Fun blog just wanted to write! I'm a pretty frequent cinema-goer. back in junior college, I used to go to the cinema every week, once a week. I'd watch any film almost and usually alone. When it comes to cinema etiquette and the activity I'm going. I'm pretty strict and unusual in what I like to be done (otherwise it upsets my experience).
I love the cinema. There's something about the atmosphere that makes me feel so comfortable, giddy almost. I associate cinemas with airports where people enter various waiting lounges to eventually travel into either imaginary worlds set by talented directors or through their own real-life adventures to another country, life, opportunity.
To me, both of them symbolically represent what I love doing the most: discovering.
Planning & Time Consideration
As I said, I have a lot of rules when it comes to moves and the cinema. Before even considering of going to the movies or seeing a certain film, I must consider the following:
Has this popular movie been released and open for viewership for at least two weeks?
Is it available for viewing on non-weekend (or Tuesday).
Is it playing after Noon, before 6pm?
These are odd questions to ask, but it's because of past experiences and ultimately: my personality and interest in a movie. One thing I can't stand is people checking their phones and those who talk throughout the whole movie. To avoid this, I tend to see movies when everyone is either done seeing it or not available to see it. Thus the 2-week notice and the weekend/Friday rule (Tuesday is half-off, so you get a lot of loud-mouth university students going).
I like watching my movies around 2-3pm on a weekday because everyone's either working, in school or having lunch (I eat my lunch at the movies, it's like watching a giant television alone in a very comfortable seat). When I used to go every week, I used to do my homework or other things while the movie played, it was somehow very relaxing and comfortable for me. When you're alone in a theater, you can laugh as hard as you want, sit anyway you want and relax a lot more.
Everytime I see movies without following at least two of the rules above, I get loud-mouth brats with their foot on my head. A dating couple who won't fucking shut up (there were these two people next to me when I saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes [Terrible movie btw] who would fucking go "Oh no!" all the time and exclaim everything that the movie wanted to invoke, but did it verbally and fucking loudly or people who like to rest their arms, coat sleeves, napkins on the armchairs entirely.
Other rules I have are the timings. I always leave my house for the cinemas 30 minutes before the movie starts. I arrive 15 minutes before the movie, it takes me 8 minutes to purchase my ticket, get my popcorn and drink [these are a must, I always get popcorn, with butter!] and hit the bathroom. That means I have 7 whole minutes to get comfortable, unbutton my coat, put away my bag, place my phone in a secure location after answering calls, etc.
Permissions: Talking & Snack Consumption
If I'm seeing the movie with other people, I permit whispering in each others ears for questions/jokes, etc. But you must whisper, I don't want to hear your tone out loud, be considerate of others and whisper in my ear. I also permit sharing popcorn and drinks (same straw, two straws, doesn't matter) . However, eating etiquette is important, only eat one popcorn piece at a time and during tense moments, popcorn cannot be consumed because the rustling of the bag is too damn loud. I also hate people who stuff their face with popcorn because you're just filling your stomach rather than enjoying the taste + you'll drink more because of the intake of salt at that pace (which means less of a shared amount).
When my mother used to take us to the movies, she would stuff her face before the movie even started. She would also buy diet coke which my brother and I despised. At first, we would push her to buy the bucket-size popcorn bag [it's literally a large round plastic pail], because it came with free refills, so we'd have her eat the whole thing, then I'd go and refill it before the movie started.
Soon they removed that feature when they realized my brother and I would keep bringing the same bucket over and over each time we went to the movies (if we went frequent enough, the bucket's design wouldn't be changed and we'd abuse the system by washing out any marks they put to show that it was refilled). When the feature was removed, we made sure to put enough extra salt and butter so my mother would be put off eating the popcorn at a simple one-piece rate.
Recently, I saw Django Unchained and this guy next to me was so disinterested in the movie (his snarky girlfriend who would mutter profanity before the movie even started), that he continued to read his magazine. As the lights dimmed and the preview started, I saw him squinting and trying to capture as much light as he could to read his magazine. Whenever something happened, he'd look up for a second, before returning to read. It annoyed the shit out of me even though it shouldn't affect my enjoyment.
Seating Arrangement
Lastly, for seating arrangements, I like the center spots, and the first 3 rows. If I'm really desperate, I'll consider the 4th row, but that's it. Anything closer to the screen and I catch the next one or get a refund.
With friends, the number of my group depends. Three is ideal, seat-saving for two people is easy. Seat-saving for one while the two sit in-between that empty seat is my favourite strategy. Four is ok, five is pushing it, I refuse to go as six.
With seating amongst friends, I hate being the centered or the outer-edges. For Three, the seat doesn't matter. For Four, I like to be the two center pieces. For Five, the one after the center guy is fine. I don't enjoy being next to a friend and then next to a stranger, you're on the edge and it's like you're at the kids table sitting next to strangers and your friends who are obviously all huddled towards the middle.
As you can see, I'm very strict about movies. I'm pretty strict about restaurants as well ranging from restaurant service, food, timings and table manners, but I'm not a stickler in the sense that I'll call you out, but it sinks in my mind who's doing what at certain restaurants or at movies, etc.
I wrote this blog just because I found it amusing how serious I was about a silly social outing! It's completely ridiculous when I thought about it and I simply had to share just how stupidly tight I am about these things!
On January 04 2013 09:24 Animzor wrote: I rarely go see films if I can't sit in the middle. Luckily, here in Sweden we choose our seats when we buy the ticket, so I always get my seat.
We have that too for AVX films. But I dont like paying more for that or 3D or Imax
haha what a shit blog and i hate you as a person for the things you wrote here. I cant believe you're self-absorbed enough to think 1) anyone gives a shit about your cinema bullshit 2) youre actually right about any of this
On January 04 2013 09:26 m3rciless wrote: haha what a shit blog and i hate you as a person for the things you wrote here. I cant believe you're self-absorbed enough to think 1) anyone gives a shit about your cinema bullshit 2) youre actually right about any of this
On January 04 2013 09:26 m3rciless wrote: haha what a shit blog and i hate you as a person for the things you wrote here. I cant believe you're self-absorbed enough to think 1) anyone gives a shit about your cinema bullshit 2) youre actually right about any of this
edit: wait now i cant tell if youre srs
oh wow,
tell me what you really think now
How could even possibly say this to TDL? He made a very nicely structured blog about a quirk of his and your response is to shit talk him? Not cool dude. I for one enjoyed this blog, and I hope you tell us more of your quirks TDL. Not being creepy or anything, I for one find it awesome how some people live very rule and structure based lives while I just kinda jellyfish it and go with the flow. Living radically different from me is something I will always read about. Great blog TDL , but why aren't you featured?
LOL wow what a strange blog, pretty interesting though, if only to see the depths of an otherwise normal person's insanity about a very specific topic. I enjoyed reading it though ^;^
On January 04 2013 09:26 m3rciless wrote: haha what a shit blog and i hate you as a person for the things you wrote here. I cant believe you're self-absorbed enough to think 1) anyone gives a shit about your cinema bullshit 2) youre actually right about any of this
edit: wait now i cant tell if youre srs
oh wow,
tell me what you really think now
How could even possibly say this to TDL? He made a very nicely structured blog about a quirk of his and your response is to shit talk him? Not cool dude. I for one enjoyed this blog, and I hope you tell us more of your quirks TDL. Not being creepy or anything, I for one find it awesome how some people live very rule and structure based lives while I just kinda jellyfish it and go with the flow. Living radically different from me is something I will always read about. Great blog TDL , but why aren't you featured?
I mean, he can say what he thinks. I just think he's being a bit too blunt about it. I wrote this because I realize how ridiculous and strict it is over something so stupid and silly (social outings are meant to be relaxing and fun, but my routine makes it feel like hell lol).
Thanks!
I am not sure why I am not featured, you can privately ask staff to feature me if you like the content, I'd appreciate it ^^
I have some very weird quirks, believe me. Going to restaurants with me can be pretty silly.
*Thanks for having my back :D!
On January 04 2013 09:43 MCDayC wrote: LOL wow what a strange blog, pretty interesting though, if only to see the depths of an otherwise normal person's insanity about a very specific topic. I enjoyed reading it though ^;^
yeah, it's a bit insane. I definitely wanted to see if people have other similar instances where they like things to be just perfect
On January 04 2013 09:26 m3rciless wrote: haha what a shit blog and i hate you as a person for the things you wrote here. I cant believe you're self-absorbed enough to think 1) anyone gives a shit about your cinema bullshit 2) youre actually right about any of this
edit: wait now i cant tell if youre srs
you're a dick.
I love movies too, read every word, agree with everything (except sitting in the front wtf?)
On January 04 2013 09:26 m3rciless wrote: haha what a shit blog and i hate you as a person for the things you wrote here. I cant believe you're self-absorbed enough to think 1) anyone gives a shit about your cinema bullshit 2) youre actually right about any of this
edit: wait now i cant tell if youre srs
I love movies too, read every word, agree with everything (except sitting in the front wtf?)
And you're a dick.
LOL YOU AGREE WITH THE POPCORN THING?
I can't stand people digging handfuls into popcorn bags, it's such a waste T_T It's a snack, why eat it like it's you're starving for dinner!
I can't stand people behind me, too many shoes hitting my head or pushing my seat! I also like being very high up and in the darker areas.
I dunno, I used to go to a pretty shit theater in New Jersey that was very angled well (meaning it was just a small inclined slope to the back) and in Montreal, the theaters is setup with stairs and inclined very highly.
This is similar to how the Jersey theater looked like:
I need to sit in the back and middle. I'm too easy going to have any serious reactions to anything else. But ideally, yes. Less noise is better. Less people being disrespectful is great. People talking above a whisper is downright rude. I get embarrassed when my snack makes noise. I love having the seats in front of me empty so i can slouch with my feet up.
The steep incline only makes sitting in the back better. Craning your neck up to see the screen is painful and if I have to look left or right to catch things happening on the side of the screen I feel like I'm missing shit.
for the sake of clarity, clearly, I did not mean you're the dick. fixed that little ambiguity. love you.
I don't buy popcorn at the movies anymore. Part of it might be because whenever I got some, my dad would grab popcorn by the handful and waste it (as opposed to my 1-piece at a time, like you). The bigger reason though is that the popcorn just got to be so darn expensive and unhealthy for you. I rarely go to the movies but I share most of your exact reactions to movie etiquette. I sigh when my dad takes out his phone during the movies to check for any calls. How rude lol. Other people might get annoyed by the light from the phone.
Since you mentioned it in your blog, I'll also state something about restaurants. I'm always a very courteous and pleasant customer. I say "thanks" when my water is refilled, I say "please" after ordering my meal (even though I know I don't have to), and I'm generally a very nice person to the employees. I seem to be the nicest one in my family, but my dad really is the worst at restaurants compared to me. He always back-talks the waiters/waitresses when they make a slight mistake, don't check up on us while we're eating (which they probably should, but he still makes a scene), brings something to our table a little late etc. I can remember a time we've gotten free food because he started yelling at the waitress for not taking our orders correctly and being very late. Sometimes it's helpful, but often it's much more than I'd care for.
But! And I cannot stress this enough. The seating is the most important for me. I HAVE to sit in the middle of the screen back/front wise. And that should always be in the middle of the theater, so that I get the most out of the sound systems as well (they are calibrated to be at the middle of the room, and this experience is why I go to the cinema). If I cannot get those seats, I will book for another day.
On January 04 2013 10:02 Epishade wrote: I don't buy popcorn at the movies anymore. Part of it might be because whenever I got some, my dad would grab popcorn by the handful and waste it (as opposed to my 1-piece at a time, like you). The bigger reason though is that the popcorn just got to be so darn expensive and unhealthy for you. I rarely go to the movies but I share most of your exact reactions to movie etiquette. I sigh when my dad takes out his phone during the movies to check for any calls. How rude lol. Other people might get annoyed by the light from the phone.
Since you mentioned it in your blog, I'll also state something about restaurants. I'm always a very courteous and pleasant customer. I say "thanks" when my water is refilled, I say "please" after ordering my meal (even though I know I don't have to), and I'm generally a very nice person to the employees. I seem to be the nicest one in my family, but my dad really is the worst at restaurants compared to me. He always back-talks the waiters/waitresses when they make a slight mistake, don't check up on us while we're eating (which they probably should, but he still makes a scene), brings something to our table a little late etc. I can remember a time we've gotten free food because he started yelling at the waitress for not taking our orders correctly and being very late. Sometimes it's helpful, but often it's much more than I'd care for.
holy balls! I am the same way in restaurants + one step further! I'm kinda bad with tips though, I'm so... conflicted.
Very bizarre habits, but mostly understandable. I never ever go to new movies. Crowded theatre = ruined movie-going-experience, for me, at least.
Restaurants... Ahhh I'm so similar to the fellow above, my mother is the "grouchy customer" type, while on the other hand I'm the most courteous customer they have on that particular night, I'm sure. :D
On January 04 2013 12:30 ne0lith wrote: One thing you don't seem too picky about is the threads you post on TL. I haven't seen a single one without you in it.
That's a strange way to go to and enjoy the movies. I'm usually not that disturbed when I go to the movies because I rarely have nuisances enough to bother me (though like you, some that shouldn't end up disturbing me anyways). Then again, I rarely go to the movies.
We're all strange in some way or another, it's interesting to find out about other people's habits.
EPT
, but why aren't you featured?![[image loading]](http://standcanada.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/STAND-Darfur-Film-Event-15-of-22.jpg)
