I needed to treat myself yesterday. Go and see a nice motion picture. A film for myself, for no other reason than to just enjoy the movie.
And, thanks to my previous patronage (and my loyalty card with Regal Cinemas), I had a coupon for both a free movie and a free small bucket of popcorn.
Decisions, decisions – what to see, what to see – and I finally settled on an afternoon showing of Hoppers. Yes, I’m a sucker for Pixar films. And the film was pretty good in and of itself.
But I’ve learned over the years to prepare myself for a long movie day. You get there in plenty of time, and you know you will sit through at least 20 to 25 minutes of advertisements, special upcoming events, a couple of charity fundraiser adverts, and at least eight or nine previews of upcoming films. So a film scheduled to start at 5;15 should start showing something at 5:00, with the film’s opening credits at approximately 5:30. Just enough time to down that bucket of popcorn and finish off the medium diet, light on the ice.
Even when I entered the screening room, there was a posted notice on the door that alerted me to the 20-25 minute advertisement / trailer expectation. I guess it’s a new thing now. We have to be told about such things, so that we can time whether to enter the theater just as the film starts, or sit through the advertisements.
All righty then. I’m here, it’s 4:55 p.m., give it to me.
5:05 p.m. Give it to me.
5:10 p.m. The advertisements – two commercials for Disney World properties and amusekent parks, and a couple of adverts for M&M’s.
Hmm, I thought. Someone must have started the projector late.
Nope – 5:15 on the dot, the Regal Roller Coaster powered up for a ride.
Then, after one trailer for Toy Story 5 – the movie’s opening credits rolled.
I checked my watch again. 5:18 p.m.
Wait, what?!?
The film started only three minutes after advertised time?? How is this even possible? What crazy timeline have I fallen into??
So anyway … after the film ended (and yes, there were TWO end credits scenes, at least THAT’S still part of tradition), I went to the theater representative and asked how this is possible.
“Oh,” he said, “sometimes we need a quicker turnaround time with our films, especially when the films are very popular. We advertise when the films have limited ads in our Regal app, did you not see that? I’m sorry if you missed the opening moments.”
No, no, I replied, I’m not upset over the situation, I’m actually happy to NOT suffer through the ton of goony commercials and godawful films I never plan to watch.
But now I’m curious. Did I miss something when I ordered tickets for this show?
Let me look.
I went to the Regal Cinemas website, then clicked on the showings for the East Greenbush cinema.
Okay. “CC” means that there’s a closed-caption option available, and I’ve dealt with that before.
“ADS” means that there’s an audio descriptive service feature available. I use that at home with certain dramas, especially on some of the Taylor Sheridan pulpers on Paramount Plus.
But the third phrase – “Exclude Form Ads” – means that instead of 25 minutes of adverts, you get a minimal amount instead.
Dang. I think it’s now gotten to the point in my life where I’m not only picking a movie to watch … but also trying to decide HOW I want to see it, and how many advertisements I want attached to it.
Well, if nothing else, I can assure you that this blog post is sponsored by my hard work and dedication, and is not sponsored by M&M’s, Starry Cola, the Koto Experience, or that wad of canola oil that the movie theater passes off as popcorn butter.
Chuck The Writer 
a good option, I’d say and sounds like a good movie choice !
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