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Movie Theater Madness
Friday, July 02, 2004
By Neil Cavuto

Have any of you been to a movie theater lately? It's ridiculous. It's out of control. And no, I'm not talking Michael Moore's film. I'm not even talking about films, period.

I'm talking about the commercials!

They're everywhere and they're over the top: too long, too many, too much.

Movie theaters say they need them to defray the cost of tickets for the viewing public. That's a lie. That's a bold-faced lie. I don't know about you but my ticket prices aren't getting cheaper!

It’s a lie as bad as the one that says a show is going to start at 8 p.m. No, what these sniveling, phony, ticket-pushing pimps don't tell you is that it's the "commercials" that start at 8 p.m. Once you get past them and the previews, you're looking at 8:15 p.m. — at the earliest!

Look, I have no problem with advertising. But in places and on shows where I expect it. Not theaters, where I do not and, I think, where I "should not."

Look, I know theater owners have to make money. But guys, you have to try something more novel: the truth!

I'll tell you what. If you argue these commercials are defraying your costs, give us a choice: Pay more for a movie with the commercials, or less for a movie without them.

I dare you. I dare you to be honest and not the sneaky worms so many of you theater chains have become.

Maybe some moviegoers will happily endure the ads for a better price on a flick. Maybe some will just tell you to flick off.

But it will be their choice, not yours.

Watch Neil Cavuto weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on "Your World with Cavuto."

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-08-2004, 01:49 PM:
 
What a whiner. "Sniveling, phony, ticket-pushing pimps?" "Sneaky worms?" What an idiot. Ten to one this guy yaks on his cell phone during the show.

It would be an interesting experiment, though, to have a no-commercials auditorium with a dollar-higher ticket price. I'd bet a month's worth of popcorn sales that 90% of people would not give up the extra buck and that the cheaper auditorium would ALWAYS sell out first. In the big picture, WHO CARES about a few commercials as long as they're not interrupting the movie?

Now when the movie stops in the middle for commercials, THEN he'll have something to gripe about.
 

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Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 07-08-2004, 01:56 PM:
 
I assume the article is referring to pre-show ads based on film, not the slides.

Yet it wouldn't surprise me if they were confusing digital on-screen advertising with stuff like coke, moviefone, pepsi, etc...
 

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Posted by Ryan Luby (Member # 2520) on 07-08-2004, 02:05 PM:
 
Nobody looks forward to commercials, obviously, but they really aren't that big of a deal. Most of them are 30 second blips that you don't even have to watch. Take advantage of that time to do a quick bathroom run or get some popcorn.

I agree, Mike, that the cheaper screen with commercials would almost always do better. It's not like the commercials are 20 minutes or something.

Quit whining and enjoy the film.
 

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Posted by Brian Michael Weidemann (Member # 2243) on 07-08-2004, 02:33 PM:
 
This was published? The guy probably thinks he's a good writer (he starts two "paragraphs" in a row with "Look ...", for cryin' out loud!!!), but this isn't half as introspective, and not nearly as clever, as something I would hear ad-libbed by anyone I knew in a ranting mood. This is worse than any rant anyone HERE could post on this message board!

"8:15 at the earliest"? This is NOTHING, and he's using it as an exaggeration. Besides, this point of view is nothing new. Join the club! And we all WORK for the darned theatres!

And the best quip to end on is "flick off"? It speaks for itself, really.
 

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Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 07-08-2004, 02:40 PM:
 
This wasn't a published article. This was one of Neil Cavuto's "Common Sense" talks at the end of his "Your World" show. Simply an op-ed piece. The tone of it is much in line with his usual.
 

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Posted by Brian Michael Weidemann (Member # 2243) on 07-08-2004, 02:47 PM:
 
Well, the FOX"News" website decided to publish it after the fact. And, besides, I think it's insulting when someone spells out Common Sense to his viewers. No wonder I stopped watching television.
 

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Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 07-08-2004, 03:21 PM:
 
I love Cavuto

quote:

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This was published? The guy probably thinks he's a good writer (he starts two "paragraphs" in a row with "Look ...", for cryin' out loud!!!)

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Yeah, what Mike said. That's a transcript of the guy talking.
 

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Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 07-08-2004, 03:28 PM:
 
How about everybody quits whining about trailers and advertisements, and starts demanding less films that waste production and ticket costs to create unoriginal or cliched and call it art.

"That's the problem with the American cinema... no complexity"
-White Goodman Dodgeball
 

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Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 07-08-2004, 04:00 PM:
 

quote: Neil Cavuto

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I'll tell you what. If you argue these commercials are defraying your costs, give us a choice: Pay more for a movie with the commercials, or less for a movie without them.

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quote: Ryan Luby

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It's not like the commercials are 20 minutes or something.

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to have a no-commercials auditorium with a dollar-higher ticket price...people would not give up the extra buck and that the cheaper auditorium would ALWAYS sell out first.

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Not here in SF. The non-commercial auditorium would sell more tickets. It would be similar to like how the ArcLight charges $14 for the 'experience', and gets it. We'd gladly give up commercials here. They're boo-ed and yelled at at every showing, with people yelling out "Can we see the f'ing movie now MF's!"
 

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Posted by Ryan Luby (Member # 2520) on 07-08-2004, 04:34 PM:
 
Wow that's horrid..I retract my statement. Ours last about 3 minutes, max, depending on what the rating of the movie is.
 

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Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 07-08-2004, 04:43 PM:
 
3 minutes would not be a problem. 3 minutes would be like heaven compared to what we get now-a-days. It's just gone too far. Movies scheduled at 8pm not even starting until 8:30.... And then your popcorn bag, drink cup, drink lid, chair, toilet seat in the restroom, all have advertising on them all too now.
 

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Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 07-08-2004, 04:56 PM:
 
i always thought the urinal "liners" that read "say no to drugs" were amusing. as for onscreen commercials, "we are not amused". hell, i can't even stand most movie trailers.

carl
 

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Posted by Ryan Luby (Member # 2520) on 07-08-2004, 04:59 PM:
 
Our urinal hanging has a cool one about Dodgeball..the actual game, not the movie. I'm trying to get the crew to form a team and join a league but it's not working out too well.
 

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Posted by David M. Dorn (Member # 2298) on 07-08-2004, 05:30 PM:
 
I went to the Hoyt's here last week. The ads ran 15-20 minutes before the trailers. More than length they were way too loud and some ads repeated up to 3 times!!. I now make it a point to stop somewhere before the show have a drink and an appitizer and then just skip the concession stand....it usually cheaper

The good thing about Hoyt's is that it doesn't have stadium seating and it's close by.
 

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Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 07-09-2004, 10:56 AM:
 
What's so bad about stadium seating?
Anywho...Onto the ads. Ads are terrible! I don't mind ads like the Coca-Cola ones because they're generally entertaining. Their latest is a little bland but it's got some style to it. Look at their Movie Theater Hero ad, look at their Football Town USA ad, both decent. Or even the Amex Tiger Gopher spoof of cadyshack. It was funny and didn't seem like a whole minute long.

Anyhow, on to the policies. We used to have a 3 minute limit which recent changed to 1:30. The company I work for, Cinema West, has a policy about trailers, we shoot for 7-10 minutes total. We're all about the features man.
Although if I had my way I'd leave off the rolling stock. Especially this wink.
Anna Nicole Smith tossing her boobs around on a runway, people dancing in rain in skimpy clothes, and people getting ready to get-it-on are all in poor taste. And you know what they advertise?
Drugs at GNC, jeans for calvin klein, and tooth paste...
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-09-2004, 01:19 PM:
 

quote: Dominic Espinosa

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What's so bad about stadium seating?

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Some people don't like to climb the stairs, or maybe they like to look slightly "up" at the screen rather than straight at it, or many people just think raked floor seating is cooler.
 

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Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 07-09-2004, 01:55 PM:
 
Ryan, maybe I'm neglecting to check another thread, but seeing as we're discussing individual theaters on this thread, which haunt around this town is yours?
 

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