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Indy (Harrison Ford) in INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM.
© Paramount & Lucasfilm

TORN

By: Robert T. Trate, Columnist
Date: Tuesday, January 15, 2008

As much as I love getting my DVD’s each and every week and watching them in the privacy of my own home; I do love going to the movie theater more. About 2 miles down the road is a Mega-Plex. 24 screens (usually running the same title multiple times) running all day long. Also within walking distance is an old Vaudeville Theatre, one screen and plenty of memories. Both are frequented by me on a weekly basis. There is something special about seeing a movie with a group of people. The cheers, laughter, screams and, at times, applause, yes the movie theater is still worth it....

That is, until someone starts talking. There is nothing worse than someone talking behind you while the movie is playing. Now I know for many of you that is the main reason why you don’t go to the movies. Arm chair directors (much like the arm chair quarter back watching football) pointing out the obvious, the lady that just loves to point out how funny, stupid, or horrific something is. So what do we all do? We roll our eyes and chalk up another reason for staying home. If we do just that, we lose something. We lose the original intent of what seeing a movie is all about. To be entertained, as one people, sitting in the dark and living a story.

Now I love sitting at home watching a DVD, checking out the special features or even listening to a commentary track (the greatest contribution of DVD’s in my opinion). Not to long ago I started to realize that watching a movie at home isn’t the same. Something was getting lost. Sure I have a great TV and the sound is perfect, but now the audience is just me. So if I don’t find the joke funny, it’s not funny. If I am not scared by the movie, then it’s not scary. If the movie invokes any kind of emotion, it’s mine alone; there is no audience to share it with.

I know, it is a bit sappy, but a while back I ventured to another city and saw a mid night screening of ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’. The film is truly a classic and a great adventure however, sitting there in the dark with a group of total strangers I suddenly remembered how funny the film was. I started to laugh out loud again and discovered how the least favorite of the three Indy’s is still a great movie in its own right. I couldn’t have gotten that from watching it on my TV all by myself.

Two days before Christmas I sat down with nearly 500 people and watched ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. A movie almost everyone has seen or makes a ritual of seeing during the holidays. The old Vaudeville Theatre had more than a pulse that day; it had one giant beating heart and the spirit of the holidays. I might never watch the film again unless it can be in a theater from now on.

So, last weekend, I went to see ‘The Orphanage’. The hype and buzz got me into the Mega-Plex along with the hope of being scared. The film is in Spanish, subtitled in English. Though I am sure most of you know that. The woman behind me didn’t. She kept repeating over and over again to her husband, “Is this in Spanish? Harold, I think it’s all in Spanish. Yep, still Spanish”. She (a Baby Boomer) then proceeded to get up walk and out of the theater. She came back and sat down, “Yes, it’s in Spanish”. I guess the ten minutes of movie or the entire subtitled opening credits wasn’t enough of an indication that the movie was indeed in… well, you know.

Sitting there with my very full beverage and bag of popcorn I thought about throwing the snacks at her but I didn’t (after all, they cost as much as the movie). I debated tossing snotty tissues at her (did that once to a kid who was screaming that he “wanted to see ‘Cars’!” as I was watching ‘Superman Returns’). As I decided to tell her that the projectionist probably hit the SAP button by mistake, it happened. The audience jumped, gave out a scream and then laughed at themselves for being scared. I know I could have waited for ‘The Orphanage’ to come out on DVD and watched it home, but that would have cut out the thrill of experiencing the crowd being scared. I wouldn’t have jumped out of my seat at the exact same time as everyone. Nor would I have gotten quiet and sad at the end as the entire theater did.

Yes, folks I’m torn between the thrill of a live audience and the sanctity of my living room. No control or complete control. It’s a tough decision.

ACTION / ADVENTURE / THRILLERS / WESTERNS

Already Dead

Going Undercover

He Was a Quiet Man

In the Heat of the Night (40th Anniversary Collector's Edition)

The Lawless [HD DVD]

Melissa

Murder in Mississippi

She's Dressed to Kill

ANIME

Bleach, Volume 8

Fullmetal Alchemist:: Season 2, Part 1 Box Set

Get Backers Seasons 1-2

Hell Girl: Cherry v.3

Hikaru No Go, Vol. 12: The World of the Pros

Mushi-shi, Vol. 5

Prince of Tennis Box Set 4

Venus Versus Virus Vol. 2-Epidemic

Volume 2 + Box

Xenosaga 3: Free Will

CARTOONS

The Amazing 300 Classic Cartoon Coll.

Be My Valentine Charlie Brown

The District! (2005)

Family Guy - Blue Harvest

Family Guy - Blue Harvest Special Edition (w/ limited-edition collectibles)

Medabots: The Complete First Season

COMEDY AND LOVE Mania Style

An Affair To Remember (50th Anniversary Edition)

Johnny Suede

Mr. Woodcock

Mr. Woodcock (Blu-Ray)

She's Gotta Have It

The Ten (2007)

When Harry Met Sally... (Collector's Edition)

HORROR

The Attic

Autopsy

Ghost Son

Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers 20th Anniversary Edition

Land of Death

Matrimony

Monster

Monstroid: It Came from the Lake

Red Eye (2005)

Skullduggery

Track of the Moon Beast

Winterbeast

SCIENCE FICTION / FANTASY

Dragonlance - Dragons Of The Autumn Twilight

Earth Vs the Flying Saucers (Widescreen)

It Came From Beneath the Sea

Man Who Could Work Miracles

The Varrow Mission (1978)

TV LAND

Best of The Cisco Kid (35 Episodes)

Crime Traveller: Complete Series

Criss Angel - Mindfreak - The Complete Season Three

Extras - The Complete Series

Legend of Rin Tin Tin (48 Episodes)

The Rockford Files: Season Five

Thunderbirds 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition Megaset

The Criterion Collection

Eclipse Series 7: Postwar Kurosawa: Criterion Collection

The Naked Prey - Criterion Collection

Robert Trate is a columnist for Mania who attends the theater regularly and has been known to scream at little kids during Disney movies because they won’t be quiet. Though he is constantly running out of shelf space, his DVD collection is often a personal library to his friends and family.

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Comments/Responses

HudsonTaco • Jan 14, 2008, 10:35pm •

Add people who Talk on thier F@#$ing phones as a reason not to go to the theaters, I still love to go though. I can forgive someone forgetting to not turn off thier phone but to acctually answer it and begin a coversation?? I buy M&M's just so I can throw them at idiots like that. Opening your phone for any reason during a move is bad form.

Merin • Jan 14, 2008, 10:50pm •

The benefits of seeing it in the theater with an audience always outweigh for me the negatives.

A communal experience, if you will. Like (not for me, but for people who like that kind of thing) going to a sporting event.

People will watch football games in the pouring rain or freezing cold and enjoy themselves, seated far away from being able to actually see anything. No, I don't get it, but I point to it as the same phenomenon.

I think it has less to do with "being there" than with "being there with lots of others."

gauleyboy420 • Jan 15, 2008, 12:59am •

Here's a solution, do what I do. Ask them nicely to shut the f up, turn their phone off, or get out of the theater. Don't be a pussy. 99% of the people around you will back you up, or if you wanna take another route, go get a manager. I love going to the movies, and I NEVER let anyone ruin for me because I'm to scared to remind them that we all paid for our seats, and they have no right to ruin it for anyone else.
I've even been to shows in NYC where cops have been called in to remove loud talkers, and phone users. IN FACT it is Illegal to talk on a cell in a movie theater in NYC.
Stop being pussies and stand up for yourselves.

shadowprime • Jan 15, 2008, 05:36am •

Great column. There definitely IS a special kind of fun that comes with seeing a movie in a theater. I think that is especially true with thrillers, movies with a lot of action and effects, etc, in large part because such movies tend to elicit audible audience reactions (laughter - nervous, appreciative, or just plain humorous, gasps, even applause). There can also be a sense of anticipation and excite ment in going to the theater, sensing the "buzz",etc... I still get a grin when I recall the feeling in the building when I went to a midnight showing of REVENGE OF THE SITH, "opening night". The theater experience isn't just about the focus that comes from seeing a movie on a big screen, in a darkened movie theater, on a great sound system... it is, as noted above, about seeing a movie with OTHERS, about sharing that experience.

That being said, there are obvious downsides too, as noted above. Having been around since the Age of Reptiles, I could go on and on about deteriorating manners, about the way cell phones and text messaging have made people lose any sense of "public space" versus "private space", etc.... but think we have all been there, so no point.

Great column!

Shadow

jedibanner • Jan 15, 2008, 06:22am •

I don't want to start something here but, I know for a fact that these types of circomstances aren't a worldy issue, it's more of an US issue.

here in Canada, I've raerlly had someone who speaks, talk on the phone or gets up and yell or something. I've been to a theatre once in the US.....never again. And I guess I udnerstand why so many people wouldn't want to see those movies because the amount of disrespect people have in that theatre was unbelievable.

I know it's not just in the US but...my experience (and I can only say MY experience) has showned me that I'm happy to be here and enjoy the full experience of seeing a movie in a theatre.

I guess gauleyboy has a good point. In the event that someone is talking or is destroying your experience of the theatre, just ask the person politelly and 99% of the time they will change their ways and that's it.

Robert, knowing how things in Canada are different and sometimes not for the best, would it be possible to suggest to add if the movies you mention in your column are released internationally or just in the US?

Sometimes some of the movies you mentionned are out in the US but are not available in Canada....

thanks for looking into it.

Myrddin • Jan 15, 2008, 07:58am •

It's not just a US thing, Jedibanner. I've seen movies in England, Finland, Denmark, Ecuador and Argentina. The same pricks that ruin the experience in the US have cousins in those places too.
Maybe Canada is just the lucky spot.
For me, the cost of movies is what keeps me at home. After the cost of the movie tickets, popcorn, and (now) babysitter, I might as well wait six months and buy the dvd and be able to watch it as much as I want. Or rent it, for that matter.
I still see some films in the theater, the event films. I saw I AM Legend last month and am thinking about seeing Cloverfield (becasuse I want to see that one before it gets spoiled...)
Don't want to watch dvds alone? Invite some people over. :) It's what I do.

Merin • Jan 15, 2008, 08:48am •

Personal experience -

town I grew up in and live in again - don't have most of those problems.
Chicago suburbs at the big multiplexes, rarely had those problems.

college town I went to school at, often had those problems
hole-in-the-wall theaters in Chicago, ALWAYS had those problems

I don't think its the USA, it's the community the theater is in.

kgatchel • Jan 15, 2008, 11:04am •

I'm going to sound like a snob for it, but every one of those reasons to see a movie in the cinema is the exact same reason to go see live theatre. In fact, even moreso.

True, you still get the pricks who can't shut up. But, believe me, when people know that who they're yelling at can hear them, they stay a lot quieter.

This is one of the reasons I don't go see movies on the big screen as much as I used to. Most movies that I want to see I can watch fine at home or with friends (that's the best way). If it's a movie that has to be see on a giant screen, be it because of the action scenes (or some nearly unidetifiable robots that transform into disappointment) then I'm probably not interested (outside of the usual geek-induced trips).

Again, I'm not trying to be a theatre snob, because there's plenty of bad stuff in theatre too. But if I'm going out to see something, I don't want it to be something I can just see at home.

HudsonTaco • Jan 15, 2008, 04:58pm •

I live in canada, Calgary to be exact and I'd say people talking on phones happens about 25% of the time. I've seen it downtown I have seen it at the IMAX, I have seen it on the north and south sides of the city and I really don't even go that often anymore (not because of people on phones but because of $$$) As for telling a person to stop talking on the phone, I prefer the M&M method, it just like I shouldn't have to tell a person not to Burp out loud at a funeral it just common friggin sense. Theaters should have a person at every showing of a movie that monitors that sort of thing.

mckracken • Jan 15, 2008, 06:50pm •

i dont know what amazes me more, the fact that Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers is 20 years old... or the fact that they are releasing a "SPECIAL 20th Anniversary edition" of Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers...
C'mon... it's really not deserving of a 20th anniversary edition, hell it was barely deserving of being released the FIRST TIME. Has anybody ELSE seen this one?

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