quote: Mike Blakesley

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the Carmike Wynnsong in Billings

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..that's the dead giveaway right there ... it's a "Carmike" theatre where nobody cares .. - Monte
 

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Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 08-19-2009, 04:05 PM:
 
What's funny is that most people will probably be oblivious to the spelling...
 

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Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 08-19-2009, 05:04 PM:
 
Is 'Basterds' really that bad a word?

It's not like the title is 'Inglourious Fuckers' or something.

(Actually Scott...that one's coming out next Spring. That'll test your loyalty to your mantra)

We put the whole thing up. If anyone complains I'm sure we'll file the complaint in the appropriate place.
 

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Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 08-19-2009, 06:05 PM:
 
Anybody here play Mod Fuck Explosion or Fucking Åmål? ...and if you did was the proper title on the marquee?
 

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Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 08-19-2009, 06:22 PM:
 
Would this title really cause a problem for anybody?
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-19-2009, 06:44 PM:
 

quote: John Wilson

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It's not like the title is 'Inglourious Fuckers'

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quote: Mike Blakesley

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Well, it would probably be 'Inglourious Fukkerz" or something like that.

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quote: Caleb Johnstone-Cowan

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Were there any problems with 'Meet The Fockers' a while back?

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Yes. It was a piece of shit and an embarrassment to all actors concerned.
 

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Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 08-19-2009, 07:17 PM:
 
Just like with displaying the Striptease poster a while back, I think the line is that you are advertising a product rather than making some sort of commentary. In fact, I think putting anything other than the actual title would create even more controversy.
 

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Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 08-19-2009, 07:59 PM:
 
Years ago: Best Little Whorehouse in Texas: Preachers didn't care about the film at all; they did care that the word Whorehouse was up on the marquee. They picketed; great promo for the theatre & the film. Louis
 

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Posted by Andy Muirhead (Member # 712) on 08-19-2009, 08:10 PM:
 
I don't see the problem at all. It's called Inglourious Basterds. As far as I'm aware, the word which could possibly cause offence is Bastard. Totally different spelling I'd be more offended by the misspelling of Inglorious.

I don't remember many cases of people being offended by the Fockers, and if there were, they should be shot. I'm sure Joe Redifer would agree.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-19-2009, 08:53 PM:
 

quote: John Wilson

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It was a piece of shit and an embarrassment to all actors concerned.

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quote: Scott D. Neff

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I'm the same guy that refuses to abbreviate any title no matter how long it is.

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Does that include Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters?
 

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Posted by Jonathan Althaus (Member # 5042) on 08-19-2009, 10:18 PM:
 
Personally, I don't care about offending anybody, just as long as they come see our films. On a side note, our marquee blew down in a windstorm last year and corporate decided to put an ugly mural up in its place, so we have no marquee anymore.
 

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Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 08-20-2009, 10:00 AM:
 
Maybe marquees are going the same way as newspaper display ads?
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 08-20-2009, 02:55 PM:
 
I've noticed that most box office LED marquees barely have any characters at all, so this movie would probably be displayed as "INGLOR R 11:45 3:00 7:00 10:30"
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-20-2009, 02:56 PM:
 
Typical showtimes. As if the 3:30 showing needs more time to clean than the 7:00 show.
 

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Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 08-20-2009, 03:22 PM:
 
There was a book by Douglas Matthews published in 1973 called "Sue the B*st*rds". There's an idea for an inoffensive PC spelling for a marquee title.

Not that I would use anything other than the actual title. I am not, and never will be, PC.

Fuck all those thin-skinned PC new people.
 

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Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 08-21-2009, 02:07 AM:
 
Inglourious Bass-Turds...

or, "Unimpressive Fishpoop"
 

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Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 08-21-2009, 10:58 AM:
 
When we had "Drag Me To Hell" on the marquee, the minister of the church that meets every Sunday in the theatre centered his sermon one week around the title.
 

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Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 08-21-2009, 11:34 AM:
 

quote: Bill Enos

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When we had "Drag Me To Hell" on the marquee, the minister of the church that meets every Sunday in the theatre centered his sermon one week around the title.

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The church that met at my old theater moved standees and such to cover up the Pirates of the Caribbean poster next to their room. It had a skeleton at the wheel of a ship and I guess that was too much for them...
 

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Posted by Emma Tomiak (Member # 1862) on 08-21-2009, 01:51 PM:
 
I was wondering where your theatre's marquee had gone, Jonathan. Thanks for clearing up that mystery.
 

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Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 08-21-2009, 03:00 PM:
 

quote: Carey Barber

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How is everyone handling this title?

While the language in the title is rather mild and not offensive to most people, there will of course be some that do not like it.

Are you putting the full title on your marquee? Or, are you using an abbreviated title like "Inglourious B-words"?

Have you been displaying the poster? The posters, beyond the word 'basterds', has some pretty violent imagery.

Have you received any complaints after you displayed this title on a poster or a marquee?

What about the mis-spelling? Has anyone thought that you were spelling the title incorrectly?

My theater caters to an older, more conservative crowd, and I can definitely imagine someone getting offended, particularly if it is displayed on the big marquee outside.

-Carey

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quote: Robert E. Allen

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How refreshing to see someone in this business concerned about offending some in the movie-going public.

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quote: Mike Blakesley

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The vast majority of the movie-going public doesn't get offended all that easily. It's just a small vocal percentage of people who make life miserable for all of the "normal" people with all of the politically-correct nonsense.

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But you need to remember Mike that those people have as much right to speak as do the "Normal" people do to see and hear all the garbage "Hollywood" grinds out these days.
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-22-2009, 02:12 AM:
 
But there is also the amazing coincidence of how most of the "easily offended" out there also just happen to be gypsies!
 

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Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 08-22-2009, 02:40 AM:
 
Sorry Brad, I don't get that one. (Of course my wife would say I don't get a lot of things.)
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-22-2009, 11:21 AM:
 
What I mean is that most of the people who are easily offended actually just want to complain to get refunds, free tickets, someone on their knees begging them to come back and be a pain in the ass to them again, etc.

The super sensitive people just aren't worth the hassle, as most of them are just faking and the few who are legitimately offended are in the very minority and are way outside of the target audience for the customer base theaters serve, so while the goal should be to try and take care of everyone, ultimately it becomes an issue of acceptable losses for the overall benefit of the business. Times have changed. People have toughened up. This is reality today. Its funny though because that really old phrase "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" was usually uttered back in the day by the very people popping a vein when someone says "damn" instead of "shuck-e-darn".

Sorry if I offended anyone.
 

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Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 08-22-2009, 11:57 AM:
 
No offense here. All I ever hear from my BF is how many gypsies come into his theatre with outlandish stories in search of free movies.

I once called him to carpet about how he knew they were gypsies and he gave off a huge list of reasons, all of which I can't really remember right now. I suppose I'm being ?classist? Are gypsies a race or profession?
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 08-22-2009, 12:15 PM:
 
I don't think I've ever seen a real gypsy. Are they like female wizards?
 

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Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 08-22-2009, 01:06 PM:
 
Thanks for the explanation Brad. I've seen the type you describe in the church community.

You've heard about the furor stirred up back in '39 by the Clark Gable line "Frankly Scarlet I don't give a damn"?
 

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Posted by Jonathan Althaus (Member # 5042) on 08-22-2009, 01:45 PM:
 

quote: Emma Tomiak

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I was wondering where your theatre's marquee had gone, Jonathan. Thanks for clearing up that mystery.

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quote: Scott D. Neff

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Are gypsies a race or profession?

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quote: Mike Blakesley

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When we in Salt Lake for the Rocky Mtn convention, we had one screening at the Jordan Commons Megaplex 17. One of their elecronic marquees had the title shortened to INGLOURIOUS BASTER so I made a joke about a Thanksgiving dinner gone wrong. It cracked my wife up.

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Here in Lawton, Inglorious Basterds was abbreviated on marquees as "Inglorious B."



Yeah, I suppose a few slower people out there might have confused "Inglorius B" as the opening act of Tenacious D. Honestly, if I was the person deciding on how to display that movie's title on the marquee I probably would have made the same, safe choice. We live in freaking Oklahoma. There's no shortage of people here looking for any excuse to get their panties in a twist. So you have to pick the battles you can win. Spelling out "bastards" or "basterds" on a movie marquee standing in the middle of the bible belt is not one of them.
 

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Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 10-01-2009, 08:53 PM:
 
They could at least have gotten Inglourious right on that marquee. It just makes them look dumb.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-01-2009, 11:50 PM:
 
According to the spell check in Mozilla Firefox, you're not spelling inglorious correctly.

Of course, the movie poster spells it "inglourious," along with "basterds." And both words get underlined in red by the web browser saying they're misspelled. Maybe it's just the movie poster that looks dumb.

Spelling words wrongly seems to be the new black.

 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-02-2009, 12:12 PM:
 
I suppose now everyone will be spelling "inglorious" and "bastard" incorrectly. I'm glad those words don't come up all that often in print; it would cause added frustration for spelling nuts like me who are driven crazy when people write "Santa Clause" all the time now, thanks to THOSE movies.
 

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Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 10-02-2009, 12:47 PM:
 
I know how to spell inglorious. The point is, as Carey got right when starting this thread, the title of the movie is spelled inglourious. It doesn't matter what the proper spelling of a word is, you're displaying titles of what you have playing. I imagine the same marquee had Antz and Pursuit of Happyness correctly displayed. Then again, it's a Carmike and lack of attention to detail is in their mission statement.
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 10-02-2009, 06:08 PM:
 
Electronic digital schedule boards for the box office are terrible. A bad idea, badly implemented. They rarely have enough room, so you get things like "INGLORI R CC 12:10 3:00 5:50 9:00". When the theater has more movies than screens, the digital board has to switch back and forth between 2 displays. The 2nd, overflow display is invariably 1 movie and a bunch of blank lines. So a whole bunch of showtimes disappear while that 1 straggler showtime is displayed, and it stays there for as long as a full screen of showtimes would.

Very dumb.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-02-2009, 08:07 PM:
 
The problem is so many movie theaters have these short, single line LED units that display only so many characters. The price of stuffing 20 or so lines of single LED copy into a box office both is not being able to spell out full names of movies.

quote: Chad Souder

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I imagine the same marquee had Antz and Pursuit of Happyness correctly displayed. Then again, it's a Carmike and lack of attention to detail is in their mission statement.

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I could pop off the same extremely broad statement about ANY movie theater chain, especially if the criteria was judging them by how they treat their marquee. Chad, I'm certain if I looked back far enough I could find more than a few posts of yours here in Film-Tech where you didn't spell something right. Lighten up.
 

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Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 10-02-2009, 10:06 PM:
 
Your friend runs that theater. He's awesome. We get it. Lighten up indeed.
 

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Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 10-02-2009, 10:31 PM:
 
Well, in the case of Carmike, Lawton, OK... Jack Conner truly IS awesome! I know this for a fact.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-02-2009, 10:54 PM:
 
Well said, Tim.

Given that at least one person is obviously upset with how a marquee was "abused" I'll offer this little angle to consider:

Theater managers get to hear an unexpectedly WIDE variety of bitchy gripes from people. I didn't take the photo of that Carmike sign immediately when they started playing Tenacious Bastards. The photo was taken a few weeks into the film's run. I would not be surprised one bit if Jack originally had the film's title displayed as it was spelled on the poster, but changed it after one or more people with sand in their vaginas demanded it be changed because it was wrongly spelled. Oklahoma has a LOT of people searching for anything they can take offense in seeing or hearing.

But ultimately, who give a shit? That's not the point of this thread. We're talking about the factor of using the word "bastard" and how it may offend people. This isn't another "let's have yet another pissy bitch fest about Carmike" thread.
 

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Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 10-04-2009, 10:30 PM:
 
Well, "Marquee" is in the title of this thread too, as is the word "Inglourious" so I don't mind looking into that word as it relates to a marquee ... especially seeing a picture of a marquee with the word "Inglourious" spelled incorrectly/correctly has been posted and discussed already.

Point is, comparing the title as it's spelled on screen, vs. as it's spelled on the marquee in the posted picture, the marquee has it spelled incorrectly (irrespective of how Mozilla Firefox claims it should be spelled, or how many misspellings Chad Souder may have ever made in his life posting on FT). Abbreviating "Basterds" to "B" doesn't bother me - I understand that not every title can be completely placed on a marquee - but having the first word as "Inglorious" does. That looks like a lack of interest in the films the theater is playing (I'm not saying that that particular theater has a lack of interest - just that misspelling a title would give that impression to me ... I could care less what company it was that runs the show - I have no axe to grind against Carmike).

Also, I'd like to preemptively apologize for any grammatical or spelling mistakes I might have made in this post.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-04-2009, 11:25 PM:
 
Well - I would guess that a majority of people in my town are "religious." So far, I've only had two comments about our marquee, which sports the entire, correctly-misspelled title. But they weren't complaints -- both people just told me that we "misspelled 'bastards'" on the marquee.

quote: Bobby Henderson

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This isn't another "let's have yet another pissy bitch fest about Carmike" thread.

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You're right, it isn't -- but the fact that Carmike inspires more pissy bitch fests around here than any other chain ought to tell you something.
 

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