Too many previews at the movies

[Black Dragon]

In late December my father and I went to see True Grit (an amazing film). It was the first time that my father had been to the theater in over a year, and only my second time in 2010.

As soon as the lights dimmed, a soda commercial came on. And then an athletic shoe commercial. Finally, the previews started. I never minded previews much in the past, as I enjoyed see upcoming releases. It had become part of the movie going experience. But there were too many this time around. Preview. After preview. After preview. As each new preview began, you could hear the audience members groaning.

When the film finally began, our drinks were almost gone and the popcorn was diminished. We had just endured nearly 30 minutes of advertisements and film previews. It was too much.

Is this situation commonplace? I go to the movies very rarely anymore. Have audience come to accept 30 minutes of previews as acceptable, after already paying an admission fee?

 

[Greybeard]

I recall seeing The Two Towers on opening night, and sitting through 40 minutes of numbing previews.

 

[kjjcarpenter]

It is the very same in Sydney. Thirty minutes of commercials if you are lucky. I don't go all that often, I went a total of four times last year to see "Inception", which was beautifully made; the average sequel to one of the defining films I grew up with, "Toy Story 3"; "Vampire's Suck", not by choice, but by force; and the poorly made finale to a declining series, "Saw VII". Adding up all the commercials I sat through just to see those four movies, it would have accumulated enough time to watch another two movies. It's disgraceful.

The biggest problem I have with this is that the ticket prices continue to grow as the commercial count gets higher and higher. It's not cheap to go to the movies; here it's 21 AUD for a student ticket. Lord help me the day I'm not longer studying and have to pay full admission price.

You're not alone, BD.

 

[Legerdemain]

Kev, do you know the conversion of 21 AUD to US dollars roughly, cause it sounds really high, but if it's 1 to 1 I'd never see movies there. It's about 9 dollars here in North Carolina in the States, and that's too much for most movies... I was pleased though, different theatre companies have different policies, and when I saw "True Grit" myself there were only 3 previews!

That said, I LOVE PREVIEWS, and I know everyone will hate me for that. Previews are how I view movies that I never really want to see.

By the way, I loved the college humor take on the True Grit. Though I understood his speech, my friends didn't, and felt this was fitting.

 

[kjjcarpenter]

At the current time, the conversion of 1 AUD is .99 USD. It's appalling. It usually sits around .88, but even that is still way off the marker. I hear everything down under is far more expensive than in America. Insulting, isn't it? I get one movie for the same price that you get two! Haha.

 

[Black Dragon]

That said, I LOVE PREVIEWS, and I know everyone will hate me for that. Previews are how I view movies that I never really want to see.

I actually enjoy previews too. However, about 10 minutes of them is more than enough. After a while it just becomes tedious.

These days I mostly watch films at home. I've been to the theater only three times in the past two years: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1, and True Grit. Every other movie I watch at home.

Of course, I've made my home viewing experience into something great. You probably remember my setup, Chris. I have a 50" high def TV, a PS3 Blu-ray player and full surround sound. It's far better than most movie theaters.

 

[Legerdemain]

Oh, your setup is AWESOME I may say. But I hate home previews. Mainly because the come out so dated, like "Robocop II, now in theatres" and your mind is like... "What?!? No, that can't be! Oh wait, right... dang, I'm getting old."

 

[Kelise]

I went to see The King's Speech when it came out. Half an hour of previews, and then the movie started. Except it wasn't the King's Speech. We informed the staff, eventually they reset it, and put on our movie.

But guess what.

We had to sit through the previews, again.

By the end I was pondering back through my week, wondering if I had done something terrible to deserve over an hour of waiting for the movie to start.

I don't go to the movies much anymore, for that reason. And it's $18.50 (Australian) where I live, and we don't have any other choice of a cinema since the city is so small. Ick.

 

[Legerdemain]

I don't go to the movies much anymore, for that reason. And it's $18.50 (Australian) where I live, and we don't have any other choice of a cinema since the city is so small. Ick.

Dang, star, why would you pay that much? I'm in the States, and it's about $11.00 for myself and my wife-to-be to see a movie in the afternoon, $18 for two at night. I can hardly see myself going to movies at night due to the cost, much less for the cost of two people! I mean, the Australian dollar is worth like 99.5% of a US dollar right now, so that's just amazing to me. I applaud you on your movie choice though, very good one I think.

 

[Donny Bruso]

Up here in New England, if I go before 4pm, I think it's about $8 for the ticket. If the show is after 4, it spikes to $15 I have officially boycotted the concession stand because of the horrendous price gouging. Not only that, but since I'm essentially sitting on my butt for 2-3 hours, do I really need to be shoveling buttery popcorn/candy/soda into my face? Not in my opinion. But I digress.

Yes, the previews and commercials are getting out of hand here as well. On top of that, twenty minutes before the announced showtime, my theater begins running a series of commercials or teasers for upcoming movies or TV, or music, some random crap to fill the space. Then they launch into the commercials for their concessions, tell you turn your cell phones off about ten times, and give you previews for movies that won't be in theaters for another year. I don't go often, usually only for movies that are pretty big. Maybe 3-4 times a year if that.

 

[Meg the Healer]

I am fan of previews myself. I know it comes with the territory of going to the movies, but I do remember a time when you only saw like 4 previews each running about 90 seconds. Now I go and they show me everything that's coming out that year plus some. In Alabama the matinees are $7.50, so I can't complain too much especially considering what I've been reading about everyone else's price of admission. What's strange is I can remember when tickets were $3.00 and popcorn was $10. Now tickets are $8 and the popcorn is $20. I guess as the price of admission doubles, so does the concessions.

I also have no problem with Home Previews.....for whatever reason I'll watch them even on movies I've owned for years. When I go home to see the folks, Dad'll just rip the remote from me and fast forward saying it's a waste of time and they shouldn't be on movies that you buy.....which could be why he's such a fan of Netflix and other such sites.

 

[Argentum]

GAW what I would GIVE to see movie previews! I always loved those. Then I could write my list of movies to see and then set it aside. Here in Korea (I timed it) you literally get 10 minutes of TV commercials. Cars, drinks, air conditioners, face cream, make up, cameras, the crappiest things, and lots of times they play the same commercials twice in a row (which about kills you). 10 minutes of 30+ second commercials. All I get are 2 movie previews or less. In the end, I might as well be watching commercials at home on tv...

 

[Shadoe]

I don't mind previews. It's just about the only way I find out what's coming out. That, and I tend to be late for just about everything, so by the time I get to the theater, get the popcorn, and get to a seat, the previews are half over. Now I no longer have to panic over missing the opening.

 

[Joe the Gnarled]

I like previews. Love deciding what movies I want to see in the future while I am sitting in the theatre. What bugs me is the increasingly common advertisements at the movies. I am talking about ads such as you would see on TV. Lately I have seen ads for UPS, car companies, and local business. If I wanted to see ads I would stay at home and watch TV. It detracts from the movie going experience.