Alamo Drafthouse and also politics of talking during the movies thread

[q]Oh yeah CTH's take on movie theaters is fucking stupid. I've never been to an Alamo Drafthouse but anyone that uses their phone in a movie theater should be kicked out.

― flappy bird, Monday, April 30, 2018 11:55 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

...

IIRC it was mostly Amber complaining about people who rat out loud audience members to theater employees. She referred to them as snitches or cops or something like that.

― JRN, Tuesday, May 1, 2018 7:54 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

they think people should be able to text/use their phones in movie theaters

― flappy bird, Tuesday, May 1, 2018 9:11 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Amber otm. as annoying as that is, narcs suck

― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, May 1, 2018 9:15 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Nah fuck theater goers they deserve fascism

― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, May 1, 2018 9:47 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

we need narcs

― flappy bird, Tuesday, May 1, 2018 9:48 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

especially in movie theaters

― flappy bird, Tuesday, May 1, 2018 9:48 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The Alamo experience is what you’re paying for. If you don’t like it, go to one of the many other movie theaters housed in the mostly large towns they’re in.

― we æt so many shimripl (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, May 1, 2018 9:58 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh no, this theater is full of narcs, however will I see Infinity War in New York City?!

― we æt so many shimripl (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, May 1, 2018 9:59 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

tbf Amber thinks everyone is a cop

― Simon H., Tuesday, May 1, 2018 10:48 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The Alamo experience is what you’re paying for. If you don’t like it, go to one of the many other movie theaters housed in the mostly large towns they’re in.

Yeah exactly I don’t get why they don’t just go to an AMC or something
― flappy bird, Tuesday, May 1, 2018 11:08 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I get the idea that big dumb shitty movies don't require absolute silence like you're watching The Passion of Joan of Arc but that's why you find an empty matinee (okay, not really an option in NY) or pirate that shit and watch it on Virgil's floor TV.

― louise ck (milo z), Tuesday, May 1, 2018 11:39 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The best moment I've had in a theater was from audience participation (a teenage girl stood up during the reveal of Orphan and yelled "Esther got titties!") but Matt complaining and farting would not be pleasant.

― louise ck (milo z), Tuesday, May 1, 2018 11:41 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

audience reaction/participation can be amazing

― flappy bird, Tuesday, May 1, 2018 11:57 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

but ime it's only been when the audience member/whole audience was completely focused on and in tune with the movie

― flappy bird, Tuesday, May 1, 2018 11:58 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

They're not the first ones to denounce complaints over cinema talking/texting as bourgie affectations - classic Hollywood audiences didn't sit in silence, neither do Bollywood audiences, etc. It's whatever, I still like to watch movies that way.

The woman w/ aspergers who got thrown out of a BFI screening of "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" for laughing too loudly at comedic moments was a real bummer tho, fuck the narcs in that case.

― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, May 2, 2018 5:32 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

being loud/reacting to stuff on screen is fine, pulling out yr fuckin' cell phone in a dark theater is vile

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, May 2, 2018 5:54 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

we need narcs

― flappy bird, Tuesday, May 1, 2018 9:48 PM (yesterday) Bookmark

this explains a lot about your politics.

what if it's a couple out on a date with their kid at home w the babysitter and they want to periodically check on how things are going? what if it's somebody with a sick parent waiting to hear news from the hospital?

i guess fuck that, "Oh mr theater authority! They are cheating!"

you are in public ffs. if you want to watch movies in a hermetically isolated chamber you can do that.

― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, May 2, 2018 6:54 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

how about maybe a new thread for this topic

― Simon H., Wednesday, May 2, 2018 7:58 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, I would post in it a lot

― we æt so many shimripl (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, May 2, 2018 9:34 AM (twenty-seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

okay, maybe not a new thread for this topic then

― Mahogany Loggins (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, May 2, 2018 9:35 AM (twenty-six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

what if it's somebody with a sick parent waiting to hear news from the hospital?

”Dad’s on life support, better go see Ready Player One”
― we æt so many shimripl (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, May 2, 2018 9:36 AM (twenty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The woman w/ aspergers who got thrown out of a BFI screening of "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" for laughing too loudly at comedic moments was a real bummer tho, fuck the narcs in that case.

There's a story on the latest This American Life about the class of kids who got kicked out of a screening of Schindler's List and became the media's face of black antisemetism

― President Keyes, Wednesday, May 2, 2018 10:01 AM (thirty-nine seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

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nooooo

what if it's a couple out on a date with their kid at home w the babysitter and they want to periodically check on how things are going? what if it's somebody with a sick parent waiting to hear news from the hospital?

i guess fuck that, "Oh mr theater authority! They are cheating!"

you are in public ffs. if you want to watch movies in a hermetically isolated chamber you can do that.

― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, May 2, 2018 6:54 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Movie theaters have these things called "lobbies" now and they are AMAZING. Oh, and "rest . . . rooms?" Am I saying that right?

Also, making a little phone tent by sticking your head down your shirt.

Anyone's shirt, really.

everyone i've ever seen use their phone in a cinema seems unaware that you can turn down the screen brightness to a level lower than 'bank of floodlights'

There should be a button on the armrest of every theater seat that allows you to disintegrate anyone who's on their phone during the feature presentation. IMO.

”Dad’s on life support, better go see Ready Player One”
― we æt so many shimripl (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, May 2, 2018 9:36 AM (twenty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lmao

honestly sometimes i wonder if i'll ever go to a theater again, it sucks mostly

can't say i blame you - at least when i go to the cinema here in these united kingdoms i'm less likely to be killed by a mass shooter

movie theaters coming up fast on baseball stadiums in "accommodating people who really don't want to be there"

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C44-QZtWAAE25T5.jpg:large

gangs of teenagers shouting and acting the cunt are far worse than people looking at their mobile ime

what if it's a couple out on a date with their kid at home w the babysitter and they want to periodically check on how things are going? what if it's somebody with a sick parent waiting to hear news from the hospital?

yeah it's like the 80-odd years of cinemas before the mobile phone existed when all those people died

Adam's take ITT so bizarre. Like anytime i was that worried about the outside world I would just walk into the hallway and pop out my phone there. Or set it to vibrate and go out and check it.

Also p much everybody near me who has pulled out their phone recently (like Avengers) was not checking on their sick relative or their child. One of the dudes was just playing on FB, another texting a friend. It's distracting af.

Otoh removing someone for "laughing too loud" is bullshit.

I mean in like 1993 yr whole family could be eaten by a bear whike u were at Jurassic Park and you wouldn't know til u got home.

Lol NV otm

I mean in like 1993 yr whole family could be eaten by a bear whike u were at Jurassic Park

god i wish

Unless you are a doctor, there's probably nothing in your life too important that you can't responsibly check out for two hours and watch a movie

It's mostly concern trolling from people so addicted to Snapchatting that they go thru withdrawal

if yr kids are so important that you're a paranoid basket case, deepsix the movies and stop annoying those of us with small carbon footprints.

TBF, I have seen my share of movies in Chicago theaters and have never really encountered many of the stereotypical issues with theater patrons. The most raucous crowd I've encountered was a gaggle of seniors at an afternoon showing of the last Bourne flick. Lots of bellowed 'what did he just say?' and the like. It was more amusing than irritating, like watching a movie at a retirement community.

My aunt died while I was at the movies once. Weirdly me having my cell phone off isn't what killed her

Anyway, I love the Alamo, I am TOP BRASS

Love it when people pull out the “ugh cinemas shouldn’t be rarefied spaces, its supposed to be a SOCIAL activity, that’s why it’s great to be as antisocial as possible while other people are trying to enjoy it”

I go to the movies to be alone

This one lady came into A Quiet Place barking at her b/f about how they were late and couldn't see in the dsrk at a really loud volume. A few people shouted "shut up" and she responded "i don't care!", so someone else said "well get out then" and they both left and didn't return.

Must have been worried about their dying uncle obv

So much sense itt, thank you Whiney

What the hell is wrong with you, Adam? Jfc.

Can we talk about how LA movie nerd audiences fucking suck and laugh at everything in old movies like people using rotary phones or whatever?

Arguing that you should be allowed to check your phone in a movie theater is like arguing that you should be allowed to shoot up in your cubicle. Like, there might be something other than logic and good sense driving your argument, I think.

Hey u aint taking away my work heroin f u lunchie

xxp ugh, I went to a showing of Argento's "Deep Red" at the Cleveland Cinematheque a couple of weeks ago and the audience laughed at everything. Like, why did you come to this movie? You can sit at home and find all the LOL IT'S TEH SEVENTIES material you want on the internet.

Can we talk about how LA movie nerd audiences fucking suck and laugh at everything in old movies like people using rotary phones or whatever?

― kurt schwitterz, Wednesday, May 2, 2018 8:20 AM (six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ugh the worst. whenever i saw a movie at Cinefamily that wasn't one of their "lol it's terrible" revivals, the crowd would still act like the film was a joke.

Ew, that sounds like savagery.

A serious, well-intentioned audience gradually working out the film they’re watching is both bad and unintentionally funny and cracking up can be a great experience but, yes, ‘old = rofl’ people are savages.

"Lol @ this car chase, that car doesn't have nitro and the rims are factory"

kurt, as someone who has also moved from rock shows to cinema do you find film people better or worse than music people

Yeah I hate that shit but I can tune it out better than the other breaches of etiquette/basic courtesy mentioned itt. Like it’s lame as fuck if your level of engagement with something can never get beyond “this isn’t from now” but at least those rubes come by that reaction honestly, you can’t really police that. Phone ppl should be executed obv

The thing about Alamo that's odd to me is there's so much emphasis on avoiding distractions, but there are servers walking back and forth in front of you and people clanging utensils the whole time. For me, that's okay for some movies but those are also the movies where I'm not as bothered by other behaviors either.
I do get annoyed at the over-laughing of some audiences but that's not really the kind of thing that falls under those types of policies nor should it imo.
I also don't expect, or really want, the same audience at every movie/movie theater.

Oh what, the Alamo is one of those cinemas that serve DINNER? Lollll wtf is this thread, burn all those places down

no way, man, put me in a dark room, bring me food and don't talk to me for two hours

Alamo Drafthouse is great, fuiud.

”Dad’s on life support, better go see Ready Player One”
― we æt so many shimripl (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, May 2, 2018 9:36 AM (twenty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

fuck

amazing work whiney

Hope nobody looks at their phone while I’m shovelling lasagne in the dark, also there’s a film playing I guess?

“Garçon, another beer - also I believe someone is texting in the back”

Oh what, the Alamo is one of those cinemas that serve DINNER? Lollll wtf is this thread, burn all those places down

― type your stinkin prose off me, ur damned qwerty uiop (wins), Wednesday, May 2, 2018 9:43 AM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i was extremely suspicious but alamo is a surprisingly tolerable experience. loved watching the apple there

Dinner & a movie doesn’t have to happen simultaneously, guys, you can last two hours without stuffing your faces

i ate fries

how will i be able to hear this Hans Zimmer score with all the belching going on

I deem this thread now good

lol I was just quitting brinstead

Was exited for my local Alamo to open but their lineup is quite mainstream.

My two most patronized AMC theaters still remain clean. Except for a handful of critic/advance screenings, I haven't been to a show at night in years, way before COVID: I'm a pre-noon guy if I can help it, 2 p.m.-5 p.m. on weekdays usually.

I'm having summer of AMC A-List and I am delighted by 5pm screenings where I have a nice clean theater entirely to myself (or sharing it with like 3-4 other people).

Believe me, that is the best.

*She*

The original Alamo, I dunno, philosophy I guess, was so ahead of the curve. Not just in the serving drinks and food business model, but also in their programming: everything getting spiffed-up today by Vinegar Syndrome or the niche boutique label of your choice was probably already exhibited by the Austin Alamos in the then-best surviving prints or off bootleg VHS sometime in the mid-'00s. Taking the MST3K and Night Flight aesthetic back into theatres, they were really leading the way outside of NYC & LA in programming series on all sorts of niche Horror (Giallos, Folk, Found-Footage etc.), weird Foreign stuff (pretty sure they're responsible for popularizing all those unauthorized '70s & '80s foreign remakes of Star Wars, Superman etc.), and vintage American Exploitation & Indie--all of this way before YouTube as well. They used to publish these free monthly programming guides that were little full-color magazines with quality staff write-ups on every film and special presentation. To have all that happening in Texas of all places was just too much.

It couldn't last, particularly as Nerd Culture has become whatever the fuck it is now, and one could certainly tie-in the gradual decline of the Alamo with everybody else catching up with them stylistically, from Hollywood studios going all in on IP franchises to other theatre chains offering higher quality drinks & food, and the aforementioned Boutique Labels beginning to bypass theatrical releases for their latest 'finds'.

I'm a fanboy and this might be copium, but I think the "decline of the Alamo" is a little overstated. The prices are a little higher, Mondo got sold and people debate about whether the "no talking" rule is enforced as thoroughly as it once was, but its still the most humane way to see first-run movies afaic

t

It's not a particularly high bar these days

Especially when, as box office reports clearly indicate, finding an empty movie theater to enjoy by oneself is not an insurmountable challenge

re: decline of Alamo, I think C. Grisso is presenting a very Austin POV which might not be apparent to people who have enjoyed Alamo since it became a national chain. In the past, it was very much focused on lots of fun events rather than first-run movies. The frequency of events has declined a lot and it's mostly become just a movie theater with food and drinks.

its still the most humane way to see first-run movies afaict

what about going to an independent theater

Most worried that they'll lose access to a lot of programming due to the Sony ownership -- more than the chain being too corporatized, which has already been happening since before the pandemic. So far they're still good, though, and I hope they keep the spirit alive.

I'm with Whiney (and echo Nhex's concerns). My perspective has always been via the SF location -- it'll hit its tenth anniversary at the end of next year -- and honestly I've been delighted. About the only reason I've gone to the AMC downtown is for the occasional IMAX screening and one or two things that never made it over to the Drafthouse. I can walk to it from both home and work in under twenty minutes, their in-house moviepass setup pays for itself almost immediately after two screenings a month, and it's always been a treat to watch things in. I absolutely don't doubt everything C. Grisso indicates in terms of the longer view on what happened from origins to now, and when initial unionization talk happened I very much indicated to relevant staff I'm on board -- things have been on hold there for a bit, we'll see what happens now -- but I'll take this as long as it can run. (Interestingly enough, there's been something happening or was supposed about a small one-screen theater that would be even nearer to me and I kinda want to see that happen but after a flurry of initial announcements nothing seems to have gone forward, but it would be great to have something nearby that did programming a la the Roxie at the other end of the Mission but would be even closer to me.)

Austin alone has half a dozen other Alamo-style theaters that match (or surpass, depending on who you ask) their food and service levels. Violet Crown, Flix, iPic, Moviehouse, the flagship AMC on I-35, etc*. And a drive-in! The old school Alamo from the early 2000s is long gone, but even the modern chain has fallen pretty far from its original franchised version. That said, I can't see any of those other chains existing without the Alamo blueprint to follow.

*there's the Paramount, but their seats are punishingly uncomfortable to sit in for five minutes, never mind two hours

re: decline of Alamo, I think C. Grisso is presenting a very Austin POV which might not be apparent to people who have enjoyed Alamo since it became a national chain. In the past, it was very much focused on lots of fun events rather than first-run movies. The frequency of events has declined a lot and it's mostly become just a movie theater with food and drinks

I feel I should mention too that they tried to carry over a lot of the original flavor when they began franchising. The west Houston location was their first franchise, in a refurbished six-screen mall theatre and--initially anyway--they split programming between first-run films and the quirky repertory screenings and "Fun" programming they made their name on (Mr. Sinus theatre, quote and sing-alongs etc.). However, it didn't really play because despite technically being in Houston, their clientele was overwhelmingly suburban and they weren't really coming for that stuff.

At their peak in Houston, they had three venues in the metro area: the west Houston mall location (which lasted about ten years before getting shoved out by Edwards in the early '10s); a new theatre in the Vintage Park development in Spring (which Alamo eventually sold after a few years to another dinner & a movie chain in a horse-trading deal re: suburban market development that later fell through--ask me about that one sometime, it's a doozy!), and a location in Katy (initially in an old shopping center multiplex on Mason Rd., then moved to its current home further out in Cinco Ranch at the La Centarra complex on Grand Parkway), and they all ran up against the same problem of getting a suburban audience against the more hipster cinephile audience that lives deep in Houston and isn't always willing to make the hike out to the 'burbs for their speciality programming.

The main reason I don't go to Alamo more often is that it seems like screenings frequently sell out in advance. (Or at least that's been my experience in Chicago.) For a new release, I'm sometimes deciding between an Alamo screening that's nearly full or a Regal screening that's nearly empty, and the latter is usually more attractive. And I don't really like to eat or drink at the movies, so the food service isn't much of a selling point for me. It is cool that they do special programming (but again, see my first point).

always found it odd that the first Alamo in Houston was at West Oaks Mall

Orlando never got ours as it was cancelled due to pandemic. all we have are a series of humongous chains, and an independent theater (Enzian) who used to actually show both cult classics/rare films in addition to hard to see first-run independent/foreign films, and now it just shows whatever 'quirky' indie comedy is broadly distributed enough to also literally playing at every cineplex. though the 'fun' programming is still there which is what I go for.

weird Foreign stuff (pretty sure they're responsible for popularizing all those unauthorized '70s & '80s foreign remakes of Star Wars, Superman etc.)

I thought Mondo Macabro (first the book and then the label) popularized those, though maybe it was just the message boards I was hanging out in at the time (late 90s/early 00s) and it was more niche than I realized at the time.

Reading up on Mondo Macabro, I'm willing to bet the Alamo crew were totally influenced by them.

I mean, a lot of the early Alamo aesthetic came straight out of '90s message boards and tape trading circles.

One Minnesota & Five DFW area Drafthouses to reopen.

https://www.indiewire.com/news/breaking-news/alamo-drafthouse-reopen-6-closed-theaters-following-sony-acquisition-1235021119/

...and they've shuttered the Katy TX location, signalling the exit of the chain from their initial franchising market of metropolitan Houston after 20+ years.

https://houstonfoodfinder.com/news/alamo-drafthouse-cinema-closes-katy-theater-last-one-in-greater-houston-area/

I didn't realize that in addition to the three theatres they did manage to open, they'd had a further three failed proposed area locations, including an officially announced spot in League City that was eventually fully derailed by COVID-19.

There's definitely some kind of story to tell about the multiple rounds of venture capital/buyouts/however they got the cash to expand and open so many new locations in the past decade, so many of which were delayed, canceled or failed...

flix brewhouse, the competitor to alamo that I've mentioned in the thread, is up to 11 locations now. it sounds like they've gone in to at least one former alamo location in texas?

they definitely lean more heavily on family-friendly events and domestic movies, but the chain seems healthy? for food/drink delivered in theater they now default to an automatic gratuity, probably because retaining servers got really rough post-pandemic. their other gimmick is that every location (iirc) is also a microbrewery, and they'll do themed beers for large movie rollouts

it's interesting to go back in time on this thread because a lot of annoyances about being interrupted kind of evaporated when most of the theaters in my area swapped over to stadium-style seating for most of the screens.

theaters are kind of half-dead here, though, in that my options are: flix, one of two locally-owned theaters, one of which has only one screen and a small screening room, or driving out to the suburbs to a chain or the imax cinema, which is locally owned.

we had a number of theaters sprinkled around the city, but Carmike went bust and sold to AMC, only for AMC to pull out completely post-pandemic. the theater near my workplace is now a church, judging from the giant vertical JESUS sign on it

As this thread's biggest Alamo stan, I will say the recent enshittification of the brand has caused me to abandoned my annual pass and start venturing back out to prole theaters

the new phone-only ordering system they've recently switched to (in Austin anyway) sucks

Yeah, it completely destroys what makes the place special

I'm definitely not onboard with that. The SF location is very literally the nearest theater to me -- fifteen minutes walk if that -- so I'll likely keep using it, but yeah.

IIUC phone ordering stops and they go back to paper orders once the movie starts?

that was recent policy but some locations are now moving to 100% phone orders only, no paper orders ever

they had a good run but I'm guessing the brand will be history by 2027

Yeah, the phone app is like a dark app, but it still encourages people to take out their phones

I am starting to think the also-run theater chain I have been going to is going to buy the originating theater chain judging by this thread

The four just-closed Texas locations will reopen in a couple weeks under new branding

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/flix-brewhouse-buys-four-alamo-drafthouse-theaters-texas-1236657040/

lmao I was just hypothesizing

David Ehrlich rants about the phone-based ordering system:
https://www.indiewire.com/features/commentary/alamo-drafthouse-sucks-now-1235188253

They really fucked this up

I'm against it from a labor perspective, but i admit the ordering system has mostly worked fine in my experience. Certain things need to be more accessible from the phone "app" like contacting your server for other things, getting refills and so on. I don't miss the skittering around for the check at the end of the night.

I really only order something when there are *plenty* of seats between me and the next person; due to when I tend to see movies now this happens less often than it did for me before so oh well. Otherwise I just do my usual masking up and watching and honestly for the past few viewings at my local I haven't noticed much change aside from new seats.

They'll never say it but 21% of Americans being functionally illiterate might have factored into the decision to phase out pencil and paper.

But how likely is it that any of those 21% would find themselves taking in a picture at an Alamo Drafthouse?

Since they shifted to playing mainly major first-run films, probably plenty.

yeah, the biggest disappointment of Alamo Drafthouse is that they’ve now gone too mainstream not enough cult films like they used to

agreed, they’ve fallen off. used to really like going to those theaters

At my local location it was an accepted trade-off that they'd go crazy with the big blockbuster Marvel stuff and it would help "subsidize" the more unattended cult picks and film clubs and whatnot - this was before the last couple of corporate buyouts though. The period right after the pandemic felt dire.
There's been slow steady improvement on programming in the last year or so.

My location in SF has continued to show a solid amount of off-the-beaten-path movies, which I’m grateful for.

yeah the Austin ones still show a good variety of stuff, and their popcorn and soda are still top-notch. the main complaint can't be solely attributed to Alamo... movie night for two now costs $55 and that just is not affordable. and when you DO splash out, your expectations are higher.

of course if you went to the Alamo prior to about 2005 it makes their current standards of operation inherently disappointing