MEANWHILE: Another Austin movie theater distinguishes itself in a wholly different way:
Pick your style of theater here in the Magnited States of America.
14 జనవరి, 2026
What is excluded by that "almost"?
"Cinemark is going all out for National Popcorn Day in 2026 [January 18 and 19], offering moviegoers in Austin and around the country the chance to BYOBucket: bring almost any kind of container to the theater and fill it up for just $5 (plus tax)...."(culturemap).
పోస్ట్లు
58 కామెంట్లు:
Is the necessary amount of buttery oil going to be available for my handy dandy Home Depot 30 gallon 49022-25PK Heavy Duty Brown Paper Lawn and Refuse (and popcorn!) Bag for Home and Garden?
Not many things are less healthy for you than popped corn slathered with vegetable oil.
OK, the container size limit is 400 ounces, the size of 2 XL popcorns. Just about 12 liters. But what the heck, I'll bring the 30 gal bag anyway just to make 'em say "NO!" a few times.
Can I bring a 55 gallon drum?
Do I have to pay for an extra seat to put it on?
John Henry
She sounds nice.....
I never knew that texting in a theater is a problem. Does Alamo have signs posted?
I maybe go to a theatre once a year.
Was the lady on the VM using her flashlight feature on the phone? I agree that this would be annoying but it is not texting.
Was she warned not to text?
IF all she was doing was texting from her seat and IF she was not given a warning, I have to say that I think she has the right of it.
I suspect it was more than that, though.
John Henry
When I watch movies on TV at home, I have my phone handy. I may want to look up a plot point or who is playing a character.
I do this in theaters too.
Is that wrong?
If yes, another reason to avoid theaters.
John Henry
Alamo Drafthouse is noisier and more light-polluted than a regular theater. Waiters are coming in and out with food and drinks, and whispering with the customers about those orders. If you decide to order during the movie, you read the menu and fill in the order card with a little light built into your seat. All of that is much more disrupting than a phone in your lap.
Also, the Alamo Drafthouse seats have a steep rake, so the tables and food aren't in the line of sight. This also keeps people's phones out of the way as well. CC, JSM
"Is that wrong?"
Yes. You're spoiling the darkness and affecting the aesthetics of the light that is on the screen.
Many people have simply stopped going to movie theaters because the light of the phones has ruined the experience.
Althouse asks...
What is excluded by that "almost"?
"That is your name... Almost."
If you read their actual policy, that... doesn't really clear it up, entirely.
Up top, they say they will fill a 5-gallon Lowe's bucket. But later, in the fine print, they say "Bucket must be 400oz or less." A 5-gallon Lowe's bucket is 640 fluid ounces!
Yes, john henry, texting in a theater is wrong and annoying to many, including me. Judging from john mosby's comment, Alamo Drafthouse sounds like a terrible place to see a movie anyway, so texting there would not make it much worse. But still. Happy Anniversary, Professor, and thanks for many years of great reading.
Here's a question: Is it okay to yell "Fire!" in a theater full of annoying people on their smart phones? Answers will vary.
I'm not a fan of Alamo because of the constant waiter traffic, and the couch potatoes stuffing their faces with more food than I eat in an entire day. But, in the post-iPhone era very few people behave socially in social places. This also includes older people who were potty trained and who know better.
Texting in social settings was considered extremely rude into the 1990s. Only doctors and drug dealers needed pagers too.
Keep Austin weird! I love it.
Ummmm. 50 gallon Contractor Grade plastic trash bag? Fill it up!
"That is your name... Almost."
Wow! Thx
Many people have simply stopped going to movie theaters because the light of the phones has ruined the experience.
Which makes me suspect this voicemail was made by them to encourage people to not stay away out of concern for distracting lights and talking.
I like what Cinemark is doing and if I were going to a Cinemark theatre, I'd happily bring a big bowl. But I would go out of my way to go to the Alamo Drafthouse and it didn't cost them anything.
John henry said...I never knew that texting in a theater is a problem. Does Alamo have signs posted?
When you text, your phone lights up. It's an annoying distraction to people around you. Basic courtesy.
Movie houses are going away, with the exception of art house type theaters in cities.
A few reasons- Hollywood no longer makes movies for a general population, they make them for a particular ideology .
The shared experience that we used to enjoy in a movie house has been destroyed by phones, and people who insist on being rude and loud.
I'm glad I had the opportunity to enjoy movies in dark theaters, and drive ins. It was a blast. The first Star Wars, Lord of the Rings. But like so much that was good and decent, it's gone now.
None of this makes me miss the public theater movie-going experience.
those days are gone, for me. No thank u.
btw- I was listening to the Kim Komando show - happened to hear about the next frontier of the home TV. Soon - our TVs will be thin and flexible, and stretchable - and ya stick them to the wall.
I live in Austin. I go to Alamo as my primary choice. Good food, good service and it’s QUITE. They make a point before the movie starts ( usually in a humorous video) to let you know in no uncertain terms you will be tossed if you talk, text or make noise. They even give you a 2nd chance before you get set out. The person complaining obviously came late, ignored the warnings and felt entitled to act up. Probably had a nose ring and blue hair based on the voice.
Thank goodness we have theaters that demand basic decent behavior. Because when one of these idiots pulls their phone out it’s like a spotlight in the dark theater.
Too many movie theaters are not safe.
I won't enter any establishment that does not offer security.
I will also not enter any establishment with signage that stupidly states: "This is a Gun free zone"
An advertisement and a welcome mat for a lunatic/coward with a gun and a plan.
My guess is the drunken she-dumb is lying, and she probably made all sorts of noise. that would make her the asshole.
John henry said...
I never knew that texting in a theater is a problem. Does Alamo have signs posted?
Wife and I go to the local Alamo, though not since Brad Pitt’s “F1: The Movie.” By that’s due to crappy movies from Hollywood, not the theater experience.
Before and after the previews of coming attractions the theater runs a humorous notice about their cell phone policy, No way you can miss it.
The commerical is funny but the call is fake. "Magnited" is the clue. She's a "Trumper" get it? 'cause only those dumb trumpers would think they could text and bother people.
Im not clear about the law in Texas, but I'm sure they'd have to get this women's permission to make this commerical.
Reason No.2 why its fake.
Well, there's the downside of Austin becoming the epicenter of the California diaspora, you get ill-mannered Californiacs messing up your traditional Texas decorum.
Movie theaters are headed the way of DVDs. Niche services for a customer base that has insufficient economic power to drive product design.
For someone that claimed, at first, to be using her phone as a light, she sure did complain a lot about not being allowed to text.
The modern cafe theaters are nice, bigger chairs that recline and wait-on-table service - if you like that kind of thing.
But I suspect that theater chains will eventually go the way of the Sears liquidation, where the real estate was the only thing remaining of value. Big TVs and home theater systems have become remarkably affordable for many people, compared to prices that include sharing dark spaces with sticky floors and routinely obnoxious people.
"I'm not clear about the law in Texas, but I'm sure they'd have to get this woman's permission to make this commercial."
Yes, but not necessarily after-the-fact. Certainly you've heard "calls may be record..." advisory when waiting in customer service phone queue. It's quite remarkable that the advisory is virtually identical whether you're calling your ISP for technical support or your bank regarding your checking account. That's because it's case-tested legalese. By staying in the queue after hearing the advisory, the caller waives any privacy or ownership rights associated with her voice as long as her name isn't used. If your tone or idiom is somehow identifiable, such as blaring out Magnited States of America, then tough titty. That's one of the downsides of idiocy. Furthermore, the advisory goes on to explain that the recordings may be used for training purposes. The advisory doesn't specify who will be trained or why. If one assumes the training will be confined to some specific group, then that's an assumption that will not be entertained in a court of law. In this case the people being trained is everyone who watches the clip.
$3000 will get a 4k projector and up to 200” screen, and the ability to eat food and text all you want at home.
RCOCEAN II said...Im not clear about the law in Texas, but I'm sure they'd have to get this women's permission to make this commerical.
Can a lawyer here weigh in? My expectation is that someone leaving a voice mail message has no expectation of privacy for that message.
I bet it excludes one of those plastic swimming pools you can get everywhere in summer.
Leland has it right. Stay home is glorious…
Alamo Drafthouse may be doomed the way everyone assumes your typical multiplex shopping mall cinemas are doomed by streaming services, 4K home theatre screens, and multi-channel sound systems. Or maybe not. I watched the third installment of the Jurassic Park franchise in an Alamo Drafthouse. It was clean, orderly, well-lit while the feature was not being projected, the pizza was good, and the patrons upheld reasonable restaurant/bar decorum before the film began and general silence during the show. The movie sucked, but no worse than if I streamed it through Amazon Prime at home right now.
Existing Alamo Drafthouse customers are probably reassured by that clip that standards have not been relaxed to accommodate the sort of moviegoer whose indecorous behavior has done more to doom the cinema industry than home theater technology. Others have been discouraged.
Amen.
"...almost any kind of container..." excludes containers with wheels, such as wheelbarrows, roll-out rubbish bins, and pickup truck beds.
Before and after the previews of coming attractions the theater runs a humorous notice about their cell phone policy, No way you can miss it.
She probably missed it. She said she was using her phone as a flashlight to find her seat because it was dark when she came in. If this happened, which it didn't, the movie had likely already started.
I came out of Covid-induced semi-retirement to run the kitchen at a Cinepolis (where you can order a full meal with your movie). I was able to see any movie I wanted, for free. In 2.5 years, I saw three, and only because a female wanted to see them. I hate the moviegoing public
The rules, kaiju-style.
I bet it excludes one of those plastic swimming pools you can get everywhere in summer.
This is Texas. They can bring in one of those livestock watering troughs.
All you need is
A bucket, a mug or a glass
A tankard, chalace or stein
A canteen, jug or flask
A vessel of ALMOST any kind
Fill it with your favorite movie snack, I like popcorn
And join me now for the unparalleled pleasure
The dopamine hit if the day
The thing that makes everything better
Its called the simultaneous crunch
And it happens now
When looking for places to live, I recommend the rental properties where the reviewers say the management is nasty to the tenants. This means they come when the music is too loud, they kick people out for leaving their garbage in the hall and they enforce the parking rules.
I just learned there's an Alamo Drafthouse here in downtown L.A. I have never been. I'm surprised that some folks aren't aware that a bright smartphone screen in a dark theater is annoying to theater-goers who are sitting in rows behind them. Folks here in La La Land are generally pretty good about putting away their phones when the movie starts. I have no issue when the "trailers" go on and on for half an hour ... text away, but stop when the movie starts!
"Magnited States of America."
My mind goes to a Magnetar
Magnetar States of America.
Ann Althouse said...
Many people have simply stopped going to movie theaters because the light of the phones has ruined the experience.
I've stopped because
1) Viewing at home is a much more comfortable experience
2) They don't show movies I want to see.
3) The furschlugginer reserved seating. I was once chastised by mgt for not sitting in my assigned seat in an almost empty theater. Nobody else was sitting there, it was just not my assigned seat. Another time, again almost empty theater, 2 ladies made me move because I was sitting in their assigned seats.
John Henry
The person complaining obviously came late, ignored the warnings and felt entitled to act up. Probably had a nose ring and blue hair based on the voice.
OK, then I stand corrected. She should have been kicked out. Also for comining late and making noise.
As for disturbing the people around me, it has been a long time since I have had anyone around me in a theatre other than family. There seldom seem like more than 10-20 asses in a couple hundred seats.
John Henry
John Henry
Thank you, Kevin.
Got a bit moist there.
John Henry
Home theater for me.
But I like the Alamo attitude.
Watching a play in Shakespeare's lifetime was a pretty rowdy experience, reports ThoughtCo. From the groundlings to the fancy folks sitting above them, many people snacked on food during the performance. You wouldn't have heard the quiet crinkling of a candy wrapper coming undone but the much louder noises of someone cracking open oysters, digging into a meat pie, or loudly belching after taking a swig of beer.
Read More: https://www.grunge.com/253775/what-it-was-really-like-to-attend-a-play-at-shakespeares-globe-theater/
What changed is that the hoi polloi can now leave feedback via the voicemail.
Many people have simply stopped going to movie theaters because the light of the phones has ruined the experience.
Before we all had phones there was the talking.
Not to mention the sticky floors.
Like most men, I really don't like keyed up and frantic women (i.e., "emotional and irrational"). Nevertheless, I agree with her. The theater should give her her money back.
"Nevertheless, I agree with her. The theater should give her her money back."
If she had asked nicely (I know- fat chance), I wouldn't be surprised to hear they did.
కామెంట్ను పోస్ట్ చేయండి
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 2 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.