2 observations about cinemas

[The Sam]

1. What are the point of the first 5-10 rows of the cinema? Unless the theatre is jam packed, which I've hardly ever seen, there is really no point to them. I have never seen someone anyone sit up front. No one can be that blind or enjoy having to look straight up to see the screen.
Sure, missing half a theatre or chairs would look weird, but it seems to me that a lot of those seats are just dead space anyway.

2. Is there a worse idea than assigned seating?
Last year my Dad and I went to see "The Green Zone" (BTW, bad movie, don't see it) at a cinema in Melbourne. The lady informed us that there were assigned seating, which we thought was weird to begin with.
So we go to the theatre and there's like 1000 chairs and about 20 people scattered around the theatre. We took our seat number and waited for the movie to begin. About 30 seconds later another person came up, checked the aisle, walked down the row and tapped my Dad on the shoulder, and said "This is my seat". Turns out my Dad was sitting to the right of me, not to the left like his seat had been assigned. So my Dad moved to the other side of me while some stinky stranger sat next to me.
So I wondered, how good must that seat be? Was the movie experience that much better in his seat than in mine? Was the sound crisper? Was Matt Damons acting that much better? Is the grass truly greener?
It seems to me that assigned seating is pointless, unless it's an opening night gala type of event, where every seat is packed. But other wise I am being forced to sit next to people I may not want to sit next to, or who may not want to sit next to me. My ticket costs the same amount as everyone elses, I should be able to decide where I sit. Not some arbitrery system that just confuses and annoys.

[kevservo]

Furthermore, what's up with showing commercials before the movie starts?

[Sir Woodrow]

And what about these Popcorn prices? hey?

[YellowJacketY2J]

I've seen people purposely go to those front few rows to watch the movie when the place was far from packed. I once sat there to see "Eagle Eye" with a buddy, since it was packed, and honestly didn't mind it. My only gripe was that it is a strain on your neck. Other than that, it was interesting seeing how big the screen actually is (I can't imagine doing it on IMAX).

Even so, that's the only time I've sat that close. I prefer the middle.

Oh, and to answer your question, it most likely is for sold out shows.

[Red Impact]

Yeah, theaters are actually packed pretty often where I live for major releases, so those front rows are often full.

[DiBiase is Good]

Assigned seating makes sense when you have a big film out, especially for the opening weekend. People generally leave single seats between their group and the next group of people and considering on average people go to the cinema in couples, this can leave a lot of unused seats around. This then can cause a huge pain in the arse for the staff there as it can work out there are only single seats left and 5 couples waiting to come in.
The Cinema I worked at for years always let people choose their seats when they bought their tickets, even going back over 15 years the choice was there when shows were allocated. People used to complain when there were only seats left at the front but they easily could have booked their seats in advance. A fact which I took great pleasure in reminding them whilst moaning at me. This would only work though if there were members of Staff in the auditorium, assisting people in finding their seats.
It can be hard to gauge whether a film will need seating or not. If a cinema has programmed that performance to be allocated and it only sells 30 seats or so, then it defeats the object but the problem is you can't change the system once seats have been sold, so you just have to go with it.

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

Apr 2, 2011 7:26:32 GMT -5 kevservo said:

Furthermore, what's up with showing commercials before the movie starts?

It is so the theatre makes money. Theatres get RAPED on the box office split on films. During the beginning of a film's run, the film's studio gets the overwhelmingly vast majority of the box office receipts, it isn't till later in a film's run, usually when it is barely pulling in a few hundred people for the entire week and is about to be dropped, that the theatre finally gets the majority of the box office receipts for that film.

So, theatres boost their revenue with commercials in front of films that can only be "skipped" by you ducking out of the theatre whilst they are showing.

This is the exact same reason why concession prices are out the ass. So the next time you grumble about the price of popcorn, candy, and soda at a theatre, blame the movie companies.

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

Apr 2, 2011 7:23:22 GMT -5 The Sam said:

1. What are the point of the first 5-10 rows of the cinema? Unless the theatre is jam packed, which I've hardly ever seen, there is really no point to them. I have never seen someone anyone sit up front. No one can be that blind or enjoy having to look straight up to see the screen.
Sure, missing half a theatre or chairs would look weird, but it seems to me that a lot of those seats are just dead space anyway.

2. Is there a worse idea than assigned seating?
Last year my Dad and I went to see "The Green Zone" (BTW, bad movie, don't see it) at a cinema in Melbourne. The lady informed us that there were assigned seating, which we thought was weird to begin with.
So we go to the theatre and there's like 1000 chairs and about 20 people scattered around the theatre. We took our seat number and waited for the movie to begin. About 30 seconds later another person came up, checked the aisle, walked down the row and tapped my Dad on the shoulder, and said "This is my seat". Turns out my Dad was sitting to the right of me, not to the left like his seat had been assigned. So my Dad moved to the other side of me while some stinky stranger sat next to me.
So I wondered, how good must that seat be? Was the movie experience that much better in his seat than in mine? Was the sound crisper? Was Matt Damons acting that much better? Is the grass truly greener?
It seems to me that assigned seating is pointless, unless it's an opening night gala type of event, where every seat is packed. But other wise I am being forced to sit next to people I may not want to sit next to, or who may not want to sit next to me. My ticket costs the same amount as everyone elses, I should be able to decide where I sit. Not some arbitrery system that just confuses and annoys.

For #1, my mom loves sitting in the back row of the front five rows. She doesn't like going to the raised seats, for whatever reason. Not even the front row of the raised seats, a whole one freaking step off the ground.

Though when I'm watching a film by myself, I NEED to sit on that front row of the raised seats, as I need to put my big ass legs onto the guard rail there.

For #2, I never experienced assigned seating at a theatre. Didn't even know they did that.

[Disaster Report]

My question: WHY do people bring their screaming-ass infants and/or toddlers to movies? There's such a small chance of them being quiet and sitting still for 2 hours. So irritating. I paid money to see a movie, not hear your kid cry and you "discipline" it.

[zeez]

The first five rows are there so people feel embarassed when they don't show up early enough to a premiere.

[jagilki]

This is the exact same reason why concession prices are out the ass. So the next time you grumble about the price of popcorn, candy, and soda at a theatre, blame the movie companies.

My theater is real small, takes a while for movies to get here.... but.

No Commercials (minus previews)

Cheap ticket prices (6 bucks)
Large Popcorn is 2.50
Large Pop is 2.50

[Push R Truth]

Apr 2, 2011 20:26:02 GMT -5 jagilki said:

This is the exact same reason why concession prices are out the ass. So the next time you grumble about the price of popcorn, candy, and soda at a theatre, blame the movie companies.

My theater is real small, takes a while for movies to get here.... but.

No Commercials (minus previews)

Cheap ticket prices (6 bucks)
Large Popcorn is 2.50
Large Pop is 2.50

We got one of those second run theaters too.

It also sells Philly's, Grilled Brats, has a full Sundae Bar and sells Beer/liquor.

It makes taking my nephews to crap like Mars Needs Moms a fun time for all of us.

[G✇JI☈A]

An observation I had recently was when I went to see Limitless (not bad) the cinema was pretty busy for a Tuesday morning.

Anyway a trailer for Just Go With It came on, and not one person laughed in the entire cinema. Not even a mild chuckle or live studio ostrich laugh.

Usaully even if a comedy is really bad there is always one moment in the trailer that raises a chuckle. Not this time.

[Hulkshi Tanahashi]

1. Just because you've hardly ever seen a packed theater doesn't mean it doesn't happen a lot and that the first 5 rows are unnecessary. I've been to movies with packed theaters lots of times; for instance, I saw all three Spider-Man movies on the opening day. The place was packed all three times. In fact, me, my dad, and my brothers had to sit in the third row for "Spider-Man 3." As Roger Smith has said, "It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it."

2. I've never been to a theater with assigned seating. Sounds bad.

[Michael Coello]

Hey, if cinemas never had that first few rows, where would those unfortunate temps and janitors with their lovable robots sit?

[Bob Schlapowitz]

Apr 2, 2011 16:03:12 GMT -5 Disaster Report said:

My question: WHY do people bring their screaming-ass infants and/or toddlers to movies? There's such a small chance of them being quiet and sitting still for 2 hours. So irritating. I paid money to see a movie, not hear your kid cry and you "discipline" it.

That, and why do people who are sick enough to cough every 18 seconds feel the need to go to the cinema? If you're that f***ing sick stay home!

[h]

Apr 2, 2011 23:39:17 GMT -5 Bob Schlapowitz said:

Apr 2, 2011 16:03:12 GMT -5 Disaster Report said:

My question: WHY do people bring their screaming-ass infants and/or toddlers to movies? There's such a small chance of them being quiet and sitting still for 2 hours. So irritating. I paid money to see a movie, not hear your kid cry and you "discipline" it.

That, and why do people who are sick enough to cough every 18 seconds feel the need to go to the cinema? If you're that f***ing sick stay home!

...and why do people bring kids that can't shut up for 30 seconds? "The Two Towers" was the worst moviegoing experience of my life. The only seats left were in the front row, so my neck was sore for days afterward (my own fault, admittedly), and the kid sitting behind me was intolerable. I don't know if he had already seen the movie or if he had just read the book, but he felt the need to make at least one comment during almost every scene about how things would turn out. Seriously, three straight hours of spoilers and the kid having various unrelated conversations with his family. And then, as the movie was ending he said, "Gollum's going to take them to the cave where they get attacked by the big spider." As if spoiling a full movie wasn't enough, he felt the need to spoil a movie that wasn't even going to be released for a full year.

[Dr. T is an alien]

I almost never go to see a movie on its opening weekend. I prefer to wait a few weeks, both as a favor to the theatre and to myself so that I don't have to be in a crowded theatre. I did go see Limitless last weekend, which was its second weekend, but that is because my oldest kid wanted to see it for his birthday. It was a decent film, but it made me wish that NZT, or at least a weak version of it, was real. I would love for my brain to work at full capacity more often than once or twice a year.

[Confused Mark Wahlberg]

All I know is that this guy LOVES cinemas

[G✇JI☈A]

Apr 3, 2011 7:32:09 GMT -5 Confused Mark Wahlberg said:

All I know is that this guy LOVES cinemas

But does not like movies about Ant Eaters.