Theaters VS Home Theaters

[RickM]

Hello again everyone. I'm really not a poll person, but my latest posts seem to indicate that..lol

I never go to the Theaters anymore. It's probably ego, but my system (as yours does) probably looks and sounds better than the movies downtown, not to mention the convenience and cost factor.

So for me, the movie "release" date is when the DVD is released. Then I rent to determine a buy. They did nail me on going to Hellboy 2. My wife was dying to see it. The picture was dark and they had the sound so low that I had to guess and assimilate how it would look in sound in true Bluray when they release it on DVD. Disappointing to say the least.

Does anyone else feel this way, or am I the exception to the rule? Sorry if this had been discussed in this forum previously.

[bhampton]

Hi,

I have an advantage because my home theater is actually far better then my local theater.

I had some moviecash for Hancock so I went last week. (It was the first time I tried the local theater since Spiderman 3.) The trailers before the movie were amazingly wrecked. Then,.. the movie was hanging off the left side of the screen by at least a foot and was out of focus enough to make my eyes hurt. There was a ceiling tile missing right up front on near the top of the screen and insulation hanging down almost blocking part of the picture. The air conditioning was much louder then the projector and came on and off multiple times.

My local theater sux like you just can't believe. They are currently hiring for all positions so maybe with luck there is hope it could get better.

They don't have inclined seating (not even a little bit) so the screen is just mounted way up so you have to hurt your neck if you want to watch the movie.

There is no contest for me.... It's so bad... I'm thinking of just waiting for The Dark Night to come to Blu Ray to watch it instead of going to that crap theater.

-Brian

p.s. There are 2 theaters at the college near me and they are both worlds better but still no stadium seating or great audio systems. More often then not I just wait for the movies to come to home video. I used to live in the SF bay area and I don't think anyone's HT can compete with some of the theaters in places like that (for example the Sony Metreon was such an awesome place to see movies.)

[Riff Magnum]

There's a pretty big thread on this somewhere in here. Don't sweat it, the search function is none too savvy.
I think it was about 75% on the side of staying home and watching the kick butt quality. The other 25% said things like "if i'm dying to see the movie, I'll go" or "quit being such babies, going to the movies is a holy experience."

This year i've seen the following movies at the theatre:
TDK - going to see it tonight
Gonzo "The Hunter S. Thompson Story, or whatever" - good but not great
Indy 4 - big turdfest
Kung Fu Panda - i have kids, but i enjoyed this
Wall-E - see above
Speed Racer - see above. No really i actually liked it.

For the time being i'm still watching on a 30" CRT, so i'm sure once i get my big screen the movie going will slow down considerably.

[Riff Magnum]

BHampton, do you by chance have a brother named Paul?

[bhampton]

No to the Paul.

-Brian

[Riff Magnum]

Originally Posted by bhampton

No to the Paul.

-Brian

Sorry, it's just i used to know a Brian Hampton in Illinois.
sometimes Bluray.com is better than myspace

[JJ]

The one thing that drives me crazy about your typical movie experience is that, again, like you mentioned, Rick - the sound is so damn low! I mean, It borders on inaudibility - it is far too weak. The picture is fine - but combined with damn kids with their loudness and their cellphones, expensive snack prices - it takes a lot to get me to go to the movies these days.

Especially now that I'm planning to put a projector/screen in my house...

[AaronSCH]

Since most if not all of the theaters in Phoenix are new and have stadium style seating and state-of-the-art systems, I don't find fault with the venues but rather the patrons. People in general have become increasingly discourteous in public. Rather than arriving early, they come in late trying to find a seat in a darkened theater. Rather than going to the concession or restroom prior to showtime, they get up as the film starts to grab a drink or to answer the call of nature. And if it isn't babies crying, cell phones ringing, text messaging or chatter, you can bet the person sitting next to you will repeatedly shake the ice in a cup or crumple up the empty bag of popcorn during the most quiet moments of the movie. Mind you, distractions existed before. But never with such volume and regularity.

[neckedness]

I hadn't gone to theaters in a long while but the past week, I had a chance to see Hancock, Hellboy 2, and Wanted and Wall-E. Hancock, Hellboy 2 and Wall-E was seen at a Big mall and Wanted was seen at a smaller Mall.

The only movie that had clearer picture and big loud sound was Hellboy 2. Wall E was blurry and the sound was extremely low. Hancock's picture and sound sucked, blurry unclear picture, sound was low and muffled. Wanted was not loud or quiet, pic was so so.

Around here, Big Mall theater cost $5.00 a ticket, Small Mall theater cost $4.50.

These theater managers need to see what's up with the quality. I think they really stupid for keeping the volume so low. Tired of hearing people chewing instead of the movie dialog.


To make it worse, someone is always kicking the back of my chair if I don't sit all the way in the back row. It happens all the time, kick, kick, kick and then a stronger kick...i was about to kick his ass if it weren't for my wife next to me, she don't like confrontation, embarrassed by that shit.

[PoLskA]

i usually like to see the bigger movies @ the theaters...
still buy them on Blu when they come out...

much rather watch @ home... but sometimes an extra 6 months for me is too long so i'll suck it up...

plus most theaters around me are stadium-seating... i go to MJR in Sterllng Heights like 99% of the time to see movies... its a nice new theater...

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by RickM

Hello again everyone. I'm really not a poll person, but my latest posts seem to indicate that..lol

I never go to the Theaters anymore. It's probably ego, but my system (as yours does) probably looks and sounds better than the movies downtown, not to mention the convenience and cost factor.

So for me, the movie "release" date is when the DVD is released. Then I rent to determine a buy. They did nail me on going to Hellboy 2. My wife was dying to see it. The picture was dark and they had the sound so low that I had to guess and assimilate how it would look in sound in true Bluray when they release it on DVD. Disappointing to say the least.

Does anyone else feel this way, or am I the exception to the rule? Sorry if this had been discussed in this forum previously.

Hey, look at that! Another passenger on the boat!

[zak88lx]

I rarely go to movies anymore but my wife really wanted to see "Kung Fu Panda" so we went to the matinee yesterday.

The theater was full of screaming kids and crying babies which was probably our fault going to a matinee on a Saturday.
The projected image kept pulsing so it went from dark to bright throughout the entire film.
They also had the image aspect slightly wrong as instead of a rectangle it was more like a trapezoid.

After we left the theater my wife said: "We will wait for the Blu-ray next time".

I was so proud of her

Zak

[royaloaks]

I have a 125" screen, ceiling mounted projector, theatre seating, dedicated room etc. I now never have to get dressed up, hop in the car, drive 17 miles return trip, find parkiing, pay admission, pay for rip off priced snacks, run the risk of if the SQ and PQ will be any good, put up with a % of moron behaved people etc etc. I love my Home Theatre with all my heart.

[Variable]

hah, you guys just have bad theatres near you.

It would take a LOT of money to simulate the theatre experience in my home. I know some of you have that money, but even still, there is something special about seeing a movie with a crowd that I love! yes, it can be bad at times, but it can also be marvelous. I like to hear people laugh or applaud or gasp. it means something different.

and a given movie, grindhouse, has yet to make itself available for replication at home.

[Riff Magnum]

Originally Posted by Variable

hah, you guys just have bad theatres near you.

It would take a LOT of money to simulate the theatre experience in my home. I know some of you have that money, but even still, there is something special about seeing a movie with a crowd that I love! yes, it can be bad at times, but it can also be marvelous. I like to hear people laugh or applaud or gasp. it means something different.

and a given movie, grindhouse, has yet to make itself available for replication at home.

Good point. When i saw Grindhouse it was at a brew-n-view type place. The pops and gasps that movie got were unbelievable, especially the trailer for Thanksgiving where the Cheerleader does the splits on a big ol knife.

[Whytewash]

my setup is far better in terms of PQ and SQ compared to that of my local theatre. However, going to a theatre is like putting a kid in a candy store to me. I have always loved the experience; cell phones ringing, talking, laughing, and the sticky floors is something that is just so much fun to me. its weird I know but I find it very enjoyable.

[soufdallas]

I find it so frickin sad that every one complains about the movie theater now days.....babies and kids people talking is one thing.........but when you talk aobut the sound its suppose to make or somethin isnt showing on the screen i think you might just be a little to GEEKED on watch and hearin video and sound.......i have no problem with the theaters i go to.....plus i have bluray hds and hd tv ......i like the movies better but its always pretty cool when goin to theaters to see movies

[meckel]

I still enjoy going to the movie theaters. There is something about seeing a big time movie in a crowded theater that adds to the enjoyment, at least for me. I guess I'm lucky my closest theater is less then 5 minutes from my house, is kept fairly clean (no sticky floors and such) audio is at a good level, PQ isn't that bad either, rarely if ever do you hear a ringing cell phone or people talking.
So far this summer I've seen Ironman, Price Caspian, The Incredible Hulk, Get Smart, Wall-E, Hancock, Hellboy II & The Dark Knight. The only bad experience was Prince Caspian, It was hotter then hell in the theater for some reason. I try to go to later showings of "kid" movies like Wall-E to avoid little kids.

[Cromlech]

I still enjoy going to the movie theatres in my area, though some do indeed leave a lot to be desired. The local Odeons are almost always too quiet, the Vue has better hardware, but just seems to lack..the soul, I guess.

The ones I went to in Vegas were much better.

[Variable]

there is also something special about seeing the movie right when it drops, or even within the first week. I can't imagine how I'd deal with all these tdk threads if I hadn't seen it!