Gothamist: City Council Fights For Moviegoers' Rights

b

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 16:40:12 -0500

some theaters in NYC have 'premium seating' granted the tickets cost a little bit more, but it's worth it

editor

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 16:29:13 -0500

I recall in England (this was a while ago) they had 3 start times: one for the ads, one for the trailers, one for the film itself. But I believe they also had assigned seating. Which I like. And beer!

some dude

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 12:09:29 -0500

Anyone who thinks you can go see a movie in NYC without getting there a at least a half hour early is nuts. I am amazed that people show up a couple of minutes before the movie begins and think that they a) won't be sitting in the front two rows, and b) will be able to get a seat next to their date. That's the one thing NYC has done to the movies for me...it's no longer a spontaneous event. It has to be planned. And of course the high cost prompts me to skip the movies that don't really need to be seen on a big screen. Why pay $30 to see that mediocre comedy when it'll be on DVD in a couple of months?

Midas

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 10:54:13 -0500

This is a silly thing to be fighting for. All issues would be solved if movie theaters in the US adopted an assigned seating policy. I first experienced this in Singapore and it's great. Show up when you want to (within reason) and you know where your seat is. Never get stuck in the very front and get stuck with a crick in your neck. Assigned seating people!

kirsten

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 10:49:20 -0500

They do this in Paris (movie watching capital of my world). Every movie listing has two times: start of "stuff" and start of film.

Rose

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 10:44:24 -0500

Well, at least in the previews you can pretty much tell which upcoming movies will suck!!! I think the more pressing issues are mfers whose feet keep hitting the back of your chair or who bring little kids to inappropriate movies or who won't shut up or who laugh way more than necessary like that idiot girl during the Team America movie whose boyfriend even told her to shut up.

greg

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 10:02:02 -0500

Looney tunes started by being shown before movies. I wish they would do that again, even while people are still coming in before the ads start. As you can see on the internet their are so many great short films that could be shown instead of the stupid slides.

jt

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 09:34:45 -0500

Debbie, the problem with the ads is the time wasted sitting there. Time is valuable and I don't like wasting mine watching ads.

Debbie

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 09:33:02 -0500

I certainly don't love the ads before the movies, but I can't say they bother me either. What is the big problem with them? If you don't like them, then don't buy the products they're selling. It's simple.

dirtgirl

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 09:32:15 -0500

of course there are more pressing issues, but they're hard, so it's easier to tackle this one. when i lived in queens, we were about 10 minutes from the college point multiplex. typically we would LEAVE OUR HOUSE at the time the movie was advertise to start, and still manage to get there, find parking, buy tickets, popcorn and soda and get in our seat before the actual movie started. in the outer boroughs where theatres aren't that full, there's a great benefit to this type of policy. but my recollection of having to stand in lines just to get into very full theatres in Manhattan would tell me that if you waited until the movie actually started, you'd probably have very slim pickings of seats.

pleeeease

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 09:29:43 -0500

The city council really has their work cut out for them. Aren't there more pressing issues in the city?

Kojak

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 08:39:41 -0500

I like the spirit of the bill as well, but I do enjoy those previews. I know movies on average start 15 to 20 minutes after the stated start time, but I think its worth it for me to catch those trailers.