Texting during a movie
 

I wish EVERY theatre would do this. Two cell phones rang while I was watching The Hangover Part II.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2011/ala...ual-voicemail/

Re: Texting during a movie
 

Saw it. I'm envious of the people in Austin.

Re: Texting during a movie
 

Urgh, people on phones in cinemas really get to me. I don't know why people can't use common sense. If it's an emergency text or call you suddenly have to make, go out of the screening like if you are going to the loo, and then use the phone...

If you are expecting a call for some reason, don't go to the cinema in the first place...

I like the sound of their rules. :)

Re: Texting during a movie
 

My friend took actually took a call while in the cinema, sat next to me. I couldn't believe it. It wasn't a busy showing but he got a beating till he put it away. Worst pet hate. And people who don't know how to lower their voice and speak at a regular pitch

Re: Texting during a movie
 

I would seriously donate a significant amount of money if doing so merely opened a theater here with these rules. I'd still pay full price for the tickets on top of that. Not kidding. I'm desperate.

I've heard suggestions that the Alamo Drafthouse will be opening other locations in the future, and I can't wait. Obviously it takes a long time for such a subtle demand to be reflected in a major theater chain, but I do think it's only a matter of time before a fairly widespread chain starts promoting its strict rules on noise during the movie. I'd pay close to double for tickets.

Re: Texting during a movie
 

That is awesome, maybe it's just me but I hate cell phones, I own one and keep it turned off unless I need to make a call. I don't want to be able to be gotten ahold of 24/7 but that's just my opinion. I would love it if a theater would enforce that where I live.

Re: Texting during a movie
 

I was at the movies a few weeks ago, and there was a group of guys(probably 16 or so) and they were all on their phones. But what was annoying is that they were all on Facebook, so in the pitch black cinema all you could see were like 6 white screens several rows in front. It's like if you can't watch a film without having to pull out your phone you should stay at home!

Re: Texting during a movie
 

if they can manage to not let the make a sound, not let the light from the phone disturb the darkness, i'm ok with it.

they minute it starts disturbing others IN ANY WAY, that's an issue for me.

Re: Texting during a movie
 

If you're on the back row alone it's cool. Otherwise GTFO.

problem is they can't manage it. the light is too disturbing (unless you're in the back like Kasper said).

i'd rather people talk during movies than text. most people who talk during movies don't do it constantly and only speak in whispers to their friends about said film. even i do that. i'm okay with that. but the use of a cell phone is always enough to piss me right off.

that girl in the voicemail is quite funny, especially how she keeps contradicting herself - first claiming she only needed her phone as a flashlight, then uses the word "texting".

Re: Texting during a movie
 

I went to the movies and a play this weekend and during both peoples phones rang :eek: at least they didn't answer them :rolleyes:

Re: Texting during a movie
 

Yeah, forgetting to turn a ringer off is no big deal; it happens. Anything beyond that is just rude.

The problem is pretty simple: these people aren't going to the movies to see the movie. They're going to do something with their friends, so they don't care about seeing it, so they don't care if other people see it. There are way, way fewer incidences of this nature for me when I see something more obscure, like Moon. When I saw Moon, I think maybe I heard one slight cough the whole time. Everyone was transfixed, because nobody who's just looking to kill time or hang out with their friends was going to see Moon.

There's always the risk of something annoying happening at the movies, but in my book, cell phones haven't been the worst thing. I don't go to the movies that much anymore, but I don't often see much phone action going on -- unless it's like a big movie just released or something. The worst phone annoyance I ever experienced had nothing to do with talking or texting -- it was some guy wearing a Bluetooth earpiece that kept flashing brightly. He was sitting to my left - I was watching Basic Instinct 2 (I know I've told this story before) - and the damn thing kept flashing repeatedly, every few seconds, BRIGHTLY. It was the most distracting thing ever. I mean, I couldn't even see Sharon Stone's vagina because of it (not that it mattered). It was like a camera flash bulb going off every five seconds. So, the people who wear the Bluetooth phone pieces are the absolute worst, if they don't turn them off. I hate these people outside of movie theatres, too, because when I see them walking around talking, I feel like I'm living in a world growing more and more schizophrenic -- I never notice those earpieces.

But the aboslute worst theatre noise I ever experienced was for I Still Know What You Did Last Summer -- everyone in the movie theatre expressed how much they still knew what Jennifer Love Hewitt did last summer. Let's just say I wound up in a very ghetto theatre and being quiet was unheard of. I was mad as hell at the time, but looking back on it, I almost wish I could re-experience it.

The best way to deal with this is for everyone who's annoyed to get up, go to management and ask for a refund (including for food and drinks. After all, you bought them to watch with the film.) When dozens of people start doing this they'll soon start to clampdown on it. Especially because the food and drink is where they make their money. In fact, you could probably just get a refund on that and they'd do something.

Exactly! I live in a college town so if you go to a movie on a Friday or Saturday night and expect to actually be able to pay attention your out of luck. I've never quite understood the act of going to a movie strictly as a social thing. Let's all go hang out where we have to be quiet. :rolleyes:

I only go to the theaters if it's something I really feel I need to see on a big screen and only if the movie has been out for awhile and only at an off time. I've had too many movies ruined for me.

And I could go on forever about how much I hate rude cell phone users in *all* sorts of situations, but I'll spare y'all and won't.

Re: Texting during a movie
 

^ Stuck on a bus with someone who is going through all their phone ringtones out loud is very annoying, that's happened a few times to me. Just standing there playing all his ringtones, would have been more bearable if it was actually good music.

Re: Texting during a movie
 

While I was in the theater watching "The Hangover 2" the woman in front of me was shuffling through her purse, making a lot of noise. Then, she proceeds to drop her purse in the crack of the seat right below my feet. She turns around and says, "Can you get my purse?" WTF?! Really?!

I just kept watching the movie, pretending like I didn't hear her bwahaha :D

Re: Texting during a movie
 

The 21st Century So Far: absolute disintegration of the dignity of the public sphere.

Simple politeness is more important than law. If someone asks me how a communist society would function without laws, I reply that our society already functions largely depending on the unspoken laws of politeness.

A film should unite people in a collective experience of enjoyment, not separate people into waring camps. One should feel a sense of duty to the rest of theater; to discipline oneself for the greater good. Strength through unity! Strength though discipline! Row! Row! Fight the powah!

Re: Texting during a movie
 

I have heard of simple damping devices that cause a very poor or no signal in places. I know when I go to Wall-mart or Target or a few other places I don't get a signal due to the building or whatever it is. Theaters should have this where it would be useless to bring your cell anyway. If you are worried about an emergency phone call, take a break every 30 mins or so to check your voice mail - or do not go to a movie. There are actually two auditoriums here that are deadzones for most providers, they are next to an electrical hub - problem is they are hardly ever playing anything I want to watch.

I don't know. I don't think this is really just a recent trend. Just thinking about the movie theatre itself, though -- they have always been a place for annoyance. I mean, you're in a room with people from all walks of life. All those different personalities and yet we're all human.

And I don't think movie theatres automatically qualify as a place for unity and respect. Most people are there because they want to see something they can't see in the privacy of their own home and maybe because they needed to get out of the house. But I think a majority of people would rather watch the movie at home. Come on now -- if everyone had a movie theatre sized screen at their homes and could access newly released films there, who'd go to the movies? Who'd go to these places to watch what you could get at home? It'd be like going to a public bathroom for the hell of it.

Movie theatres are not art museums. They are a means of seeing something you can't see at home -- although, with the internet, now lots more people are downloading new movies and not going to the theatre. I have always liked movie theatres, but the prices for tickets are getting ridiculous. People should not complain about the prices of a movie ticket because of cell phones and loud people -- people should complain about the prices irregardless of that. It's insane to pay $15 to see a movie. IT'S INSANE! Considering that the movie will - typically - be everywhere after you pay that price - it's insane. $5 is the most someone should pay to see a movie. More if it's a really fancy theatre. Before movies became so widely available through the internet, I would have said paying more for a movie seemed reasonable, but now I honestly think the limit for a typical movie should be $5. If movie theatres end up going out of business -- I can't believe I'm now saying this, but tough. Our technology is changing. Life is changing. Society is changing. We must deal with it and move on. It's a better solution that paying $20 to see a movie and complaining about the cell phones and people talking on them.

Also -- movie theatres are a great warzone. We live in a time where everyone's thinking like a famous person. Everybody is a celebrity if they have their Twitter and Facebook and their cell phone. Teenagers are walking into movie theatres and talking loudly on their phones and texting away because it's aggressive and looks cool. It is a new way to look hip and current and show that you own something modern. Guys used to hate talking on the phone -- and they probably still do -- but more modern guys probably enjoy the attention they get by appearing to have all kinds of friends and girlfriends to call. A cell phone is now a status symbol, a way of looking important and powerful, and when you're on your phone in a movie theatre, you're showing off. You're sending a message that you're important. And everyone wants the most current cell phone to look hip -- "I had to get a new cell phone again last night. LOL." Might seem crazy, but that's how it is. Unfortunately, this affects the movie theatres, but what can you do? You just have to adapt. The world changes.