My Most Inconvenient Movie Theater Experiences to Date #atthemovies #nowplaying #nablopomo

Trips to the movie theater remind me of how these venues can sometimes leave a lasting impression on the kinds of experiences audiences associate films with. Fortunately, most of the movies that I’ve watched at cinema houses in Pennsylvania were so good, they pretty much made the undesirable events that took place at the theater seem like a distant and trivial memory. Some of these inconveniences were understandable mistakes that no one could have foreseen while others are unwise business decisions that often make me resent visiting theaters.

The Fire Alarm in Manayunk

It was a cold evening when I went to watch “Couples Retreat” at a movie theater on Main Street. The theater was pretty full until this comedy suddenly stopped playing more than halfway through the film. Almost immediately following a blank screen, flashing fluorescent lights came on in the theater, accompanied by a loud and very annoying alarm sound.

We were instructed to exit the theater while the manager and employees follow protocols set in place for this type of situation, which includes waiting for the fire department to arrive and check the building. Many of us remained in the theater lobby and ticket area because it was heated, compared to the low temperatures outside.

As we waited, many people became restless after learning that there is no fire in the building but employees continued to keep the theater out of operation at that moment. The staff suspected that a patron pulled the alarm on their way out of the theater earlier that night. Eventually, the fire department arrived and we were able to resume watching “Couples Retreat” after the projectionist started it near the scene that cut off so customers did not miss portions of the movie.

The inconvenience of this whole fire alarm and evacuation ordeal occurred during a crucial scene in the movie where it looked like something big was about to happen among the main characters. Since we were at one of the last showtimes for the evening, this particular trip to the movies made us get home much later than expected after about 20 minutes or more of confusion and regrouping to continue with the entertainment that we paid to watch.

Troubles with Movie Projection in Montgomery County

The scenes where Hermione, Harry and Ron are hiding out in the Forest of Dean in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” cut to black when I went to see this movie. The screen remained this way as the audio continued to play, so the other audience members and I could still hear what was going on but were unable to view any of the action. A few moments passed and then this technical issue was fixed after it was brought to the attention of a theater staff member.

Upon our departure from the theater, we were given a free ticket to a future showing of any movie at this location. While it did not ease my sorrow over Dobby’s death, this gesture was a nice way to convince me to not only return as their patron, but also overlook the on-screen glitch that could have sparked a riot from upset, Harry-Potter-fanatic teenagers, if this were opening weekend.

An Extended Commercial Run in Plymouth Meeting

As mentioned in an earlier post, a movie theater pre-show I watched that preceded “X-Men: First Class” was 40 minutes long. This outrageously inconvenient experience at the local cineplex made me feel insulted as a movie goer because I did not buy a ticket to watch an almost endless parade of advertisements and on-screen games, yet, that is what I received….at least until the movie finally began. I could have watched an entire episode of one-hour dramas such as “House” on Hulu during the time I waited for “X-Men: First Class” to play at the theater.

Did a movie ever stop playing or a fire alarm go off when YOU were at the movies?

Photo by: fatseth

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The ‘Criminal Minds’ on CBS Model of Film Distribution #nowplaying #indiefilm #tvshows

Often when a new episode of “Criminal Minds” is scheduled to air on CBS, I find myself in quite a predicament. Watching the new show will satisfy my quest for some prime-time television entertainment but doing so will usually also mean that I delay work, sleep, dinner or some type of household task. If I choose to skip the show, then I will have missed out on this episode, because it will not play soon in reruns like “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” do.

When reruns of “Criminal Minds” air, these repeat broadcasts usually occur several weeks, if not months after the original airdate. By that time, I will have either forgotten about the episode, lost interest in watching it or will need to wait until it is available to rent or buy on DVD. Imagine how people would consume movies if the film industry operated similarly to the way CBS airs new “Criminal Minds” episodes.

In this scenario, movies would play once in theaters across the country. Release dates would also have one showtime for each theater instead of multiple showings throughout the day for several weeks until the DVD release. Audiences who did not attend a Friday 3:00pm showing of “In Time” for example, will have missed out on this movie and have to wait until the DVD comes out because “50/50” will be scheduled to play the following day, on Saturday at 3:0pm in the same theater.

A distribution setup like this could be good for theaters and movie studios because it may create increased demand to watch a particular film and anticipation for the DVD release. Showtimes could demand higher prices that were set either by the venues or producers or set differently between films. I’d surely pay up to $20 or so to watch “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” or any other films in the series but I’d be damned if I’m going to shell out the same amount for some crap like “The Box”….unless I had to because of set standard admission prices, which takes us all back to the first option and the matter of supply and demand.

Watching “Criminal Minds” has showed me, however, that measuring the value or possibilities of one-day windows for movie releases is not all about the demand….not entirely, at least. Since I already know that I can’t just can go “ooh, I’ll get around to watching the rerun this weekend” or “I’ll watch it online tomorrow” (guess what… new episodes of “Criminal Minds” do not stream on CBS or Hulu or Amazon or iTunes the day after they air), it comes down to a matter of either how much I want to watch the show.

While I like “Criminal Minds,” it is not my favorite television show, so I won’t be that disappointed if I miss an episode or two…or three. The same thing cannot be said about “24” though. Before “24” got canceled, you could not get me away from the television during the hour that Jack Bauer was on Fox. There are also a few other TV shows that I would likely watch before tuning into “Criminal Minds,” which goes to show that only those who really want to see a particular movie will make the plans and time to visit the theater where it is showing.

Maybe if movies were released on only one day and had only one showtime in theaters, we would have more choices at the local megaplex and more films would also get their chance at being shown to audiences in a theatrical capacity.

What motivates YOU to see a film in the theater instead of waiting for the DVD?

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http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/blog-771-tv-post-mortem.html

Summer Party Movie References #NaBloPoMo #MovieMeme #Blogging #amwriting

Today marks the official start of party week here at the Madlab Post. In an attempt to extend The Bumbles’ most recent monday movie meme “Summertime” topic, the first subject up for discussion is summer parties. When thinking of summertime, three parties come to mind.......cookouts (also referred to as barbecues), block parties and family reunions. Here is a list of movies that reference at least one of these various types of summer parties.

Cookouts & Barbecues
In John Singleton’s “Boyz ‘n the Hood,” Tre (played by Cuba Gooding Jr.) attends a backyard cookout hosted by the mother of his friend Doughboy (played by Ice Cube) to celebrate the son’s release from prison.

During the barbecue, there are moments of jealous bickering between girls who are attracted to Tre and become pissed to find out that he has a girlfriend who is in attendance. The guys sit around, play card games and discuss sex and STDs in between Doughboy’s recollection of his activities in the penitentiary.

Block Parties
The documentary, “The World’s Best Prom” is about all that comes to mind when thinking about block parties in the summer. It may not very well fit because the celebration highlighted in the movie is a parade but these things take place on the street, right? So, it works for me and for the purposes of this post. This documentary showcases the city of Racine, Wisconsin and it’s prom mania that is like no other in the country.

The parade kicks of the city’s celebration of their annual mega-prom that includes high school seniors from several schools and locals take to the streets before the planning of dresses, suits, red carpet entrances (yes, they go all Hollywood in this movie), transportation and post-high school goals get underway.

Family Reunions
In “Poetic Justice” (another John Singleton movie), Tupac Shakur and Janet Jackson play Lucky and Justice....two characters from slightly opposite sides of the tracks who crash a stranger’s family barbecue with their friends with plans on getting free food. Lucky even goes so far as to impersonate a fake cousin when approached by one of the family members at this reunion.

While they were able to get the free food and drinks, the friends are also given some unrequested scoldings on marriage and relationships by Maya Angelou. who basically calls the younger generations clueless. Their party crashing ends abruptly when members of the group get into a physical confrontation with one of the relatives.

What other movies fit into either of these three summer party categories?

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