Boycott bad projection

[Russell Nash]

I went to see The Golden Compass.  I have two kids and wife who works long hours.  This means going to the movies is not a simple thing.  On the day we went she had had the day off and we got my mother-in-law to take the kids for the night.  It's a big deal for us to get that much freedom for the night and we were looking forward to the movie.

We went to the Sony Cinestar (I mention the name for a reason) in the middle of Berlin.  This is a big place.  Most of the major movies have thier premieres here.  Lucas was here for at least two of the last Star Wars films and Will Smith even got on stage outside and rapped a few songs before I, Robot.

The projection was so horrible I don't even know if it was a decent film or not.  The focus wasn't sharp which I admit was probably caused by a lazy worker as opposed to a corporate policy.  The big problem was a result of theater if not corporate policy.  The wattage was turned down on the bulb to the projector to save a couple of bucks on electricity

This is a problem Roger Ebert has been screaming about for years.  The sunny shots end up looking like they were shot in doors with the curtains closed and the shadowy shots are undecernible.  If you've ever marveled at how your new DVD looks better on your flat screen then the movie looked in the theater, this is why.

I have complained about this theater before, but this was the last straw.  From now I'm instituting a one strike policy.  I go to only a couple of movies a year now.  It's a special thing to be able to get out.  I'm not wasting it on anything less then a gorgeous picture and great sound.  Any theater that disappoints me this way again will be put on my boycott list.  Not only will I not go to it, but I will tell everybody I know not to go there either. 

The industry keeps telling us how difficult it is for the theater owners and how the reduced numbers of movie goers means smaller profits.  Well let's run some of the crappy ones out of business, so the good ones will survive.

When you go to a theater that does this, don't go back.  Tell everybody you know what they're doing.  Complain loudly to the manager after the movie, so others hear.  If it doesn't hurt them, they'll never change.

[wakela]

I agree completely.  When I was living in New York, I would marvel at how unpleasant the movie going experience had become.  I wouldn't mind overpriced concessions if the popcorn was warm and fresh, but it's dumped out of a bag.  The staff tend to be surly.  There were often enough noisy people in the theater.  And like you said, the focus and sound quality were hit or miss.  You would think that with so many entertainment options people have that movie theaters would being going out of their way to sell a high-quality, all around special experience.  That's what they can do that I can't do for myself at home.

If you really wanted to get serious, you would demand your money back 10 minutes into the movie.  At that point you know if the projection is going to be good or not.  If attendance goes down the theater company can always blame on-line piracy, but if refunds go up there is no mistaking the cause.  Of course, then you are the one who has to explain to your kids why leaving Ratatouille early is going to help save the world...

[Simon]

I agree completely.  When I was living in New York, I would marvel at how unpleasant the movie going experience had become.  I wouldn't mind overpriced concessions if the popcorn was warm and fresh, but it's dumped out of a bag.  The staff tend to be surly.  There were often enough noisy people in the theater.  And like you said, the focus and sound quality were hit or miss.  You would think that with so many entertainment options people have that movie theaters would being going out of their way to sell a high-quality, all around special experience.  That's what they can do that I can't do for myself at home.

If you really wanted to get serious, you would demand your money back 10 minutes into the movie.  At that point you know if the projection is going to be good or not.  If attendance goes down the theater company can always blame on-line piracy, but if refunds go up there is no mistaking the cause.  Of course, then you are the one who has to explain to your kids why leaving Ratatouille early is going to help save the world...

Your example amuses me, because I witnessed this one damn recently... My partner has a visceral loathing of dubbing, she can't stand it in any format (she is not English first language), so 5 minutes into Ratatouille she realised they had dubbed it rather than subtitled it, and  somewhat lost her temper.  Personally, I can sympathise with dubbing a family movie, because a significant proportion of children just don't have the reading skills to cope with subtitles, and a cartoon is probably the form of cinema least damaged by dubbing (although the idea of dubbing, say, The Simpsons, feels viscerally wrong...  Hank Azaria and Dan Castellenata are so central to the style of their characters animation).

Nonetheless, darling other-half left the cinema and demanded a refund...  Which she was given.  And I suspect if enough people do that Pixar will learn to distribute their latest "family movie" in both adult and child friendly formats.

[eytanz]

Simon - what country do you live in? Dubbing vs. Subtitles is normally a matter up to local distributors to decide, not the movie studios. In Israel, for instance, it's common for children's movies to be released in two versions, with dubbed versions playing in daytime and subtitled versions paying in the evening.

[Simon]

Simon - what country do you live in? Dubbing vs. Subtitles is normally a matter up to local distributors to decide, not the movie studios. In Israel, for instance, it's common for children's movies to be released in two versions, with dubbed versions playing in daytime and subtitled versions paying in the evening.

Hey Eytanz, yes I probably aimed my guns at the wrong target...  The Cinema itself is much more likely to blame.

I live in London, England.. But other-half lives in a small city in Greece (we flit between a lot).  I'll check details on this one with her, but my impression was that it only came in one version at their local cinema.  Small cinemas in Greece don't give best service to be honest, it reminds me of the flea-pits we used to have here in the 80s, but its all her city has.  Last week I watched my way through a couple of early Miyazaki movies, and tried them in subtitled versus dubbed form.  Personally, it made screw all difference to me.

[Chodon]

I went to see The Golden Compass.  I have two kids and wife who works long hours.

That's what I like to see.  Two kids working long hours!  Capitalism at its best.

[Russell Nash]

I went to see The Golden Compass.  I have two kids and wife who works long hours.

That's what I like to see.  Two kids working long hours!  Capitalism at its best.

They sell pictures for other kids to give to thier parents.