Saturday Night at the Movies

[cinema guy]

Tonight I was on the box office, it was previews of Shrek the Third, so it was busy.

Along with the usual ditherers who can't decide what film, what time, whether to have premier seats or not and where to sit, we have two who stand out as sucky:

Rocky

Woman: "Two for Rocky."
Me: doing a double take, Rocky Balboa was released in January. "Err... We don't have Rocky on."
Woman: "But it said it was on at 21.15" I don't know what she meant by 'it'.
Me: sudden brain wave, checks times, "It's on on Wednesday morning, our showing for seniors."
Woman: "What else do you have on?"
Me: "Shrek 3...
W: "no."
Me: "Oceans Thirteen..."
W: "no"
Me "Pirates..."
W, to her husband: "But I wanted to see a nice film!"
They walk off.

Parenthood

It's 9.45pm. Most of our films have started. We still have two films to go -Vacancy, a motel killer thriller, and Captivity, a psychological torture/horror. Two parents with two kids, aged maybe 8 and 10, come to the box office and ask, "Is there anything for kids?"

I want to yell at them, "It's quarter to ten, those kids should be in bed!"

[Pagan]

Vacancy, a motel killer thriller, and Captivity, a psychological torture/horror.

Ugh, we went to see Vacancy at the dollar theatre. It was a rip-off even at that price. Not so much a "thriller" as a "I can't believe how stupid these people are" movie! And certainly not a kids movie....even though there were kids in there.

[Purple Monkey Dishwasher]

Ugh, we went to see Vacancy at the dollar theatre. It was a rip-off even at that price. Not so much a "thriller" as a "I can't believe how stupid these people are" movie! And certainly not a kids movie....even though there were kids in there.

Hell, my wife and I were mortified to see kids (5-8 year-olds) in the theater when we saw "Bad Santa" - at the end of the movie! They had let their kids sit through that horrifying (but hilarious) movie!

Joe

[ThePhoneGoddess]

In all fairness, there are some parents who work swing and keep their kids on their schedule because it's easier for them and the kids. I am a big proponent of having afternoon schooltimes for kids who's parents both work swing.

I know a couple who both work the swing shift. They had so many problems with waking up at 7am to get the kids to school, and trying to find daycare all evening that wouldn't charge them ungodly amounts of money, and not ever spending any time with their kids on weekdays they finally arranged to have them home schooled all afternoon. Their kids are now on the same schedule they are, and it is much easier on both the kids and them. The kids bedtime is midnight, and their parents go to bed around 2 or 3, so taking them to a movie at 10 pm is not out of the question.

[Sliceanddice]

yeah im a big componant of adjusting times for school.

The best learning experience i had in school was Block classes where i learned one class for 2 and half hours every school day for 6 weeks and one 4th hour class all semester.

I also think alot of school and students would benifit from having later classes. I wish we had opitions!!

[BookstoreEscapee]

Hell, my wife and I were mortified to see kids (5-8 year-olds) in the theater when we saw "Bad Santa" - at the end of the movie! They had let their kids sit through that horrifying (but hilarious) movie!

Joe

But...but it's about Santa! It MUST be for kids!!

Rocky is a "nice" movie? I didn't see it but watching boxers beat the crap out of each other...not really my cup of tea. Shrek is a lot "nicer" in my opinion...more fun, too

[Heksubah]

I took my best friend to see Pan's Labyrinth after I had already seen it once. Now, for any who haven't seen it, I'll be mild and say that the movie has it's intense and brutal and most certainly not for children scenes. (Heck, in Mexico they had to start hanging signs over the movie posters to tell people that this movie is not for children!)

I can expect that a few parents might not know much about the movie and hear the word fairy tale and think, "Hey! Let's take the kids!" But from the first brutal scene (...which is very brutal. It shocked me.) you'd think they'd be covering junior's eyes and rushing out the door.

So here my friend and I are, watching the movie merrily, way into the movie and well past some of the more brutal scenes... and we see what appears to be a boy of about six dart off to use the restroom and then return. His parents are not batting an eye at what he is watching.

*shakes her head*

[BookstoreEscapee]

I didn't see Pan's Labyrinth (but I want to) but I sure as heck know it ain't for kids! Hell, when I went to see the last Harry Potter movie there were some little ones (like 4-5) who got scared and started crying. Did mommy and daddy take them out?

Do I really have to answer that?

[LadyAndreca]

To be honest, my then-20-year-old sister screamed during Harry Potter 2. But then, she's arachnophobic and had never read the books like my brothers and I and didn't know there'd be an entire forest of giant spiders...

[cinema guy]

Because of the Uks rating system, kids can't get into films like Pan's Labyrinth or Vacancy.

But even the youngest of children can be taken into Pirates of the Carribean or Harry Potter. It boggled my mind when I saw the young lad being hung at the beginning of Pirates 3 - parents were taking 4 year olds to see it.

But I think the film that had the most scared kids being brought out by parents was Monster House.