The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Trivial Pursuits => Arts & Entertainment => Topic started by: Choop on December 11, 2006, 06:44:56 am
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How often do you go to the movies? Dinner, maybe, shopping, whatever. I'm talking movie theater here. Are you a paid movie critic? Or do you even go? I'll start things off with a vote for Once a month. I go maybe every 3-6 weeks, though I'd like to go more often - the experience of a movie on the big screen vs. on my TV is incredible. Surround sound, stadium seating, delicious popcorn... I could go on and on. That's not why we're here.
Do you make a date night of it? Is it something you abor? Are you addicted to BitTorrent?
The MPAA wants to know!
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At home I am in complete control of my environment and the entertainment. It is exactly what I want to see at exactly the time I choose to start it, and if I get bored I can fast forward it or even change it completely.
The movies cost a great deal more per excursion ($15 for movie, snack and beverage, easily), and while their display is vastly superior I have to share it with 100 strangers. It is a rare movie that is worth this trade, to me.
I don't torrent movies. They're still bigger than I like, and look crappier playing on my monitor. And the fact of the matter is that I simply don't enjoy movies in general any more. Most of them are so formulaic you can predict the story arc after ten minutes, and it's rare that I'll care about finding out how Rugged Antihero With Heart Of Gold will save the day and win the heart of Beautiful Co-star With A Painful Past. The good ones (or just the well-crafted ones) I'll get on DVD, and the very best I'll go to see.
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hm. It's hard to say. Since I've gotten to st louis, I've only seen 1 movie in the theatre. I also saw one while at home over thanksgiving.
however, I see movies constantly when I am home. Over the summer, i saw essentially every movie that had any degree of worth, whether artistic or entertainment-wise. I also constantly watch movies on DVD.
Luckily, my Intro to Film Studies class has taught me that I do not want to analyze film for a living. So there's that. If only there were an Intro to Film-Making class... then I could get this whole movie obsession out of my system.
Or I could just try to make an amateur movie over the summer. And then I'd realize what an un-fun process this probably is (assuming it wouldn't be of the Amateur Porn variety. those are probably fun to make. But let's be honest, I am not getting any action. It would not be a Bold New Direction in Filmmaking to film myself not getting any action. Or... maybe it would! I will make an avant-garde porn flick where no one has sex. it will be intense.)
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I like the inev's idea of filming an amateur porn movie of him not getting any action.
I picked the "Once a month" option because there's no "a few times per year" option. I probably see about a dozen movies in the theatre anymore, so I guess that averages out anyway.
I like the going to the movies experience, although not as much as I like watching movies at home on DVD now. I want to get a larger screen than my 19" PC monitor, though.
For me it's more that there's not been anything coming out that's a "must see" lately - the last movie I saw was two weeks ago: "Stranger Than Fiction" and while it was pleasant and enjoyable it wasn't something that totally gripped me and that I had to see in the theatre. It was just the best option when I decided to take a girl to the movies because that would mean we wouldn't have to speak to each other for two hours.
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Well as anyone who is following along at home knows, I am the one who Doesn't Like Movies. And I especially don't like movie theaters. I am short, so the seats are not comfortable and if anyone sits in front of me, I can't see. I can't stop the movie to get a drink or get rid of the aftereffects of a drink. The choice of refreshments is limited and expensive. You have no control over the company you are keeping. And now, you have to sit through 20 minutes of commercials for things you don't want to see before the movie even starts.
And I couldn't care less how big the screen is, so for me there's not even a trade-off. I am pretty happy watching a movie on my laptop if I am not in the mood to sit in one of the rooms that has a TV.
There are now two fancy theaters in my neighborhood that are at least more comfortable, and I think in the past few years I have seen maybe one movie a year in a theater. But mostly I wait for DVD. Netflix has changed my life. It is a good thing that Netflix came along at exactly the time when I started to find that I couldn't read most books without wanting to throw them across the room at the second chapter.
Still even on Netflix a lot of what I have rented is not movies. Sometimes TV shows - we watched all of X-Files (except the last season) and the first three seasons of The Wire - and sometimes stand-up comedy, and sometimes random Japanese movies that I pretend count as language study.
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I see like 4-5 movies a year in the theatre. More around May, naturally. I'm also the kind of customer that Netflix loves. I usually have so much on my TiVo that it takes me weeks to get around to my Netflix selection.
Wombat, have you at least tried going to the Uptown? If you sit in the first row of the balcony you get a great view and anybody who sits in front of you is like 20' lower thus nullifying their blocking power. Unless Omnipotus shows up or something.
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We ain't got a movie theater here, so I have to go to Anchorage if I want to see a film on the big screen.
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Yeah, I see about one a month. We've got what we call "the cheap seats" (or I think some people call these second run theatres?) which are two theatres that have 8-12 screens each and run movies before they hit DVD but after they're out of regular theatres. It's cheaper for the SO and I to go there than it is to rent - something like $3.50 for the both of us. It is extremely rare for me to see a first run movie though. Maybe one or two a year, and usually only by fluke of someone else wanting to see something. I saw Clerks II and Stranger than Fiction in theatre this year, but definitely only because it was part of someone else's plans.
I love the movie going experience though. Love it. I'll always remember when I saw Napoleon Dynamite. The theatre was packed and the woman behind me was laughing so hard I though she was going to die. Seriously. Die.
Naturally, I see a lot of plays too.
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I lived in the neighborhood where the Uptown is when I first moved to DC and I must have been there at least once, but I can't remember anything about it.
Now we live right around the corner from this new AFI theater (http://www.afi.com/silver/new/), which was renovated from an old theater and is very pretty and has comfortable seats and really good visibility. They play respectable first-run stuff, classics, and incredibly boring theater-buff festival sorts of things, like this week the New African Films Festival. But see, also this week I see they have a 1940s Film Noir festival, which is something I am fairly interested in, but I look at the schedule and then think - I can get all of those things on Netflix, and then I don't have to get there at a certain time and can pause whenever I want...
Seriously, I almost feel guilty living right near this theater - it is so wasted on me. Jough should live here instead.
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I average about once a month, but I haven't been going much lately. I am going to see a new movie tonight, something about a plane crash with a football team, it doesn't look all that interesting, but I get these free passes sometimes. I love going to the movie theater. I need to get back into the swing of going to the MFA where they regularly show classic movies in their beautiful theater. Only drawback to that place is no popcorn. Eating popcorn and watching a movie is so ingrained for me that I feel slightly uncomfortable not having popcorn when I watch. Where I live I am in close proximity to every movie choice. First run mainstream fare, two theaters nearby, one with an i-max, for arthouse movies, there is the Rice Theater which is real close, the MFA and the local University show a mix of foreign films and classics (and some of that boring stuff Wombat was talking about like the Iranian Film Festival), ive even got a theater nearby that shows super low budget arthouse fare (although i've not been there yet). So I really should be going to the movies like everyday.
~Paul
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Probably once a quarter. Last movie I saw in a theatre was Little Miss Sunshine (which was great). I go through phases on watching movies at home, currently not watching many.
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I lived in the neighborhood where the Uptown is when I first moved to DC and I must have been there at least once, but I can't remember anything about it.
Now we live right around the corner from this new AFI theater (http://www.afi.com/silver/new/), which was renovated from an old theater and is very pretty and has comfortable seats and really good visibility. They play respectable first-run stuff, classics, and incredibly boring theater-buff festival sorts of things, like this week the New African Films Festival. But see, also this week I see they have a 1940s Film Noir festival, which is something I am fairly interested in, but I look at the schedule and then think - I can get all of those things on Netflix, and then I don't have to get there at a certain time and can pause whenever I want...
Seriously, I almost feel guilty living right near this theater - it is so wasted on me. Jough should live here instead.
I saw Giangantic: A Tale of Two Johns at the AFI right after it opened. It's right by the Discovery building in "Silver Sprung", right?
Uptown only has one screen and thus tends to only show the hottest movie at the moment.
My work sells those Ultra Deluxe Super Premium movie passes for like $6.50. I tend to buy a pile of those once a year and use them up as needed. Otherwise I'd never pay $10 to see a movie opening night.
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I can't remember the last time I actually went to the movies. Gotta shell out for a babysitter, and if we're going to do that, there's other things we'd rather do than sit in a dark theater and not talk to each other.
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It's never a good day when a young man realises that he spends more time at the theatre than he does at the pictures.
Ohhhh shite.
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Only drawback to that place is no popcorn. Eating popcorn and watching a movie is so ingrained for me that I feel slightly uncomfortable not having popcorn when I watch.
How can this be? What are they thinking? Can you sneak some in with you?
See, I've occasionally found myself at a theatre for the early show, having just eaten a nice dinner, and I feel really conflicted about not eating some popcorn. I sit down, and I think, maybe I should go get some popcorn. Then the lights go down, and I actually feel stress. It's just unnatural. A friend and I used to go see movies and have popcorn as our dinner. Those were the days. When I go into a theatre and see people who don't have popcorn, I'm concerned for them. What's wrong? Do they know there's popcorn? Did they miss the two giant concession stands? Do they know they have sacks and pails and such? Should I help them?
I know I've said it before, but popcorn is my favorite food. I need to say it again here, because it's the perfect food as far as I'm concerned.
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Now see - even the popcorn I make at home is better than at the movie theater, which is too salty and greasy. There is just no reason to leave the house.
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I only see something on the big screen if it's a predominantly visual movie like Kill Bill, Freddy vs. Jason, or Star Wars Episode II.
The only exception was for Borat, which I saw on opening night for several reasons, one of which being that I got dicked out of the sneak preview by about 30 people on line.
The popcorn is such a scam, I can't bring myself to pay for it. I have to sneak in drinks and snacks in cargo pockets.
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Speaking of AFI and movies, here's what they think are the best movies of the year:
http://www.afi.com/tvevents/afiawards06/default.aspx (http://www.afi.com/tvevents/afiawards06/default.aspx)
I of course have seen none of them. Come to think of it, I haven't even heard of a few of them.
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Have you ever noticed how people eat popcorn. Everyone does this. At first they will grab a kernel and pop it into their mouth. Next they will grab two or three. By the time they are at the bottom of the sack they are litterally cramming huge handfuls into their mouths. Everyone does this. You do this. It's impossible not to. It's the power of the corn.
Yes Mel, you can sneak corn in. It's more difficult for a dude, not having a purse and all, but it's still possible. You have to sneak in the drink also, they don't sell any concessions.
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I am short, so the seats are not comfortable and if anyone sits in front of me, I can't see.
It also sucks to be a tall guy in a movie theater. There is no room in front of you for legs to go into, and there's always some jackass behind you who's like "Hey! Be shorter!"
I mean, he doesn't actually say that but that's what his message comes down to. He wishes for me to spontaneously stop being tall somehow.
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Have you ever noticed how people eat popcorn. Everyone does this. At first they will grab a kernel and pop it into their mouth. Next they will grab two or three. By the time they are at the bottom of the sack they are litterally cramming huge handfuls into their mouths. Everyone does this. You do this. It's impossible not to. It's the power of the corn.
You are correct sir. Guilty.
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man, the best was watching films for my film class this semester. watching these old 40's/50's movies, some of them on actual film... the flicker of the lights, the sappy music...
I cannot tell a lie. I cried at more than half of the films shown this semester.
(Has anyone seen Dolls? Granted he was in a bad state anyway, but my friend sobbed for a good 2 minutes while walking back from this movie. It was so good.)
I, due to my teenage broke-ness, rarely get popcorn. it is so good, though.
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AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR-OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
BABEL - Nope.
BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN - Seen it.
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - Nope.
DREAMGIRLS - Not yet (hasn't opened yet).
HALF NELSON - Seen it.
HAPPY FEET - No fuck*ng way.
INSIDE MAN - Seen it.
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA - Nope.
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE - Seen it (loved it).
UNITED 93 - Seen it (found it hard to watch).
There were better films out this year, although this isn't a particularly strong year for movies. I mean, the fall/winter is usually the best time for cinema, and there's nothing really spectacularly good out yet. I'll even take second-string good like Lost in Translation and Sideways. Where are my Fight Clubs and Pulp Fictions? Where are the Adaptations and Magnolias and Talented Mr. Ripleys? The Back to the Futures?
Where in God's name are the Lords of the Rings?
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2006 was a shit year in most spheres, pretty much least of all in film. This year's Lost in Translation was Little Miss Sunshine, absolutely- and this year's Sideways was almost Thank you for Smoking, in which no one smoked. At least in Sideways, the characters got drunk. And their drunks were good wine-drunks, too, not horrible whiskey-drunks or even worse, daiquiri-drunks.
Of that list, I've seen 2: Borat and Little Miss Sunshine. The missus hated Borat so much she didn't even want to talk about it afterward. I loved it, but only in the same way as such as Jackass or Vacation. Now that I've said it, I can't imagine the pitch as anything else but "Jackass meets Vacation!"
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egh. little miss sunshine was cool, but it made me feel kind of... awkward. I don't see myself wanting to watch it again.
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Probably once a month, especially recently. There have been quite a few movies come out lately that have caught my attention. I will be practically living in a movie theater during 2007, though.