The latest noble wankers suffering under the yoke of Obamacare are the management of Regal Theaters, who have just announced that they’ll cut the number of full-time employees to avoid paying for their healthcare under the ACA. I feel bad for their employees, but judging from the theaters they run, I’m not surprised that the sniveling titty babies running that business are using Obamacare as an excuse for their inability to turn a profit.
Regal blew into town about a decade ago and built a number of multiplexes in the suburbs here. These things are gigantic: the one nearest me is called the “Stadium” and has 18 theaters. I probably attend more movies than the average American, but I studiously avoid Regal Theaters. They are uniformly dirty, the tickets cost $10 while other theaters charge $8, the concessions are overpriced (expected) but the popcorn is shitty (expected, sadly, but still maddening), and since their conversion to digital they run 20 minutes of commercials before the goddam movie. Though I admittedly don’t set foot in a Regal theater often, if I do, I can plan on waiting in a long line for a ticket, since they are understaffed at the ticket counter. If I make the stupid choice of buying something to eat, I’ll be waiting in a long line for my stale, cold popcorn and bucket of soda at the understaffed concessions counter. And if, Bieber forbid, something goes wrong with the projection equipment, entire species will become extinct in the time it takes for the ill-trained projectionist to fix whatever went wrong.
In short, Regal is the model that all other bad movie experiences valiantly try, but generally fail, to emulate. If you want to know why everyone waits for cable or Netflix, Regal and other multiplexes like them are the answer. If you fetishize the sensation of spending hard-earned money for no good reason, find the nearest Regal and plop down the price of a ticket, and you will be gratified. But if you want to watch a well-projected movie in a clean theater eating good popcorn, run the other way: though the Regal management is apparently awesome at ginning up bullshit excuses, they sure as hell can’t run a movie theater.
flukebucket
Herman Cain was on this like stink on shit during his morning comedy show. To hell with anybody that charges $20.00 for popcorn and a couple of cokes. If they can’t turn a profit that way they never will turn a profit.
KXB
Smart theater owners understand they have to compete with the convenience of streaming to a big-screen TV, with unlimited, free snacks. The AMC theater near me was torn down, and while its replacement looks like an ugly box from the outside, on the inside they have done an impressive job. A bigger lobby, so you don’t get crowds. Regular movies are $8, they used to be $10 – matinees are even cheaper, while 3-D more expensive. In additional to mainstream movies, they set aside a screen or two for some independent cinema. They even have a bar.
The times I’ve gone there, the have teenagers working the counters. But, they don’t have that stoned out of their mind look. They know they are the face of the theater, so it appears the company invested in customer service training.
MattR
@flukebucket:
Actually, I am impressed by anyone who can charge those prices and still get enough demand to make a profit.
penpen
we go to regal union square in NYC a lot and it’s alright
MattR
BTW – Worst movie concession idea ever: Taco Bell
Hoodie
Luckily, we have a local chain that has refurbed some older suburban theatres and shows first run and art films at their various locations. They have microbrews on tap, who needs popcorn.
Lee
You might not realize this but the theatre makes it money off concessions, not the ticket.
cvstoner
My dad was a projectionist back in the days when that meant something, and I have many fond memories as a kid helping him swap out the 20 min reels, syncing the projectors, splicing film, etc.
Not sure we’re better off, now that everything is digital.
elmo
I have the best movie theater in the world near me: Leesburg’s Cobb 12. There is a full bar, and you can take your drinks into the theater. Real food. Decent popcorn.
And best of all, one of the theater rooms has seats that MOVE WITH THE ACTION. It’s called “D-box,” and it is the SHIZNIT. Before I moved here, I almost never went to the movies. But here? Even though the ticket price for D-Box is double what it is at other theaters, it’s totally worth it and I go as often as I can.
Oh, and the seats are reserved, so there’s no standing in line to get the best seats. Head to the bar, get your drinks, get your popcorn, and stroll in just in time for the previews.
I love this theater.
shortstop
I didn’t even realize until now that the two skankiest theaters on Chicago’s north side are Regal’s. Since I didn’t patronize them before, I’m not changing my entertainment dollar expenditures based on this news, but I’m not patronizing them more enthusiastically now.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
I haven’t been to our local Regal since they had Expelled on the marquee. Wasn’t impressed then; probably worse now. I can’t say I’m surprised by this news.
shortstop
@flukebucket: Where can you still get two movie tickets and a couple of cokes for only $20? Countryside Corners, Nebraska?
Craigo
@flukebucket: Theaters would lose oceans of money if they sold no concessions whatsoever. The tiny sliver of revenue they keep from ticket sales (which mostly go to the studios and distributors) don’t come closer to covering their costs. We either get overpriced concessions, or movie theaters cease to exist.
Fun fact: In PA, where I worked during law school, theater employees are exempt from overtime laws.
gene108
The biggest mistake the Democrats made with Obamacare was doubling down on the employer based health insurance provider model.
What would’ve worked better is moving us away from employer provided insurance and towards affordable individual insurance plans, so everyone can have insurance and you aren’t dependent on your employer anymore for benefits.
Hopefully we will move away from employer based insurance and towards individuals having their own plans.
flukebucket
@Lee:
Believe me. I realized it the last time I went to a movie.
raven
We are lucky:
Principles of new urbanism; preservation and adaptive re-use, guided the search for the perfect building for Ciné. Patience over time paid off: The Ciné building at Athens’ West Hancock Avenue was built in the 1940s by Downs Motors, a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership.
? Martin
$10? Fuck, it’s $12.50 here.
But our local theater (5 screens) was bought by a local businessman when the chain closed it. They run movies when they hit DVD. $2 and $1 on Tuesdays. Concessions are a bit more, but not bad. A Coke will run you $2. A large box of candy $2.50. A large tub of popcorn (family sized) $5.
The place is fucking packed all the time. Brave hit the theater and they sold out every showing for weeks. You can send your kid with $5 to go see a movie with their friends or a bit more and they can feel good about buying their friend some candy, and still have enough left over to stop for ice cream on the way out or to buy something fun at the indy toy store next door to the theater. I can take the whole family for $20, and we do – constantly.
What they lose on per-customer margin they more than make up for on volume. With a packed theater, it’s easy to pay the employees, most of whom are hired from the local high school (which is a block away) and actually get paid pretty well for a HS job – about $10/hr.
Businessmen aren’t stupid. Corporations are stupid.
gene108
@KXB:
Local AMC theater was refurbishing/remodeling itself. They now have easy-chair type seats that you swallow you up, stadium seating, so you aren’t blocked by the person infront of you, and enough space on the armrests* between seats that you aren’t fighting for space with the person next to you, plus cupholders in the seats.
Really an amazing theater experience.
*The one downside to having that much space between the person next to you is how are teenagers going to easily make out in a dark theater these days?
RareSanity
I wonder if anyone will ask Regal exactly how much money it would cost them to provide healthcare for their employees, compared to how much money they “save” by laying them off?
Sure would be nice if we had a media that was even the least bit curious about the actual facts behind a statement.
flukebucket
@shortstop:
I was not even counting the cost of the tickets. Two people can burn fifty bucks for the priviledge of sitting in a theater listening to babies cry and idiots talk while trying to watch what may or may not be worth a damn to start with.
burnspbesq
@gene108:
Just out of idle curiosity, have you tried to buy an individual health insurance policy lately? Are you even remotely aware of what a dystopia that “market” is?
Full Metal Wingnut
Wow that has never been my experience. I was thankful when they put a Regal in Ithaca, because while I loved Cinemapolis (their new digs on green street are spectacular, but I was there when it was cinemapolis alley-basement entrance and fall creek pictures-highly recommend it though for the film lover) for indie and obscure movies, Regal was necessary for first-run mainstream movies. It was damn near spotless, but I went when it was brand new, and this was a small town. Prices seemed comparable to the other first-run places that were quite a drive away.
And when I used to live in Miami, the Regal South Beach just off Lincoln road was nice too. The prices were the same as places like amc et al, and it was definitely cleaner than any of the other theaters near where I lived (until they remodeled the coconut grove one-so second cleanest). So I guess it depends where you are.
? Martin
@elmo: We have one a bit like that about 15 minutes from us. Big oversized comfy seats, carpeting, full bar, really nice concessions – the works. You pay more per ticket, but its a vastly better experience for the few times that we want to see a first-run movie. They’ve basically gone for the live theater experience in a movie theater, but its cheaper than live theater. I don’t think that can scale very far, but it’s a great idea in a crowded market if you want to do your best picture nominee in style.
? Martin
@gene108:
#firstworldproblems
Trust me, they’ll figure it out.
Full Metal Wingnut
Where the hell do you guys live that movies are under $10? Eight bucks is the kid’s price last I visited family in Miami, $10 is maybe with senior discount. And here in New York City-Jesus I don’t even go to movies unless it’s some sort of big awesome action movie that has to be seen on a big screen.
jibeaux
Let them know that you won’t go because of their policy. I emailed them yesterday to tell them that Regal is the closest theater to my house and that our family of four is planning is to see 42 this weekend. We definitely would have gone to Regal, but luckily I saw this news item in time so we could go somewhere else. I haven’t heard back yet. Sunday I’ll email them pictures of our tickets I bought elsewhere. It feels satisfying and…..freedomy.
KXB
@gene108:
Yup, those seats are might comfy.
As for teenagers hoping to make-out, meh. I never got to experience that adolescent right of passage, what with being an ugly kid with restrictive immigrant parents, so I don’t care.
Craigo
@? Martin: When I worked the VIP section at an AMC theater, on one occasion I had to kick out (well, call security, once I got done laughing) a couple who were having sex in those leather chairs. The armrests between each pair of seats raise up.
cmorenc
I long ago got over any hangups about claiming “senior citizen discount” status at theaters, restaurants, Thursdays at Harris-Teeter grocery stores, etc. This entitles me to $2-$3 off the adult ticket price at Regal and most other theaters. The nearest Regal theater near me is actually a clean, well-run facility that’s part of an upscale “urban village” type of shopping center.
I do, however get that many local branches of large theater chains are too often dirty and sell cold, stale popcorn and drinks at expensive prices. If concessions are how they must make the lion’s share of their profits, they should at least do a first-class job of providing popcorn fresh, crisp, and tasty enough to make you momentarily willing to forget how expensive it was as you enjoy it with your movie. Our local Regal theater does a pretty decent job at this (and has a station where you self-butter and salt your popcorn to taste).
HOWEVER, the way I’ve found to inhibit the urge to splurge on expensive concessions (particularly popcorn and drinks) is to eat a bag of microwave popcorn at home (along with a drink out of my own fridge) within the half-hour before departing for the theater. That kills the expensive “theater munchies” urge. OTOH, there are a couple of locally owned two or thre theater outfits that tend towards artier film tastes that slightly expensive (though vastly less than at theater chains) initial popcorn and drink purchases, but unlimited cheap refills for either .50 or $1.00. For those theaters, I’ll gladly purchase my popcorn and drink there.
burnspbesq
@? Martin:
It’s a little early, but I’m going to go out on a limb and give you the Non Sequitur of the Day award.
Who do you suppose work in corporations?
Another Halocene Human
The Regals here are clean (and the small 4plex they ran out of business was not), but they do occasionally make big mistakes like running bombs like “White Girls” on five screens or being underprepared for popular movies. They’ve also started doing simulcasts and sell out very quickly (at much higher ticket price) whilst they have five people each in each screening of crapfest du jour. All of the screens are on the small side.
All theatres take these risks but it takes a special brand of awful to make a big bet on a movie like “White Girls”. (They also went big for that movie where three fat frat boys pretend to be girls.)
I’ve been hearing about Regal’s politics lately and it has me pissed. Get real, if people were less poor they’d go to the movies. But since they are poor, they’re watching bootlegs. So let’s make them more poor. QED.
If I’m really excited about a movie I end up making plans to drive to central Florida where they have better theatres.
SatanicPanic
@? Martin: I found a second run theatre and that’s all I’ve been going to. I love to see movies on the big screen but I can wait a few months if I can go for 1/3rd the price. The giant new theatres themselves are probably stuck charging high prices- they signed leases back when times are good and if landlords won’t (or most likely, can’t) renegotiate, then all they can do is hope for the best.
Full Metal Wingnut
@penpen: I also like the union square theater. I like going to ones as uptown as possible (Lincoln center, there’s one in the 80s) but they tend to not have the same movie variety because they’re smaller.
Actually-some people might look at me askance, but seeing a movie in Times Square is really not that bad at all. Like any self-respecting NYer I hate the area with a passion and rarely go, but I saw batman there opening weekend and it just was not a big deal at all. In fact, I’ve seen many popular movies in Times Square-they have like 20+ screens so there are fifty fucktillion show times. I’ve had worse lines opening weekends in Florida-never a problem there.
RWF
These stories drive me batshit. Trading out FT workers for PT workers is NOT going to enable business owners to avoid the requirements of Obamacare. (Congress may be craven, cynical asses, but they’re not entirely stupid.) The trigger for penalties if health insurance is not provided is calculated based on total number of hours worked by ALL employees to derive a “full-time equivalent” number of employees. THIS is the number that matters, not how many people worked 30 hours each week.
This is not difficult information to find, so I can only assume that these business owners are willfully stupid people with political agendas.
Another Halocene Human
@MattR: Whoa, that obviously got through some corporate managers who have never eaten it (and experienced the, er, expedited transit times).
I do like the Nescafe machines they have at theaters now.
Amir Khalid
@jibeaux:
That might not help. Regal might just use your letter to justify squeezing their staff further, because Teh ebil Libruls are now taking profits away from honest businessmen.
Full Metal Wingnut
@Hoodie: Have you been to a Paragon? They bought and refurbed a nasty (and I mean nasty) AMC. They have beer and wine, super clean, awesome seats. The rub is you pick seats when you pay. I really hate assigned seats in movies. It’s the only reason I don’t go there-unless it’s a movie that’s been out a while and I know it’ll be empty.
Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937
mistermix at least discusses this issue from his experience. The post he linked to begins “I don’t have any great insights into the theater business but presume … “. Why even comment on something you admit you’re clueless about.? And it sure doesn’t stop the commenters from bloviating from their nonexistent knowledge of the movie theater business.
JasperL
What I’m waiting for are some democrats/liberals to point out after every one of these stories is the decision to deny health benefits to low paid workers is a decision to offload those costs onto taxpayers or people fortunate to have insurance.
It’s an easy thing to describe – privatize profits, and socialize costs. Not sure why this isn’t repeated like a mantra on the left.
IMO, it’s an arguably fine thing to allow actual small businesses to socialize some of their costs – it gives them a fighting chance to compete with the behemoths. But for the life of me I don’t know why anyone not a Walmart shareholder thinks it’s a good idea to personally assume the Walton billionaires’ employee benefits costs.
Another Halocene Human
@jibeaux: Wouldn’t it be nice if AFL-CIO, which does big ticket discount deals with Regal, would tell Regal to go f*ck themselves and tell all the Union Plus members to boycott them?
(They’re probably afraid to see how little response they get. Or they are kissing up to the California entertainment unions. Sad thing is, those guys could still get paid and movies could be affordable if not for the get-rich-quick mentality of the people bankrolling movies. A model that works to make brainless blockbusters (and a lot of expensive bombs) and not much else.)
MomSense
You know I was just reading this story and thinking of it in the context of what happened in Boston. Nobody thought that the hospitals should check the insurance before treating the victims. Nobody is talking about how much it will cost to save lives and limbs after the bombing.
Everyday people are scared about their health when they don’t have insurance. I have friends who know they should see a doctor but they are afraid because they can’t even afford to pay out of pocket for the initial visit.
I don’t understand why the desire to help is turned off and on like a switch by some people. I don’t understand why an employer wouldn’t want to make sure he/she had the healthiest and happiest employees in the country.
Full Metal Wingnut
@burnspbesq: I read that as a paraphrase of that famous saying-individuals are smart, people are stupid.
SatanicPanic
@JasperL: Are employed people the only people who have healthcare costs?
Chris
@? Martin:
@burnspbesq:
If anything, it’s often the other way around. Corporations (as a whole) suffer when a new CEO comes in, radically restructures the company to make a name for himself, destroys everyone’s pensions, tanks the company and then hops ship with a golden parachute and goes on to look for his next victim.
KXB
@Full Metal Wingnut:
Northwest suburbs of Chicago – as I mentioned, prices have gone down not just at the renovated AMC theater, but a number of other theaters are offering tickets below $10.
In the town of Niles, IL – the some of the theaters show newly-released films from Korea and India, since there are sizable numbers of immigrants there. 20 years ago, the carpets would be worn out and the chairs broken. Now, the theaters are well-maintained and they offer Korean and Indian snacks in addition to popcorn.
LanceThruster
Most businesses would welcome construction criticisms to improve their customer experience ratings. These folks instead want to make a political statement about how the nanny state is forcing them to suck.
How very sad.
Walker
In the Fingerlakes area, I much prefer the multiple drive-ins. But digital is threatening to kill them.
JasperL
@SatanicPanic:
No, obviously children, the unemployed, disabled, self employed, retired… have healthcare costs. And?
Yutsano
@Full Metal Wingnut: “A person is smart. People are dumb panicky dangerous animals and you know it.”
– Some guy named K
Joel
Have to admit, I go to Regal round my parts. There’s a brand spanking new theater within walking distance of my house. Even though the place is still bright and shiny, it’s a pretty miserable establishment.
Gus
Unfortunately there are only two Regal complexes in my town, and they’re both in the ‘burbs, meaning the odds of my visiting them were already zero. Doesn’t mean I won’t let them know I’m boycotting them.
SatanicPanic
@JasperL: What’t the point of tying healthcare to employment then?
sal
Sturm and drang. How many full time employees does a movie theater employ, anyway? One, maybe two to manage the place? The rest are kids working part time.
If Regal’s in financial trouble, it could be because they built a bunch of 18 screen theaters. Have there ever been 18 movies out at one time that would generate enough audience to support that size operation? I’ll be more impressed when these Galtians take the pay and benefit cuts themselves. Ha ha, just kidding, I won’t live long enough for that.
Anna in PDX
We have McMenamins and Living Room Theaters that are fun if you can wait for the movie to make it that far. Pizza and beer in pitchers and $3 tickets.
I will stop going to Regal *sigh* with my kids for the action movies they love so much. this just burns me up. They already have staffing issues, and I am also really irritated at the level of advertising with their stupid “First Look” things that you are forced to watch if you get there early to avoid the rush. If you’ve just shelled out around $50 to go there with your kids and partner, and another $25 if you want to get drinks/popcorn, you feel like you have bloody paid for this, and don’t want to be a captive audience to a half hour of ads about TV shows and smartphones. Previews are OK because they serve a function for me but the advertising really makes me crazy.
ricky
I informed the Regal Entertainment group via the convenient e-mail link they provide on their corporate site that, since they were scaling back the hours of their employees to avoid health insurance costs I would be scaling back my attendance at their theaters to zero. I did ask them what they did, during the health care debate. to support universal health care coverage which would not have put the burden on their company.
I note that last point because it truly is sad that the cost of providing health care coverage to a single low paid unskilled worker makes a large company think it is worth the hassle and cost to hire, train, and manage a larger part time work force in order to avoid such costs. The reason is that we have a profit based health care system, and until employers take the lead in moving to a universal single payer system, that is likely to remain unchanged.
We don’t have the best health care system in the world, just the most expensive.
Morzer
@? Martin:
Maybe the movie house can charge extra for a make-out room with vibrating seats?
cvstoner
@? Martin: “Businessmen aren’t stupid. Corporations are stupid.”
That’s the best line I’ve seen in a while :-)
Bubblegum Tate
I avoid Regal theaters like the plague for all the reasons listed in the OP, but then again, I don’t go to the movies much in general anymore, and when I do, I am lucky enough to live in an area that has a wide variety of independently owned theaters.
b/w
Part of my answer to the “What would you do if you won the lottery?” game is that I would buy, refurbish,, and re-open the abandoned brew-n-view in my neighborhood. I think that would be a super-cool business to run, and I’d like to think I could do so without crying that my Galtian fee-fees are being hurt by the oppressive yoke of providing my employees–you know, the people who would actually make my business work and be profitable and stuff–a decent living.
shortstop
@sal:
That’s what people still believe about minimum-wage jobs, particularly at fast-food joints. But about half the people earning minimum wage are over age 24. I’d assume that those numbers are similar for movie theaters, especially during school hours.
The Moar You Know
Cineopolis or I’ll do without. Never going to a regular theater again.
And fuck Regal. Their theaters here are immense, packed with shitheads, filthy and unpleasant.
Calouste
@elmo: Uhm, no. The best theater in the world was the one with the bar in the back of the room, and the buttons at the seats so you could order drinks during the movies. Can’t remember what it’s called though.
shortstop
@Anna in PDX: Okay, I’m going to dive into crotchety old woman territory here and say that even the previews are getting on my nerves. Am I misremembering my yute when I say that previews used to not give away the whole plotline? For probably the last 10 years, I’ve felt like I can piece together the whole movie based on the preview.
If that’s true, maybe that’s what audiences want now: zero surprises since there’s so much more competing for our entertainment dollahs and movies have become relatively expensive. But I miss the days when I could be caught unawares by developments in a flick.
JasperL
@SatanicPanic:
I don’t think I made that argument. I was trying to point out that in this reality healthcare IS tied to employment, and Regal socializes those costs when it denies benefits to its low paid employees.
gene108
@burnspbesq:
No.
I’d most likely be denied coverage due to having PKD and earlier problems with depression.
In a broad sense, having dealt with managing the group insurance for my current employer for 15 years, I do have an idea of how fucked the system is.
4 years ago we had one employee have premature triplets (note, employer insurance plans in some states have to cover infertility treatments, which can lead to premature triplets and resulting clusterfuck of a hit on premiums) and another have a brain tumor that had to be removed.
Premiums at renewal doubled and no one wanted to quote us. Found a carrier willing to take our group, but they wanted to medically underwrite the group, i.e. you disclose any medical conditions, so they can determine the rate based on the actual health status of the company.
Me and the guy with premature triplets didn’t qualify for the medically underwritten group plan, so we got a separate policy for us for a year.
I’m just saying moving to a Swiss model, where people have their own plans and not relying on employer coverage should’ve been the long term goal of Obamacare.
Instead the Democrats wanted to double down on requiring employers to provide benefits forever and ever.
In an ideal world, I’d not want to be dependent on my employer for benefits and I’d not be able to be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
Obamacare moves in the right direction for the most part, though it still makes me dependent on my employer for coverage.
SatanicPanic
@JasperL: Good, I hope they do. Healthcare being tied to unemployment makes no sense.
Morzer
@cvstoner:
“Corporations are stupid too, my friend.”
Quoth RomneyCorp back in the day.
gene108
@KXB:
I didn’t either, but it seemed to be a common theme in Happy Days, so I figured somebody must’ve been doing it.
Seanly
Here in Boise we have a couple of indie theaters & $1 places and a handful of Regals. The concessions are pretty expensive…
The wife & I need to start taking in the dollar places – they get the movies after the first run but before they hit DVD. Of course, they don’t show up in Fandango.
Morzer
@gene108:
Damn, you mean that wasn’t a statistically valid documentary compiled by anthropologists after a decade of collecting data?
Gary Smith
Last time we went to a nearby Regal was in 2011. Once we were kicked out because the air conditioning failed, and once because the power failed. Both times we got a rain check that they didn’t honor because of some mysterious reason. We went once more, and had to switch theaters because sound in the first one crapped out.
That’s when we started driving 10 miles past Regal to go to an AMC.
Then two months ago we discover Studio Movie Grill, which has recliner seats, personal tables and call lights, and a full kitchen and bar. Food is bad, prices are a dollar or two more, and, glory be! room between aisles to stretch out.
When the budget is tight, we go to the nearby $2 movie and catch second run stuff we didn’t want to pay full freight for. Older and less comfortable, but OK for the money.
ranchandsyrup
I don’t get to the movies much any more. When I do, I go to Cinepolis. http://www.cinepolisusa.com/
It is nice to have waiters bring beer/wine/food to you.
The company is based in Mexico.
ETA The Moar You Know got there firsty.
weaselone
Translation:
We’re going down in flames due to chronic mismanagement. Fortunately, we can use Obamacare to cover for the fact that we collectively lack the business acumen necessary to run a lemonade stand. As a result, we are laying off essential workers to provide upper level management the opportunity to divest themselves of our worthless shares during the resulting spike in our stock price.
Visceral
I watch all my movies for free online as streamed DVD rips from who knows where. My eyes are so bad that I don’t see any point in paying for silver screen or HDTV resolution that I can’t see anyway. Besides, I like being able to see the picture right up close and small enough not to need peripheral vision, as well as being able to do something else at the same time.
Craigo
@sal: The theater I worked at had, during the summer, 5-6 full time managers, 5-6 full time supervisors, and a little under 100 hourly employees who did between 20-60 hours (projectionists often do 12-24 hour shifts). The average age was about 28-30.
Anna in PDX
@shortstop: Part of it likely is that you are an older and more experienced moviegoer and are familiar with film tropes so less likely to be totally surprised by the plots.
But yeah sometimes they contain serious spoilers – and sometimes it seems like all the best parts of the movie are in the preview and there seems to be little left to constitute a reason to see the whole thing.
dance around in your bones
I quit going to those shoebox multiplexes long ago. I remember as a kid going to a single movie Cinerama type theater, with huge plush velvet seats, velvet curtains, and you could smuggle your candy in.
Also the little indy theaters that might not have been so plush, but showed the greatest movies.
And in Amsterdam, they had great snacks (kass brodje, anyone? patatje met mayonnaise – not as weird as it sounds, in fact, delicious!) and you could buy beer and wine and take it to your seat – there was a little swing-out table to rest it on. Thoroughly civilized.
Don’t even get me started on the drive-ins, which were a staple of my childhood ($5 a car? no matter how many people you crammed in it?) and my mom would pop a grocery bag full of popcorn and put a whole stick of real butter in it, liberally salted. Yes, we survived.
The movie-going experience has been thoroughly debased nowadays, so generally I prefer to stay home and watch movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime or on demand (for the very rare gotta watch movie).
burnspbesq
@Full Metal Wingnut:
That may have been the intention, but the anthropomorphic fallacy, in all its manifestations, makes me cranky.
Steve in the ATL
@elmo:
My college roommate is married to Bobby Cobb’s stepdaughter. He’s a good man (always takes me to the Birmingham Country Club for a round of golf), so I am happy to patronize his theaters.
Howard Appel
Arclight: although more expensive, you can get reserved seating online days/weeks in advance, the seats are very spacey and comfortable (important to a big guy like me), they have a bar and decent food, aside from the concessions, and the concessions are good.
JustRuss
If your business model doesn’t even allow your employees to get fcking healthcare when they need it, what kind of crappy jobs are you creating?
AgentofChaos
Know who owns Regal?
Phil Anschutz. He’s a right wing asshole whose latest crime was some stupid anti-teacher movie with a white woman saving black people.
And he’s also the guy I blame the loss of San Francisco’s historic Coronet Theater (it’s where STAR WARS premiered in 1977).
So yeah, his theaters suck and they’ve been on a nose dive since the mid-00s.
NCSteve
Credit where credit is due. I heart my local unit of this chain:
http://www.thegrandtheatre.com/
I swear, it’s like they used ESP to compile a list of everything that pisses me off about the Carmike megaplex less than two miles from my house and fixed it. The seats are bigger and more comfy–the slide down and out kind, with abundent leg room. The matinee tickets are cheaper. The floors are cleaned after every showing (they wait impatiently for the handful of chronic end credit watcher like myself to GTFOTW so they get on with it). It serves hot food-like snacks. The popcorn is hot and fresh. The small popcorn and small coke are bigger than the the medium popcorn and coke at Carmike and cost less.
I travel more than ten miles, to the other side of town, to go to the Grand rather than go to the Carmike less than two miles from my house.
Corporate theater gigaplex chain: theyre doin it rite.