Cinema Etiquette

Skinfull

Recently I noticed a lot of ****ty behaviour at the cinema. When I went to see Prometheus the guy beside me, had BOTH his hands down the front of his pants (not still...moving) for the majority of the movie. He snorted, grunted and sniffed for the duration as well. Also he had a 2ltr bottle of of coke in the holder between him and his friend and every now and then his friend would shake it, resulting in a wrestling match and a fit of giggling. This was a packed house, so there was no comfort in the "gap seat".

Yesterday in The Pact, a group of 5 or 6 teens, late teens, talked, played their phones, joked, jostled, pointed out stuff on screen loudly and all that for the whole movie. WTF?! Also some guy in the back was making Donald Duck noises... O_o No amount of telling them to "STFU" was working.

Towards the end of snow white, a couple of guys came in, walked around the cinema, then left, only to stand near the door and make fighting sounds...not sure what they were trying to do, but the distraction worked.

Now my local cinema is Cineworld, so, especially on a sat / and tue evening (cheap tickets on tuesdays) there is always an element of scum who have no interest in seeing movies and only in disrupting it, but for the most part its not a problem. But damn...its annoying as hell. :mad::mad:

amdublin

Where to start??

I don't think "etiquette" guidelines will help in the scenarios you've described. Reckon you need to find a new cinema!!

Owenw

There is no solution.

I rarely go to the cinema anymore. Instead I saved up the money I would have spent over 3 or 4 years and got a projector for my front room.

No idiots. No phones. No noise. No seat kicking. A pause button. Cheap snacks. Comfy sofas. 112inch scope screen.

Best of all, no feeling of dread that another cinema experience will be ruined by idiots who don't know how to behave in public.

I did go to see Prometheus and I'll go see TDKR but for the rest, I'll wait for the Blu-Ray.

crazygeryy

I find if you leave going to a new movie for a week or 10 days after it opens, theres less idiots in the cinema.also if your flexible, go at off peak times.sometimes you have the whole place to yourself.
I remember half way through avatar, a phone went off and this guy proceeded to have a full scale chat for 10 minutes thinking no one could hear him.
Some people are so inconsiderate its not funny.

kryogen

Skinfull wrote: »

Recently I noticed a lot of ****ty behaviour at the cinema. When I went to see Prometheus the guy beside me, had BOTH his hands down the front of his pants (not still...moving) for the majority of the movie. He snorted, grunted and sniffed for the duration as well. Also he had a 2ltr bottle of of coke in the holder between him and his friend and every now and then his friend would shake it, resulting in a wrestling match and a fit of giggling. This was a packed house, so there was no comfort in the "gap seat".

Yesterday in The Pact, a group of 5 or 6 teens, late teens, talked, played their phones, joked, jostled, pointed out stuff on screen loudly and all that for the whole movie. WTF?! Also some guy in the back was making Donald Duck noises... O_o No amount of telling them to "STFU" was working.

Towards the end of snow white, a couple of guys came in, walked around the cinema, then left, only to stand near the door and make fighting sounds...not sure what they were trying to do, but the distraction worked.

Now my local cinema is Cineworld, so, especially on a sat / and tue evening (cheap tickets on tuesdays) there is always an element of scum who have no interest in seeing movies and only in disrupting it, but for the most part its not a problem. But damn...its annoying as hell. :mad::mad:

I agree that cinema behaviour is on the slide, or maybe it was always dodgy but only noticing now, what I really want to know is, is The Pact worth going to see or should I just wait for dvd?

Phoenix Park

The cinema you go to is a major factor. You don't get that in the Light House, IFI, Screen or, generally speaking, The Savoy, although maybe i'm wrong about that one. Its more in cinemas in the suburbs and Cineworld it seems to happen. Not ideal if these cinemas are not convenient for you unfortunately.
Skangers tend to sit right at the back, so avoid this area. Was at the cinema once when a guy threw a full-size fizzy drink randomly at someone sitting further up and hit him in the head, cue mayhem, and of course the skanger denies everything, presumably was on CCTV :mad:
Like someone else said i'd try and go at quiet times and if someone or a crowd was disrupting things i'd either move seat quickly to a different area or in a very extreme case i'd just leave.

Solair

Haven't noticed that at our local multiplex but, you occasionally get middle aged women discussing the movie like as if they were in their own living room!!

Forest Demon

I thought I was just unlucky :mad:. I don't get to go too often as I have young children but when I do go recently scumbags nearly always ruin it. If its not somebody putting their feet on my seat behind my head or kicking the seat its a bunch of teenagers making noise, using phones and throwing popcorn. I was only saying to my wife that I was not going to bother going after the last time (it was liffey valley cinema by the way).

They need more security in these places and they need to take action when people cannot enjoy the service that they have paid for.

Would love a good dedicated home cinema setup but I have not got the money or space :rolleyes: (not a tv but projector, seats, sound system ).

Maybe when the children grow up :cool:

johnny_ultimate

The most important etiqutte of all: wherever possible (regional restrictions granted), go to see the widest range of film you can. Language, genre, director. If you stick with Hollywood, you forefeit all rights to complain about the crapness of blockbusters.

How does this fall under the umbrella term of etiqutte? Glance at a multiplex screening list and you'll see

Richard Hillman

I never go after 5 o clock or on weekends. I avoid films out on their first week and films that may attract kids/teenagers. Ive only had 2 bad instances out of the last year or so. One was 3 skangers who just wouldnt shut up even after the security came in to quiet them down. They even went around to people after the screening asking about who complained about them. The other was an elderly couple who spoke through the whole 1st half of Moneyball and then left with about an hour left.

I have a major gripe with people arriving late at screenings. There were people coming in 20 minutes after a film started the other day. This was 40 minutes after the film time was advertised due to the ads and trailers :mad:

cineworld is my cinema btw

PCPhoto

staff are too afraid to do anything about these types of people - and to be honest there is a high chance of a staff member getting hurt or the business suffering from multiple broken windows if you do anything.

We goto Liffey Valley (its either that or Mullingar - its between them for the nearest cinema)...but if you want to find a fantastic cinema without scum/interruptions ...goto Rathmines...Swan cinema !!

e_e

Seems to be a pretty clear solution here from what I'm reading, don't go to bloody cineworld! :pac:

Or you could just make the IFI/Lighthouse your permanent cinemas.

Shane732

I went to Cineworld quite frequently towards the back end of last year and the start of this year and I must say I didn't experience any difficulty at all.

It would have been a packed house for the majority of the films I went to on a busy Saturday night.

I'm single now so the visits to the cinema are few and far between! Maybe things have changed in the last 2/3 months!

Phoenix Park

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The most important etiqutte of all: wherever possible (regional restrictions granted), go to see the widest range of film you can. Language, genre, director. If you stick with Hollywood, you forefeit all rights to complain about the crapness of blockbusters.

How does this fall under the umbrella term of etiqutte? Glance at a multiplex screening list and you'll see

While i did mention IFI etc i suppose its not that easy for people with kids. Kids don't want to see arty movies in the Light House and IFI and the films they want to see are in the cinemas outside town and Cineworld so there isn't much that can be done to avoid anti-social behaviour in these cinemas. I don't really blame the cinemas themselves, its a cultural thing, it will not change. All you can do is sit as far from them as possible if you can. There is only so much that can be done, security aren't going to drag teenagers out for shouting and throwing popcorn at people, and to those teenagers that do it it would only become a badge of honour and it would happen more frequently.

nyarlothothep

That makes my experience with seat kicking and my major annoyance at any kind of talking during films seem completely trivial in comparison. That said seat kickers are incredibly irritating. And the human compulsion for communication in places where silence should be maintained will never cease to dissapoint me.

Agricola

Ive learned the hard way. Best solution to minimise the chances of bad experiences is to avoid opening weekend no matter how much you want to see a film, and then go to an off peak showing time, preferably mid week. I find you get a lot more mature people (both in age and behaviour) at these shows, and alot of people coming in alone who are there to solely see the film. I watched Prometheus on a Wednesday night with maybe 20 people. It was great.

KenSwee

Agricola wrote: »

Ive learned the hard way. Best solution to minimise the chances of bad experiences is to avoid opening weekend no matter how much you want to see a film, and then go to an off peak showing time, preferably mid week. I find you get a lot more mature people (both in age and behaviour) at these shows, and alot of people coming in alone who are there to solely see the film. I watched Prometheus on a Wednesday night with maybe 20 people. It was great.

Totally agree, went to see Prometheus last Thursday at 12 noon in Newbridge. Perfect. 4 people there.

spurious

The scum stay well clear of subtitled movies, for obvious reasons.
They don't tend to be up and about early on a weekend either.

The Lighthouse in Dublin is not a real habitat of theirs - the name is probably too long.

BopNiblets

Relevant, 1:20 mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul4CZrnEFxU

DrumSteve

I found the cinema much more enjoyable since I started to tell people to shut up when they start talking.

Goldstein

I love seeing people on their own or older people at the cinema, especially in evening showings when it's busier. Going by oneself felt like a bit of a social tabboo in the past as most high profile evening screenings are dominated by young school/college couples or gangs of friends but great to see an increasing number of people taking back the cinema and shirking the perceived stigma.

It definitely still feels a little bit wierd especially if you're there early to secure a decent seat and have to sit through nothing and ads for 20 minutes whilst everyone talks around you - thank fu©k for smartphones .

I know a good few older people who never go to the cinema at all as they don't feel it's for them or that they're "too old" to go. Sad that people feel that way about an experience that everyone should feel equally entitled to enjoy.

e_e

Phoenix Park wrote: »

While i did mention IFI etc i suppose its not that easy for people with kids. Kids don't want to see arty movies in the Light House and IFI and the films they want to see are in the cinemas outside town and Cineworld so there isn't much that can be done to avoid anti-social behaviour in these cinemas. I don't really blame the cinemas themselves, its a cultural thing, it will not change. All you can do is sit as far from them as possible if you can. There is only so much that can be done, security aren't going to drag teenagers out for shouting and throwing popcorn at people, and to those teenagers that do it it would only become a badge of honour and it would happen more frequently.

The IFI plays family films often and it's not exclusively arthouse/independent movies either. They have played many big movies such as Inception, The Social Network and King's Speech among others.

Heck even The Lighthouse has Prometheus on at the moment, in 3D too.

e_e

Goldstein wrote: »

I love seeing people on their own or older people at the cinema, especially in evening showings when it's busier. Going by oneself felt like a bit of a social tabboo in the past as most high profile evening screenings are dominated by young school/college couples or gangs of friends but great to see an increasing number of people taking back the cinema and shirking the perceived stigma.

It definitely still feels a little bit wierd especially if you're there early to secure a decent seat and have to sit through nothing and ads for 20 minutes whilst everyone talks around you - thank fu©k for smartphones .

I know a good few older people who never go to the cinema at all as they don't feel it's for them or that they're "too old" to go. Sad that people feel that way about an experience that everyone should feel equally entitled to enjoy.

If people want to be so ridiculously self conscious that ( GASP! :eek: ) they're afraid of being seen watching a movie alone let them. This stigma will pass in time I think, I'd go so far as saying they're not real film fans if they'll deprive themselves of an amazing movie just because they're friends/partner doesn't want to go. I missed There Will Be Blood in the cinema because I had this attitude and I've regretted it since.

It is an absurd stigma, do I need to bring friends every time I go to read a book in a library too? :pac:

CommanderC

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The most important etiqutte of all: wherever possible (regional restrictions granted), go to see the widest range of film you can. Language, genre, director. If you stick with Hollywood, you forefeit all rights to complain about the crapness of blockbusters.

How does this fall under the umbrella term of etiqutte? Glance at a multiplex screening list and you'll see

You are a film connoisseur and we are not.

Message understood.

e_e

It's not so much being a connoisseur as not being closed minded.

strandroad

Phoenix Park wrote: »

The cinema you go to is a major factor. You don't get that in the Light House, IFI, Screen or, generally speaking, The Savoy, although maybe i'm wrong about that one. Its more in cinemas in the suburbs and Cineworld it seems to happen. Not ideal if these cinemas are not convenient for you unfortunately.

It just depends on the cinema's policy. My OH went to Stillorgan yesterday and three youths were messing loudly (one was the instigator). A member of the staff came up and asked him to cool or leave. He talked back so he was told that either he leaves now or they call the manager and all three of them leave. He didn't want to leave so they came back with the manager and threw the three of them out. They tried to hide by changing seats but were found. Good move on the staff's side - they kept their customers (us and presumably the rest of the audience).

johnny_ultimate

Cinemas aren't going to show a variety of films if people stick with the same stuff. It's really as simple as that, and it impacts upon everyone's cinema experience as a market consensus is reached and quality overall suffers. Id argue it affects the overall cinema experience more than someone checking their phone or whispering in the corner. It's not elitism - it's a basic search for variety.

And the realisation that one can go on on one's own is the most liberating one can have. Hell it's difficult enough to get my friends out to films they actually want to see, let alone convince them an unknown entity is worth the trip into town.

Sad Professor

I regularly go to Vue, the IFI and the Lighthouse and I can't remember the last time I experienced any problems. Years probably. I tend to go to morning/afternoon showings and the occasional evening one. I almost never go weekends though. The only thing I get annoyed about is people arriving late or going to the toilet every 10 minutes.

As for going to the cinema on your own, I've been doing this since I was a young teenager. If there's a stigma about it it's news to me. I suppose a 13 year old who can't take a piss unless their mate comes with them might find it strange, but I see loads of people on their own. Don't let other people's insecurities get you down.

Bullseye1

I have to say our cinema is pretty good. I haven't had a bad experience yet. I did walk out of the Savoy once and asked for a refund, which I got.

SVG

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The most important etiqutte of all: wherever possible (regional restrictions granted), go to see the widest range of film you can. Language, genre, director. If you stick with Hollywood, you forefeit all rights to complain about the crapness of blockbusters.

How does this fall under the umbrella term of etiqutte? Glance at a multiplex screening list and you'll see

I'm really not sure what this has to do with bad behaviour in cinemas? The OP wasn't complaining about the crapness of blockbusters. And I think even people who just want to see blockbusters deserve to be able to watch their movie in peace.:)

I'd definitely agree with Crazygerry's advice to leave a few weeks before you see a new film. It definitely seems to weed out a lot of the annoyances.

johnny_ultimate

I've actually had pretty good experiences in busy evening screenings in Cineworld. Saw both Prometheus and Avengers on opening night with nary a bother - except for the handful of people at The Avengers screening who seemed to be on some sort of laughing gas given their disproportionate reactions to stuff on screen.

No, early morning / afternoon screenings in Cineworld are where I've had the bother, to the point when I couldn't be arsed going there any more. Both Hellboy 2 and Hunger (which is genuinely the strangest film you could possibly have loutish behaviour at) there were among my most frustrating cinema experiences there, populated by some of Dublin's loudest natives.

I've had a few frustrating incidents at the IFI - recently an elderly woman who genuinely didn't know how to turn off her phone - but 9 out of 10 times it's quiet and respectful as can be.

SVG wrote:

I'm really not sure what this has to do with bad behaviour in cinemas? The OP wasn't complaining about the crapness of blockbusters. And I think even people who just want to see blockbusters deserve to be able to watch their movie in peace.

TBH it may only be tangibly related, yes, and I apologise if it's considered off topic. But I think it's key to an overall concept of cinema going 'etiquette', as are the frequent claims that there's nothing good in the cinema, because there always is (I'm aware this is a city-centric view, alas). Bad behaviour is a frustation, but to me the lack of independent and foreign cinema in multiplexes is one hundred times more frustrating. For film fans who want the best experience - which in essence is what this thread is about - you have to look at the grander picture, IMO, rather than once off incidences of idiots in the back row (and I go to the cinema a lot, and I'd say well over 9.5 out of 10 times I have no issue with that).

indough

the only thing that really annoys me about going to the cinema is the fact that most people there automatically turn into some sort of black hole for whatever greasy food crosses their path. for once i would love to be able to watch a movie on the big screen without it descending into feeding time at the zoo

krudler

I go during the day for some films, night time for some big audience pleasing blockbuster like the Avengers, I like to see the audience reactions for stuff like that, something thats smaller scale or something like say, The Descendants, I'd go to and hope I was the only one there to just enjoy the film without interuption.

the purple tin

The people who misbehave in the cinema aren't there to be entertained by the film, they get entertained by knowing that they are spoiling other peoples enjoyment of the film.

krudler

same as comedy hecklers, cnuts.

Here's an idea...

Next time someone annoys you in a film, leave, and ask for a refund and explain why. If enough people do it, cinemas would have to take action as it's costing them.

johnny_ultimate

I do hate that tension in the air when something's wrong - technical or social - and everyone in the cinema is waiting for everyone else in the cinema to do something about it

e_e

DrumSteve wrote: »

I found the cinema much more enjoyable since I started to tell people to shut up when they start talking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzxfivZF9Yk

krudler

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I do hate that tension in the air when something's wrong - technical or social - and everyone in the cinema is waiting for everyone else in the cinema to do something about it

films being in the wrong aspect at the beginning is something that drives me nuts, I cant understand how people dont notice, I'd usually give em a minute or two to fix it and then go say something

Antar Bolaeisk

PCPhoto wrote: »

staff are too afraid to do anything about these types of people - and to be honest there is a high chance of a staff member getting hurt or the business suffering from multiple broken windows if you do anything.

We goto Liffey Valley (its either that or Mullingar - its between them for the nearest cinema)...but if you want to find a fantastic cinema without scum/interruptions ...goto Rathmines...Swan cinema !!

What can you do, you can't physically touch them (especially if they're younger as then you're a perv). You can try and shut them up but run the risk of them deciding to make more of a nuisance of themselves in retaliation. Trying to remove them from the cinema can be almost impossible.

peter1892

I've had to tell someone to STFU in the IFI, although admittedly its much more of a problem in the multiplexes...

Anyway, these two have the right idea
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/2010/12/the_moviegoers_code_of_conduct.html

The Mad Hatter

Bullseye1 wrote: »

I have to say our cinema is pretty good. I haven't had a bad experience yet. I did walk out of the Savoy once and asked for a refund, which I got.

Slightly OT, but I do find it often pays to get annoyed. I saw Hugo in 3D in the Savoy (before I completely swore off 3D films) and the 3D glasses they had were flimsy kids' ones clearly brought in for another film. So I went out to the counter to complain and they apologised profusely and gave me a free packet of M&Ms:D

d@rk l0rd

I do think cinema etiquette is a thing of the past. Worst experience I had was in Cineworld the week the latest Mission Impossible opened. It was like a zoo. Teenagers throwing stuff at each other, using phones, shouting at each other.
Awful. Have never gone back to Cineworld since then. Too many skangers and idiots.

People arriving late is very annoying but cinemas are partly to blame for this with the ever increasing amount of time wasted showing ads and trailers. Half an hour in some cases.

People using phones is another annoyance. And people talking, eating noisily and rustling wrappers and crisp packets and eating smelly food. People seem to forget that they're not in their front rooms!

I try to go to the cinema during off peak times now and never at the weekend and always alone. At least if it's quiet I can move if I'm near someone annoying.
If it's so bad I'll leave, complain and request a refund.

I don't see why cinemas can't have someone there to tell people to shush or switch off their phones (not just texting but actually having phone conversations), or even better why don't any cinemas have signal blockers?

I find multiplexes the worst, a lot of them are in really rough areas, the staff don't care. Cineworld is the absolute worst. :eek:

Sad Professor

A pet hate of mine is people arriving into the cinema late when the film has already started, and instead of taking the nearest convenient seat, they proceed to get an entire row to stand up so they can get to a seat in middle. I remember seeing A Separation in the IFI last year when this happened and some people started to get extremely hostile when the third or fourth wave of latecomers arrived. The IFI claim they don't allow late admissions, but I regularly see people wandering in after the film has started. The fact that sometimes there's 20 minutes of ads/trailers and other times none doesn't help matters, but people should have a bit of respect for those who got there on time.

As for technical glitches, I remember being at the first screening of ROTK on release day and the sound started to go out during the Battle of Pelennor Fields - right at the start when the Rohirrim charge - and it kept going out throughout the battle. I've never been so pissed off during a screening.

Faith+1

Sad Professor wrote: »

As for technical glitches, I remember being at the first screening of ROTK on release day and the sound started to go out during the Battle of Pelennor Fields - right at the start when the Rohirrim charge - and it kept going out throughout the battle. I've never been so pissed off during a screening.

Nerd!!!!!!!!! :P

johnny_ultimate

Oh I've had some infuriating tech incidences. My two worst, both in the IFI.

1. Le Havre a month or two ago, when the film would just shut down every few minutes, and then boot up again around thirty seconds later. Kept going for half the film almost.

2. Arrietty where the film shut down half way though. They got it working again, but only the dub after watching the first half in Japanese. Now there I was genuinely tempted to walk out but I suffered through it at that point, after the projectionist had one or two false starts restarting at the wrong scene. Reminded me how much I hate dubs. Still, was the only screening in Ireland as far as I know that was actually even partially Japanese. Success?

kryogen

So....................................... The Pact? Worth checking out or?

Deus Ex Machina

spurious wrote: »

The Lighthouse in Dublin is not a real habitat of theirs - the name is probably too long.

I had one of my most aggravating experiences of my life there, cinema or non-cinema related. While watching the fantastic "Of Gods and Men" a bulbous moron in the front row decided to hum along with the Swan Lake music which accompanies a particularly emotive part of the film. He was just sitting there, humming loudly apparently oblivious to the fact that there was a cinema full of people behind him who were being pulled out of the film by his desire to start humming idly. He continued to hum it for a while afterwards, despite being shushed by some of the people closer to him. I was seconds from hurling my shoe at the back of his head.

Thwip!

Only time its ever happened to me was in Liffey Valley. Honest to god someone threw a shoe....a feckin shoe. Funnily the guy who was hit with it decided to poor his drink and the melted cheese from his food in it and then left it in the bin for him before going out and makin a complaint.

Otherwise i go at off peak times, usually by myself as i'm deferrin frm college for this year so its harder to get friends together for it. though stuff like premieres we get together for

Though would love a projector setup of my own :P

Awful_Bliss

It's unfortunate people don't have the decency to behave like civilised people in cinemas. The last movie I saw in the cinema was 'Kill List' some time last year. That was in the Screen and because of the film and venue I expected a 'decent' sort for that. That had been my first time in over a year.

The time before that was when I saw 'Inception' in Dun Laoghaire. Everything from people giving their thoughts as to what's going to happen out loud, text alerts going off, people arriving late, loud whispering etc drove me berserk. I swore I'd just download or wait till the movie was on TV in the future.

Not much one can do to stop moronic behaviour in the cinema. Wasn't there a thing to block mobile phone signals going to introduced in cinemas at one time??

SirDelboy18

Went to see Snow White and the Huntsman with my two younger brothers last week. There were about 4 groups of two people and another large group. This woman went with about 4-5 children, one of whom felt the need to comment on literally every single thing that happened. And she didn't whisper.

After a while I got up, walked back to the mother and said:

" I appreciate that you have young children with you, but we have paid money just like you to see this and I would appreciate if ye could stop talking as we are trying to enjoy the film."
Twice she interrupted me saying "we are too(trying to enjoy it)".

It actually puts me on edge somewhat, and I can't enjoy the movie after. I go there expecting complete peace and relaxation - it is one of the only places where I get genuine relief, and to have to get confrontational bothers me.

In this same cinema I had to walk out of Moneyball 20 minutes in and complain. In fairness, my complaint was dealt with instantly.

This isn't taking into account the smaller things that I would usually let slide. I can understand someone having a small whisper once or twice, but lets not push it.

The next time it happens, I am going to get up, walk out and ask to speak to the manager and ask for a refund. I won't be going back if I have to do it.