What Prepares You?

[happyfilmluvguy]

What prepares you to see a movie in the theater? Is it the reviews in the newspaper, the ones on the poster ad? "A must see movie" it says, the words just enter your brain and the more you see the ads for the movie, the more you want to see it.

Or is it the subject matter? It involves something you can relate to. Be it romance, anger, confusion, something about it you are familar with.

Maybe the cast is what interests you? You always liked that actor/actress. Every movie they were in, they gave a great performance. Maybe the director? His movies always make you want more.

Is it based on something that you've read or heard about? Stories float around and now they want to create it visually.

Word of mouth? All of your friends talk about wanting to see it. You all decide on a night out at the movies. The day gets closer, and you are anxious and excited.

Maybe you saw the preview before another movie, or on television. On your computer? The preview is what got you interested in seeing more.

So what prepares you to see a movie?

 

[Rooster]

Havn't been to a movie theater in at least a decade. Been burned too many times by hollywierd. I don't know how many times I've been thankfull I didn't go to the theater to see a movie as I'm watching it on TV....or as I'm turning off the TV.......lol

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

Most of my all-time favorite non-vintage movies were reccomended by friends who know my interests. Guess they know me better than I do.

 

[Paisley]

The temperature. It gets roasting hot here in the summer, and my house isn't air conditioned. The movie I choose is the one that looks the least insulting to my intelligence.

 

[Lady Day]

Story.

It is SO HARD to find a good story these days. I dont care how its done, indie, big budget, animated, sock puppets, the art of story telling has gone wayside to FXs (yeah I said FX! what you gonna do! ).

LD

 

[ShooShooBaby]

a variety of things - story, actors personal recommendation, director. i have to admit though, if it's not playing at the $3 pizza-and-beer theater, i'm probably waiting for the DVD!

 

[Pink Dahlia]

Story easy.

I spend hours on the Apple website watching trailers. A movie may have great actors but be a terrible story. I have no desire to see it.

 

[jamespowers]

Havn't been to a movie theater in at least a decade. Been burned too many times by hollywierd. I don't know how many times I've been thankfull I didn't go to the theater to see a movie as I'm watching it on TV....or as I'm turning off the TV.......lol

You too eh? I know the feeling.

regards,

J

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I don't go to the cinema either, but when I'm skimming the TCM schedule I look for year, storyline, then who stars in it -- in that order!

Year = I don't have a lot of time in my life so I narrow it down to pre 1941.

Storyline = I prefer silly "B" comedies, pre-Coders, and chick flicks. Every once in a while I'll take time out for a blockbuster!

Who Stars = If it's someone I don't really care for, I'll pass. If it's someone I like or have never heard of, I'll put it on my schedule!

And that's what prepares me for each month!

 

[Jack Scorpion]

I get pretty hung up on favorite actors, directors, screenwriters, etc. I tend to develop loyalties to certain personnel and usually decide whether or not I'd like a movie long before setting foot in the theater.

I never pay attention to reviews, even if they're right, and I can't stand word of mouth; it's always wrong.

 

[Parallel Guy]

I see a movie most every week, but like ShooShoo it's got to be at the cheap theaters. Mostly, I look at reviews. Yeah, I get suckered sometimes, but thems the breaks. I do avoid movies that are recommended as "wrenching" or "soul searching" but otherwise I'm willing to go along for the ride. For $3 and an hour and a half of my time, what the heck.

 

[HadleyH]

No cinema for me either

I do not go to the cinema any more.(Remakes don't interest me [huh] )
I voted for -A little bit of the above- that's what counts for me when I'm watching my beloved movies of the 20s and 30s.

 

[Twitch]

A TV ad might get me interested and if the paper has a description it might warm me up to it. I don't care what so-called professional reviewers think since I've seen far too many movies they nixed which were quite acceptable to me.

Often the edited content for TV ads is so poorly done that you can't even tell what the movie is about. It's just a bunch of sound and vid bites out of context.

But basically, regardless of all else, if the subject is interesting to me I'll watch it. I patronize theaters little but will watch most on the TV.

 

[Quigley Brown]

I have an instinct as to which movies I should go see in the theater as I won't get the same experience on a tv screen. The last one was '300' and the next one will be Pixar's 'Ratatouille' (two more weeks!).

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well, I punch the time clock, thread up the projector, fire the lamps, start the motor and open the dowser. Doesnt matter much what the movie is about, it all goes thru the machine the same way.

But I *can* tell you, from an exhibitors' standpoint, how we decide what kind of movies to show: we're a small independent theatre in a town that skews to an older demographic, so quality storytelling is far more important to us in choosing films than flash and spectacle. We especially like good strong female-centered stories, since our crowds tend to be predominantly women, and we try to find films that have gotten a good critical buzz: we won't show too many two-star films if we can get three or four-star pictures instead.

Of course, we don't have the freedom to choose any film we want that meets those criteria -- we're at the mercy of the booker and the distributor and what kind of deals they're willing to work out. Film distribution is a cutthroat business, and a lot of films we'd like very much to show we simply can't get at any price. But on the other hand, sometimes we get lucky and land a real winner. We've just finished a run of "Black Book," a Dutch WW2 resistance drama, and it did amazingly well purely on strong word-of-mouth. So we'll be keeping our eyes open for more films like that -- because in the end, finding what the audiences want to see is the most important factor of all.

For those of you who don't like to go to the movies -- consider giving your local indie house a try. Single-screen theatres that really understand the importance of quality presentation offer an experience you won't find at the mall multiplex.

 

[imoldfashioned]

Lately I'll only go see a first run movie in the theater if it has special effects that won't translate as stunningly to the small screen or if it has gotten really good reviews and stars actor/s I love. Ticket prices are just too crazy to justify much else for me.

That said, I do patronize my local revival houses (the Coolidge, the Brattle) quite often and I don't mind paying higher prices there since I'm supporting an independent operation.