Salt Lake Tribune article: " Movie theater etiquette is dead, and I’m tired of it"

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

It shows going to theaters in Utah is as bad as anywhere else these days. People seem to have lost respect for each other.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I like this guy's ideas... But talking to a manager at any AMC is a total waste of time.


I’ve devised a personal strategy to avoid the bad crowds. It’s not foolproof, but it’s a start:

• Don’t go on Tuesdays. The Tuesday crowd is typically the most casual of movie fans. They want to go to the movies, but don’t really care enough to pay full price for a ticket. Beware these crowds. I get that forking over $12+ a ticket can get expensive. Just know that you’re taking more of a risk of obnoxious crowds by going on a Tuesday.
• Go opening night. Typically the ones going opening night are the ones who also got their tickets early and care the most about it. It’s safe to assume that these people are like you and want to enjoy the movie while being quiet and attentive. For the most part, I’ve had success in seeing movies opening night, especially the later showings.
• Don’t be afraid to shush. Odds are, if you’re annoyed, the people around you are also annoyed. If you are the one to shush, you’ll be a hero.
• Talk to the manager. This is a drastic measure, I know. But it does work. Managers usually have no problem with going into auditoriums and cracking the whip on those who are being loud.

To all movie theater managers and employees: Don’t be afraid to kick people out. Enforce the no phone and talking policies.

To all movie theater goers: Please shut up and put away your phone.

And to other (quieter) movie theater goers: Don’t be afraid to shush people.

A movie theater experience can be a beautiful thing. It’s a chance to garner a sense of community and experience camaraderie with strangers who share a love of film. Let’s make movie theaters great again.

[Lyle Romer]

I would add to Mark's advice that seeing movies on true premium screens (Dolby Cinema, 15/70 IMAX when available, etc.) also helps. People paying extra for a bigger screen/better sound are more likely to actually watch the movie.

[Rick Raskin]

The manager at a theater I worked would have me lower the sound if the crowd was noisy. That would usually solve the problem.

[Frank Cox]

I had a sellout crowd for one of the Twilight movies. All teens, of course.

I started the movie and walked into the auditorium as I always do, to insure that everything was as it should be, and I was met with a loud roaring sound. My first thought was that there was something wrong with the sound system because what else would be creating this all-consuming roar, white noise. I'm thinking, "Oh dear, something quit and there's this big crowd. How can I fix this?"

Then I realized that it was the crowd that was making the roar and drowning everything else out completely. EVERYBODY'S TALKING, and since everyone was talking the conversations had become louder and louder until there was nothing but this huge roar.

I stopped the movie and went to the front and waved my arms until things quieted down. "If you want to see the movie, be quiet. If you'd rather talk then go somewhere else so the people who do want to watch the movie can actually do that."

That was absolutely the loudest crowd I've ever had here, until I told them to shut up. I wouldn't have believe it could be that loud, until it was.

I try to operate on the principle of STHD-STHU.

Sit The Hell Down, Shut The Hell Up.

[Jon Dent]

Got to witness a real head shaker a few months ago.

Was watching some kids movie with my family and a bright flash of light filled the room. I knew right away that it was coming from two loud teen girls hanging out in the 'make out chairs' in the back corner but I thought 'nah, they couldn't have just taken a flash photo, right?" A few seconds later another one happened. Had to go right up there and pull the 'hi, I'm a manager here and you need to put your phone away, now'.

One of the staff told me that they were talking shit on the way out because I interrupted their Instagram post, or something.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Got to witness a real head shaker a few months ago.

Was watching some kids movie with my family and a bright flash of light filled the room. I knew right away that it was coming from two loud teen girls hanging out in the 'make out chairs' in the back corner but I thought 'nah, they couldn't have just taken a flash photo, right?" A few seconds later another one happened. Had to go right up there and pull the 'hi, I'm a manager here and you need to put your phone away, now'.

One of the staff told me that they were talking shit on the way out because I interrupted their Instagram post, or something.

Pre-Instagram/Selfie craze, it used to be if there was a flash in a live theatre you could inform them the pictures of what is on stage turn out better without the flash. That doesn't apply anymore when they are trying to photograph themselves and the location is just secondary. Alas.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

A lot of the problems that occur are due to the lack of actual management in theaters today. It's not just the chains, it's the independents too. When I was a kid, at our local theater, you got booted out if you caused any sort of disturbance, or whipped out your 4X5 Speed Graphic with it's huge flash. Yea, we didn't have cell phones in the early 60's when I started going to movies. It's time for theater management to take back control of their theaters. It's their right to do that and it's the other paying patrons right to be able to enjoy the movie they just over-paid to see. Theaters might actually have more patrons show up if the crowds were better controlled by actual ushers. When was the last time you saw an usher circulate through a theater checking on people? It's also a major reason why grown-ups stay at home and wait for a certain movie they want to see to show up on Netflix. So theater management... keep it up, and pretty soon you won't have a theater to manage.

[Frank Cox]

It's just a matter of giving a damn.

I walk into my auditorium and stand at the back at the start of every movie and occasionally while the show is on. Most of the time there's no reason for it, occasionally there's something to be done.

I always assumed everyone did this until I was told otherwise, right here.

[Mike Blakesley]

I walk into my auditorium and stand at the back at the start of every movie and occasionally while the show is on.

That's what we do here, too. If we had our much-desired second screen I'm sure I'd do the tour of both several times in the evening.

Currently we have the luxury of being able to see the screen and hear any disturbances from our office, so it makes it pretty easy to keep a lid on things. People know we're on top of it too, which helps. (In other words, if you get a reputation for allowing anything to happen, pretty soon anything will happen.)

[Martin McCaffery]

I too check the house at the beginning of every show. Sound, picture, cell phone, talking. Can't be in there for the whole thing, but at least they know someone is watching. They don't always care, but that's another story.

[Martin McCaffery]

Got to witness a real head shaker a few months ago.

Forty plus years ago I was at a screening at either USC or UCLA. Orson Welles was presenting his film of The Trial. About half way through the film, some idiot started taking flash pictures of the screen. All I could think of was this is a big important movie school and the idiots don't know that you don't need flash to take a picture of light (and that even if they didn't use flash, the pictures will be crap). In my fantasy world, the idiot was bludgeoned and efficiently removed from the theatre and never allowed back. Welles did not say anything about it, but he was too busy answering questions in the form of speeches from grad students.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Yeah we are spoiled rotten here by inheriting the approaches used for live our events. For films we have a full compliment of house managers and a pile of volunteer ushers. Shit will still happen, but it will get dealt with promply. Hell sometimes we have the full production staff too when there are live elements beyond our film programmer just doing an intro speech.