1969: 14 years old, living in Warner Robing, Georgia. Dad took me to
2001 A Space Odyssey. Great movie going experience. Dad asked me if I
understood it. I replied, no but I liked it.
1971: Still living in Georgia. Practicing my math skills by
calculating how many people we could pack in a given car for a trip to
the Drive In. It was important to factor in room for enough beer for
the number of people. Great movie going experience. Lousy sound, even
though they must have had to replace about half of the window mount
speakers every week.
1973: Living in Omaha, Nebraska. Mom and I went to see Blazing
Saddles. Great movie going experience even though my mom (a New York
native) and I were the only ones who laughed at many of the great lines.
1975: Living in Lincoln, Nebraska. All but one of the movie theaters
in town got rid of their union projectionists. Films were fed through
the projector from big platters. The kid who made popcorn became the
projectionist. Focus became optional. Many bad movie going experiences
to follow.
1979: Timed a trip to LA to coincide with Apocalypse Now playing at the
Cineramadome. A great movie going experience. Still have the credit
booklet they passed out to the audience.
1980's: VHS taught people to watch movies at home. They learned it was
OK to talk while they watched. They realized the little multi screen
mall movie houses were the same size as their living room so it must be
OK to talk there too. Theaters responded with louder sound systems.
Focus still optional.
1990's - Present: The trend continues. No longer sure if the focus
problem is the projector or my aging eyes.
--J.B.
Shirley Gutierrez wrote:
>
> Good for you for walking out! I've given up on any big chain or multiplex theater going, if for no other reason than the abusive, imbecile action trailers. I went to see "No Country For Old Men" and was treated to five trailers for horror/action/fantasy/adventure (i.e - teenage boy movies) for about fifteen minutes. They were so loud I literally had to cover my ears. Then the feature started, with that medium wide shot of highway and prairie that opens the movie, and the print was so scratched that for a second I thought it was some cheesy pseudo-archival effect. I had gotten to the point of wondering what the hell had happened to the Cohen brothers when it started to clear up, and I understood that the hideously scratched print was simply another gesture of complete contempt directed at the theater audience.
>
> Shirley
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Terence Curren <tcurren@aol.com>
> To: FinalCutPro-L@yahoogroups.com; Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Sun, Dec 5, 2010 11:39 am
> Subject: [Avid-L2] OT: AMC theater's new scam
>
> Took the family to AMC to see a movie yesterday and was introduced to the AMC
> theater chain's new money grabbing scheme. They have what they call the
> "Enhanced Theater Experience" which actually means they are charging you 4
> dollars more per ticket. What do you get for that? According to their press
> release:
>
> "ETX includes a 20-percent larger screen, 3D technology, digital projection and
> an upgraded sound system. "
>
> Okay, this movie was not in 3D, and a bigger screen should mean you sit farther
> away, but these are existing cracker box theaters so that isn't going to happen.
> And the "upgraded sound system" is twice as many speakers with higher wattage.
> In other words, either their sound systems were already sub par, or they will
> now make sure you leave the theater deaf.
>
> This blatant rip-off is just another reason that they are going to kill
> themselves by ensuring folks stay home to watch movies.
>
> And yes, I refused to pay the extortion fee and went to another theater chain to
> see the movie.
>
> Terence Curren
> Burbank, CA
>
> www.alphadogs.tv
> www.digitalservicestation.com
>
> www.editorslounge.com
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