Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Ads at the Movies

I wrote a series of Tweets about my recent adventures in the movie theatre, but Tweetdeck made a hash of threading, so I am gathering them here in order for the sake of posterity. I'm @derrylm in case you choose to find me there:

8 or 9 ads before THE LAST JEDI. I turned to my son and said “Soon we’ll be seeing 3D ads.” Put on our glasses and watch THREE 3D ads. Fuck you, @CineplexMovies . #MagicLantern is opening here soon and if they have fewer ads they’ll get my money.

My wife and I saw THREE BILLBOARDS a couple weeks ago, same nonsense. An adult audience, some who maybe don’t go to movies that often, forced to watch almost 20 minutes in ads.

Why do I even bother? I have a big screen at home, I sure as hell don’t need 3D (paid for it so I could reserve a seat), and in most cases I can wait to see a movie, thank you very much.

The evening for me and my son, including snacks, cost about $70. For the privilege of watching unending ads. The same goddamn ads that have been running before movies for weeks or even months.

When this bullshit first started I actually convinced a theatre full (well, partly full) of people to stand and face away from the screen until the ads were done. But we’re sheep, and it’s unlikely I could do that again.

I do have two small rep cinemas here in town. Both play the odd ad, but not the obnoxious onslaught. I don’t need to see the processed cheese I saw tonight, not first-run anyhow. I should be paying my money to see the smaller films.

And I do! THE FLORIDA PROJECT, PATERSON (starring Kylo Ren!), DAVE MADE A MAZE, THE VILLAINESS, LUCKY, PERSONAL SHOPPER and more were all excellent films seen on those screens. So much less stress, so much more interesting cinema.

Anyhow, that’s all. I know I won’t get any satisfaction, and there will be times when I am still forced to attend a film in the #Cineplex commercial hellhole. But those times will be much fewer.

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