Movie No-No's

Use the silent function on your cell phone

A friend's comment and the fact that I am going to see a movie tonight reminded me of a few irritating trends involved with going to the movies....or for our elderly readers (going to the picture show).

1) I am about sick and tired of there now being commercials intertwined with movie previews before the actual movie. I don't pay 7 dollars plus gas (now about 5 more dollars) to go to a movie and watch commercials. Commercials are for television and one of the advantages of going to the picture show is supposed to be an absence of commercials. One of my favorite parts of going to a movie is anxiously awaiting the previews. When the lights dim, I quit talking and get excited about what should be the upcoming preview. And then, lo and behold, its a freakin commercial (Much beloved Coca Cola is usually the guilty party). My plea: if we absolutely have to watch commercials, please make it be ESPN Sportscenter commercials.

2) Leave your infants at HOME. My goodness, when parents bring their infant to a movie theater, I lose my compassion. Blockbuster, Movie Gallery, and babysitters are for you. Here is a tip. If you bring a sleeping infant into a loud movie theater, no matter how well he/she sleeps, the surround sound of a gunfight will probably wake him up. And then the child will be screaming....I would be too, if I was 7 months old and experiencing gunfire all around me.

3) That guy or usually that girl who thinks she can have a conversation on her cell phone during the movie. They think because they are whispering, they are being polite. What I usually hear is "Hey...I'm at a movie....yea its pretty good...I'll try to call you back after the movie....I know, I'm so excited....OK call me later...." For that brief moment, I am completely distracted from the movie and zero in on how annoyed I am at the conversation going on in the movie. Who knows, in that brief minute, had I been watching Deep Blue Sea, I might have missed Samuel Jackson's death because of her conversation.

I still love the movies though and will continue to go. I just think people should be stopped at the ticket office and told "oh, maybe you didn't realize it, but that thing you are holding is a small child. That child probably does not want to see this movie and we can't allow you in."

Any other suggestions?