Theater Thursday

Theater Thursday

Theater Thursday. Cuz I got nuttin'.

So you're going to the movies. We know all about which ones you like, which ones you don't like, your criticisms, your raves, your rants....

Eh. Let's get to the real stuff. What are your movie-going habits?

1) Do you go to the movies alone or with friends/family? Do you know exactly what movie you're going to see before you get there, or do you stand for 30 minutes outside the box office trying to decide between Pauly Shore and Meryl Streep?

Here lately, I've gone with friends or family. Mainly because I've moved to a town without a decent movie theater, so if I go, it's a planned event. Gotta go at least 20 miles down the interstate if you want a decent theater, and all the way to Knoxville or Chattamanooga if you want anything artsy fartsy.

Though I'm not against going by myself. I generally like going by myself. That way, I'm alone with my own thoughts.

I generally know what I want to see when I go. And when it's starting. Because it's an excursion.

And, the few times I've gone wanting to see whatever's starting soon, I generally get burned. Adam Sandler movies, and whatnot.

2) When you go to the movies, do you usually buy:
a) Popcorn? What do you put on it?
b) Cokes? What's your favorite?
c) Candy? What gets stuck most in your teeth?
d) Other (hot dog, nachos, sushi)?

I don't usually get anything to eat. I don't like paying $3 for a 60 cent bag of M&M's. If I do get any candy, I'll get Reese's Cups. But here lately, I've left it alone.

Sometimes, I'll get a coke, or water. Though the profit margin for the theater on the cokes is even better for them.

3) Do you like it load and raucous in the theatre, or do you immediately stuff crying babies in the nearest waste can? Do you talk back to the screen and interact with the movie, or do you sink way down in your seat and just experience it?

Quiet. Quiet, and quiet. And after that? Quiet. It's a major friggin' psychosis of mine when people talk to each other during a movie. And if that cell phone goes off, that's an ear choppin' offense.

And then there's the people who talk to the movie screen bug me. Because it's an attention getting device. Nobody really thinks consciously or unconsciously that the movie can hear them. They're doing it so people can pay attention to them. I paid to watch the movie, not pay attention to some yokel talking to the screen.

If you've got a witty comment to make to the poeple you're with, do it quietly.

Or just loud enough to bug Billy and Steven, when watching The Mummy.

BONUS) What's your favorite, most memorable movie-going experience? What experience almost (or maybe did) make you vow never to darken the door of a cineplex again?

My single favorite moment in the movie theater is the collective, sarcastic "Awwwww." the crowd gave Luke in the re-release of Star Wars, when he whined to Uncle Owen about going into Tosche Station to pick up power converters.

He can waste time with his friends when the chores are done.

Watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in a really crowded theater kind of sucked. If only because of the people loudly sharing a liquor bottle behind us, and not sharing, and then dropping the empty glass bottle on the tile floor. And the talking, and there was a baby in the theater and it was a long, long movie.

But I can't think of anything that's made me say "I ain't going."

As much as people bug me, if the movie's good enough (that Tiger Dragon nonsense weren't), I can ignore them....

Remember, silence all cell phones, pagers, and electronic devices while answering this quiz. And NO SMOKING!!! (water gun effect)