Declining cinema audience - relax rules?

[Infinite Chaos]

Should you be allowed to use a phone in the cinema?

"We need to reshape our product in some concrete ways so that millennials go to movie theatres with the same degree of intensity as baby boomers went to movie theaters throughout their lives," Aron said in his interview with Variety magazine.
"When you tell a 22-year-old to turn off the phone, don't ruin the movie, they hear please cut off your left arm above the elbow."

~

But he too realises cinema chains are "really searching for options" to increase business.
Cinema attendance in the US and Canada has been generally declining for the last decade, while films are being released on DVD or streaming services more quickly.
Many cinema chains are already offering more comfortable seats, enticing snacks and alcoholic drinks. Allowing phones would be one more step towards making the cinema experience more like what viewers can get at home. link.

I'm wondering whether there could be screening slots where you can take your mobile and use it - with a clear warning to anyone buying a ticket for that slot to expect the rules are less enforced.

Personally, I don't think it's about phones but the really high price of refreshments and tickets. It can be up to £60 ($86 or so) for 3 tickets with snacks for a movie

 

[haymarket]

I would treat phone use during films at the cinema the same way I have long advocated we treat body patrons who bother others with their boorish behavior: a sniper placed in a hidden nest up in the corner of the ceiling would more than discourage such activities.

 

[lpast]

NO NO NO, I dont pay to go to a movie to listen to some moron yapping on the phone.

I was in sams club taking a whizz and some total ass was in a stall screaming at someone on the other end of his cell phone. The bathroom had alot of visitors and they were either laughing or shaking their head.

Look im an old guy 69 and I realize im dated but it wasnt that long ago when you HAD to make a phone call, you just pulled over and used a pay phone. People made calls when they had to for business and personal reasons and for emergencies. They didnt use the phone as entertainment.

Cell phones are a classic example of corporate manipulation, they have untold number of people trained that they will cease to have a good life without a cell phone stuck to their face.

 

[americanwoman]

I'm wondering whether there could be screening slots where you can take your mobile and use it - with a clear warning to anyone buying a ticket for that slot to expect the rules are less enforced.

Personally, I don't think it's about phones but the really high price of refreshments and tickets. It can be up to £60 ($86 or so) for 3 tickets with snacks for a movie

I agree about the prices, although I shamelessly stuff my purse with anything and everything I can fit. I mostly wait until the movie comes out on bluray/dvd and for a quarter of a price I can get the movie and usually a couple weeks before it actually comes out. Add the thought of actually allowing cell phones to be used and I would never go.

 

[WCH]

The purpose of a cinima is to view and listen to a production or movie plus eat items that are generally bad for you. NOT anything else.

If you can't turn off your phone or leave it in the car for 2 hours, you have some serious mental issues.

 

[Citizen.Seven]

I went to movies a great deal at one point, at least once a week but usually more. However, four things have developed over the last 10-15 years that have reduced that to less than once a year. If I recall correctly, the last movie I saw in theaters was the first Avengers movie 4 years ago.

1. Obnoxious commercials prior to the feature. The number and length just irks me on top of the fact I am paying to see them.

2. Loud rude audiences. That was at one time limited to second run or "dollar" theaters, which was actually part of the fun, but over time has spread to all. Cell phones certainly contribute to the problem, but far too many people treat this public space as they would their living room. I have seen people show up still in pajamas for an "early" show, around 11 for an opening weekend for a popular movie. Couple this with non-stop conversation and the experience just isn't worth it.

3. The home theater experience has improved immensely over the last decade. While seeing a movie on a 70" screen from ten feet away isn't quite the same as seeing it in a theater, it's certainly still very good. Couple that the control one has to pause, rewind, and have one's own snacks, and the experience is overall superior.

4. Most theaters are GFZ. I try to avoid soft target areas where I am prevented by law to have the means to protect myself and my loved ones. Small probability, to be sure, but I would just as well not roll those dice.

 

[Crovax]

I agree about the prices, although I shamelessly stuff my purse with anything and everything I can fit. I mostly wait until the movie comes out on bluray/dvd and for a quarter of a price I can get the movie and usually a couple weeks before it actually comes out. Add the thought of actually allowing cell phones to be used and I would never go.

You've hit the nail on the head. It not the price or the food, but the relative price of DVDs(and digital) and improvement of home theater that has caused the decline in movie attendance.

 

[Henrin]

I doubt the problem is rules against phone usage since cinema sales were decreasing well before those rules came into being.

 

[Casper]

I'm wondering whether there could be screening slots where you can take your mobile and use it - with a clear warning to anyone buying a ticket for that slot to expect the rules are less enforced.

Personally, I don't think it's about phones but the really high price of refreshments and tickets. It can be up to £60 ($86 or so) for 3 tickets with snacks for a movie

Excellent way to get even fewer people going to the theaters oh and end up with more fights because some A-hole cannot step outside to use their phone. Dumbest idea in years, hopefully the genius that came up with that "brilliant" idea will be looking for a new job soon.

 

[PeteEU]

No the problem is simple. Prices are high and the experience is bleh at best for most movies.

At home we have media systems that can rival that of a cinema. Big screens, surround sound, 3D and so on. This is the biggest problem for movie theatres.

Going to the movie theatre is not a treat anymore.. in many cases it is a chore. It is expensive (well not so much in Spain), often dirty and noisy.. annoying kids and yes those phones.. I remember watching Everest movie and it was ruined by some Moroccan asshole talking on his phone 50% of the time..Basically the experience is not what it use to be. I remember going to watch ET with my parents, or the first Matrix movie.. I loved it.. but now?

But the biggest problem is that they are not making movies that justify a trip to the theatres. Going to watch the Danish Girl or Gone Girl (which I did.. great movie but would rather have watched sitting in my sofa) or whatever drama, comedy or thriller is just not worth the effort. Now Star Wars, big special effects movies and epic movies.. sure, but a comedy? Take the movie Spy with Melissa McCarthy, Jude Law; Jason Statham. Funny movie, very corny and typical comedy but worth watching... but worth paying a fortune in a cinema? Hell no. Paying 2-3 euros or whatever to rent.. sure that would be fair. Not a movie you gonna buy, but worth watching. Certainly worth watching if it came on a Netflix type system.. which it will eventually, but of course the illegal version has been out for a long while.

Or the Revenant. Pretty film, lonnnnnnnnng and unrealistic.. Worth going to the Cinema? Not really. Rather have the ability to pause to get a drink that watching that in the cinema. I saw it sitting in a nice sofa with a big screen tv and could pause it several times.. it really needed that... and got through it finally. I would most likely have walked out if I was in the cinema.

I would say that most movies at the cinema at the moment is like that. Case in point. Right now at my local cinema we have the following movies.

Victor Frankenstien... wait for the illegal download.. err to come on Netflix! Hardly a mind boggling story or hype. But a late evening popcorn movie at home.. sure.
London has Fallen... already out as an illegal download, and not a movie that would be worth paying to watch in a cinema. But a late evening popcorn movie at home.. sure.
The Huntsman: Winters War.. a possibility, a bit of action, good actors. Might go watch it if I get time before it is gone, which is probably next week. So this probably will be an illegal download, errr netflix type movie as well.
Kung Fu Panda 3... I aint 12, can wait for the illegal download (which is out there already). Rather watch it at home.
Julieta... Spanish movie, but a chick flick.. forget it..
Jungle Book remake... Sure, but then again seen it before.. not one that really attracts me. But it has received good reviews. Would choose Huntsman over this, but chances are it will be an illegal download.. err on Netflix!
Batman vs Superman. Seen it, worth it in the Cinema. Might see it again.

And I saw Star Wars twice in the Cinema.. worth it both times.

So do phones cause problems? Sure, but they are minor relative to the other problems that cinemas have.

Oh.. btw, the movie industry has never made so much money as it is doing now.. record box office and so on, and yet "fewer people" are going to the cinemas? hmmm

 

[chuckiechan]

My tv presents a sharper image than the movie screen, but they crank the volume up higher than I ever would! So there is a trade off.

But the theatre is a nice escape from the daily routine. It's about getting a different experience than you get at home. And most of the time it is just fine. And buying a popcorn and a drink is what supports the physical theatre, so don't be an ungrateful cheapskate. That's all the movie house usually gets.

 

[radcen]

I'm wondering whether there could be screening slots where you can take your mobile and use it - with a clear warning to anyone buying a ticket for that slot to expect the rules are less enforced.

Personally, I don't think it's about phones but the really high price of refreshments and tickets. It can be up to £60 ($86 or so) for 3 tickets with snacks for a movie

I'm with you on this. It's prices more than anything.

ETA: I also agree with the person that mentioned the length ad number of ads and previews prior to the movie. My tolerance for previews is three.

I now pretty much reserve my theater experience for movies with HUGE special effects. Not really interested in spending myself into poverty for a sweet romantic comedy when I can wait a couple months and watch it at home.

 

[bmr528]

I would not want to be in a theater with a bunch of lite up phones... As far as theater attendance, I myself go to very few movies.. I mean, How many times are they going to make a Batman movie? same story over and over, sure maybe a little different plot, but basically the same. Same could be said for Star Wars, just to name a couple, Seems to me that Hollywood has ran out of new idea's and just keeps churning out basically the same movies over and over.

djl