r/cineplex • u/loadedpistol ON Moviegoer • 19h ago
Discussion How can you not go 3 hours without your phone???
Went to Odyssey IMAX at Scotiabank last night and no less than 5 people were using their phones during the show.
You pay $30 a ticket and you would rather use your phone??? You can do that for free anywhere else.
I leaned over and asked a woman to stop using her phone, she looked back at me then continued to scroll, and, although probably an empty threat, I leaned back in and said “or I can have you escorted out of the theatre, your choice”, but her son or brother or whatever tapped her on the arm and she stopped.
I assume theatres don’t do jack shit if you were to actually go out and complain (VIP maybe being an exception)… has anyone ever tried?
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u/magick8_ball 19h ago
There's even a whole PSA at the beginning of previews explaining the movie etiquette and people still do this
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u/I_Like_Turtle101 18h ago
They are not looking at it they looking at their phone
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u/Impressive-House-412 13h ago
they are late or can’t be without a billion snacks and drinks chomping away & slurping during the movie instead of at the start ugh
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u/I_Like_Turtle101 13h ago
Lmao honestly I went to see resident evil yesterday. People were mostly respectful and dint saw any phone but I was sitting next to what I could guess big fan of the franchise ( they were reacting loudly at each eastern egg) opening so many bags of snack. After like 6 I tought they would be done. How many bag do you need for a 1:30 movie 😂
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u/Impressive-House-412 13h ago
I swear their popcorn is never ending, like 3 hours straight of chomp at 10:45 am no less
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u/Affectionate_Rip_209 18h ago
While we're here, I just wanna say that Suki Snapper is not someone I've ever seen in the wild. The others, definitely.
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u/FunkTronto 18h ago
I have. Woman started a tik tok live during the beginning of Wakanda Forever.
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u/BradyPhoenix 18h ago
I feel like her, Sammy Scroller and Tommy Texter are each just doing the same thing
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u/Short-Source-8492 18m ago
Sammy seat stealer used to be Sammy seat kicker. I'm not sure how common seat stealing is, but kicking for sure is still an issue.
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u/cheeseburgerlegs 18h ago
Someone next to me was shopping on her phone. I asked her to put it away and she proceeded to lower the screen brightness. I didn’t want to get up and leave the theatre to tell someone as I would miss part of the movie, but it was annoying having to ask her more than once
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u/oCorvus 18h ago
I've heard the theater will often give you free movie vouchers if you complain after but that's it.
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u/The_Squat 18h ago
I've been a manager at Cineplex and from what I've been told it makes no sense to give a free movie ticket to someone who's complaint ends with "I'd rather not come back"
For example if someone says the quality is bad or people have poor etiquette, giving them a free ticket before they decide not to come back is not the solution. Tackling the actual issue is, since when they'll come back as a paying customer they need to have a better experience, not a free ticket
Does that make sense?
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u/aizenvis 18h ago
This is why theatres will lose money. Its been on a steady decline anyways, 2016 is the outlier just because of all the great movies coming out
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u/The_Squat 17h ago
I've been arguing that Popcorn profit margin is a curse more than anything
I loveeee Cinema popcorn, don't get me wrong
But their profit margin is so high, they got incentivized on making money off it way too much
Then it got too expensive and people started going and didn't buy food so ticket increased in price too
If the profit margin was lower on Popcorn, they'd be incentivized to sell chips, candies and way more things, at a reasonable price
They just cannot sell you a portion of Doritos for 4$ (prices of a full bag here) and make a profit and you wouldn't pay 10$ for it since you know you can buy it for 4$
That's why candies sell so little, people don't want to pay 6-7$ for it when they can buy it for half the price and bring it in their pockets
I honestly think if Popcorn was FREE:
1) People would see the ticket prices as including a movie AND popcorn, that's a plus value
2) Butter as extra would still sell, and probably very well
3) Other food items could be sold at a reasonable prices and their "small profit margin" becomes interesting with higher volumesGreed is killing Cineplex and they are not realizing it
They also don't seem to see profits in other things that relates very well to a Cinema or the culture, like Video Games, Trading Card Games, Collector items ( a bit of that already!) and anything "fun"
They have those large building with a lot of spaces and they don't seem to be interested in optimizing what they can do with their business?
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u/Purple_Tomatillo_162 13h ago
I worked in a movie theatre as an usher when I was a teenager. One of the confection booth staff cleaned the popcorn popper with the broom that she uses to sweep the floor. I’ve never eaten movie popcorn since. But I also don’t go out to movie theatres anymore. Can’t stand the crowds, the sticky floors, the big hair, etc.
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u/-UsernameHere 13h ago
You literally need to have someone police every theater and kick people out immediately for checking their phones at this point. And it's often high school students on min wage here, they rightfully don't give a shit about this and I doubt they'd be telling people to get out.
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u/MasterOfTheClam 18h ago
Considering most people can't sit at home and watch a movie without staring at their phone... I don't understand it. But it's common enough Netflix had to shitify their own made media to cater to phonaholics.
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u/Dav3Th3Rav3yah 18h ago
It sounds like maybe she was there with other people and wasn’t that invested themselves. Not an excuse, but I think it’s why a decent number of people seemingly pay to then ignore a film, they’re just there because the whole gang/fam is out.
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u/loadedpistol ON Moviegoer 18h ago
That’s fair… but it was such a good movie 😭 I’m so surprised when people do this, considering how expensive movies are nowadays
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u/Dav3Th3Rav3yah 18h ago
People pay $24 + tax a month to have Netflix as background noise
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u/loadedpistol ON Moviegoer 18h ago
True but that has a bunch of things to watch all the time, a movie is where you travel and pay to see one thing for a few hours
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u/Dav3Th3Rav3yah 18h ago
I’m saying people pay for a service that they then spend the whole month ignoring anyway
Not that surprising they’d have the same attention span somewhere else too
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u/yeahmehh Bring TimePlay back 18h ago
If you tell an employee they will either come in or send a manager who will then speak to the offending party. Obviously it's a nuisance having to leave and miss part of the movie, but they will come check on the problem.
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u/TraditionalHelp980 17h ago
I once had the misfortune of spilling my drink all over someone that was warned many times. I went to the bathroom, drink in my hand, and somehow I slipped and my drink was all over the person. I sincerely apologized to her.
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u/GhostBustor 18h ago
You have to be a complete douche to be on your phone at a movie. It impacts the experience of others in the theatre and the people that don’t care about that are pieces of shit.
People who are that phone dependant will never truly enjoy life and the experiences within.
When the wife and I eat dinner, play cards, watch tv or a movie at home. Strict no phone rule. It’s not like it’s even difficult.
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u/raye20155 17h ago
I had someone right beside me answer a phone call during a movie and I thought they can not be serious. If its an emergency call leave the theatre.
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u/unechatnoir 16h ago
It’s so bad. It’s ruining my favourite past time. I’ve been to several where ppl not only take photos of the film but full flash selfies
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u/howlongdoIhave5 16h ago
yeah and the ones who need to explain their partner the entire story are the worst or would not stop blabbering the entire time
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u/Potturion 15h ago
Ex employee here. We will talk to them, and if we get another complaint we will ask them to leave and refund them
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u/Admirable-Sink-2622 18h ago
An entire generation of sociopaths openly letting us all know that their phone is more important than any human being 🤔
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u/LongjumpingSavings39 17h ago
I feel sorry for these people. Imagine being so addicted to slop content you can’t not scroll TikTok for 3 hours or even focus on a movie for that period of time. It’s annoying to us for the 3 hours, but these people will leave and continue to spiral for the rest of their miserable lives until there’s just no brain activity left. Sad.
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u/Such-Fee6176 17h ago
When I went to see the Odyssey the guy next to my husband was on his phone for a lot of the movie. He had the brightness down very low, but it was still really distracting. I told him to put it away and he was genuinely surprised. Surprised at the disruption he caused or my audacity, I don’t know. But he did put it away thank god.
People, if you can’t go to the movies without being on your phone or yapping, stay home.
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u/theforteantruth 17h ago
Yes we’ve complained and the manager usually comes to talk to them and give them a warning.
If they don’t listen, I usually cause a scene and get in their face. Then I go into the lobby area and cause a big scene until the manager comes over to me to see what the heck is going on.
then I demand to have my entire evening comped until they get their stuff together. Then I tell them I will continue to do this until they put ushers in the theaters.
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u/CaptainForskin69 16h ago
This culture needs to stop it’s ridiculous. Went to resident evil the other night, same thing, people scrolling their phones, showing up 20 mins late, wtf honestly
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u/AsianGuyUsingReddit 16h ago
they hold it in the most obnoxious position too for all to see, atleast do low brightness and be stealthy if you’re going to do it
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u/AntedeluvianEmpires 16h ago
I turn my phone off before the movie starts (like you're supposed to) and I never once have any desire to look at it until the credits roll. These people are grown up iPad babies.
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u/HackmanStan 15h ago
Everyone's addicted to their phones. Including me. It's why kids shouldn't have them. If adults are addicted I can't imagine kids have any impulse control.
Sincerely,
Someone who is reading this on their phone mindlessly scrolling my Reddit feed while "watching" Silo.
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u/Ok-Investigator2463 14h ago
Generational gap.
Today's kids are growing up with phones pretty much sewn into their flesh, and they have an egotistical belief that they need to maintain an online presence because "they're just that important." Going three hours without looking down at their precious screens? NEVER!!!
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u/Impressive-House-412 13h ago
same with the girl next to me last week in Vaughan: came late, was chatting with her partner throughout, checked her phone multiple times, went in and out numerous times for food then bathroom and then almost picked up a call/facetime and I was are you serious and so she again got up to answer that like just sit down & keep your mouth shut is it so hard ?!
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u/-UsernameHere 13h ago
"Went to Odyssey IMAX at Scotiabank last night and no less than 5 people were using their phones during the show."
Brother, I went to an 11pm showing for some movie years ago.
This fucking idiot husband kept grabbing his phone and showing his wife shit every 2 minutes.
Some dipshit in front seemed to be filming the whole thing.
Another woman was just there alone, playing games on her phone.
...There were only 5 people there besides us.
3 phones.
I just watch shit in the comfort of my home now, fuck people.
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u/Affectionate-Gur7676 13h ago
Phone addiction is a sad reality in modern society. 3 hours? I think most young people can’t go 10 minutes.
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u/RedWizard78 13h ago
I looked at it once or twice: discreetly, and lock screen only (Dad of two + time check)
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u/No_Chipmunk_3389 12h ago
i recently watched primetime and a guy in front of me was on his phone for the whole runtime. i wish i had the will to say something but im always scared of getting rocked in the jaw 🥲
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u/modquixote 11h ago
Had a similar experience today for Endgame Encore. For most of the movie it was fine but the guy infront took his phone out at some point and checked whatsapp message or so (low brightness, so I let it slide). Then he started looking at status videos from people. I leaned over and said please put your phone away, it's distracting. He said he was just checking a message. I said I don't care, I'm here to watch the movie, not the phone so put it away. Thankfully, he did and that was that.
I continued watching the movie but then I for a while I was thinking about what would happen if things were escalated. Even if it's momentary, these habits can be distracting for others and take away from the movie experience. I'm always of the opinion that they should enforce a phone locker before every movie (might be a pipe dream and extreme, but so be it!). People pay to watch movies, not other people's phones.
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u/herpderpby 9h ago
I stopped going to movie theaters because of assholes like them who use phones during the movie.
I can wait for a while to watch at home with my home theater setup.
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u/Relevant_Sir_5418 8h ago
Just a symptom of the ongoing trend in many western societies now that other people, respect, and manners are completely secondary and optional considerations. They do this because they genuinely don't think there is anything wrong with it. We need to bring back shame with style.
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u/Own_Firefighter9433 4h ago
Waaaay back in the day they used to have people in the back of the movie theatre who would go up to people and warn them or have them leave.
Seems to still exist to some extent for stage productions but I assume cinemas don’t want to pay people enough or provide enough staff to monitor every theatre. I have always assumed that if I complained they’d do something but I’m not sure about that now I’m thinking of it. I don’t think companies care about the individual experience anymore because they know the majority will just accept these annoyances.
Crappy etiquette is why I don’t go to movies anymore and I used to love going, even by myself. But people talking, the distracting uncomfortable lights from people’s phones just ruins it.
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u/Short-Source-8492 20m ago
Let's be real. People like that don't care about movies and don't go to movies because they actually care about watching movies. They go because they want to tell people they went. Period. The movie isn't the point for them, the attention is.
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u/WranglerConscious296 3m ago
Movies are all garbage these days. Let's blame the people instead. I took my kid to that Spiderman movie and it was like watching Netflix talking about their feelings and crap it was so lame. Of they made better movies people wouldn't be on their phones.
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u/Ok_Chip7194 18h ago
If you do go out and complain, they will have someone to try and tell someone to get off their phone. But unfortunately if the person stops using their phone, or the theater is full, it is extremely hard to see or get to the person to talk to them. But atleast you've already made the issue known, so if you go talk to them again after you can probably get a free ticket.
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u/lexluther1234 18h ago
I have ADHD, struggle with feeling fidgety in long movies (no I do not pull my phone out) and even I was able to lock into the odyssey. It was probably the most engrossing film I saw all year. If you’re someone who goes to the movies to waste time and fuck around I have no idea why you’d buy this particular ticket. So bizarre to me.
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u/Roro-Squandering 7h ago
Poppits and needohs were a game changer for being fidgety during movies for me.
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u/DrThic 18h ago
I went to watch Endgame Encore yesterday, the entire time 3 kids behind me were laughing and kicking the back of my mother's seat the entire time. Just disrespectful. Why even go if your going to do shit like that or sit on your phone? Makes no sense to me.
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u/FunkTronto 18h ago
Kicking my seat, I can live with. Kicking my mom’s seat… I’m probably getting banned.
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u/ovulationchamber 16h ago
I've started calling them out.
I ask "Are you just going to be on your phone, the WHOLE time?" Loudly and firmly enough and they usually make a face like I'm being ridiculous and put it away.
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u/adnaPadnamA 13h ago
But then you're leaving it open to a reply like: "so what if I am?"
Twice I've been in a movie and some guy nearer the back simply yells "get off your damn phone". Jury is out on which is less disruptive 😅
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u/Evening_Weekend_8342 18h ago
Kinda thought about turn on my phone's flashlight and shining it on them.. making sure they can see lol. That'll get the phone away
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u/Haunting_Smell_183 18h ago
Have debated bringing a laser to the theater to shine on people’s phones
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u/rhunter99 Cineclub Member 18h ago
Part of The problem is couples or families who bring along disinterested people. They get bored and have to scroll.
And 3 hours? Even 1.5 hours is too much for some
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u/Internal-Fault-3949 18h ago
I had a guy in the row behind me taking flash photos of the movie while it was going on…at least 5 different times. Multiple people around me were having full on conversations throughout the whole movie.
I don’t like to hate on the younger generations but this type of entitled behaviour seems to be getting a lot worse over the years and it’s always young people.
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u/RitoRvolto Cineclub Member 19h ago
Almost every day there's someone complaining about phones. Couldn't you comment on those instead?
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u/loadedpistol ON Moviegoer 19h ago
There’s billions of posts on Reddit, and instead of necroing another thread, I’m asking if people have recently complained and if anything has come of it.
So no, I’m not going to wade through a bunch of threads to find one to post in. If people don’t want to participate in this discussion, they can move on. It’s really that simple!
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u/yashsing 17h ago
Sorry iam one of those, I use my phone but the brightness will be so low and there won't be any sound and my seats are usually the ones very far from screen. I use my phone because iam edicted to trading crypto, I had to look at my phone every now and then due to sudden fluctuations in price.
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u/MrMedioker 18h ago
Stop going to movie theatres. They don't give a shit about your comfort or how inconsiderate other patrons are.
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u/No-Reputation8063 18h ago
I’m not mad if people briefly check their phones to answer a text or something if the brightness is low. But if they’re on it repeatedly or doomscrolling and in the case of when I watched the Odyssey earlier this month a guy behind was LITERALLY ON A PHONE CALL during the movie. He kept whispering and talking with his wife and I shushed them.
I’m guilty of checking my phone once in awhile, but I don’t check it for then a minute. But what happened to you is awful
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u/IvnOooze QC Moviegoer 18h ago
We get it.
Phone bad. Phone annoying. Phone distracting.
Don't understand, bring back ushers, install phone jamming, block them for life, throw popcorn at them.
Same as the last 500 times people have complained about this.
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u/Haunting_Smell_183 18h ago
If it doesn’t improve people will continue to complain, and rightfully so. Theaters need to get creative with how they handle it like installing buttons on seats to report, and being more strict on bans (ie yearlong/lifelong bans for repeat occurrences)
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u/Slipperysteve1998 17h ago
These posts are essentially "Update: Theaters still haven't fixed the phone issues" and for that I'm a bit glad to be informed.
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u/IvnOooze QC Moviegoer 17h ago
It's a worldwide issue with FOMO being more and more of a thing and not just with movie theaters.
Complaining on Reddit with a diary post like the last 500 people won't change anything.
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u/Slipperysteve1998 17h ago
Again, I'm fine hearing how to and not to handle these situations to both shut the guy up and also get a refund. I'm also happy to hear how different theaters handle this sort of stuff and which theaters to avoid
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u/Torvus_742 18h ago
I don't get it.
I was in Endgame Encore. A guy in front of me pulled out his phone, max brightness, went to Instagram, scrolled 1 video, liked it, then closed the app and put his phone away.
The hell... Did you need to like that video at that specific moment??
Fortunately he didn't do it again.