There was a solid 20 mins of tv style commercials prior to the 15 mins of trailers, all after the advertised start time.

People still go to theaters?

I haven't been to a theater since I saw The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc roughly forever ago. However, next time I'm in Omaha, I am going to go see something at the Alamo Drafthouse simply because it looks amazing.

I go to movies all the time. I think your experience was an outlier, Glenn, and also depends on the theater you go to. There are three different chains in my area that I go to, and at worst they put the ads on before the advertised start time. That's what AMC does. Regal is a chain near me that does the same.


That's the third theater near me, and yes, it's amazing. Easily the best movie theater in the DC area. They have no ads that I've seen.

They also prize the moviegoing experience above all else, so you'll get top-notch projection and great sound. I've gone to other theaters where the projection was dim and the volume too low, and the experience was no good. You don't get that sort of thing at the Alamo. Also their pizzas are incredible.

Quick story: I went to a show at the Alamo recently, and there was occasional construction noise that was audible from next door. It was only mildly irritating, and I was able to enjoy the movie just fine. When they brought my receipt for the soda I'd ordered, there was a coupon for a free ticket with it. They took that initiative.

Cinebarre was a small chain trying to replicate the success of the Alamo Drafthouse. For the locations in the PacNW, they'd play little art shorts or similar before the movies, not quite as themed to the specific movies like Alamo.

Sadly the concept didn't do as well in this area, and Regal ended up buying the chain. The day the conversion happened, the art films stopped and the advertisements started before the show.

I've seen less movies in the theater as a result. It used to be a nice way to wind down the work week with food and drink service before the movie started. It became less appealing with mass market advertisements being shouted at those waiting for the movie to start.

Thankfully Paul Allen's theater still lacks ads and has a pretty nice screen/projection setup. Just not quite the same without full meal service at ones seat.

That's very sad! I haven't been to Cinebarre recently, so I haven't experienced this yet. When did the change happen?



Also try Sundance Cinemas in the U-district. Not quite the full-restaurant-service of Cinebarre, but, the same basic concept (bar+food+movie). I was there recently for Rogue One. I don't recall whether there were any ads at the top of the movies or not, but if there were I don't recall them being egregious.

I think I remember the theater changes happening early last summer. Digging deeper, I learned a bit more about Cinebarre in the process.

From the start, the chain was a joint venture between Regal and the former CEO of Alamo Drafthouse, Terrell Braly. In December 2015, controlling interest was bought by Regal and the changes started slowly creeping in at that point. This helps explain all the similarities.

Interestingly Braly's departure from the Drafthouse cleared a path that Tim League, original founder used to become CEO later.

And Braly is known for another franchise, Quizno's, after having started the original location in Denver.

Welcome to what happens when you put digital projectors into theaters. Since they can run advertisements any way they want, without anybody having to cue up spools of film or whatever, then that's exactly what they do.

I agree it's annoying, but all the local theaters here do it. I'm resigned to it. (Alamo Drafthouse has a theater way, way, way out west of the city of Houston, but nothing in town. Yet.)

I don't think that's the cause at all. If anything, I see far fewer ads after the start time than I used to. Back in the early 2000's I used to see the same thing that Glenn described at my local theaters. But I think most chains have heard this complaint and are now resigned to putting the ads before the start time. It's been ages since I've seen anything but trailers after the advertised start time of a movie.

I would say that the theater owners realize that there's more competition both at home and from other theaters. When I was growing up, there was a single movie theater in town, and I grew up in a highly populated area. I live a little ways from there now, but in 15 minutes I can get to 7 different movie theaters from five different chains (and the two Regal theaters are very different styles). I know that if one of those theaters showed ads after the start time, I'd never go back to that one.

There's an AMC a little farther away that has its own produced segment that runs before the movie called "The 20," where they show promotions for products and TV shows (usually all terrible), and just before the advertised start time they wrap up all the stuff you saw, or didn't see because you got there at the end of it. I'm fine with that. They can do whatever they want before the show is supposed to start.


I'm very sorry. I feel so lucky to have one a mere 10 minute drive from my house. I adore the Alamo.