remember it ever being quite
> as over-the-top as it was on Friday. I'm not averse to ads
> and product placement, but that seemed a bit much.

The only movies I pay to see in a cinema are the Star Wars ones. I do
occasionally see other movies if I win tickets in a competition, but I've
probably seen three movies at most in the last five years in a cinema.

I rarely bother to buy them on DVD either (again, I occasionaly win one).
Usually I just wait for them to be on TV, and even then the first few
times they're often in a silly timeslot that finishes way too late for me
to bother watching to the end.

[Klaatu]

"KalElFan" <kale...@yanospamhoo.com> wrote in message
news:b26g3r...@mid.individual.net...

I go on half-price Tuesdays here in the Ozarks, with a senior discount, in
the afternoon. No crowds. Very few rug rats, and then they are with an
adult. Two people can get in for under $15.00 US WITH the extra 3D charge.
The half-price Tuesdays is only available during the summer months. I also
take advantage of the movie chain "club", you acquire points every time you
go to the movies, which can be redeemed for free tickets or concessions.
We have some advertisements, but most of them are for TV shows. Go figure.
There are some adverts for local businesses. If we get there late, and miss
the previews, no big deal.
Mostly sci-fi flicks, 3D if possible. Man of Steel is tomorrow, Return to
Earth was last week, Star Trek before that, World War Z is next week, then
Lone Ranger, then Pacific Rim. Or something like that.
I take advantage of the "bucket" deal, you buy a big plastic bucket around
the first of the year for $15.00US, and if you bring it back, you can refill
it with popcorn each visit for $3.00 all year. I usually have a candy bar
or hard candy in my pocket. Using the club card gets you a $2.00 credit on
popcorn, so it only costs a dollar.
While I could stay at home and watch movies on a big screen tv (65"), I
enjoy the movie theater experience with friends, and the 3D aint bad either.
And the popcorn, lots of butter.
At home, I watch almost NOTHING live, always recorded so I can remove the
commercials.
The exceptions is nightly news.
I do buy and rent Blu-ray movies, but rarely.
My retirement and age does have its perks.

[Bill Steele]

In article <b26g3r...@mid.individual.net>,

"KalElFan" <kale...@yanospamhoo.com> wrote:

> 1. "The Last of US" Uncharted Video Game
> 2. "Mortal Instruments" pitch under a "Pre-Show" banner
> 3. An interactive smart phone game for people in the theater.
> with a free drink or some such as the prize. Seems like a
> part of the rationale is to get people to turn off their cell
> phones after it's over.
> 4. Coke Zero Ad
> 5. Milk Ad
> 6. Restaurant Ad (pretty sure it was Moxie's but it ran by quick)
> 7. Gillette Ad (Superman connection at least)
> 8. Cenovus Oil Sands Ad
> 9. Pantene Ad
> 10. Mr. Clean Ad (also Superman-evoking believe it or not)
> 11. Cover Girl Ad
> 12. Westjet Ad
> 13. Interac Ad
> 14. Another Coca-Cola Ad
> 15. Mini (the car) Ad
> 16. A "Coming Soon" CGI bit signalling the trailers
> 17. Lone Ranger
> 18. R.I.P.D.
> 19. Pacific Rim
> 20. Gravity

That's worse than I've ever seen. But at least you get color and sound.
When I was a kid we got five minutes of typewritten lantern slides.

[RichA]

Same experience, except I disliked the movie.

[RichA]

On Jun 16, 2:55 pm, "KalElFan" <kalel...@yanospamhoo.com> wrote:

You left-out the god-awful "Virgin Radio" ads with horrible auto-tuned
pop-stars aimed at 13 year-old girls. What a way to prime someone for
an action-adventure movie...

[WrongWayWade]

KalElFan wrote:
> On Friday, here in the Greater Toronto Area, I saw a 12:20 p.m.
> showing of Man of Steel. Loved it and posted my A+ reviews
> here (non-spoiler and spoiler-filled). So no complaints there
> at all, but here were the sequence of ads and the like, and
> the trailers, starting at 12:20 p.m. and running for 25 minutes
> until the movie started at 12:45 p.m.:
>

At the AMC theaters there are ads and 'behind-the-scenes' stuff advertising
TV shows and perhaps upcoming movies, but this all happens before the stated
showtime. At the showtime, the coming attractions start and those go for
basically 15 minutes. I like previews, so none of this is annoying. Only
if it's going to be really popular do I need to get there much before the
start time. I almost always go to the bargain matinees before noon.