I went to see TRON today and sat through more than half an hour of solid commercials

[lunatica]

It's been a long time since I was at a movie because they started having soft drink commercials but this was just insane. These were commercial after commercial for luxury automobiles most Americans can't afford. Commercials we see daily on the regular channels were played not once, but two or three times. I think it'll be a very long time before I go to a movie to actually pay to see commercials again.

I can envision the day when there will be a constant stream of commercials in the four corners of the screen while the movie is playing. A lot like this. Maybe the US isn't Idiocracy yet, but they sure treat us like it is.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

1. I'm confused. Are you talking about product placement in the film itself, or the stuff the theater

runs at the beginning?

[lunatica]

5. I'm talking about a possible future event at movies

The photo of the scene in the move Idiocracy is what it reminded me of. I don't know how old you are but most of my life when I went to a movie when I was a kid there were cartoons and later there were movie previews of upcoming attractions before the main feature. This is the first time, for me, that there was a solid half hour, uninterrupted, of commercials you see everyday on TV, except there was no show to break them up.

[PufPuf23]

16. Cartoons, news reels, and the feature film for $0.25 for Saturday matinee

$0.10 for popcorn or a soda and most candies $0.05 or $0.10; ice cream Bon Bons $0.10.

Seldom go to movies anymore in theatres -- mostly for distance and cost -- have only seen Kandahar, Glorious Bastards, Minority Report, and the Depp Peter Pan in a theatre since 2003.

[msongs]

2. at least u didnt have to pay for a ticket to see the flick nt

[Motown_Johnny]

3. I'll bet you felt like you were trapped, in some type of awful machine

and you couldn't get out


unless you bought some popcorn or rode a light cycle or something

[lunatica]

7. I just kept expecting it to end. Then it would keep on going

I wanted to see TRON in 3-D, which is really not any reason to pay more. The 3-D parts were scattered around and for the most part it was 2-D. Like Avatar it's good in 3-D but just as good in 2-D.

It was mostly just kind of offensive to be forced to see commercials for half an hour.

[PoliticAverse]

4. Make your feelings known to the management..

Especially if they won't be getting any more of your business as a result.

[lunatica]

9. It wouldn't make any difference to them

If they put those commercials in there they either already don't care about their patrons or they're making money like radio stations do by having commercials. I know movie theaters make their money through the concessions, so this may be another source of money.

[brettdale]

6. I hate product placement

Its just too cyncial.

[virgogal]

8. We go every week,but now arrive later than the start time that is listed.

[lunatica]

10. I wish I could go more often but this was a rare treat for me

It just spoiled the treat more than anything.

[harun]

11. We only go to matinee's so seating isn't an issue and then go about 15 min's

after start time. The people selling tickets know how many min's of commercials there will be usually if you ask.

Stupid but they can be avoided.

[LongIslandGuy]

12. Hollywood

[Hawkeye-X]

13. what does hollywood have to do with this?

I blame corporations.

[blondeatlast]

42. Newark. nt

[Rhiannon12866]

14. That happened to me, too, when I saw Harry Potter a few weeks ago.

I don't go to the movies all that often, have only been once or twice since I had to go to a different county to see "Fahrenheit 9/11," so it's been awhile... And I couldn't believe the commercials, either. Most of the ones I saw were for TV shows, which I thought was very strange. Apparently, there's no getting there when the lights are still up, before the previews, since the commercials play constantly. It costs a whole lot more to see a movie, these days, and they subject you to more commercials than network TV! What kind of sense does that make?! It's going to be quite awhile before I feel like going back... :(

[quickesst]

15. Hell, when I was a kid.....

...I remember going to the movies, getting treated to a cartoon, plus a weekly series of Commando Cody, Wrongway Corrigan, and such. Then the movie started. I made sure I had my glass of Dr. Pepper Hot with lemon, and I was set. Going to a movie now is like watching a movie on cable, the difference being all the commercials are done at once, and before the movie. Geez, I miss the "good old days". Thanks.
quickesst

[KansasVoter]

17. Really nothing wrong with it as far as I am concerned......

If the movie starts at 1:00 and I arrive at 12:30 I have no issue with the commercials for 30 minutes. They need to make money also. And in the early weeks of a new release, the studio can take up to 80% of the ticket price. The theaters need to make a profit.

[devils chaplain]

26. Agreed, but...

The issue recently has been movie "start times" at 1:00 and commercials that last until 1:20. It's about past the point of diminishing returns in my opinion. I never show up "on time" anymore.

[KansasVoter]

27. My theater only shows previews when the movie time comes....

So if the movie starts at 1:00 we have 15 minuted of previews at 1:00 - 1:15. I like the previews actually.

[Iggo]

44. Same here.

Posted start time is the time the previews start. And I like the previews.

I don't care if Coke gets to sell Coke before that.

[snagglepuss]

18. The cashier or usher can tell the exact time the show starts.

I now rarely go to see films because I don't like the new venues and I hate the ads, especially the volume but if I go I don't enter till the movie starts.

[FormerDittoHead]

43. Waiting until the movie starts is a good formula for getting a really bad seat. n/t

[newtothegame]

19. For Michael Moore movies it'd be ok. nt

[liberal N proud]

20. The popcorn you spend $5 on is gone before the feature starts

It is ridiculous.

But if you wait 30 minutes to show up, you will not find a seat for popular movies.

[dixiegrrrrl]

21. I womder if movie attendance is down, becuase of this.

Last theatre I was in was 1986. And that was an old one, with a guy playing a pipe organ before the main show.
Quite lovely.

Commercials and people talking thru movies, plus the prices...no thanks.

very slowly over the years, we have made a conscious decision not to feed the corporate machine, slowly have whittled down the outgoing expenses. Feels good.

[Richard D]

25. I don't go to movie theaters anymore

And I used to go weekly.

[Occulus]

33. Netflix?

I got Netflix a while back and wondered why I'd waited so long. I hardly even watch television anymore, outside of a couple shows I actually like.

[dixiegrrrrl]

40. Yep, Netflix.

One of my sons, bless his heart, gave me a flat screen monitor some years ago.
That and Netflix....marvelous.
No crowds, no driving, no need to get out of my jammies if I don't want, etc.
esp. great for those of us in very rural areas.

But....Netflix now is going into streaming, raised their rates for services, but those of us who
have Linux and/or slow dsl, can't get streaming, so we are paying their higher prices for half the service!
:mad: :mad: :mad:

[niyad]

22. I always call the theatre to find out what time the movie itself will start--figure at least 10 min

after start time listed in paper.

[niyad]

23. are you talking about what crap they run all the time between shows? or the "coming attractions",

etc, that come after the listed start time?

[lunatica]

38. I love the coming attractions, but there weren't any. It was all commercials

that I've seen on regular TV. Like that one character in Mad Men driving a luxury car none of us can possibly afford.

[jberryhill]

24. Of all of the movies to re-make.... TRON? SRSLY?

Were you this guy?

[lunatica]

39. It wasn't a remake and that guy looks more like you than me

[jberryhill]

45. It's not a remake?

Really?

It's just a jazzed up version of the same crappy movie?

[DainBramaged]

28. I go during the week at night, and as close to start time as possible

if not a few minutes after. I usually come in during the previews. It's so much easier than sitting through that kind of brainwashing.

[alittlelark]

29. 'Idiocracy' - a documentary sent from our future.

[LibDemAlways]

30. Yesterday I took my teenager to the movies and part of the

pre-show "entertainment" was a sexy video featuring a bunch of scantily clad women shaking their booties. This was shown before a PG-rated film. At home I could switch the channel. In the theatre I was a captive audience. That was followed by ads for everything from Jack in the Box to local realtors and dentists - none of it well done or interesting.

When I was a kid, the feature movie was usually preceded by a short documentary or a cartoon. As with many things today, times have changed - and not for the better.

[notesdev]

31. Screw 'em

If that's the way they want to be, I'll torrent their crap and watch it at home without commercials, and with cheap home popcorn.

[MilesColtrane]

32. I don't know.

I like the Idiocracy ad for Beer Online.

Whoever delivers on that will rake in more than Bill Gates.

[zappaman]

34. the whole movie is product placement!!!

they should have called it TRON: DUCATI

[demandTheGoodLife.co]

35. I can't watch the FOX football pregame show because they turned it into an infomercial

[Rex]

36. They show commercials now? How lame, is the industry hurting that bad?

Wow had no idea, glad I don't go to the movies anymore sounds like a waste of time and way to much money.

[Electric Monk]

37. WHEN GOD IS HUNGRY, HE REACHES FOR A BANANBA BAR!

™

[Buddyblazon]

41. "GO AWAY!!!!

'BATIN'!!!"