| HATING ON KUNG FU ON THE BIG SCREEN... (157 views) | AUTHOR /
DATE |
| Has anyone here ever gone out to see a classic kung fu flick on the big screen? Like when that cool local second-run theater or art house manages to get one of those new Celestial prints, or randomly shows something badass from back in the day? Or even CTHD?
You're all stoked because finally your kind of film is getting some play, right? A once in a lifetime chance to see a classic flick "as it was intended to be seen"?
But then you get there, the lights go down, and ...the ignorant-ass audience is all laughing inappropriately and totally missing the point of all of it?
ARGH!
I've all but stopped going out to see classic films--martial arts, film noirs, pretty much anything--in theaters anymore because the experience is just too horrible. Not feeling the cell phones and text messaging in the theater either...
Anyone else? Thank God for DVD. | Choco
9/24/2008 8:21 AM |
| #2 | Dude I totally feel you here. An unaware or ignorant audience can ruin a good movie with the quickness. I always like to site a specific instance for me that kind of ruined going to the theater. Back in the day my girl and I went to see Out Of Sight- a Steven Soderbergh flick that stars George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. If you are not hip it is actually an awesome crime-caper flick but I digress. There is a part towards the end that they build up to for the whole film where a character accidentally kills himself on some clumsy shit( trying not to give up too many spoilers just in case you haven't seen it and decide to). Anyhow this character pops himself and I crack up loud as hell because let's face it the situation was funny. The theater was by no means packed but there was definitely a fair amount of people there. Nobody else laughed or even made a peep. Those fools thought this moron's accidental death was dramatic. I lost some faith in humanity that day. | Bastard Ronin
9/24/2008 3:28 PM |
| #3 | I know the specific movie I mentioned isn't a fu flick but it's a similar type of fan dynamic. I also agree with Choco that DVD's are a much more enjoyable method to take in fu. Make your own bathroom breaks, drink a beer or eat a pile of Chinese carryout. Stuff like this is often frowned upon within theaters. Also-no morons. Just you and the crowd of your choosing. | Bastard Ronin
9/24/2008 3:41 PM |
| #4 | Yeah, I had a similar experience to yours when I saw the original "Ace Ventura" in the theater. I was laughing so hard I thought I was gonna' die. Jim Carrey was reinventing comedy on the screen, and the rest of the theater was dead silent...fools were staring at me and shit!? Hello, this is a comedy!? Craziness.
Anyway, back to my original point...I don't dig seeing classic films that I care about in theaters anymore. Foolz is ignant! :) | Choco
9/24/2008 4:02 PM |
| #5 | Movies are such a big part of my life that I have quite the idiosyncrasies when it comes to their viewing. First, I can't really enjoy a film if the people I'm with aren't really enjoying it. That's why I tend to do the more artsy flicks by myself. I'm also nuts for theater etiquette. Dead silence (unless reacting to the film), sit still, no cell phones, stop playing with your snack, enjoy ;).
It's bad enough when you're at a mainstream film and people are being obnoxious. But when you're at foreign film, or a martial arts film, where the theater is small and sparsely filled, people tend to not get it.
But I will say that my favorite movie-going experience was seeing "Black Mask" in a theater that contained a mostly black audience. They were riotous during the fight scenes and it was amazing. Every punch and kick they were cheering. I've never experienced anything like it since. Too bad it is the exception and not the rule. | Garvinstomp
9/25/2008 1:23 AM |
| #6 | I agree. Not only low budget smaller theaters, but all theaters in general. Long lines. Expensive food. Kids kicking the back of my chair. Sticky floors. Peoples' cell phones lighting up the place. People walking in (sneakers), in the middle of the show. Heck, for the price of two movie tickets, you can BUY the movie on dvd. Theaters are a hassle. Period. Just ask Pee Wee Herman. | City On Fire
9/25/2008 3:01 AM |
| #7 | LOL! Poor Pee Wee... Has anyone here seen the documentary "Cinemania"? Sometimes I worry I'm turning into one of them with my theater-ambiance pickiness... | Choco
9/25/2008 8:17 AM |
| #8 | I agree, I took the family to see The Dark Knight and that was a less than enjoyable experience. The concessions of course were overpriced and the crowd was always talking or making noise at key moments! As City On Fire stated, for the price of taking the family to be irritated in public, I could have waited for a home copy and the wife's home made pizza, along with the micro popcorn and drinks of choice! Not mention having change left over with peace of mind. | Sgt. T
9/25/2008 9:22 AM |
| #9 | I agree. Unless you're a doctor turn off your cell phones! If you want to text-go to the lobby! | Little Dragon Fan
9/25/2008 12:32 PM |
| #10 | Sgt. T, you took the whole family to a movie? You must be a millionaire, lol. Seriously, with just a couple kids it's in the ballpark of a $100 investment depending on where you live. I understand inflation, but that's just getting downright out-of-hand.
And Choco, I"ve not seen Cinemania, but by ambience pickiness is starting to worry me. No worries. We can go to a movie together and be the Statler and Waldorf of the arthouse cinemas.
I do get concerned that soon I'll be sitting on my front lawn yelling at passerby's to stay off the grass they're not actually walking on. | Garvinstomp
9/27/2008 12:15 AM |
| #11 | THOSE DARN KIDS!! :) | Choco
9/27/2008 10:10 AM |
| #12 | I know where you'r coming from. I'm willing to deal with cell phones and texting, but when someone truly foolish and ignorant is laughing at the most inappropriate moment oblivious to how much of a buffoon they come off as, I tune out.
I saw Tom Yum Goong in a theater; a friend and I and two other guys were the only ones in the theater. That was one of the best movie-going experiences of my life. | TN26476
9/27/2008 6:12 PM |
| #13 | I'm so glad to see I'm not alone here, although I'll take it one step further, if I may...
I have grown to absolutely LOATHE going to the theater for any movie at any time. Too many people of the "satisfy my own ego" generation infest the theaters for it to be fun for absolutely anyone else. And it's not just them either. Babies. What's up with bringing babies to horror movies?
All I know is that if there is a choice to see a movie in an overpriced theater with a bunch of tards who think it perfectly fine to spend $12 so they can sit there and talk with their friends at Black Sabbath level concert volumes, or to relax in my jammies with a bowl of whatever the crap I want and having bathroom breaks not interfere with continuity? Gimme the couch. | Guano Pig
9/27/2008 6:13 PM |
| #14 | I always have some kid kicking my fu&*ing seat or whining that they don't want to be there. Plus, no matter how empty the theatre is, some asshole has to sit right in front of me. People just have no common sense. I'd rather stay at home and watch flicks. | William Giordanella
9/29/2008 5:18 PM |
| #15 | I only go to the movies a couple of times a year, because I tend to despise the public in general and noisy kids specifically. I've had to tell more than one parent to shut their kids up in the theater. Once I had to literally smack a kid who was there without his parents before he'd stop throwing popcorn at me.
The "big screen" experience is not worth the hassle, let alone the price. I make the rare exception when something really good is playing and I don't want to wait for DVD, but I usually regret it. | TheDenizen
9/30/2008 1:14 PM |
| #16 | I'm afraid the "big theatre" experience doesn't really exist anymore. The size alone makes it nearly impossible to feel as though you are at an *event*! Most of the older theatres were chopped in half and the newer ones built even smaller. Particularly it seems the US movies think the audience is too stupid to realize when the action scenes are on so they blast us with 140 decibels "action" noises! By watching films at home I avoid constant distractions, from kicking my seat to babies screaming to girls with big hair or anyone wearing a big hat, sticking to the floor, gawd awful refreshments (I use the term refreshments loosely)....why the hell should i go out to watch a movie anymore? | JH15017
10/2/2008 12:10 AM |
| #17 | Yeah, I just invested in a home cinema projector a few years back and I really don't go out to theaters anymore. Given the cost of a movie ticket nowadays, a $1000 projector actually pays for itself fairly quickly, and IMO offers a completely superior experience. | Choco
10/2/2008 10:50 AM |
| #18 | Oooh fancy. I wish my apartment had enough space to need a projection TV :P Of course, a region free player is an essential. | TheDenizen
10/2/2008 11:48 AM |
| #19 | There are lots of projectors that can work in fairly small spaces now. My place is certainly not very big. And just to clarify, it's not a projection TV, it's actually a stand-alone projector that projects onto a standalone screen. It's fun, you can make juvenile shadow puppets on the screen and stuff while you're watching. :) | Choco
10/2/2008 1:06 PM |
| #20 | Nice. Next time I happen to find myself in San Leandro, I'll stop by for some shadow puppet action. :D | TheDenizen
10/3/2008 8:58 AM |
| #21 | Sweet. I like to pick people's noses on the screen and then giggle like an idiot. :) | Choco
10/3/2008 9:01 AM |
| #22 | WG, you bring up one of my all-time pet peeves. Not to sound too much like Jerry Seinfeld, but seriously, what's the deal with people having to sit in your immediate proximity in a completely empty theater?
I saw a movie this summer where there were 2 other people in a very large theater. A family of 4, all very fat with those humongous heads that just never quite blend in to your peripheral during a movie, came in and sat right in front of me. The entire aisle they were in was open. The entire aisle I was in was open (other than me and my friend). The entire aisle in front of them (and in fact every single aisle in front of them, of which there were 15) was open.
Then, when I and my friend get up to move down the aisle they have the gaul to give me dirty looks like we somehow were in the wrong for wanting an unobstructed view.
How can people be raised with so little sense of common courtesy and consideration? | Garvinstomp
10/10/2008 1:56 AM |
| #23 | Garvinstomp, oh, that pisses me off!!! The other annoying thing is when you get to a crowded movie 30 minutes early so you can get a nice seat with a buffer seat next to you, then some jackass arrives after the lights have gone off, and asks your group to move over. I HATE THAT!!! | YoMama
10/10/2008 4:04 AM |
| #24 | YM, you couldn't be more right. I saw the new Woody Allen flick last weekend in a smaller theater. A lady came in and asked he ENTIRE row to move down 2 seats to accommodate her party of 4 (2 couples). There were plenty of 2 seat options available so that the two couples could have separated. They even had 4 seats picked out 4 rows closer to the front. But they just had to sit together and they just had to do it in a row further back
In fact, there were 4 instances, all within 5 minutes of the movie starting, of groups coming in asking people to movie. Not cool at all. | Garvinstomp
10/10/2008 3:03 PM |
