Movie Theaters

We went to see American Hustle tonight. The movie itself was good, but our experience was a tad annoying.

I have yet to talk with someone else who is as picky about movie theaters as me and my husband are. It is so rarely that I even go to a movie theater because I usually end up getting cranky from the whole experience. The things that bother me are things like parents bringing babies or toddlers to PG-13 and above movies, or teens talking during most of the film. Tonight was also bothersome but for other reasons.

For one, when we walked in, there was this god-awful, so-painful-it-was-comical song that a twelve-year-old was singing about bullying (OMG it kept going and going) that went something like "... and then you; can find out; what it means; to be small!"—that's another topic for another time, but really? Are we really to the point where we need pop tunes at movie theaters, written specifically about bullying? Furthermore, does anyone honestly believe crap like this makes kids think "Oh, maybe I shouldn't be mean."? Further furthermore: this is an R movie, almost everyone there was over 25, wrong target audience!

Ok, enough on that tangent. But anyways, there were so many commercials for TV shows and shoes and coats, just like you'd see on TV. Then on top of that there were at least 5 movie previews, which they didn't start on time at 8:20 but at 8:40ish. Which meant our movie had an even later start.

They didn't turn the lights off, they only dimmed them slightly, so it was still too flipping bright in there. I couldn't tell if they even shut the door to the theater because the noise in the hall was distracting. Then you had the rumbles from the theater next door bleeding in to our movie, pretty badly too. The three 50-something women next to me wouldn't stop talking. And the kid in front of us put his feet up on the seats... with no shoes on, just socks. Dude, you're not in your living room.

And this is why I wait till things are available on Netflix and just watch movies in the comfort of my own home where I have no one to bother me except maybe my dog.