I like a rowdy movie audience

I haven't seen "War of the Worlds" yet. I could have gone to a preview, but it struck me as the ideal drive-in movie this summer. I can't wait to the see giant aliens on the big outdoor screen!

There's been a lot of talk this year about why no one is seeing movies. I personally think that the downturn is just a cyclical anomaly. I have a really hard time believing that America's love affair with the movie theater is over and I think the media is going overboard covering it.

But if you're one who is driven crazy by people talking and cellphones ringing at movies, I have a strange suggestion for you: go to the drive-in. Yes, there is a loud crowd, children run around, people walk in front of you while the movie is running, the sound is imperfect and it sometimes pours rain. But that's the reason to go. All expectations for a quiet and serene theater experience disappear. The drive-in feels like a communal experience in a way that we no longer want general theater-going to be a communal experience. A lot of people argue that other people don't know how to act at movies. They feel comfortable talking through a DVD at home and so they feel comfortable talking at the theater. But I think another bad habit picked up while watching a DVD at home is the expectation that everyone else in the theater will be as still as the furniture in your livingroom. Movies are public events and audiences enhance them. Especially when they bring their cars.

I agree about having a little life in the audience. People should laugh and complain and be people.
Of course I have been annoyed by people's behavior at movies, but I think it is best not to worry about it so much.
My daughter and I went to "Herbie" last night and there was a guy a couple rows behind us that had a very loud laugh that was definitely more boisterous that expected. But I decided to just go with it and after awhile I felt it actually added to the movie to have this kind of nutty guy laughing too loud a few rows back.

One of my favorite "just go with it" audience moments was at the Oak Street Cinema. I was seeing a Jacques Tati film. Even before Tati did anything - he was just walking down the street - a man near me started laughing. Not a big round laugh, but a small "Tati is a genius and I understand his genius" laugh. He continued to chuckle knowingingly at points in the film that, I swear, were not meant to be funny...but there he would be with his knowing laugh. At first it annoyed me, then I learned to love his love of the film and love of being the-guy-who-gets-Tati. I remember more of that movie than I would have otherwise.

I will never forget seeing Blade (the first one) at Apache Plaza. By that time the theater was clearly on its last legs but that Saturday afternoon there was a pretty packed audience. They were incredible. From cheering on "Wes" during fight scenes to booing at the vampires, the audience just augmented the fun factor for the movie. I saw the next two movies on DVD and the experience was totally different.

I never liked it when people distracted me from a movie, but that experience changed the way I think about movie audiences. It was a great experience.