Last movie you watched

[Amped]

For the AMC I went to, it was pretty empty on a Thursday night (well there was a Dodger baseball game). Maybe like 30 people.

[erilaz]

The Velvet Underground (2021) — The excellent new documentary by Todd Haynes about the groundbreaking rock band.

I was glad that the multiplex had it in their best theater, i.e. the one with the comfy recliners. This was my 25th time going to the movies since theaters started reopening.

[Zunu]

25th time?! Do you have a movie theater subscription? Seems it would be worth it for you!

[erilaz]

^ Too many different theaters involved. Those 25 screenings were at five theaters, no two of which are in the same chain.

Unless it's a festival or special screening (e.g., Lydia Lunch: The War Is Never Over at the Roxie in S.F. on August 6th, with Lydia in person for Q&A), I almost always go to weekend bargain matinees. All Tuesday screenings at Landmark Theatres are currently $7, so I've been doing that, too. If Landmark had a subscription deal, it might be worth it, because that's where I go the most.

[esm]

I've only gone to small, independent theaters since theaters started opening (even for Shang-Chi), so it was never crowded. When I went to see Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain it was raining and raindrops were coming in close to where I was sitting. I think Shang-Chi was the only other one I went to, and there were no trailers and we were waiting a while for anything to come up on the screen.

Oh, I did see In the Heights with my students back in the summer, but the school rented out the whole theater for our group.

[Zunu]

There's a large Regal multiplex in Times Square in Manhattan. I've gone there a couple of times for early matinees and been literally the only person in that screening. I'm sure it's not sustainable as a business model yet I'm enjoying it nonetheless, because for the past few years I've found myself increasingly vexed by what seems to be considered acceptable cinema behavior in the 21st century.

Things like (rant follows): people having full non-whisper conversations, loudly laughing among themselves at things not having to do with the film, watching video clips on their phone or making calls(!), repeatedly leaving their seats and coming back, wearing the equivalent of Uncle Sam stovepipe hats or Bob Marley rasta beanies and blocking others' view of subtitles, putting their feet up so their sneakers are resting atop the seat next to yours, etc. To my embarrassment, the other day during No Time to Die, my own date kept pulling out her 1200-nit brightness phone and texting whenever there was the smallest break in the action. This was a film she herself had requested, not something that I dragged her to against her will (not that that would've made it excusable, but maybe understandable.) I held my tongue for the sake of peace, but it kept pulling me out of immersion, and I imagine the other 9 people in the theater were similarly put out. I got over it soon afterwards but at the time I was so annoyed.

So getting to enjoy the cinematic experience in a sparsely populated theater is a real treat.

[boinsie]

I stopped going to see movies yeeeeeears ago for all of the reasons you listed above.

[erilaz]

Most of the movies I've seen this year have had fewer than ten people in the audience; at my most recent movie there were eight. A lot of the matinees that I saw even before COVID, though, had similarly small audiences. The largest movie audience that I've seen in recent months was at the special screening of the Lydia Lunch documentary, where she was present for Q&A. There were around 100–150 people in the 234-seat theater.

Audiences at my usual theaters tend to be well behaved, but there are exceptions, of course. I saw Scary Movie in a theater when it came out, and a woman sitting near me was being excessively loud and talkative during the movie. Then this scene came on:



The woman sitting near me responded, "That ain't right."

[Zunu]

That scene should be a PSA before every screening

[rikkikow]

I have seen something like that happen for real at a movie theater. Two punks ruined a movie by making cracks that the movie sucked etc. all through the movie. When the movie ended the two guys separated and one left. I would of thought they both would have left immediately. A young man that was there with his family (wife & children) as they were leaving, he went over to the remaining punk and beat the shit out of him. Wife and children saw the whole thing. I didn’t stick around to see how it was going to end but the guy was left in a heap against the wall when I left. In the lobby people were telling the other punk to go see about his friend. Humanity at its worse on all accounts. They probably will keep their mouths shut from now on though.