Here’s something I need to blog about before age catches up and I completely forget!
Ling knows that the one thing I hate when we’re at the movies is commentary and chatting during the movie. I mean, a comment here and there’s fine—I’m not a theatre nazi. But all it takes is a couple of yakkers to do their thing non-stop, and she’ll need to physically restrain me from turning around to give them good tight slaps. Ok, not to that extent, but those yakkers will for certain at least get my most dangerous dagger looks!
It’s for this reason why I prefer to watch movies during odd hours or at theatres that are out of the way. Much less chances of a crowd, and by extension chances that I’ll be sitting with yakkers.
Two ‘classic’ incidents at the movies come to mind. The first was in 1986 during a morning screening of James Cameron’s Aliens 2. I was surrounded by women. On my left side was a bunch of school girls. On my right was a 80 year old auntie. You know the movie. Scary stuff, especially if you remember this was a movie made in 1986. The good news, the 80 year old auntie didn’t die from fright. But she was hollering in the scary parts at the same pitch and volume like the school girls on my left! So, Nicam stereo effect, courtesy of screaming women all around me.
The next was more than a decade later, during (also) a morning screening of We Were Soldiers, a dramatization of one of the first large battles fought between the US Army and North Vietnamese forces. The movie is based on recollections by Hal Moore, the officer who led the American forces. Lots of explosions, people getting blown up, shot at and killed. Including one Jack Geoghegan, an army Lieutenant played by teenage heart throb Chris Klein.
This time round, there was a couple on my left, with the female of the pair right beside me. And she went, throughout the movie…
When the soldiers were packing off to Vietnam and saying good bye to their loved ones and wives… “This is so sadddd!! Are they going to die???”
When a section of American soldiers are about to get ambushed… “NO NO NO… don’t go there!!!!! The bad guys are there!!!!”
When Klein’s character dies in the movie… “WHY WHY??? WHY did he have to die????”
At which point I could take it no more. I turned to my left and hissed at her “Mdm, do you MIND?????”
I think at some subsconscious level I was half expecting her boyfriend to have words at me after I told his girlfriend to belt up. Funnily, he was actually apologetic and he shushed her up, who also said sorry profusely and for the rest of that movie, reduced her commentary to nearly inaudible whimpering.
Then there was that incident during a screening of Spider-Man 2 which I caught with Ling. There were a bunch of school boys sitting behind us. But this time round, Ling did my job of telling them to zip up LOL.
I’ve become much the same, buddy. I think this is why I so seldom go to the theaters anymore. Only five years ago I’d seen as many as 75 films in the theater per year, whereas in all of 2008 I made it to the theater only 8 or 9 times. Some of it has to do with the fact that my tastes—or rather, my tolerance—of contemporary mainstream films have changed remarkably over the last several years. But mostly I’ve become so easily distracted by those in the audience that I just can’t take it anymore.
In nearly any other social setting chattering and so-called audience participation doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, I often find the discourse more interesting than whatever it is I’m watching. But the movie theater, to me, is like a church. I can tolerate almost nothing less than total silence or I become agitated—not enough to say anything, mind you, but just enough to totally take me out of the experience.
I think I’m growing cranky in my old age!
Well bud that makes me even less tolerant than you are; because I get equally as annoyed by chatter even in a social setting e.g. at home if it’s a movie I haven’t seen before.:) It’s alright though if it’s repeat viewing LOL.
oh no… don’t EVER watch movie with me k? handsome guy comes on screen i will GASP! v loudly… scary i will scream surround-sound-stereo kind… sad i will cry and blow nose… ask why? WHY? WHY? or say NO! NO! NO! don’t die!!! got tension scene i will do a combination of “NO! NO! NO! ahhh… GASP… scream…” and so on… haha…
die la, that day u were watching Death Race i kept commenting on the guy and asking questions =P paiseh…
next time watch ratatouille better. firstly, it’s repeat viewing. secondly, i won’t scream, squirm etc… LOL
that day watching red cliff the SGN behind me kept kicking my chair!!! >.< you know kiddos have short legs that don’t reach the floor right so when they move they’d kok your chair… super irritating. i turned around dagger-stared her and barked, “stop kicking my chair!” thank goodness the mother was apologetic.
people shouldn’t bring kids to an adult movie. pls go rent the DVD, VCD, video tape i don’t care la! n watch it at home.
church also. people with kids, pls go to the cry room. don’t try to join the service and irritate everyone else. buay tahan. and in church can’t scold people… although i will stare buay song-ly also. it’s a less intense one than dagger-stare.
Well, on the flip side, check out this guy who took out a gun to shoot this other guy who didn’t stop talking during a movie LOL.:)
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11325400
ah yo siao one… although sometimes i really wish to slap or box people LOL… btw i meant movie meant for adults, not adult movie LOLLLLLLLLLL