where do you sit at the movies POLL: The Poll

reserved seating is great but then my worry always becomes 'aw great is some P.O.S. gonna be sittin' in my seat now'?

yeah that was my concern initially, that i was gonna have to be the petty asshole that cares that much about where they sit but so far that hasn't been an issue

we only have two theatres here which use reserved seating, one of which is an AMC 'Fork 'n Screen' where that wouldn't be as much of an issue, and the other a dinner movie theatre, which I haven't been to since they went to assigned seating. Mostly basing my paranoia on my experience at Orlando Magic games, where the average beginning to an evening consisted of:

"Hey bro, I believe that's my seat..."
'whuh? Nah man, see, says seat 3 right here'
"What row?"
'T'
"This is Row B"
'ahh for real, I was for sure this was where the usher pointed me?'

the other reason I like reserved seating = having to avoid the constant asking of "ARE THESE SAVED? ARE THESE SAVED?", as someone ropes off 8 seats for friends that haven't shown up yet and are likely going to be 20 mins late.

yeah at a movie theater if it wasn't crowded i'd probably just think 'o well we'll sit somewhere else' whereas at a sporting event i'd definitely be 'MOVE MOTHERFUCKER'

front two or three rows to the side (i hate myself and want to etc), pref in a row w/out other ppl - when companions i go to movies with insist on seats further way, i always find the effect too distancing - i want that enveloping experience

I saw a reissue of Blue Velvet around 2002 where I was the only person in the cinema for most of the film, seeing films with other people always felt like a bit of a letdown after that

I usually go to movies in the morning (10 a.m. yesterday) so I don't often worry about crowds.

heh, for a spell last year I kept going to late movies at the theatre 3 miles from my house cos it's situated in a low-traffic mall and often I almost had the theatre to myself cos nobody likes going there late nights. it felt like a private theatre w/ comfy seats.

I try and sit somewhere that close to the exit so I can run out at the end of the film because I hate making eye contact with other people as we leave the cinema, also hate the idea of them forming opinions about me based on my appearance + what movie we've been watching

I don't literally run, but I try to leave quickly

welcome to my sexual habits

I prefer empty theatres because when I finish with the popcorn tub, it's tossed up and back

the cinema I most often go to has reserved seating for all evening & weekend screenings, it's great. I book early & get the seats I want (then I arrive early anyway).

find cinemagoing a constant battle between wanting a communal experience vs an unusually heightened awareness of how awful people can be

the latter usually wins that battle quite handily I find, but I may just be a misanthrope

I totally am when I'm at the pictures

I could just stay at home and watch TV, so I guess I do want a communal experience to some extent? a communal experience where you sit with other people in the dark not looking at or talking to them is about as far as I'm willing to go

2nd or 3rd row middle if I'm by myself or with someone else with any sense, otherwise WEVS

truthfully I almost never go to movies for the communal experience unless it's a raucous comedy, usually I'm going cuz it's abig screen and loud sound and I can eat really crappy for me food in large quantities.

pretty much completely uncoupled the pastimes of eating and cinemagoing in my mind years ago, it's quite freeing to realise that you can eat popcorn anytime you want + it's possible to sit for 90 minutes without eating something. As a regular moviegoer I save a LOT of money not buying shit overpriced snacks. The downside is you start to reeeeaallly hate the people who feel they need to eat stuff

I am conditioned to eat whenever watching anything, television, etc. it's ingrained. and i'm always hungry.

I was the same! I unconditioned myself at some point, I guess, although I don't remember consciously trying to do so.

It's the type of food, too: my local arts cinema sells wasabi peas as a snack ffs! WELL DONE YOU HAVE MANAGED TO FIND THE ONE FOOD NOISIER THAN POPCORN

in theory i'm a "in the middle, in the middle" person, but the local theater i go to most often has seats that are all on the same level (rather than one seat being higher than the one in front of it), which means your view is blocked if there's anyone sitting in front of you -- not just directly in front of you, but for two or three rows in front of you. this theater usually isn't full so it's not generally a problem, but have had a couple special screenings half-spoiled by this kinda inexplicable design flaw.

Just witnessed an awkward you're-sitting-in-my-seat encounter in an almost empty theatre; the dude stammered at the offending couple for about a minute before realising he could just take a seat in the row behind (he was middle-middle btw)

Also I had an espresso between films & am wishing I hadn't

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