film: commentary

> DEATH TO CINEMA COMMERCIALS! (2000)
The Changing Face of Cinema...

Directed by: Coca Cola, PlayStation, USMC, etc., etc.

Written by: Underpaid Copywriters Anonymous

Genre: Audience Frustration

Starring: "Hot" Products

Our Rating: 0 out of 10

OK, here is my little rant I felt needed to be made about commercials playing in front of films. I know this will not change anything, and I know that theaters these days probably have no choice in what plays before a feature, but this needs to be said, because it is disturbing the movie-going experience.

There are several differences between Television and Cinema. A couple things come to mind: the theater has much better sound, a huge screen, and you get to see the latest movies. The television, in most cases, offers the following: the comforts of your own home, a small viewing area, movies at least 6 months old, you can talk all you want, and COMMERCIALS that you can't fast forward through (yet!). Here is the problem that faces moviegoers like myself: there is starting to be a crossover between the two and it is very frustrating.

Does this frustrate you like it does me? And believe me this just isn't an Erie-area thing, this is everywhere. I have seen it abroad and in even more excessive amounts. You go to a theater to see a movie you want to see and pay anywhere from $4-15 to see it. You get your popcorn, your pop, your candy, you pay pretty high rates for it, but that's alright, you're at a movie theater and that's how they make their money and stay in business, so you really can't complain. You sit in your seat and watch the slides of various advertisements flash on the screen before the film starts to roll. These are fine, and not really irritating because they are merely filler before the show starts and oftentimes they give local businesses a good opportunity to advertise. Now the pop of the soundtrack is heard and the film reel is starting up......ah....here comes some previews, you think to yourself, let's see if anything good is coming out soon... But wait! What is this?! McDonald's, Levi's, Marine Corp., Playstation 2, some damned life insurance place, various internet dot com's, the list goes on and on!

This is insane and a real step backwards for cinema! When a customer comes to a movie theater they see advertisements all over the concession areas and your food containers, they see them in slides before the movie loads, they hear them over the theater's radio stations, and now we have to sit and watch them before a movie we paid good money for? One can only wonder where this is headed. Soon will we be paying even higher rates to watch a film, only to have it interrupted every 10 minutes by a string of advertisements (sound familiar?) Listen, I understand that theaters are getting bigger and bigger, there are more of them than there ever has been before, and that these theaters cost a lot of money to run. I know that it is hard to make money on films unless they have a really long run. I know that most of the revenue comes from the various drinks and snacks that are sold at the concession stands, but don't you think that enough is enough with the ads?

Coming into a movie fashionably late will become the smart thing to do. With more and more commercials theaters will seem even more like home. Even more like home means that an annoying couple that oftentimes sits next to you can talk out loud to each other (even more) and not feel uncomfortable about it. Wait a second!? I am paying for the same thing that I could be doing at home for the small cost of electricity!

Advertisement-mania will not make me stop going to see movies in the theater, but I am afraid that it may turn many other casual moviegoers off. Please reconsider...

By John C. Lyons
Film Critic

(00-1025)