Paid Full Price...And Walked Out

[Eddie Love]

I was ruminating if I could come up with this full list. Anyone have titles that fall in this category? I think all mine are below. (This doesn't include not-strictly-speaking-legal double features where you duck into a multi-plex screen after the picture you paid for ended and later bail.)

THE ALL-NIGHTER (starring Susannah Hoffs of The Bangles!)
THE COOK, THE THIEF.. yada, yada
DEADFALL -- (Not the classic caper with Michael Caine -- this was some drecky early 90s thing with Nicholas Cage)
EVITA
THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS
THE POMPATUS OF LOVE
DEAD-MAN (Wasn't full price)
BE COOL *
BADAAASSSSS*


*These were both at the 42nd Street 25 screen where they're pretty cool about exchanging your ticket for something else if it's a reasonable amount of time into the first film's screening.

[Derrick]

I've heard plenty of people tell me they walked out of this movie or that one. In particular my friend D'Andre who I don't think has ever sat through an entire movie, that's how many he's claimed to have walked out on.

Me, I've never walked out of a movie I've paid to see in a theater. I'm sorry, but I'm simply too cheap to get up and walk out on a movie I've paid full price to see. Hell, I don't walk out of movies I've paid matinée prices to see. No matter how crappy it is. And trust me, there have been movies I so dearly wanted to get up and actually run out of the theater. INDEPENDENCE DAY, Steven Spielberg's WAR OF THE WORLDS and Tim Burton's PLANET OF THE APES are movies that readily come to mind.

At home it's different, tho. If a movie I'm watching at home doesn't catch me in the first half hour I'll take it out of the DVD player or delete it from the DVR. But that's because I'm at home and I've got so much other stuff at hand to watch.

[Eddie Love]

In the instances I've cited -- except like with BADASSS, where the decision was made by my wife * -- I think there were specific moments where some instinct took over and I was compelled to leave. As I recall with EVITA it was my realization that every single female voice from the score was going to be sung by Madonna whether it made any sense or not, whole characters were jettisoned so that she could have more material (girl). In THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS it was a moment where Noah Wylie is about to talk to his ex-girlfriend on the phone and first goes to a mirror to hastily fix his hair. I was so stunned by that, I couldn't possibly stay. Similarly, POMPATUS was a good-natured, multi-story, indie, relationship comedy about twenty-something singles where, in one scene, the guys take their beers into the bathroom together at a bar so they can keep talking. I recall one was casually sitting in a windowsill looking down on his friend who is at a urinal. I was the exact demographic for that movie, and I was so appalled, something took over and I left.

*I still occasionally have to ask her if she wants to leave, for instance when Clive Owen stuck Benecio Del Toro's head into a turd-filled toilet bowl in SIN CITY , I had to check if it was quitting time.

[grubl]

Up until about 15 years ago, I might have walked out of a film once. Then I reached a conclusion, I think it was during SPEED (I know, everybody else probably loved it). The dialogue was so cliched and hokey, and the characterizations so flat and broad, that I was mentally taken out of the movie early on. It was torture sitting there, vacillating between boredom and disgust, so I finally thought, "Why the Hell am I doing this to myself? I would pay more to not have to see another second of this movie." And so I left. Since, I do it all of the goddamned time, I think that I only got through ten minutes of SPANGLISH. If I am bored or let down or annoyed, I'm out. And I have no regrets.

A few examples:

I WALK THE LINE (not a bad movie, but boring as all get out. I love Johnny Cash, but this was not Johnny Cash).
HOSTEL (stupid)
Every Apatow film that I have been suckered into going to see.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2
ZODIAC [again,not a bad film, but monotonous, and this is from someone who loved MY DINNER WITH ANDRE and SOLARIS (original)]
And many, many more!!!!!

[Derrick]

I guess it's just me. I just don't see the point of taking the train/bus, driving or walking to the movie theater, paying for your ticket, buying your snacks only to jump up after 10, 20 or 30 minutes into the movie, say "I'm out" and walk out. Might as well just stay at home and wait for the DVD. You'd save less money and time that way.

And especially in this Internet day and age. A person can research a movie sufficiently enough to be 90% sure they want to see it before they even leave their house. So again, why go through all that trouble of getting to the theater just to leave before the movie's even halfway through?

I've got a friend I mentioned earlier on in this thread who is legendary in my crowd for all the movies he's claimed to have walked out on. I think he's fulla shit myself but I was talking to another friend of mine who says that he and he girlfriend can't go to the movies together. Like grubl, as soon as she gets bored with the movie, she's ready to leave. And Patricia informs me that the reason she doesn't like going to the movies with some of her girlfriends is that they too, get up and walk out if they don't like the movie.

[Eddie Love]

I agree 10 - 20 minutes is a questionably low threshold and may be pushing it, and if you go to see a movie you have a good reason beforehand to suspect that you're not likely to enjoy, than the whole exercise does seem pointless. But, as grubl notes there occasionally comes a moment when you say to yourself, "I can end this" and the exit beckons. For me, I did this most often in a period where I lived in NYC without a TV and would go to the movies 2-4 times a week, so I was of a different mindset back then. (This extended to thinking that my prodigious movie-going habits somehow entitled me to flit from screen to screen in a multiplex. Something I don't to these days as I go much more infrequently.)

[tombitd]

I'm with Derrick--I feel obligated to stay with a movie to the very end, even when I watched such previous 'worst film ever' candidates as Pulse and Quaretine. There are moments I'm tempted--but I always remember that for every asshat like the Dowdels that I want to tear into little pieces, there are ten other people who worked on that film who didn't have any responsiblity for its suckage, and I want to give those people the respect of watching their handiwork to the end.

I know...that's weird...

[Dino]

Usually I will stay all the way through. Although there was one time.

Shortly before I left for Japan, a Japanese film called Death Note had a special release at a nearby theater. I heard a lot of good things about the movie, and it featured two Japanese actors I really enjoyed -- Tatsuya Fujiwaru (of Battle Royale) and Yu Kashii (of Linda Linda Linda). So my buddy and I went, thinking that like most foreign films in this day and age that aren't action flicks, it would be subtitled.

Unfortunately, it was dub. And it was by far the worst goddamn dub I have ever heard -- and I grew up watching badly-dubbed anime. It was so terrible that it completely sucked me out of the movie to the point where two actors whose work I normally love, I couldn't stand. My friend felt the same way, so after fifteen minutes, we spoke to the manager, got refund tickets, and left. That's a little thing a lot of people don't know about -- if you leave a movie fifteen or twenty minutes into it, you can usually get a free ticket for the next time you come.

Granted, this isn't a situation like Derrick's talking about as this theater was just a short, five-minute drive for me, I rarely visit the concession stand, and there's a restaurant/bar right next door that my buddy and I would frequent. Plus, we got refund tickets for another time, so it wasn't a total waste.

And I did eventually see the film with subtitles (in fact, I just finished watching it before I wrote this). And it was a great film with great performances. Had I stayed, I'd probably be hard-pressed to give the film the chance it deserved.

[grubl]

To address two of Derrick's points.
I really try to pick films that I believe that I will enjoy, and you are right, there are many sources to help navigate your way. My criteria, in general are: Is it a director that I trust? That is the biggest draw for me. What do the critics that I respect (Ebert, Scott and a few other have to say)? I have a small number of friends into film, who I admire and who understand my quirks, that make suggestions. I get a lot of great inspiration from BITD, but mostly for older stuff, like italian horror films, blaxploitation, great television and much more. I'm really in a different place than you guys when it comes to modern cinema, but I still love to listen to everything that you have to say.
Yet, I still get sabotaged and disappointed at the movies regularly. So I walk.
I agree that the best option (especially since I have a nice home theatre) is to watch it from on my couch. Bad films, crying babies, crinkling wrappers, cell phones, TALKING...I'm tired of still being the school teacher when I go to the movies.
Tom, I get the part about showing respect to those who were doing their job to the best of their abilities behind the scenes. I don't have that fortitude. In fact I have a friend who insists on staying through the credits for the same reason you won't walk out. If it wasn't for him, I would have bolted that fucking AVATAR piece of shit in fifteen minutes. That was the one time that I made him leave as soon as the credits started. That thing damn near killed me!

[Derrick]

See, here's the thing...you go see a movie. You pay your admission price, you walk on in, sit down and start watching. 15 minutes into the movie you say "bullshit on this" and walk out.

Who are you hurting by walking out? The movie theater and the studio have your money so what do they care that you walked out? Okay, so you have your integrity/pride/whatever. But you're still out whatever you paid for it.
Me, I'd rather stay and see the whole movie, go home and write an informed review telling other people to stay away from the celluloid crap and post it where hopefully I can warn others to save their money. Now to me, that's the best way to get even with a studio for producing crappy movies.

And my position on staying all the way through the movie until the end credits are done is well known but just in case folks don't know, here it is:

I have no understanding of those who leap to their feet and bolt for the exit as soon as the end credits come on as if somebody in the theater just screamed "FIRE!" You've already sat there for 90 minutes to 2hrs+ so what difference does a few more minutes make. A lot of talented people worked to make the movie I just watched and I really don't think it's too much for me to sit there until the credits are over.

[grubl]

You're obviously very passionate about this, but I'll try to give it one more go, in my defense. I'm not trying to punish anyone. I just would rather be doing something else at some point in the film (and to be fair, it is usually around the midway point when I can see how things are likely to proceed, there are very few extremes like SPANGLISH, which offended me immediately, not in any PC way, but in the predictability and condescention in the humor and dialogue).

If anything, when I walk out, I don't begrudge the theatre or filmmakers the money that I spent I took a chance, they gave me the advertised product. My mistake. The only time I ask for money back is if the theatre screws things up.

I'm not trying to change your mind or ways, I'm just saying this is a comfortable thing for me to do these days.

[Derrick]

Oct 17, 2010 23:41:17 GMT -5 grubl said:

You're obviously very passionate about this, but I'll try to give it one more go, in my defense. I'm not trying to punish anyone. I just would rather be doing something else at some point in the film (and to be fair, it is usually around the midway point when I can see how things are likely to proceed, there are very few extremes like SPANGLISH, which offended me immediately, not in any PC way, but in the predictability and condescention in the humor and dialogue).

If anything, when I walk out, I don't begrudge the theatre or filmmakers the money that I spent I took a chance, they gave me the advertised product. My mistake. The only time I ask for money back is if the theatre screws things up.

I'm not trying to change your mind or ways, I'm just saying this is a comfortable thing for me to do these days.

And at the end of the day the main thing is this: you're a grown man, it's your money and you're entitled to do whatever you wish with it and if it's okay with you then it's okay with me.

The only thing I have to worry about is if we ever go a movie together (and I sincerely do hope we get the chance to do so someday) I'll just have to make damned sure it's a movie you REALLY want to see ;D

[grubl]

It's a deal. And I promise to stay until the Dolby insignia comes up at the end of the credits.

[jasonc]

Normally if I've taken the trouble to go to the movies, queued, paid for the ticket, drinks and munchies, I'll stay for the entire movie, even if I find myself not having a whole lot of fun watching the dreck playing on screen.

That said, I have walked out of films. Two to be exact.

HOME ALONE - I was so damn BORED watching this movie, it wasn't even funny. It didn't make me laugh at all and the kid just annoyed the hell out of me.

FATAL ATTRACTION - I had a major problem with this movie. Well, 2 problems really.
(1) The Michael Douglas character has a perfect life, he loves his wife and kids, good job, etc. Everything is wonderful, he's never even considered straying. And suddenly he does? I'm sorry, if the film hadn't spent all that time convincing us of his perfect life, I could have bought into his having a one night stand/affair. As it was, I just couldn't.
(2) As if that wasn't enough, nothing really happened past his sleeping with Glen Close and going on with his life. I got bored, I had other things I could be doing.. so I left. When it showed up on video, I rented it just to see if I could sit through it if I fast forwarded to where I'd walked out.. and all the good stuff started five minutes after I walked out. Sigh...

[Derrick]

HOME ALONE: This best part of the movie? When the little kid, all alone at Christmas goes into a church to listen to a choir sing and has a conversation with an old man. And I mean it's a real conversation, not the usual bullshit that passes for conversation in this kind of movie. To me, there's something tremendously touching about this young man just starting his life and this old man nearing the end of his and how they're able to connect on such a simple level. HOME ALONE isn't one of my favorite movies and I certainly don't consider it the holiday classic it was designed to be but I don't turn it off if I'm channel surfing and I land on it.

FATAL ATTRACTION: Okay, you say that you don't get why the Michael Douglas has a one night stand/affair when he has a perfect life with a good job, beautiful wife and wonderful kids. With all due respect, my friend, are you serious? Married men with perfect lives, good/great jobs, beautiful wives and wonderful kids are having affairs and one night stands all the time. Matter of fact, it's easier to have an affair when you have all of those things because you're more attractive to the opposite sex.
FATAL ATTRACTION is one of those movies that goes on my One Of The Most Overrated Movies Of All Time list. It's nothing more than a really good looking, big budget slasher flick. The movie became such a huge hit because you had women going back to see it two, three or four times with their girlfriends to cheer when Glenn Close gets capped at the end. And then these same women would drag their husbands/boyfriends to see it. "See what happens when you cheat?"

I would have loved to have seen the original ending of FATAL ATTRACTION in which Glenn Close frames Michael Douglas for her murder. Test audiences hated the ending as they wanted to see Glenn Close get her comeuppance in a more satisfying manner. So they went back and filmed a new ending where the wife busts a cap in Glenn's ass.