Reader Digest Version Global

13 Things a Movie Theater Employee Won’t Tell You

Find out behind the scenes info about your favorite place to see the next blockbuster.

By Ilana Strauss
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1. Why does it smell so good? The popcorn has chemicals in it to make its aroma fill the theater.

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2. “Extreme Digital” is actually lower quality than IMAX digital. We use it because it’s easier to maintain.

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3. For the first month or two of screening, money from ticket sales goes to movie studios. Theaters rely on concession stands to make money. That’s why concessions are overpriced. Popcorn costs almost nothing to make.

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4. I know all the methods you use to sneak in. I just don’t always care enough to kick you out for it.

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5. The only foods I trust are the popcorn, drinks, and boxed candy. I wouldn’t eat the pretzels, hot dogs, or nachos.

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6. Chances are, if you complain to the manager and he sides with you, he’s just putting on a show to calm you down. The manager might pretend to yell at me for a minute, but he’ll pat me on the back the moment you’re out of sight.

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7. Combination deals don’t save you money at some theaters. You’d pay the same price if you purchased the items separately.

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8. Think you’re saving calories by ordering a small popcorn? That “small” popcorn could have been a medium last month.

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9. Stop getting angry that your food isn't ready. Microwaves can't cook frozen pizzas in 30 seconds!

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10. No, I can’t give you extra cups. Everything is inventoried at the end of the night.

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11. Your suspicions are correct. Sometimes I sweep excess food under the seats. Movies often end every few minutes. Sometimes, three or more screenings end at the same time. I don’t always have time to clean everything up.

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12 Yes, movies start late. But they almost always end on time – otherwise, the ushers wouldn’t know when to clean up. Theaters tell you to come in early so you have time to watch commercials and previews.

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13. Popcorn keeps for a day or two. Many customers confuse warm with fresh.

Sources: Movie theater employees in California, Illinois, and Indiana

Your Comments

  • JScout

    Costumers?  Nice job, Editors!

    • Capital E

      Yeah, Editors!

  • Pam

    I LOVE the previews!!!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6U2TZHR7RQWPLSUFPRT35JWBTY Luna

    I rarely go to the movies anymore, TOO TOO EXPENSIVE…. My kids are teens now, but when they were younger, I used to take them with another mother who used to bring a big bag-filled with drinks and snacks- only one theater around us would question whether we have crap in her bag, so she starter buying a drink. After a while, after I was totally BROKE (on SSI for disability), I started doing the same thing.. I would buy one drink and a large OVER PRICED POPCORN…. I really hated when all the theaters got the candy by the pound and those stupid Crane machines… my kids learned how to win on most of the crane machines -except the light ones with the ipods… other mothers would give us dirty looks like we had an ‘in’. NO, and my kids normally gave extras away, still did not help… so glad they are older

    • Anonymous

      Going to the movies is definitely too expensive! I remember they were $1 on Saturdays when I was a kid. Now tickets at the movie theater are $12.50 EACH. And at the Live Theatre, tickets are a whopping $38 each!

      It’s MUCH cheaper to rent a redbox video for $1 and watch it at home!

      • Noch

        You’re right. Cinemas are just going to put themselves out of business. With movies being available on DVD much sooner after release than they used to, fewer people will bother with the overpriced tickets, overpriced food and people talking on their phones.

        • MattyWhaley01

          @0c9916129658cc21c6dc5d3aacf93907:disqus , remember when “The Avengers” made $207 million in 3 days and has made $700 million worldwide already? Yeah…I’m sure all the theaters are headed straight for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Movies going to DVD much sooner sure didn’t help Blockbuster, did it?

        • Redburn03

          Avengers did $200 million in two days…. You have no idea what you are talking about!!

        • Midknightsf

           Cinemas will NEVER go out of business, this is the most ignorant comment of all. Since the dawn of film, movies have always been one of the most accessible and immediate forms of entertainment. Who do you think controls the release of movies on DVD? Companies like Sony, Disney, and Universal will never release blockbusters like Avengers, Twilight, and Star Wars directly to DVD. Look at the movies that go straight to DVD? All B-movies and lower that make EVEN MORE money for the film companies because people like you rent and buy them. Meanwhile, their blockbusters are also in theatres grossing billions. I spent 11 years working in film exhibition, and heard countless ignorant statements like yours and others, saying that theatres will just go out of business charging that much. Guess what? Things haven’t changed, and gotten even more expensive, and more and more people are going to the movies. SO, try again.

          • http://www.facebook.com/nikke.shelton Nikke Shelton

            Your right but lighten up! It’s just idle conversation.

          • THOMAS WREN

            You sound like a spoiled fratboy who hates the poor, get a grip.

          • trojanguy

            Yeah right..spend $14 to sit in a theater and getting constantly distracted by someone’s smart phone, talking, eating, kicking my seat, etc. Forget it…….I don’t want to support wealthy Hollywood elite Liberal A Holes anyways.

        • http://profile.yahoo.com/BCYKELCOQD5Q5DGT3DVWVZOALY Razz

           The fault lies with the movie makers. The movies cost them a lot and in order to pay for their employees they must charge fairly high prices for the food.  Most theaters have something that comes up on the screen saying turn off or at least put phones on vibration. That is the rudeness of the guest if they are talking on a phone during the movie.  I have never paid an extremely high price for a ticket but if you are watching an IMAX it might be a lot more.  I pay $5.50 for a matinee and that is any movie before 6PM and it is about three dollars more for the evening. It is higher if you are watching an IMAX but generally for this day and age the price of the film isn’t that much. Talk to the movie industry that is bankrupting them by premiering movies in demand before released into the theaters. A big fight was going on for awhile and I don’t know if it is over because the theaters said they wouldn’t screen any movies shown on TV/Cable/Satellite prior to theater release. So it is complicated and if they lowered the price of the food they couldn’t pay their employees. A lot of outside things have contributed to this and not that the theaters want to gouge anyone. They are being forced to charge more.

      • Harris

        there are still cheap movie theaters, as long as you’re willing to wait for the second run

        • Letschat Com

          not in our areas

      • Morgan McGirr

        I agree, I use Redbox like crazy. And lucky for me, there’s a dollar theatre nearby that plays movies like right when they’re out of the theatres. i dont bother seeing anything until i can see it for a dollar!

        • Lulu

          yeah u r lucky. we have to drive #0 mins away and pay big bucks to watch a movie. too bad.we have 1 redbox at 1 grocery store too ugh!

      • Anonymous

        Movie and media companies are going after people for downloading movies because that’s the “cheapest” method of seeing a movie.

        I’m willing to fork over the money to see a “good” movie but most movies nowadays are just cr#p! I’d pay for the bargain matinee show even though most are about $8-10 now. OUCH!

        Movie companies are really killing themselves by paying the overpriced salaries of actors/actresses and high advertisements then charging people high prices to see the movies just to recoup their costs!

        It’s no wonder that people aren’t watching much movies (legally) anymore!

        I don’t buy movies anymore.
        The VHS tapes I still have will eventually rot and disposed of or be donated to a local library. Cable channels ofter replay older movies repeatedly so why buy movie DVDs anymore?

        • Lulu

          sooner or later u can se dem on ur satalite company hook up and dey play it over * over so many times..

          • jakiboy

            lulu dear (not trying to be mean)..but try spell check ..(and I don’t even know how use it myself!)

        • http://www.facebook.com/reva.madison Reva Madison

          You have a library that still has VHS tapes? Probably check again, and find they are gone.

      • Mike

        You must be a young pup. I remember the Saturday matinees costing $.25. Those were the days my friends.

        • Lulu

          lucky dayz to go to cinemas.

        • Anon

          You must be an “older” pup ;)

          I remember when movies cost ~$3 as a kid.

          • http://www.facebook.com/reva.madison Reva Madison

            Our local theaters charged 9 cents per child ticket, in the 40s and 50s. Later on, you could get into the drive in theater at $1 per carload. We even had kids loaded into the trunk of the car, in order to get more in for that price. Ten cents for a hotdog, and a coke, too.

        • goinstrong

          As a youth, 50 cents got me into a Saturday matinee, popcorn, soda and a box of candy. Now, THOSE were the days!

          • Dagnaggit

            your parents also made 50 bucks a week, if the had a good job.

          • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1050287178 Jane Jessee

            to enlighten you, a house cost $2000., a care cost $900. and they all had good jobs. I worked thru high school in a bakery for $.50 an hour and managed to buy what I needed and/or wanted, but then we weren’t selfish enough to think we were “entitled” and priviledged.

        • http://www.facebook.com/nikke.shelton Nikke Shelton

          I remember, as you said Sat. matinees .25 cents and .50 cents regular, and it was a long time ago!

        • Cerberus79

          Twenty-five cents? My mother gave me a quarter on Saturday and that got me a seat in the local movie house (10 cents) and a hot dog and soda (15 cents) at the neighborhood delicatessen. Haven’t enjoyed myself so much since.

      • Walt Mitchell

        What part of the country do you live in?  Live Theater is $38 a ticket?  For a Broadway show in New York City, even a matinee orchestra ticket can run you over a hundred bucks!  I saw “Hello, Dolly!” there in the mid- or late-’60s when the show was new.  For a nice matinee ochestra seat, I paid $6.25!  No bargains like THAT any more!

      • goobee

        yeah and I remember when you could buy a new car for $2000 and you could buy gas for 19 cents a gallon and cigarettes were 25 cents a pack.    Hmmmm I don’t even have a cents sign on my keyboard – that should say something.  Prices go up > Live with it!  You make money where you can.  I’m not seeing anyone talk about the prices of goodies at a concert or sporting event and that’s the same thing.  Hell, the last time I went to a football game, I couldn’t have any other enjoyment for the next month!!!  $250.00 for a ticket to a football game!!!!!  and then $10 / for a beer?????  Give me a freakin break!!!!  Life is expensive now – deal with it!

        • Mediaguy1990

          its called inflation!!!

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          • Rodhea

            Numbers lock does not have to be on. You can just hold the alt key down and type 155 and then release the alt key to get ¢.

          • http://www.facebook.com/reva.madison Reva Madison

            Cripes! Just spell it out “cents” takes fewer brain muscles and key strokes.

          • Ian S

            yeah let’s do the ignorant lazy way instead of learning something.

        • SPINMASTER

          Bottom line..them that got and them that do not!!! So flaunt it if you got it!! But I’ll be damed if i spent 100 dollars for a concert, 200 for a professional sports game, or buy a cheap bleacher ticket for 50..when I can just entertain myself at home. Suddenly you look up and your 60..and don’t have..a pot to piss in!! Memories are great…having money and comfort in your middle ages is greater!!!!!!!!!!

      • Eliezer Pennywhistler

        $1 then is about $10 today.  So what’s your point?

      • Casper the friendly revenant

         Let me know when you get a 40,000 watt sound system and I will watch them at your house.

        • Tonyrozensky

          Will you pay $12 for home made pop corn and soda?

      • http://www.facebook.com/lizmargib Liz Gibson

         It’s called a matinee!

      • Anonymous

        AND I REMEMBER WHEN I PAID $.25 ON SATURDAY AFTERNOONS,  CANDY WAS $.05.   I CAN’T RECONCILE PAYING THIS MUCH MONEY FOR AN HOUR OR SO OF DUBIOUS ENTERTAINMENT AND THE DESIRE TO DO SO IS GONE WITH THE WIND.

      • FredGunther

        I remember when a Summer Saturday afternoon trip to the movies cost 15-cents.  For that price the theater showed two features, 3 or 4 cartoons, and a “serial”.  When the outside temperature was over 100 degree F, this was literally a “cool” way to spend the afternoon, back in the late 1940′s!    

        • pdwow

          theaters were the first to use air conditioners, even before homes.

        • Cerberus79

          Don’t forget the free ice cream to the first 50 kids!

      • ArjaiH

        Heck I remember when it was 50 cents for a double feature, a cartoon and a filler!

      • Mikshelt

        You live in an expensive area.  In mine matinees are $5. Of course you can watch at home anytime.

      • http://profile.yahoo.com/GUYCGYXE4IJFLMNUAXNQQ7W6NI V

         Well in my town if you don’t mind waiting until the film has been out for 3 months, we have a smaller theater that plays them for 1.99. I’d never make a movie it weren’t for that!

      • Boogeyman

         When I was a kid, 0.25 bought an all day Saturday of Serial movies, two main movies, drink and popcorn, but that was late 40′s. OK, I’m OLD.

        • http://www.facebook.com/reva.madison Reva Madison

          Yep, and the movies started at around 1 PM , ran all day without stop and ended at around 11 at night. People came in in the middle of a movie, sat through that one, a cartoon, a newcast, another movied, until midway where they had come in, then got up and left. You didnt worry about what time you got there.

      • Popoo

         It’s called inflation, it didn’t really cost $1 in relation to $12.50 today

      • Anonymous

        Check out the Matinees; usually they run at noon on weekdays b/c a lot of daycare facilities take children who aren’t in school but in their daycare program to the matinee movies; during the summer months, they take all the children but especially the older school-aged children. It’s cheaper on the parents. 

        Also, if you work M-F, you can attend the Saturday and/or Sunday matinee for a LOT LESS making it much easier on the pocketbook. 

        In addition, if you are a student or your children are in school, most cinema theaters will accept school identification cards (college & grade school K-12) and give a pretty decent discount on ticket costs.

      • johnny Gunter

         I took a dozen of frozen donuts under neath my shirt!

      • http://www.facebook.com/BKL1987 Brandon ‘bkl’ Lockaby

        I hope you know, the theater has no control over ticket prices, Hollywood (studios) control them. The theaters make their profits form concessions. That’s why its expensive for popcorn, candy, and drinks. Yes it is expensive, but it’s worth it. I rather see a movie on the big screen, than in my home.

    • http://twitter.com/JennRJohnson Jenn Johnson

      The Palladium in Birmingham,Michigan sells movie tickets for $5.00/each until 6pm. AND the theater is absolutely beautiful and no I don’t work there.

    • Grindhousecinema

      We know our popcorn is overpriced. However we make virtually NO money on ticket prices. Remember it costs us money to get the movies we play, it is often times done on a profit split. Opening weekend is generally 80-20 … meaning 80% of the ticket price goes directly to the movie studio and 20% goes to the theater. That 20% is not enough to pay for the film, the employees, the lights, the water, the gas, and so on. We have to make money somehow and concession is the only we do. Trust me the theater is not your enemy… you can thank distribution studios for making the industry this way.

      • SPINMASTER

        Yeah but 7.50 or popcorn and 6 for a soda? Come on man!! You’d sell double what you are selling now if you would cut those prices in half. Then people like me would not sneak in snacks and water and can sodas.

      • Cerberus79

        …and do the studios force you to play 20 minutes of trailers before the film and do they force you to play the sound at ear-splitting levels. both reasons I stay away, not the popcorn?

        • Cedric Satterfield

          yes, actually, theydo.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YST67AHQZAYUGLRJ7Z4OZPBFHY williamc

      Luna,

      I base what I am about to say having been a theater manager for several years. While the prices might seem outrageous, the concession stand is where the theater has to make its profit. The movie production companies keep most of what is taken in at the box office. So, concessions is where they have to make their money.

      Also, it is very, very expensive to operate a movie theater. Especially these monster-mega palaces they have today. Look at your average 15 screen theater. It has more square footage than a Home Depot with at times thousands of people in it. The monthly electric bill alone can be well into the five digits and even for the largest theaters the high five digits.

      Lights, staff, equipment, projectors, cost of the food itself, air conditioning and maintenance on the building runs into the millions each year for a 15-20 screen theater.

      You might ask, why not make them smaller? If they do that then when a movie like Avatar or The Avengers comes out they don’t have the theater space to accommodate it. And that makes them have to raise the prices even higher. My point in all of this, if you factor all of this in, the concession prices don’t seem so bad.

      • ErinKB

        In looking at operating costs, the theatre I worked at for most of high school and college was in a mall complex and paying around $40K/month in rent as well. 

        • CRC

          The rent for the one I worked at (a 16 screen theatre) was $150K a month.

    • Hopehaswings71

      Took my kids to that rare find nowadays-a movie theatre whose tickets are between 1-2 dollars all the time.  Of course the concessions are overpriced, and once in a while in a nod to their need for profit, I’ll buy a 5 dollar drink.  The movies come out here a while AFTER they come out at the expensive cinemas, and just before they come out in DVD.  But paying a buck or two to see it on the big screen and have the cinema experience isn’t bad, when you make it a novelty for the kids by not doing it too often.  We only see the movies there that others who saw them at expensive cinemas really loved.  :)  It’s just an experience, and one should not have to spend a day’s pay to entertain one’s family for 2 hours.

    • guest144

      Why weren’t you making the decisions, instead of the kids? Also, why do kids (and adults) have to glom down high sugar, high cal junk food to be able to enjoy a movie?

    • Guest535

      Movie theaters will not go out of business when people who cannot afford cinema and their over-priced snacks continue to pay for it.

    • Guest535

      Movie theaters will not go out of business when people who cannot afford cinema and their over-priced snacks continue to pay for it.

    • hannah

       

      UGH! I totally agree with you, @Luna. There is just no
      reason to shell out that kind of cash to the theaters. My DISH coworker was
      just telling me how her family trip to the theaters this weekend racked up a $60
      bill; that’s just crazy! I can’t even remember the last time I felt the desire
      to go to the theaters. I always just opt to watch movies at my house instead.
      My couch is way comfier, and I make way better snacks! Plus, since I have the
      Blockbuster@Home service from DISH, I never am short on options of what to watch.
      I don’t know how the theaters are ever going to stay in business at this rate.

    • Mikshelt

      What a whiner.  That’s the problem.

    • Angel1955

      I remember when a local theatre opened up – and two things happened – every time the popcorn machine opened up the fire alarm went off – and most of the popcorn had been pre-packaged and was stale

    • http://www.facebook.com/leonard.webber.3 Leonard Webber

      why do people HAVE to eat at the movies ?  wouldn’t it be cheaper to  eat at home BEFORE the movie.

    • Geronimo

       blow me lady, what a LAME story..

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1050287178 Jane Jessee

        you are beyond rude!! You are a perfect example of why this country is going down in the dust bin of history…no respect for themselves, let alone someone else

    • http://www.facebook.com/wendy.darling.5832 Wendy Darling

      I don’t go anymore either, but it’s not the price, it’s the increased rudeness of the people who act like it’s a private screening.

    • sandy

      Not to mention- MOST of the movies today are garbage. Why not stay home and make some ORGANIC popcorn, snuggle up on the couch with your honey & watch a good old fashioned movie?!~

  • Rick Steward

    13 things that are realy annoying:  Having you gray out what I’m looking at on each of the “”13 things that …” in order to tell me I have an outdated browser.  After the first one, two things should be obvious.  First, I got the message.  Second, it doesn’t matter or I wouldn’t be continuing down the list.  You’ve just convinced me to give up on “13 things” because, frankly, they’re nice, but not nice enough to be worth the anoyance.

    • Guinevere81

      Have you considered clicking the link to see the slideshow on one page?

      That might help the with annoyance level. If nothing else, you would only get the message about your “outdated browser” once, twice at most. :)

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EJBWWT5TWRZPZIK7DPKJNIC6CQ Wentra

        Where is that link?

    • Whatcha?

      Why don’t you just update your browser? I’m sure this isn’t the only site you’re getting that message on. It’s not hard to update your browser and then you can see what everyone else is talking about. 

  • IJ

    I work at (relatively small) theater. I agree with most of this stuff (like expensive concessions so that we can actually pay to have the movie you want to see), but I completely laughed at 1. I’ve made popcorn hundreds of times now, and we don’t have any special ingredients to make the popcorn smell good (maybe some places do?). We have the popcorn seed, coconut oil, and popcorn salt. And it smells delicious because it’s popcorn…

    And I’m proud to say that our combination deals ARE a deal and that if you’re spending more money for less, we will let you know. :) Oh, and we make fresh popcorn everyday. :)

    • daisydukes88

      i too work as a manager in a movie theater. we do not have chemicals either in the popcorn to make it smell better, nor is it in the coconut butter or oil.We have flavoring butter..SURPRISE its not even real butter, just a flavor of butter. I love the inventory statement. I count inventory every night and i cant tell you how many times a day i get asked for another cup or bag. Do they think theyre really paying 4.97 for soda? no its for the cup. We make fresh popcorn everyday. we never save popcorn, nachos, hotdogs,etc for the next day. its always fresh. Yes, concession is overpriced, that IS because of movie tickets. they are not profitable for the first few weeks, and midnight premieres. We get complaints that the ushers havent finished cleaning the theater yet so customers can go in, but if we let them in a dirty theater, wed still get complaints. Everyday i get jaws dropped when they ask how much a bottle of water is (4.19) we pay 3.99 for a case of 24, and they pay 4.19 for one bottle and then they get mad at me . i do not make the price i just sell them. I get yelled at for ratings of movies and how terrible some are. I actually had one customer tell me to stop putting bad movies in my theater and that i should be ashamed of myself for showing that to the public and i have had others tell me that i need to pick better actors!! I also hear “why isnt this in 3d the theater closer to home has it in 3d.” actually it doesnt, if a movie isnt filmed in 3D no theater has it, if it is in 3D every theater that has digital 3d,  have the featured film in 3d, and 2d. I also have customers tell me that we need to put better movies in IMAX. Imax makes movies in “imax” form. They film it with special cameras to it the screen. We dont choose the movie, then our corporate negotiates with imax which imax movies we get.I have people order a large popcorn, eat the whole bag and at the end of the movie come out and tell me it was too salty and they wanted their money back. If you come out a half hr into the movie and only eaten no more than half a bag i will probably give you money back or a new batch, if you wait, i will not because then you probably just wanted a free outing, as well as movie tickets. dont wait until after the movie to tell me you were offended, or just didnt like it and want your money back. I dont go to a restaurant   or amusement park and tell them i didnt like the 3 course meal and desert or i didnt have fun on their rides even though i spent the whole day there and ask for my money back. its entertainment, i am not going to let you just test the movie. i do theater checks, i make sure you are not talking, texting and talking on your cell phones and hopping theaters. sometimes if its busy you may get away with it, but 99 times out of 100 i will throw you out. we find money under seats and in the arm rests, and we do keep it, including the ushers. Dont come to the concession and order meals for a family of 8, chicken strips french fries hot dogs nachos pizzas , they take time to cook, go out to lunch before hand, wed be losing money but you wont have to miss the first 20 minutes of your movie and complain and ask for a manager and miss another 15 minutes. stop asking me if i watch all of the movies. I watch some of them, but honestly when i do watch them its at 3am after hours when theres noone else there so i can actually enjoy it. I dont spend time there if i dont have to, and i will be honest and tell you if i have seen the movie or not. 

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6TMCWA2T5ZS7SD2GOJFLWYI5IA msntnkrbll

        I feel your pain, girlfriend.  When I was a Disney Store castmember in the early nineties, I often got yelled at because “Snow White” was not available on VHS and at the time they had no plans to release it.  Like it was my fault.  And I also got a riot act once because the crowds at Disneyland were my fault, too.   The “General Public”….aaaacckkk, they’re the WORST!

        • kollette27

          Only took me three years in a “customer service” position to determine that I hated people. Always attempting to get something for nothing, always whining and moaning over something you cannot help, always complaining about the right things to the wrong person. But, companies make this worse by catering to people so that they don’t lose their business. Yes, I complain to businesses but about REAL issues. If I go to a movie that was rated PG13 and it has a sex scene in it, I will immediately take my children out and speak with the manager, not about getting my money back, but about getting a ticket to another movie for another day. If I get it, I would be on my way with another word said, if I don’t get my way, I will speak to corporate…but I always send an email to the rating commission ;). I understand that managers do not control movie content, but that huge rating sign on the front of the building is misleading, and they should be willing to keep the money, but agree to a different ENTIRE movie on another day, only one hasn’t and that one is the reason I use IMDB before every single trip to the movies ;). As far as loud mouth disrespectful people, well that is a whole different reason to hate people. I will immediately get up and go find an usher to quiet or remove them. If it continues, I will eventually ask for a refund. But most theatres don’t keep an eye on their patrons, in my experience anyway. If you want to maintain your faith in humanity, DO NOT work in customer service, in ANY capacity!!

      • Noch

        Perhaps if you’d learned to paragraph and write in English at school you wouldn’t be working in a movie theatre. Seriously, reading what you wrote was painful.

        • Burgermeister

          Pretentious at all?  I worked in theaters throughout high school and some summers in college.  My coworkers were mostly bright, enthusiastic, and hard-working students.  If YOU found it painful perhaps you either need an eye exam or better comprehension skills.  Writing in the Queen’s English isn’t required to make communication successful.

          • Kondo214216

            That was really stupid fat-boy burger…actually, you’re an idiot. Noch made a perfectly valad point & you ruined it with your negative words. The guy can’t write Burger boy. He’s probally a fine example of what comes out of the public school system.

          • Karen

            What’s a valad point? I would probally know that since I went to a public school. I guess I went to a bad one since I like to make valid points and I probably understand that the red squiggle under the words I type means that they are spelled wrong. That was just too awesome to resist.

          • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OVRHZW667LXIYONY773RHE2Y2M MQBitsko

             I can compose a message using the Queen’s English.  Both you and Noch are pretentious. 

          • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OVRHZW667LXIYONY773RHE2Y2M MQBitsko

             I can compose a message using the Queen’s English.  Both you and Noch are pretentious. 

        • http://dukeofurl.myopenid.com/ Anthony

          Or, knowing how the economy is right now, even if you have a masters degree, you might be working in a movie theater.  Reading Noch’s ridiculous statement was painful.

        • http://profile.yahoo.com/D6WSIYAMHIG7LCEEKQAWSJCOZ4 Tony

          And you are the Professor, Right?

        • Marse

          WOW…another spelling/composition Nazi. Hey, I read it just fine and actually found it entertaining, unlike your little rant.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZTCKMGZFXPKXYM5W4CXZ6UP6BU Karen

      I also am a small theater manager and we NEVER reuse popcorn.  The chemical comment is just insane.  We pop Orville Redenbacher corn and do not add anything to make it smell into the theaters.
      Our combo deals also save money, and all our prices are listed on our menu, anyone who can count can add it all up and see!  This list sounds like an ex-theater employee who is quite disgruntled!

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6TMCWA2T5ZS7SD2GOJFLWYI5IA msntnkrbll

        Perhaps they don’t mean theater owners put the chemicals in the popcorn themselves….it probably happens at the processing point, before it gets shipped to theaters. So even YOU won’t know about it!

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/D6WSIYAMHIG7LCEEKQAWSJCOZ4 Tony

      Good For You

  • Jeff

    Who wrote this? If it is supposed to be things they won’t tell you, then #10 doesn’t make any sense.

    • Leenda300

      “They” who do not tell someone something do not exist!!!!!

    • Smoulder73

       #10 is very true. I work at a movie theater and we cannot give out cups because they are inventory. Most people don’t believe that for some reason. After I tell them, “No, I cannot give you another cup because we count them,” the customer still looks confused and sometimes asks again for another cup.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ENNF7RDC26QO5SZ7PGOF5NSGWQ Rasp

    My brother said the popcorn butter contains coconut oil, which is suprisingly also in those FUZE drinks.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ENNF7RDC26QO5SZ7PGOF5NSGWQ Rasp

    My brother said the popcorn butter contains coconut oil, which is suprisingly also in those FUZE drinks.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Angeline-Ang/690327324 Angeline Ang

    haha! this is so true! 

  • somewhitechap

    I don’t know about number 13.. I worked in a movie theatre for quite some time and we dumped any leftover popcorn at the end of the night and started fresh when the first customer walked in. But every theatre is different, I suppose.

  • guest

    Wow over half of these are not true! I work at a movie theater and these are so not true or researched enough! 

  • guest

    These are not true and hoenstly you need to research what you are writing poking fun at! 

  • ExConcessionist

    Must have gone to University 16 Regal….they shut it down!!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3VDMBMYB3R62W6F6K3D6KGFYVM thwl

    I worked at a movie theater in high school a few years ago, I’ve never heard of popcorn being kept overnight    we were barely willing to give huge trash bags of the stuff to stray cats let alone actually try to sell it to someone,  I don’t believe 13. But 1-12 is true

  • Cmlelea

    I bought a pizza there once.. Never did THAT again.

  • Cmlelea

    I bought a pizza there once.. Never did THAT again.

  • cila

    Not all of these are true, my boyfriend and I have both worked at theaters, where we worked the only thing you had to look out for was the ice, the icebox got pretty nasty after a while so now I always order my drinks with no ice.

  • RDIsNotTheNews

    Absolutley ridiculous article. Must have interviewed those few employees that are definitely disgruntled for being paid minimum wage for very minimal work. Or probably don’t work there anymore because they’ve been fired for lousy performance. This may be the philosophy of small inexpensive theaters, $1 movie houses, etc but I have never seen this type of stuff at major  movie theaters in the 40 + years of going to the movies. (And have family members who actually work their tails off at customer relations, let alone give someone a reason to close a theater for unsafe concession practices) Way to go , llana. 

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

    • Vikster

      I love my movie Theater hot dogs – they are so good!! All beef and cooked to order :D And no, we NEVER keep our popcorn over night or “a day or two”. Almost all of these are completely ridiculous and stupid; most likely coming from a disgruntled employee. And I make it a point to go over and through the isles in my theaters to recheck under seats when I ush. I hate popcorn under the seats and will go out of my way to get that last popcorn kernel. This is a stupid article.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • Ashley_md151993

    about #5, NEVER buy movie-hotdogs!! they are NASTY.

  • jim

    I also hear the soft drink syrup is very cheap. The profit ios in the concessions.

    • melissa

      actually, its the most expensive item out of all concessions!

    • melissa

      actually, its the most expensive item out of all concessions!

  • jim

    I also hear the soft drink syrup is very cheap. The profit ios in the concessions.

  • Drew

    Im a manager at a larger theatre chain and all above is true.

  • once

    I ran a 10 plex theater for almost 3 yrs and the “chemical’s in the popcorn” comment is complete bs and we made everything fresh every day. You never got stale pc at our theater. The company I worked for didn’t use any chemicals and they’re the 4th largest theater company in the US.

    Some of this stuff is true (we did inventory everything cups/bags/nacho trays, trailer times for our company were a minimum of 15mins, I didn’t trust the nachos just b/c they were gross, theaters don’t make anything off of ticket sales for the first few weeks and then they only make a % that increases each week capping @ 90-100% on about wk 12-14).

    One thing I will comment on is how many of the theater companies treat their employees. It’s pretty sad really. Don’t blast the little guys at movie theaters, they literally have “0″ control over anything. It’s always the managers that you need to talk too. Some of the managers actually tell their employees that they are replaceable at any moment. The managers are instructed by upper management and corporate figures to use these types of tactics on their employees and that always really bothered me.

  • Justine6805

    i worked at a huge theatre and we did reuse the popcorn. everynight we would scoop it into garbage bags and in the morning we would dump it back into the warming bins! i refuse to eat popcorn at movies now! soo dirty!

  • Hdawg

    Most of the things on this list are screaming “FACT CHECK ME!”

    Interviewing a couple of random employees isn’t how you gather information for any sort of article, nor are they reliable sources. And, based on the comments I’ve seen, many of the things on this list are FAR from universal. 

    • Mlhhoney

      Actually with the exception of the day old popcorn and managers not caring about complaints, most of it is true.  But most of the items you can notice yourself if you go to the movies regularly.

    • Mlhhoney

      Actually with the exception of the day old popcorn and managers not caring about complaints, most of it is true.  But most of the items you can notice yourself if you go to the movies regularly.

  • Mlhhoney

    None of this is “secret” information. Anyone who goes to the movies even semi-regularly (or can count) already knows this.

  • Jane

    When I was a kid growing up in Dayton Ohio we three kids would walk with our mother all the way downtown to the movies. At that time the price of admission was cheaper for kids under twelve years old. We had quite a choice of movie theatres since there were five at that time. My brother was the youngest  and one day mom got so mad because they wanted to charge adult admission for my brother who at that time was only ten. My mother corrected the ticket seller stating that he should be charged at the childs rate. The lady said it was because he was as big as a twelve year old. He wasn’t fat but he was probably large for his age. The manager came out and she told him his birth date but he sided with the ticket seller. Mom was a good Christian woman and would never cheat anyone and resented anyone cheating her. Money was tight for us and she budgeted wisely. We never went back to that theatre again. Do you think we were treated unfairly? I do.

    • guest

      Yes that’s unfair!  Would they charge a disabled person more because their chair is too big?  Would they charge a person with clinical dwarfism less because they are the size of a child?  Did they offer to refund the difference if your mother came back with the ticket stub and your brother’s birth certificate?  At the very least, they should have offered that, but I bet they didn’t. 

      • http://dukeofurl.myopenid.com/ Anthony

        Airlines sometimes charge really large people for 2 seats aboard an airplane.  I think it’s fair.  It’s a safety issue for the people around them.

        • http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Kitchen/10002487 David Kitchen

          are you really such a dimwit that you think someone is charged more for 2 seats because they are a safety issue?!? If anyone or anything is a “safety issue” to be/have on a plane, it’s not getting on the plane. Period. A larger person will be charged for two seats if THEY ARE USING TWO SEATS! DUH!

          • Anonymous

            Wow, over-react a little more! They said a safety issue for THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM which it is, as the person cannot oftentimes even fasten their seatbelt. There was a recent story of a man having to stand for his entire flight because the man next to him took up most of his seat.

    • jnoele

      A lady once refused to give me candy on Halloween because she said I was “too old to be trick or treating.”  I was 10! I was just tall for my age, she actually gave candy to all my friends who were older than me, just shorter. I also knew a mom that had to carry her son’s birth certificate around with her because he was so tall that other mom’s would complain at baseball and basketball games that he was too old for the team. Some people are just rude and yes, your family was treated unfairly, but I bet your brother likes being a big guy now!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6TMCWA2T5ZS7SD2GOJFLWYI5IA msntnkrbll

    hmmmm….so THAT’S why I don’t go to the movies anymore……just as I suspected…….I KNEW that popcorn was stale!

  • guest

    I work at a movie theater, and I can attest that everything here is 100% true plus some other things I know that you don’t want to know about. such as the roach motels in the concession stand and that fact that some boxed candy is over 1 year old.

    • Vikster

      And you plan on KEEPING your job at the theater?

  • Anonymous

    Popcorn-lovely GMO trash.
    I would mind paying the ridiculous price if it were Organic and popped with Coconut Oil

  • Anonymous

    Popcorn-lovely GMO trash.
    I would mind paying the ridiculous price if it were Organic and popped with Coconut Oil

  • Anonymous

    Popcorn-lovely GMO trash.
    I would mind paying the ridiculous price if it were Organic and popped with Coconut Oil

  • Anonymous

    Popcorn-lovely GMO trash.
    I would mind paying the ridiculous price if it were Organic and popped with Coconut Oil

  • Anonymous

    Popcorn-lovely GMO trash.
    I would mind paying the ridiculous price if it were Organic and popped with Coconut Oil

  • http://www.facebook.com/SpeedBagBible Alan Kahn

    Five things theater customers should tell you:  (at least this one..)

    1. Smile and be nice to us:  We paid exorbitantly for this experience
    2. The sound is way too loud in your theater.  You are just as responsible for hearing loss as loud music. Either turn it down or hand out hearing protection with your 3-D glasses. (ps: I’m the guy who is wearing ear plugs in your movie because I want to hear violins when I’m 80)
    3. Your food is too expensive, so my pockets and jacket are stuffed with my own goodies
    4.  We only go to theatres to see films that are panoramic and demand a big screen to get full effect. Silly, dimwitted situation comedies look just as good on a TV size screen and I’ll wait. Tell hollywood…)
    5. Follow Alamo theaters example and kick out people who will not TURN OFF their cell phones. The lights of phones while constant texting and checking messages has reached overload. Get technology that can automatically kill the phone signals. Enough already!

    • http://dukeofurl.myopenid.com/ Anthony

      Technology that blocks cell phones is simple, but big-time illegal.

      • Anonymous

        and also dangerous.

    • Extreme but sensible

      I love you Alan Kahn!  But don’t kill cell phones.  Doctors, parents and others w/legitimate emergency phone needs have to have them.

      • http://twitter.com/Furiousfemale Jasmine M

         When my husband and I get the occasional date night I put my phone on silent mode just in case the sitter calls about our children. 

    • Rissa

      Five Things a Theater Employee has to Say in Response:
      1. Smile and be nice to us: We do not set the prices, and are merely trying to do our job.
      2. Everyone has a different sound [and temperature] preference. What is too loud for you may be too quiet for someone else and the same goes for temperature. But the reason many people go to a theater is to get the feeling of being in the movie- and it is much easier to do so if the sound is louder. You are doing the best thing for everyone by bringing your own ear plugs- thank you.
      3. Stuff your pockets all you want. I do. I have never seen a theater search someone to make sure they weren’t bringing anything in. Again, we didn’t set the prices. But see above for why they are so expensive. 
      4. Thank you for realizing that. But please don’t complain about it to an employee there, just go rent them at redbox.
      5. My theater never hesitates to kick someone out for cell phone usage. Every theater I have seen in recent years will not hesitate either, and has a very clear policy for it. However, we obviously cannot be in the theater for the entire movie watching everyone. If someone is bothering you, let an employee (nicely) know, and I am sure something will be done. 

  • ariane

    If it’s a movie I know I want to see, it’s cheaper just to wait until it comes out on DVD. A year later most of them will be in the discount bin anyway.

  • isthisguyserious?

    Way to spread lies and give movie employees more crabby customers. Jerk.

  • Nickoli002

    This is honestly one of the worse articles I have ever read in my entire life and I have NEVER commented on ANY article before online. Not only is almost everything presented in this article false, anything left is just poorly written conjecture. I have worked at a movie theater which is the exact opposite of this article in almost every way, and it was even a crappy movie theater, I can only imagine how much better the nice ones are. Whoever wrote this should be ashamed of their research and writing skills. I am now blocking this website so I will never again have to read such drivel.

    • Dan

      You Suck

    • Joe

      no one forced you into reading it in the first place

  • Itsurbanninja

    I work at a theater. All true. And asking for “Fresh” popcorn, is annoying. Luckily, I am now a projectionist. XD

  • Cls8686

    I think i’m pretty lucky my local theatre is 6 bucks to get in for adults (4.50) for kids and popcorn a jumbo is like 3$

  • Rave18+IMAX

    Almost everything is true on this list.  The one about reusing popcorn is very untrue! At the end of the night we put the unsold popcorn in big yellow bags and employees can take it home if they desire to have a ton of popcorn to snack on, or we just throw it in the trash.  Hotdogs are not nasty… they are always freshly cooked and ours are 100% angus beef (they are quite good but not worth 5.50).  We also pop our orville redenbacher corn in oil and top it with coconut oil “buttered flavored” no extra chemicals added.

  • kevin

    That’s why I DOWNLOAD movies

  • Tomiboy217

    I worked at a Regal Theater for a year.  Loved every minute of it.  And yes this stuff is all true.

  • Destinygypsy

    Mmmmh! What about people having sex in movie theater?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Frank-Farber/100001243224754 Frank Farber

    It is good to pay to see a cinema at a commercial theatre instead of sneaking in. One way is to avoid each the same? Money causes the world of cinema theatres to get around. It is one of the ways a studio gets around to getting a cinema at a theatre. A number may rather see a theatre with a screen get animating pictures on it through projectionists activating projectors to getting them on than a building housing them getting a turning into a real estate office.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Frank-Farber/100001243224754 Frank Farber

    See above and before. The confusion is like turning a cinema theatre into a real estate office. It is greater to pay too see a cinema at a commercial theatre than sneak in. Money gets the world around. Studios then get around to get cinemas to the cinema theatres. Care there are no subliminal messages to eattoward what one is not paying during a cinema feature.

  • Elaina

    Not sure where you are getting your “employees,” but my first job was in a drive-in and I owned a walk-in theater for many years and I disagree with nearly all 13 points. #1) NEVER did we add chemicals. You don’t need to … it’s usually the smell of the coconut oil for the popcorn that smells so good. Want to test the theory, pop some with canola and see what you think.#2) You are comparing apples and oranges here. They are two different systems. #3) Define overpriced concessions? The concessions are where theater owners make their money … which pays for the movie, building, utilities, staff, etc.
    #4) Semi-true here. We do know all the ways. And if we are any good, we reduce the number as much as possible. However at the end of a run we “might” let you in. Doubt it seriously though, since I’m sure you are going to tell all your friends about it if I let you stay! #5) Probably true at some theater. Remember, these employees and owners eat there too. They care about the quality of product and sanitation procedures. If they didn’t – they wouldn’t stay in business.#6) Really, someone told you this? What a rotten manager that theater has! That is not the norm. If the employee is wrong – no way I’m going to be patting their back! 
    #7) This you got right! But that is true for ANY business from the grocery store to a fast food place to an elegant restaurant to a dry cleaner. Most owner/operators will discount items when purchased together.
    #8) Okay, really? Regardless of what you call the package … you should still not expect diet food in a theater.
    #9) This you got right! Microwaves don’t cook pizza in 30 seconds – anywhere! So, I’m not sure what that statement is doing in this list.#10)  A complete inventory in a theater is a VERY time consuming job. Most owner/operators I know don’t inventory every night … usually just at the end of the week to prepare an order of what will be needed for the next week.
    #11) The innuendo is that it remains under the seat – please! Yes we may sweep the carpet or blow the mess to the front, away from patrons, between shows but we used to scrub the floors at the end of the evening and pressure wash concrete each week.#12) Movietimes can be delayed if there are still people in line to purchase a ticket…so they don’t miss the beginning. Ushers clean up when the film is finished, there is time built in to accomplish this between showings.#13) I may have to give you partial credit here. You have two true statements, but they have nothing to do with each other. No theater owners I know use “day-old” popcorn.

    • Priscillasena

      hmmm define overpriced concessions. $4 for a tiny bag of skittles…

  • Zombie9874

    I used to work at a theater and can attest to all 13 being
    true, and add a few more. You can often time’s get free passes by taking the
    time to complain to a manager about things like. 1. A dirty print, in a non
    digital theater the film print becomes dirty over time. If your seeing spots
    appear from time to time or what looks like a pubic hair moving around then
    it’s time to complain. But do it after the movie has ended. 2. You can also
    complain if it was too hot or too cold. If the sound quality was bad. Or too
    loud or too soft. They want you happy so you will come back and the easiest way
    to do this is with free passes which cost them next to nothing. 3. If you are
    going to a major chain such as AMC, Cinemark or Regal theaters join they’re
    Movie watcher club, it’s free and you can build points for free drinks, popcorn
    and movies.

  • Nyourdreamz

    If you are still reading then you are an unemployed loser or moron…

    • Meridithmfa

      You just might be a tad judgmental here, as I am an employed former theatre employee and an avid moviegoer. My local second-run theatre, the Culver Plaza, near Los Angeles, CA, is awesome and I will never stop going to movie theatres despite DVDs, etc. Further, I do not care if all the above is true. It’s not bad enough to discourage my attendance.

  • Nyourdreamz

    If you are still reading then you are an unemployed loser or moron…

  • Ronaldlarson

    Eat before you go or eat later to save money and get a better dinner

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Darrell-King/100002730153225 Darrell King

    I love the thirteen things about theater employees–I have to admit, I do love going to movies once-in-a-while.  “The Help” (my most recently seen movie) is an awesome movie–yes, I know, i could have waited until it came out on DVD.  It was great seeing it with my family on Thanksgiving Day, however, and it really opened my eyes to injustices done to Afro-Americans!  The gal who decides to go against age-old traditions played her part well–It is one of the few movies I have ever cried in (Yes, it is ok for guys to cry!).  Anyway, I never buy concessions at theaters, and I do agree that many theaters r not very well kept.  However, lets not just put the blame on theater employees (or managers)–Some people just need to either be less messy or clean up after themselves–Same goes for people in stadiums, churches, or any other public places (I KNOW-that is a subject for another day!)!  I also think that we Americans need to spend less time in theaters and more time “doing good” and “making something of ourselves”!  If we spend less time in theaters, parents and kids (if not together) will know what is happening, when it happens, and nobody will have to blame somebody for not taking care of his or her child, or, worse, sue somebody for neglect.  Then, the world would be a better place, and we wouldn’t need to worry about having public theaters!  We would all be so rich (because of fewer lawsuits, more educated children and adults, and less potential for accidents or crimes–because of fewer people driving to and from theaters or loitering around them), we could have our own home theaters, their would be more family and friend togetherness, and–did I mention?–the world would be a better place!!  I rest my case:)

  • http://www.buymedicalequipment.net Padraig

    I haven’t been to a movie theater in close to a decade. It’s an industry I just cannot bring myself to support.

  • The McPhersons

    God bless the Dollar Store that’s in the same strip mall as the multi-theater. They rock.

  • Epowell

    Make that almost 30 years for me without visiting a movie theater.  I became fed up with
    grossly overpriced snacks,  boisterous noisy audiences, sagging seats, dirty smelly rest rooms, rude ushers, ear-busting  audio, too cool or too warm ventilation, etc, etc. Who needs that aggravation when for $4.50 I and several friends can watch the same films on satellite HD TV in the comfort of my Lazy Boy or sofa.  And all with cheap snacks and drinks, comfy heat or A/C, control of audio volume, and best of all no gang of pimply faced juvenile delinquents loudly exchanging obscenities with their buddies seated a couple of rows in front of me.

  • Markscooterrider

    go to the dollar movies,a lot of times they are new movies.But,you are right its to expensive.

  • Calgurll

    thank you,  i now know more than i wanted to know  <;0)

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=500091816 Todd Rovinelli

    Ok this had me LMAO!!!!  No S*** people.  Why are you ordering a pizza at a movie theater.

  • http://profiles.google.com/09silver David Silva

    For the same price of one theater ticket I can watch 100 movies a month from Netflix. They don’t have new releases, but most Hollywood new releases are crap based on comic books or toys.
    Also, in the thousands of movie theaters in the USA, you will not find one piece of food for sale that is not bad for you, with processed sugar, and canola oil on the popcorn is a slow poison. In my opinion, Hollywood and the theater owners are shooting themselves in the foot on full automatic.
    In 2008 at Director’s Guild of America’s digital seminar, it was revealed that more people were watching Youtube than all the TV channels combined. Because TV and Movies are mostly loud pointless shoot outs and explosions, your audience has left the building. There are no more $100 million dollar openings, that is now the exclusive domain of video games. In the current business climate, the mantra is “Adapt or Die.” I don’t see the theater owners adapting at all, just showing the same crap in 3-D, just like they did in the 1950′s when they were afraid of Television. I believe there will always be a market for theater viewing, but it is in the process of being pared down greatly to a niche status, where only charismatic Theaters like Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome will survive, but you basic mall multiplex with a dozen theaters will eventually become extinct.

    • Hans

      And aren’t most of these lefty FOLLYWOOD freaks the first to tell you to stop wars, violence, killings, …. yet they promote war, violence, killings, in graphic displays in their pointless movies.

    • Hans

      And aren’t most of these lefty FOLLYWOOD freaks the first to tell you to stop wars, violence, killings, …. yet they promote war, violence, killings, in graphic displays in their pointless movies.

    • Hans

      And aren’t most of these lefty FOLLYWOOD freaks the first to tell you to stop wars, violence, killings, …. yet they promote war, violence, killings, in graphic displays in their pointless movies.

    • Anonymous

      I’ll do you one better, with a little patience, I can borrow them from my library for free :)

    • Anonymous

      I’ll do you one better, with a little patience, I can borrow them from my library for free :)

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Hans

    I haven’t gone to a theater in over 10 years since they are noisy, stinky, costly, and FOLLYWOOD hasn’t made a movie in years that is worth my time going to a theater. At least watching FOOLYWOOD movies at home on my big screen monitor, I can change channels once I realize they aren’t worth my time – and most aren’t worth my time. Theaters don’t give you your money back once you realize the “product” isn’t worth the money.

  • Arscott581

    BUT THE COST is OUTRAGOUS

  • Arscott581

    BUT THE COST is OUTRAGOUS

  • Arscott581

    BUT THE COST is OUTRAGOUS

  • Arscott581

    BUT THE COST is OUTRAGOUS

  • Wshaw859

    And the popcorn is over-salted in order to make you thirsty for the expensive sodas.

  • Wshaw859

    And the popcorn is over-salted in order to make you thirsty for the expensive sodas.

  • joshuathirteen

    everything you sell is a chemical. Everything is made of chemicals. Some are created by nature, some by people. Either kind can be good, bad or indifferent.

  • joshuathirteen

    everything you sell is a chemical. Everything is made of chemicals. Some are created by nature, some by people. Either kind can be good, bad or indifferent.

  • http://sharq-bait.blogspot.com/ Shar Qaan

    The business/profit model for American cinema is outdated; Hollywood just doesn’t seem to care about anything except selling more 3D tickets.  With Netflix, Redbox, and bootleg well on the rise, the movie-viewing populace has sundry choices to paying upwards of $10 for a prime-time cinema experience.  All the while, concessions prices seem out of touch with a stagnant economy.

  • Wonder Jam

    I can’t enjoy the movie without watching the previews. I go early just for that.

  • rmewfy

    This is why I have what my family calls the “movie purse”
    Oddly, it always comes in way larger then it is when we leave.  Though we haven’t even made it to a move since last summer.

  • Alice

    I don’t go to movies often anymore because the theaters are always cold.  It doesn’t matter if it’s winter or summer -  I can’t stay warm even with my winter coat on!  I recently wrote to my local movie theater to ask why it was so cold.  I was told that it was always set at 70 degrees, but that’s really not possible when I’ve got three layers on and I’m still cold.

  • Txscrappy56

    this is one messed up page.  have to back and back and reload the page and click next it goes back to #1.

  • Txscrappy56

    this is one messed up page.  have to back and back and reload the page and click next it goes back to #1.

  • Rockedup18

    So pretty much theaters take us for idiots and suckers…. hmm good luck with that and the internet hollywood.

  • Rockedup18

    So pretty much theaters take us for idiots and suckers…. hmm good luck with that and the internet hollywood.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1037697295 Justin Hamaker

      Actually, if you can’t use your own experience and common sense to see that most of these are false or exaggerations, than you are showing yourself to be an idiot.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1037697295 Justin Hamaker

    As the manager of a movie theatre, I can tell you that most of the items here are flat out false, or gross exaggerations. And common sense will also tell you this is the case.

    For example: Concessions are not over-priced. The price reflects the cost structure of running a movie theatre. Sure you can buy a bag of popcorn and pop it at home for a small fraction of what it costs at the theatre, but that popcorn you pop at home isn’t paying for projection and sound systems that cost as much as luxury cars; it’s not paying for heating/cooling large spaces; it’s not paying the insurance for a public gathering place.

    Theatres use several standard sizes for popcorn and soda. The names may change by location, but the sizes are pretty consistent. Popcorn usually comes in a 46oz, 85oz, 130oz, or 170oz bag or tub. Soda usually comes in a 16oz, 20oz, 32oz, or 44oz cup. And most theatres have the sizes on full display for anyone to see.

    Theatre food is just as safe as what you get in any restaurant. We are subject to the same food handling laws; we are inspected by the health department; and we are required to have certified food handlers in most states.

    Yes, popcorn does stay fresh for a few days. But I think most people can see, hear, and smell the fresh popped corn coming out of those poppers as they come in the doors.

    Yes, some theatre employees do sweep the popcorn under the seats, and some managers don’t take customer complaints seriously. As with any business, there will be good employees and managers, and their will be poor ones.

    Finally, if you think movie tickets are over-priced, here’s some food for thought. The national average ticket price in 2011 was $7.96. The average ticket price in 1971 was $1.65. Adjusted for inflation, that 1971 ticket would cost you $9.22.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1037697295 Justin Hamaker

    As the manager of a movie theatre, I can tell you that most of the items here are flat out false, or gross exaggerations. And common sense will also tell you this is the case.

    For example: Concessions are not over-priced. The price reflects the cost structure of running a movie theatre. Sure you can buy a bag of popcorn and pop it at home for a small fraction of what it costs at the theatre, but that popcorn you pop at home isn’t paying for projection and sound systems that cost as much as luxury cars; it’s not paying for heating/cooling large spaces; it’s not paying the insurance for a public gathering place.

    Theatres use several standard sizes for popcorn and soda. The names may change by location, but the sizes are pretty consistent. Popcorn usually comes in a 46oz, 85oz, 130oz, or 170oz bag or tub. Soda usually comes in a 16oz, 20oz, 32oz, or 44oz cup. And most theatres have the sizes on full display for anyone to see.

    Theatre food is just as safe as what you get in any restaurant. We are subject to the same food handling laws; we are inspected by the health department; and we are required to have certified food handlers in most states.

    Yes, popcorn does stay fresh for a few days. But I think most people can see, hear, and smell the fresh popped corn coming out of those poppers as they come in the doors.

    Yes, some theatre employees do sweep the popcorn under the seats, and some managers don’t take customer complaints seriously. As with any business, there will be good employees and managers, and their will be poor ones.

    Finally, if you think movie tickets are over-priced, here’s some food for thought. The national average ticket price in 2011 was $7.96. The average ticket price in 1971 was $1.65. Adjusted for inflation, that 1971 ticket would cost you $9.22.

    • Anonymous

      Justin you are being overly sensitive since you know the secret is out. I know, I worked at a movie theater in high school. Yes it was a long time ago but these things are true. I saw it all from day old popcorn being bagged and reused, hot dogs that should have never been put on the spindles etc. the house isn’t always thoroughly cleaned because there isn’t enough time. And sorry to say the concessions “are” overpriced in comparison to anywhere else, not just at home. Look at the candy, much cheaper to buy at the grocery store.
      But I do feel the concessions are justified due to the ticket structure so I’m not taking the side that it is wrong. Sport stadiums and other events do the same things.
      As for the complaints, I’m sure this varies on a case by case basis but in a public arena the job is to keep the public calm.

  • Anonymous

    Fior the first two weeks, Hollywod takes 95% of the ticket sales. After two weeks it drops significantly. If you want to help theaters, wait until the movie has been out two weeks.

    We already know that popcorn and drinks are overpriced. Drinks are also overpriced in restaurants, to help them cover for cheaper food prices. It all evens out in the end. The hotdogs taste amazing. Not sure how they do it. The pretzels always suck and take about 5 minutes to microwave.

  • Guest

    I hate slideshows

  • http://profiles.google.com/pcwag33 Pete Wagner

    Who pays to see movies anymore?

  • Beans

    I went to a matinee with a middle schooler and two high schoolers the other day. We bought two (small) drinks, two (small) popcorns and the total for the outing came to nearly $65. RIDICULOUS. Sorry, movie industry: until you improve the quality of product (e.g., make movies worthy to be seen on the big screen) I’ll stay home and spend less than $10 for pay-per-view, my own (freshly made) popcorn, and drinks. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CW4H6SLD67KV5N2T6E42T36F5U Scrumble

    How can this be right? How many movies run in the same theatre for two months?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OVRHZW667LXIYONY773RHE2Y2M MQBitsko

    “Chemicals in the popcorn….”  LOL!  What a load of crap.  

  • pass

    Seriously!  You have to put it on fourteen pages??!

  • Usher

    I worked in a theater.  That’s when I realized how dumb most of the public is.  I was asked what time the midnight movie started, and how much it cost on dollar night, by people who were NOT joking.  We put a clock in the box office to avoid constant questions about the time, and people would ask “if the clock is right.” A man came roaring out of a PG-rated film ranting about the bad language.  He thought PG meant “pretty good.”  

    Another woman screamed at me for lying about having matinees.  The theater across town charged a lower price for their matinees, and she insisted that the word “matinee” means a movie with a lower admission fee.

     Seating was not reserved, but a large party of adult moviegoers pitched an obscenity-laced fit because the party of teenagers (who, in contrast to the adults, were extremely civilized) wouldn’t get up and let them have their row of seats.

    Parents tried to use us as free babysitters. They’d drop the kids off for the first movie, expecting them to watch the movie over and over until they got off work. It got so bad in the summer that we started clearing the theater after each showing, and told kids who protested that they needed to call their parents. Mom and Dad would rant at us when they picked them up.  Sorry, you only bought ONE ticket.

    People would show up thirty minutes into a showing and expect to be let in free “because we’ve missed part of the movie.”  No, sir.  I’m sorry. Would you like a ticket to the next showing?

  • Usher

    I worked in a theater.  That’s when I realized how dumb most of the public is.  I was asked what time the midnight movie started, and how much it cost on dollar night, by people who were NOT joking.  We put a clock in the box office to avoid constant questions about the time, and people would ask “if the clock is right.” A man came roaring out of a PG-rated film ranting about the bad language.  He thought PG meant “pretty good.”  

    Another woman screamed at me for lying about having matinees.  The theater across town charged a lower price for their matinees, and she insisted that the word “matinee” means a movie with a lower admission fee.

     Seating was not reserved, but a large party of adult moviegoers pitched an obscenity-laced fit because the party of teenagers (who, in contrast to the adults, were extremely civilized) wouldn’t get up and let them have their row of seats.

    Parents tried to use us as free babysitters. They’d drop the kids off for the first movie, expecting them to watch the movie over and over until they got off work. It got so bad in the summer that we started clearing the theater after each showing, and told kids who protested that they needed to call their parents. Mom and Dad would rant at us when they picked them up.  Sorry, you only bought ONE ticket.

    People would show up thirty minutes into a showing and expect to be let in free “because we’ve missed part of the movie.”  No, sir.  I’m sorry. Would you like a ticket to the next showing?

  • guest

    Absolutely 100% not true. I design cinemas for a living, “Extreme Digital” or any of the private label large format auditoriums are often of a higher quality than IMAX, and have the ability to play far more titles.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/IROXPKTJDNAJVQY5TS4IT7WXVU AlexE

    Worked at a theatre for four years; told my customers all of these points at least once.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/IROXPKTJDNAJVQY5TS4IT7WXVU AlexE

    But seriously, some of this stuff is way off. Nobody cares about Readers Digest anyways, and it’s probably because of bogus articles like this. RD isn’t even a has-been, it’s a never-was.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IK7WHI22K4ABZXEO4HNVLDJRZU hunter

    feed them to the families of the workers and watch and laugh your butts of

  • Shirley Washer

    It’s just so much easier to stay home where the atmosphere, movie viewing, and food is SO much better.  No wear and tear on the car and no getting all dressed up to sit in the dark and get all stiff in the joints!  I know many people still love to go, but for the spoiled and lazy, home is just better!

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/GKZ7MF2ZWPAPJX67YXIIJTBVQE Art

    I’m curious to what chemicals you’re referring since where I work we either coconut or canola oil, popcorn, and salt nothing else and real butter on top. Before you make a blanket statement maybe you should state what chemicals to which you are referring.  Microwave popcorn has plenty of cancer causing chemicals that have only been recently removed. Our popcorn comes in 35 lb bags and lists no chemical additives. Our popcorn makes the news and cities list of number one popcorn consistently. We have done it the same for the 20+ years I’ve been there. Please clarify your remarks.

  • Leah Rose11119

    LOL! Thats pretty funny. I used to work at a movie theater years ago and most of this stuff is true!

  • Leo

    I have not been to the movies in 10 years and will never again it is easier to get satelite and order from the house and it will cost less than going to the movies by a large amount. My popcorn cast almost nothing and my drinks come from Walmart save your money and enjoy the movie at home.

  • Leo

    I have not been to the movies in 10 years and will never again it is easier to get satelite and order from the house and it will cost less than going to the movies by a large amount. My popcorn cast almost nothing and my drinks come from Walmart save your money and enjoy the movie at home.

  • Leo

    I have not been to the movies in 10 years and will never again it is easier to get satelite and order from the house and it will cost less than going to the movies by a large amount. My popcorn cast almost nothing and my drinks come from Walmart save your money and enjoy the movie at home.

  • Leo

    I have not been to the movies in 10 years and will never again it is easier to get satelite and order from the house and it will cost less than going to the movies by a large amount. My popcorn cast almost nothing and my drinks come from Walmart save your money and enjoy the movie at home.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/CA7IVFFN46LOUIEEQ7TZ5U7EHQ DWD808

    All you people are just not sociable, complaining about the cost. Stay home and never enjoy being out. That’s a life you can keep and that I will never be a part of, I have kids that love going to the Movies and if it cost me a $100.00 to have that precious moment with them, that’s a small price to pay. 

  • DaChiesa

    hehe yeah they are overpriced. spielberg joked one time that if you make Harry Potter you make a billion dollars. I don’t see any need to put more money in their pockets, but that’s just me

  • Unknown

    Something else to think about is that theaters are actually forced to charge so high for the concession items. That is they pay their employees. As for the tickets price, 92% of that goes back to the production company, meaning on a $10 ticket, $9.20 of that goes back to Paramount, Fox, etc., the theater only gets 80 cents of it. If it wasn’t for the production companies demanding such high fees, the concession products would be much cheaper. Where it gets out of hand is theater companies like Regal raising ticket prices over what is necessary just to try and milk it more.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/MOMQH4BLWAS62HRYAYDIK3GM64 Adam

    A little bit over sci-fi.  Chemicals, chemicals.  Whatever you think you’re putting in something, some scents just lift and spread anyway.  Maybe you’ve given it a slight edge–to the butter I’m sure.  My mom must have done that to her dinners growing up–or else how else did our whole house smell like food???  Likewise, hot dogs are hot dogs.  If they’re good, they’re good.  Ff.  ::

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/MOMQH4BLWAS62HRYAYDIK3GM64 Adam

    A little bit over sci-fi.  Chemicals, chemicals.  Whatever you think you’re putting in something, some scents just lift and spread anyway.  Maybe you’ve given it a slight edge–to the butter I’m sure.  My mom must have done that to her dinners growing up–or else how else did our whole house smell like food???  Likewise, hot dogs are hot dogs.  If they’re good, they’re good.  Ff.  ::

  • guest

    Most of these are completely wrong.  No theater(at least none I’ve worked) keeps popcorn around for a day or two.  It goes stale after a few hours.  And there aren’t added chemicals to make the popcorn smell better.  Also, start times are when the movie previews begin, and nearly always start on time.  There is usually only one projector, and missing the start time on one movie could ruin the start times for all the movies the rest of the day.  Obviously, if we know the end time, then we know the start time.  
    And ushers have more than enough time to sweep a theater, they don’t just hide it under chairs, or they would not be working there. 

  • F6d6o6f6

    Popcorn cost’s almost nothing to make? Let see, are the kernals almost free, the electricity almost free, the oil, almost free, the labor to make it, serve it and ring up the sale on the register almost free? I am not saying that it inn’t over priced, but almost free is ignorant of any business sense.

  • friend

    I worked a movie house in the 80s.  Ushers reuse tickets and pocket the cash from the second selling.  Popcorn cups in good condition were reused and that cash was also pocketed.

  • Anonymous

    It is not even CLOSE to month or TWO of release that the theaters get nothing. It falls from the very first week, though for the first 4 weeks or so it is still very much in the studio’s favor. But by the end of the second month, it is close to 50-50

  • Anonymous

    It is not even CLOSE to month or TWO of release that the theaters get nothing. It falls from the very first week, though for the first 4 weeks or so it is still very much in the studio’s favor. But by the end of the second month, it is close to 50-50

  • Dave

    I call BS on the popcorn thing.  Popcorn naturally fills the room with that smell.  The CONSTANT popping on new batches is going to only fill it more.  A well used popcorn machine will make a room smell like popcorn even if it’s not even being used.

  • 20NileChile12

    …”Thinking Is FREE”….I Take My Movie List To The Library & Wait For Them To Call Me When They Arrive…

  • CGafga;lmvjiankcn/

    booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo lol

  • CGafga;lmvjiankcn/

    booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo lol

  • CGafga;lmvjiankcn/

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  • Sooner

    #6 is a horrible statement. At no time should any manager YELL at an employee in front of ANYONE. Have a little respect, mistakes happen.

  • John

    Pretty dumb article.  Most of this is obvious, patently false or no big deal.  Next, it will be “Crazy, shocking secret #14:  Ticket prices keep going up, which is why movie sales keep breaking records even though fewer and fewer people go to the movies each year.”  What???  Really??? Scandalous!!!

  • John

    Pretty dumb article.  Most of this is obvious, patently false or no big deal.  Next, it will be “Crazy, shocking secret #14:  Ticket prices keep going up, which is why movie sales keep breaking records even though fewer and fewer people go to the movies each year.”  What???  Really??? Scandalous!!!

  • John

    Pretty dumb article.  Most of this is obvious, patently false or no big deal.  Next, it will be “Crazy, shocking secret #14:  Ticket prices keep going up, which is why movie sales keep breaking records even though fewer and fewer people go to the movies each year.”  What???  Really??? Scandalous!!!

  • Cortezusbaldo

    Mada?&$@!$

  • Anonymous

    Most of these “hidden” comments are already known by people so it’s really no big surprise.
    Any who thinks otherwise is just fooling themselves!

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/KEVOIZNZGQHHRG5EXGJJVZETWI Leslie

    You forgot the biggest “I won’t tell”   The “butter” on the popcorn isn’t butter and you wouldn’t want to see it before it’s melted….It looks like lard when it arrives in buckets.  

  • Queef Latina

    Goodness me~! The photo accompanying #6 just may be the most irritating thing I’ve encountered on the internet. You just know he’s a Kevin.

    • Cb449

      what’s “a Kevin” ?

  • Jirala1

    i’ve worked at a movie theater, and actually, the popcorn, candy and drinks are the foods you can trust least. all the “real” food has an expiration time around 2 hours, and a beef hotdog slow cooked for an hour is really tasty! the popcorn can be sitting there all day if no one buys it, the candy near the front (or back, depending on the display set up) sometimes doesn’t get rotated out for months at a time, and the teenagers behind the concession counter do NOT clean the drink spigots nearly as well as they should (can you say thick black mildew?). no, no. better to just bring a large purse and visit the $1 store, first. as long as you don’t flaunt your secret snackage, no one cares. :)

  • Jirala1

    i’ve worked at a movie theater, and actually, the popcorn, candy and drinks are the foods you can trust least. all the “real” food has an expiration time around 2 hours, and a beef hotdog slow cooked for an hour is really tasty! the popcorn can be sitting there all day if no one buys it, the candy near the front (or back, depending on the display set up) sometimes doesn’t get rotated out for months at a time, and the teenagers behind the concession counter do NOT clean the drink spigots nearly as well as they should (can you say thick black mildew?). no, no. better to just bring a large purse and visit the $1 store, first. as long as you don’t flaunt your secret snackage, no one cares. :)

  • Jirala1

    i’ve worked at a movie theater, and actually, the popcorn, candy and drinks are the foods you can trust least. all the “real” food has an expiration time around 2 hours, and a beef hotdog slow cooked for an hour is really tasty! the popcorn can be sitting there all day if no one buys it, the candy near the front (or back, depending on the display set up) sometimes doesn’t get rotated out for months at a time, and the teenagers behind the concession counter do NOT clean the drink spigots nearly as well as they should (can you say thick black mildew?). no, no. better to just bring a large purse and visit the $1 store, first. as long as you don’t flaunt your secret snackage, no one cares. :)

  • Decaprise45

    As a movie theater manager, all but the last one is correct.  Well, technically it is correct, too, but we never kept day old popcorn.  Always made more.  But that is a very accurate list indeed.

  • Chancesandiego

    Factory packaged foods are the ONLY SAFE items to purchase and eat in the theater. If BLACK MOLD FOUND IN ICE MACHINES is safe go for it. I wouldn’t drink ice or soda for sure.

  • Chancesandiego

    Factory packaged foods are the ONLY SAFE items to purchase and eat in the theater. If BLACK MOLD FOUND IN ICE MACHINES is safe go for it. I wouldn’t drink ice or soda for sure.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504971637 Dawn Blömker

    Another work of Reader’s Digest Fiction…

    1. The popcorn is popped in oil with flavorings. Yes, it has an aroma, but to say there’s “chemicals” in it makes it sound like we’re lacing it with toxic waste. It’s essentially the same popping oil you can buy at the grocery store (the good theatres use coconut oil). Now the butter? That’s not really butter. That’s a flavored oil as well.

    3. Depending on where the theatre is & what their prices are, the admission money can go to studios for longer than the first few weeks of a show. It costs a minimum of $300 to rent a movie for a single theatre & those are movies that have been out on video for up to multiple years – the newer the movie and the longer the theatre has it, the more expensive it is. Sometimes the concession money goes to the studios, too… the price we’re charged doesn’t matter how much we take in for admission.

    6. That really depends on what the complaint was about. If it was my fault or mess up, I’m getting reamed. If you’re a stupid customer – congratulations: you’re the story of the day & all the employees will hear (and laugh) about you.

    7. If you know how to add, you can see if the combo will save you money. Can you add? If not – take the combo & don’t waste my time and hold up the ever growing line that’s forming behind you. If it doesn’t actually save you money, it’s at least no more expensive than buying them separate.

    10. This is completely true, but it’s not something we won’t tell you. Either way, complaining about this doesn’t work because we have no control over it – it’s the head office – write to them & tell them to get us bigger courtesy cups. Believe me, we’d rather split up your large into 2 or 3 smalls so you can share because it’d probably prevent some spills and make cleaning up at the end of the night easier.

    11. We may not get everything cleaned up between shows, but it will be spotless by the end of the night. There’s just not enough time between shows. That sticky floor? Not us. It was the idiot who spilled their drink and didn’t let us know. We don’t see *every* spill. Letting us know you spilled your soda would allow us to be prepared to clean it up in a timely manner & thusly prevent the stereotypical sticky theatre floor. It’s sad how few have the courtesy to do so.

    12. The time listed is the *showtime*. Showtimes include previews (not the advertisements like the slideshow with movie facts or local businesses). If the movie was starting late, the movie would be ending late. ::facepalm::

    13. Make sure you go to a theatre where the popcorn is popped fresh daily. Easy as that. I know there are theatres that sneak you day old popcorn because it’s easier, but not all of us do that. The decent theatres will start popping their popcorn either just as the first customers are coming in for the night or about a half hour before the first showing of the night, depending on how busy they plan on being.

    I work at a theatre where we don’t have nachos or pretzels or pizzas or even icees. We don’t have IMAX or 3D, and we won’t be digital until at least next year. But we will serve you FRESH popcorn with a smile and do everything we can to ensure you have an enjoyable movie experience. If there’s a wait, we tell you there’s a wait & you can readily see that we’re just as anxious about getting you your food as you (usually our only wait is popcorn if we need to pop another kettle). Our current small popcorn used to be our medium, but that’s not just limited to theatres – it’s something that’s happening all over the US & in other countries, too.

    If you want the best movie experience, go to one of the smaller chains. You’ll get better customer service and most likely higher quality snacks (and usually pay less, too – why pay $12 in a mall multiplex when the single screen theatre downtown is showing the same flick for $6?).

  • Denise Shelton

    I have a friend who used to work in a movie theater in high school. In those days, the popcorn cup inventory was how they knew how much money was taken in, so some of my friend’s enterprising co-workers figured out that they could put dirty cups on the stack, pocket the money equal to that number of orders, and still have their cash drawer balance. Ewwwwww!!!

  • PennyBeGood

    I worked at a theatre for years, and this article is straight on, except the manager never actually yelled at me or anyone else in front of a customer. The manager would promise to “talk to” or otherwise discipline an employee, and then later mock the customer with that employee. The serious, caring manager is an act. But then, the indignant customer routine is an act too. 

  • Bennett

    First the movie theaters said 12 and over pay adult prices, while 13 and over pay children’s prices. Then in 1968, the MPAA ratings were started: G, PG (M then GP then PG), R and NC-17 (X then NC-17). PG-13 was added in 1984 after the release of Gremlins. R says no one under 17 admitted without parent or guardian. Since 1968, the 13-to-16 years old are informed they are old enough to pay adult prices, but, are not old enough to see an R rated movie without a parent or guardian, In other words; since 1968 they are selling two adult tickets instead of one for the R rated movie to the 13-to-16 year old. Since movie theaters make most of their money from the snack bar, why don’t they say 17 and above pay adult prices, while 16 and under pay children’s prices. Thank goodness for HD TV and Blu-ray/DVD players. I do not like the double standard treatment of the 13-to-16 year old and the R rated movie that has been going on since 1968 and will probably continue well into the forseeable future. Movies are getting too expensive with 3D, IMAX/IWERKS and 48/60 frames per second films.  The cost of paying two adult tickets to take a 13-to-16 year old to see a quality R rated movie is absurd.

  • Tess

    Go to an independent theater, not a chain theater, and most of these issues go away.

  • Kenbugel

    maybe we can find something to filter thru are houses to make it smell better and heip our attitudes

  • 123

    About the cups being inventoried each night- if the count is short, that cup you threw out after the movie probably got washed-out and added to inventory.  Believe me, I’ve done it many times.

  • r. n. simons

         When i was 10 yrs old i could go to the movie and watch a double feature movie, news reel and cartoons plus popcorn , coke and admission for 9 cents, and stay all day if i wanted, but my parents made less than a dollar a hour at work . So i would find coke bottles. I  could get 1 cent for 3 of them..P S i also could watch the mice and rats run across the stage for FREE ,but also had to watch for mouse droppings in the popcorn,

  • Filmfan

    This piece is so off base. The source it ” Theater employees” are you kidding me. I am the owner of a local independent theater and the points are gross generalizations and mostly “Urban Legend” type reporting. Chemicals in the popcorn? I guess oil and flavorings are made of chemicals but isn’t everything we eat? Yea we make money on Popcorn and soda but do you have any idea what it costs to build and operate an theater? We get a % of the films revenue but it is a sliding scale with most of the revenue the opening weeks of a film go to the production company. We do better on the better films that continue to attract an audience for several weeks.
    If the operator of your theater is not operating a clean facility with good food and service go to another theater. Theaters are going to stick around because the best home theater just isn’t the same experiencing a film in a good theater!

  • Jack Spratterino

    When I grew up in NYC in the 1930′s  Radio City Music Hall gave ya two fresh out of Hollywood movies and a brilliant and  spectacular one hour stage show.The stage would rise on an elevator with musicians like Artie Shaw,Benny Goodman playing .And it was cheap to see even by those low wage days.In 1940 it cost about quarter( 25 cents).By the mid fifties it was still cheap at 50 cents.However the ROCKETTES AND THE STAGE SHOW PEOPLE WERE WORKING for VERY LOW WAGES.Nowadays I hear since I no longer live there that they only have the stage show NO MOVIES and last I heard about five years ago that cost  75 ! What 75 cents ?  NO! SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS.Oh how I long for the GOOD OLE DAYS  

  • Jack Spratterino

    When I grew up in NYC in the 1930′s  Radio City Music Hall gave ya two fresh out of Hollywood movies and a brilliant and  spectacular one hour stage show.The stage would rise on an elevator with musicians like Artie Shaw,Benny Goodman playing .And it was cheap to see even by those low wage days.In 1940 it cost about quarter( 25 cents).By the mid fifties it was still cheap at 50 cents.However the ROCKETTES AND THE STAGE SHOW PEOPLE WERE WORKING for VERY LOW WAGES.Nowadays I hear since I no longer live there that they only have the stage show NO MOVIES and last I heard about five years ago that cost  75 ! What 75 cents ?  NO! SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS.Oh how I long for the GOOD OLE DAYS  

  • Cb449

    Haven’t been to a movie house for 4-5 years.  filthy seats, overpriced, rude/loud people.  Ya’ll can have it.

    I do miss the drive-in though.

  • Hunterkylee

    This list is ridiculous.  Two items noted are true, like a majority of a film’s gross goes to the studio and most theatre chains inventory their cups. However, I would completely disagree with the rest of your list. While I am sure that you can find a few 16 year olds to tell you whatever you want to hear, I know that they are the exception and not the norm.  Others items are just completely untrue and inaccurate. I have worked for movie theatres for over 25 years and I can tell you that going to the movies is better now than it has ever been.  Sure, people like to complain about the prices. But a movie theatre is extremely expensive to operate.  Again, most of the box office goes back to the studios, who spend a $100 million to bring you something you have never seen before for 10 bucks.  And just imagine what the electric bill is each month on a 60,000 square foot building, not to mention $1000 for every projector bulb and all of the other unknown expenses to the public.  Going to the movies is a special occassion and a chance to interact ina group experience that you will never be able to get at home or at the RedBox. It is too easy to criticize something you know nothing about to fill up a page. Do your homework next time RD. And everyone else just get a popcorn and appreciate not knowing all the work and expense that is required for you to escape for a couple of hours.

    • Gbgentleman

       My complaints about the expense is not against the theater but the theater is the only place I can withhold my dollars (hence protest the expense).  I REFUSE to pay $10,$12,$15 per ticket when, if I wait a few months, I can rent it for $1 and eat my own popcorn. 

  • Cutecrissyisfun

    My Brother works at a movie theatre and He didn’t know about this stuff. And He almost never has to stop people from sneaking in (not a whole lot of people do.)

  • Gbgentleman

    As for Combos cost the same, if the typical american would LEARN to add, they could figure that out for themselves.  Even if it does save you money it might not be.  If a large soda costs $5 and a large popcorn $6 but you can buy the two together for $10.50, yes you saved $.50 but what if a medium drink costs $4 and that would be plenty….now that combo just costs you $.50 more than you could have spent.

  • Anonymous

    Movie popcorn smell nauseates me.  I can’t sit anywhere near anyone who is eating it.  Smells no more like BUTTER than skunk.  Truly obnoxious.

  • Anonymous

    Movie popcorn smell nauseates me.  I can’t sit anywhere near anyone who is eating it.  Smells no more like BUTTER than skunk.  Truly obnoxious.

  • Anonymous

    Also, (where did my popcorn story go?) I always sit in the last row of the theater at the top because people put their filthy shoes on the seats in front of them and up there — no one sits behind you.

  • Anonymous

    Also, (where did my popcorn story go?) I always sit in the last row of the theater at the top because people put their filthy shoes on the seats in front of them and up there — no one sits behind you.

  • Anonymous

    I’ll repeat my popcorn comment — can’t see it here.  I cannot sit near anyone who eats that stuff.  Smells good?  Gag.  Butter never smelled like that.  It makes me nauseous and I have to hold my nose as I pass the concession counter.  Everything in the “butter” is chemicals.  People were sickened who worked in the factory that made that stuff.  Look it up on the Internet.

  • Anonymous

    I’ll repeat my popcorn comment — can’t see it here.  I cannot sit near anyone who eats that stuff.  Smells good?  Gag.  Butter never smelled like that.  It makes me nauseous and I have to hold my nose as I pass the concession counter.  Everything in the “butter” is chemicals.  People were sickened who worked in the factory that made that stuff.  Look it up on the Internet.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Connie-Tea/100003161829890 Connie Tea

    I wouldn’t leave the gas chamber to go to a movie.

  • Spencerdad

    To the persons authorizing print of false information,I am addressing the article entitled “13 things a movie theater employee won’t tell you”. Of the 13 things, only one point can be considered a truth. So that leaves 12 false statements about movie theaters. I am proving Ms. Strauss wrong on all points minus 1 which is relative anyway. I have the right to argue this with you because I am an independent theater owner and would like to provide you with the truth.  I’ll give you one truth and that is the concession pricing being inflated. This point has been beaten to death and everyone knows it. Does it really matter to the throngs of people that are in line to purchase these items? Obviously not. They are there to buy snacks and drinks and don’t mind paying for them. If they didn’t want to pay for them they wouldn’t. It really is that simple. I would like you to provide me with information leading me to ANY retail food establishment that had no inflated pricing on their food drinks and candy. I’d also like you to pay for it as well.2. The popcorn has chemicals? Seriously? Have you looked at the ingredients to 99% of American food lately?  The FDA has allowed the addition of these chemicals to everything since 1946. There is nothing to purchase that doesn’t have chemicals other than organic food which I believe is far better. I’d like you to take me to any restaurant or fast food establishment that doesn’t use chemicals in their foods. Please let me know when you find one, I’d like you to put it directly into my hands so I’ll believe you. Our popcorn at our theater is made with Flavacol salt and coconut oil bars and 100% American grown corn. I’ve never had anyone complain of illness from my popcorn. And it smells good because of the butter and salt being cooked in our Cretor’s popcorn kettle that was made in 1948. Ms. Strauss lied about me putting chemicals into my popcorn. My attorney agrees.3. Extreme digital. On a technical level this actually makes no sense. There are two main platforms in which to present a film. 35mm which is film, and digital. Digital is digital and thats all. Extreme digital is not lower quality. There is 2k digital and 4k digital files. At its basics this is just pixel amounts with 4k providing more pixels and ultimately a clearer picture. IMAX is only a larger screen, but presented in digital format usually being 2k. People who love movies can tell the difference between 35mm, digital, and IMAX. We run the best 4k projector available and anyone can tell the difference between this and 35mm. Ms. Strauss says that the quality of extreme digital is lower than IMAX makes entirely no sense. IMAX is only a larger presentation of the same digital file. Another false statement.4. Ms. Strauss says that we don’t care about people sneaking into a movie without paying. As a business owner, I care very much about people trying to cheat me out of money. I would like you to put me in touch with ANY business owner who is trying to make a living with their business and does NOT care about someone stealing from them. 5. Ms. Strauss doesn’t trust hot dogs, pretzels, or nachos. If Ms. Strauss has ever been to a grocery store to purchase any of these foods then she has purchased the exact same food we provide. How can she eat anywhere with not trusting anything? Our hotdogs are wrapped and refrigerated and heated at required temperatures. We use fresh yellow corn chips and Gehl’s cheese for our nachos. We add cheese to our nachos when they are ordered, not hours or days before. Our pretzels are purchased from our local grocery and arrive frozen. We also store them frozen until they are ordered. This way they are not stale or old when they are served. Has Ms. Strauss ever eaten anything that was frozen before she ordered it? She also says that she trusts the popcorn drinks and boxed candy. Didn’t she just say that the popcorn has chemicals in it? Why would she trust “chemically altered” popcorn over chips that are bagged from grocery store. How can she be sure that the boxed candy doesn’t have some awful ingredient in it worse than pretzels? Have you ever looked up palm kernel oil? Check it out. The same goes for cokes that come in a bag from a distributor. How do we know what’s in these? Ever checked into Aspartame that is put into these diet drinks? Check it out too. She just proved how well thought out her article is.6. Ms. Strauss says that a manager will put on a show to side with a patron when they complain about something. This to me sounds as though it was just an added story in the article to boost up the point levels. But I will address it like the others. This point is skewed quite a lot and attempts to make ALL theater managers look like puppets. As a manager, I will address any problems encountered with our patrons directly and fairly. Honestly, 9 times out of 10 the patron is asking or demanding a product or service that we do not provide. We strive to provide every conceivable option and product specifically for theater goers. Our staff is trained and fully capable of providing the best customer service and 99% of the time patrons are thankful for that. Very rarely does anything happen where a manager needs to get involved other than just to answer questions. Never has there been a need to yell at my employees in front of a customer or even yell at them at all. I don’t have the time to play mind games with the customer. Someone behind them needs a refill of our delicious popcorn.7. Small popcorns were once medium sized. This is a mute point. Any business can change portions of what they serve at any time. However, with movie theaters ordering bags and tubs on a consistent and regular basis, I seriously doubt they would go out of their way to change advertising, train employees and restock their supplies just to be sure that you consumed 100 more calories of popcorn. It is ultimately up to the consumer to ask how many ounces of popcorn is in a small medium or large popcorn. Get a kids pack if you are watching calories. 8. While we don’t serve pizza at our theater, I can argue this point along the same lines as the last subject on popcorn size. Again, it is up to the patron to decide if they’d like to wait a few minutes on their pizza to cook. Aside from a few dine in movie theaters, pizza will have to be heated anywhere and this is common knowledge and again not limited to just movie theaters.9. Extra cups? Is this a serious problem to the buying public? I’ve never been about to go to the movies and then decide not to because they won’t give me an extra cup. Occasionally we have a patron that wants an extra cup and I happily give them one. What they do with it is up to them. I have not lost any money on extra product going into that cup. Some theaters give you such a large cup that it is almost necessary to have another cup to carry it all to your seat. Our theater’s large cup is 32 oz with a free refill. If you drink 64 oz. of soda in an hour and half then you have a severe problem and don’t need to worry about the extra cup anyways. 10. Everything is swept under the chairs. I actually do not approve of this at all. This comes down to management not monitoring their staff. Our floor is swept and mopped EVERY night. Our floors are not the typical sticky floors you might find in other theaters. Inevitably there will be something underneath a theater chair, but have you looked under the booth at your local eating establishment lately? Why is this directed only at movie theater and ALL of them for that matter? You can ask anybody that has ever been to our theater and they’ll tell you how remarkably clean it is.11. The movie starts late but ends on time so that you are forced to watch previews. Is this such a bad thing? To see what movies are coming out soon? It’s called advertising. I’d like you to show me anywhere in the world where there is a retail business that has zero advertising. Yes, sometimes our movies start late, maybe ten minutes at the most, but I don’t do that so that my employees know when to go in and clean. This makes no sense at all. Are you saying that my employees cannot see people coming out of a theater door? What does your statement “But they almost always end on time – otherwise, the ushers wouldn’t know when to clean up” actually mean?    I’d like for you to explain this where an educated and rational person could understand it please.I want you to actually look at your remarks and see how slanderous they are. Especially the food based ones. These statements are false and need to be retracted. Saying that chemicals are added to my popcorn is completely false and almost warrant a lawsuit for slander. Is Ms. Strauss angry at movie theaters? Why is this directed at movie theaters? I would like to add that all theaters are not created equal. Ours is a pristine jewel of a theater and is completely independent of big chain theaters. If Ms. Strauss would like to change her idea of theaters, she needs to change her venue. Don’t group all theaters together, we are all unique in our own ways. I invite you to our theater and let us change your mind. Best Regards,Shane SpencerPalace TheatreCanadian, TX

    • Dude

      You’re one out of tens of thousands of theaters in the country.  Congrats that you’re so fastidious.

      Unfortunately, as a PAYING member of the public, I’ve given up on you and your ilk.  I don’t go to theaters any more precisely because of the reasons the author quotes.  You do gouge people at the concession stand.  Just because people are paying your inflated prices doesn’t mean they don’t have a problem with them.

      Most theaters are filthy.  Yours apparently isn’t.  Good on you.

      We don’t like your advertising.  In no other venue (grocery store, car dealership, mall) are we forced to review their advertising before we can enjoy our purchase.

      She didn’t slander anyone.  If you do have an attorney they’d easily tell you this.  Grow up.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ivan-Rice/100000182791547 Ivan Rice

    I can’t stand a theater… Tickets are sky high, food and drinks are 10 times or more overpriced, and there is always one loudmouth yakking on a cell phone.

    I rent a movie and watch it at home on our 65″ HDTV. With Blu-Ray, the picture is as good or better than the theater, and ours has a 1,200w surround sound set-up…
    Movie theaters are just postponing the inevitable.. they are a doomed business.

  • Smoulder73

    I work at a movie theater in New Jersey. Some of these are TRUE, but the difference is, is that we will tell our customers these truths if they ask.

  • theatreworker

      Most of these are very true. #1 I do not agree with. We use Orville
    Redenbacher popping corn, 100% canola oil and popcorn salt to make our
    popcorn. Anything that you cook gives off some kind of smell, it doesn’t
    need to have chemicals. #2 I cannot comment on because I have never even heard of “Extreme Digital”. #3
    is EXTREMELY TRUE. We make next to nothing on ticket sales and when our
    customers complain about prices we tell them it’s because of the movie
    companies spending so much to make the movies. #4 I do indeed know every
    way that you could possibly sneak into a movie, HOWEVER we will
    probably kick you out (depends on how we’re feeling that day). #5 We are
    very sanitary at this theater (although all of them should be as we are
    inspected) I would (and have) eaten anything that I would sell to a
    customer. #6 They hit the nail on the head… enough said. #7 We do have
    combo deals that are not really deals (in fact, one labor day the
    manager put up signs for a “double dog” combo special for that day when
    we have that combo available 365 days a year). We do have real deals as
    well and we will tell you if there is a cheaper route. We know the
    prices are ridiculous so we do try to help our customers if we can. #8
    We’ve never changed our sizes so… #9 If it is busy and we sell out of
    ready to go pretzel bites, we immediately put on more but we cannot
    always help the wait so we ask if you are willing to wait. Most people
    aren’t but I couldn’t care less, I have other things to worry about. #10
    A small soda doesn’t cost 4.75; a small soda in cup does though. We
    count cups, bags, plastic trays, and candy so no, you cannot have an
    extra but I will gladly give you a tray or courtesy cup. #11 Although we
    do not always get EVERYTHING, we clean the theaters as best we can. We
    wouldn’t have to take so much time to do it though if you would throw
    out your own trash instead of leaving it for us :). #12 We have
    approximately 7-9 minutes of previews before the show really starts. Our
    start times are the start of the previews. And ushers need to know when
    movies let out so they know which theaters can begin seating. #13 We
    NEVER keep popcorn at the end of the night. We have heard tales that
    other theaters do this but we make it fresh everyday. I think there
    should be a #14; We hate it when you put your feet up on the seats in
    front of you… it breaks a $100 seat that you only paid $15 to sit in.
    And a #15 If you manage to sneak in your own contraband food, throw the trash away; that’s just rude.

    • Anonymous

      Oh, a manager, how quaint. I don’t really believe your PR. The predatory business model has led to the kind of customer that doesn’t care about you or your business. It’s your own fault. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

      The faux-righteous indignation is pathetic.

  • Texas Mama

    As the mom of an EX movie theater employee there are these stories and so many more.  I noticed this article didn’t touch on the rats that run throughout the theaters. (while the movies are playing)  My son worked at one of the busiest (and supposedly nicest) theaters in the DFW area.  

  • JOHN RABAS

    I read a few comments about it being too expensive. I agree when I was young I used to go to the saturday afternoon  movie every weekend without fail. But it only  cost 25 cents to see a movie sometimes it was increased to 35 cents for some special movies but it was a  bargain and a way of life. Now its over $7.00 + and its hard to enjoy a movie with crying babies people talking sticky floors and dont forget the evil smells when its crowded in the summertime bad breath body odor foot odor. poor air conditioning and heating I would rather buy some snacks and watch  something on TV. In the clean quiet and comfort of home.  Of course now I have lung cancer and cant be trapped in a building with people that might make me sick

  • Ralphy77

    Those were rather good. 

  • Professorpoopy

    why would a movie theate EMPLOYEE not tell these things. In fact I am one and have.

  • Janmichaelcorey

    I’m a senior and get in Harkins theaters for 6.50, I bought their tee shirt and get free popcorn for a year, I bought their special cup and get a drink for a dollar. I go offen and it cost me 7.50 for the total package, a great deal.

  • Sealey

    I prefer watching movies at home where I don’t have to sit through commercials and previews and people talking.

  • Anonymous

    Unfortunately, some of the other things they won’t tell you are 1) shut the hell up;  2) turn that cell phone off;  3) take that screaming baby out to the lobby.  I haven’t been in a movie theater in years and have no intention of ever going again.  

  • Anonymous

    Unfortunately, some of the other things they won’t tell you are 1) shut the hell up;  2) turn that cell phone off;  3) take that screaming baby out to the lobby.  I haven’t been in a movie theater in years and have no intention of ever going again.  

  • http://twitter.com/BigBryC Bryan Cristina

    I’m sure this was an interesting read, shame it’s in a slideshow format.  Time to bounce.

  • G W Garrett

    From the reaction, It should have been 13 things almost no one cares if a theater employee tells.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/HVIK7N7M6FIDVWEPDE4S2WGF4E Inachu

    Best time to find money in a movie theater is durring the holidays.
    After the movies I found over $400 once!  

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/HVIK7N7M6FIDVWEPDE4S2WGF4E Inachu

    Best time to find money in a movie theater is durring the holidays.
    After the movies I found over $400 once!  

  • Truce2000

    When I was 8 years old in 1961 a movie cost $0.25.. What has changed? Government money printing maybe? 

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3HW2CD3LHA62FS2DREKEJBHKAA Jonathan L

       That’s right because the government never printed money before only a few years ago.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OWCLUDRRSLR24ML47QOXPJBOLM Gary S

    They melt down McDonalds french fries and use the chemicals from it.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FUTJHGKJOABJDOXCSNOKWMNFOI That Guy

    I worked in a movie theater through high school.  Some of this is accurate, but the popcorn having nefarious chemicals in it to make it smell better?  The worst thing we did was switch from coconut oil to canola oil.  And while we did reuse popcorn from the day before, we would always pop a fresh batch if requested or if we didn’t think the popcorn tasted right.  I even popped special batches with no added salt for people who requested it.  The same went for the rest of our food… we were actually pretty good about pitching anything that looked overdone or stale and were happy to make things fresh if they were requested.  And, just to be clear, I worked at a chain theater, so it’s not just the indies that pay attention to quality.

    Also, they’re dead right about the split… the theater’s take for the first few weeks or month is miniscule as most of that goes to the studio.  That means the concession stand has to pay for the lease, the electricity, the equipment, and the staff.  It’s not ideal, but that’s how the business has been run for decades.

  • Fu

    Stop with the articles that make us click through multiple pages. That’s my que to stop reading.

  • Jim Camp

    As consumers, we all know this, it’s why many of us quit going to the theaters. I’d rather watch a movie on dvd, at home, with surround sound with people I care about, rather than en masse with filthy, loud crowds. I don’t like to sit in a nasty chair that has food all over it. Dont like to walk on a tacky floor where some retard spilled their cola. Don’t like to hear others on their cell phones or talking amongst themselves. And food is expensive enough without having to pay the premiums for the theater. I’m actually quite surprised theaters still exist today. But there are those that have to see a movie on a screen the size of wall of that building. I agree that is better than my home theater experience. But some movies just aren’t worthy of those gimmicks to make them watchable.

  • Anonymous

    Disagree with #13. I worked in a movie theater for three months at the concession stands. We emptied out all the popcorn poppers and threw out the old popcorn EVERY SINGLE night. Sometimes we did this in the middle of the day too.
    We would time it well enough towards the end of the night – so we didn’t make too much popcorn just to throw so much away.

  • skinny81

    I used to work at a Cinemark and it was their policy to throw away popcorn at the end of the day. Employees were allowed to take it home, but it was NEVER redistributed to the general population for profit.

  • http://www.facebook.com/JLohly J-l Ohly

    1-2. No, I can’t say I was ever briefed on popcorn chemicals and digital imaging. 

    6. That’s an exceptional manager. Pats on the back aren’t usually doled out liberally at minimum wage jobs.

  • onyxnuk

    I worked at a movie theatre when I was in college.  The popcorn cups were picked up off the floor and used again.   The hot dogs that were not sold were put into the refrigerator and offered for sale the next day.  Eating at the theatre is just a habit that can be broken.  Eat before or after.  The food there is just junk anyway.  

  • onyxnuk

    I worked at a movie theatre when I was in college.  The popcorn cups were picked up off the floor and used again.   The hot dogs that were not sold were put into the refrigerator and offered for sale the next day.  Eating at the theatre is just a habit that can be broken.  Eat before or after.  The food there is just junk anyway.  

  • Angela Cater

    Also found the convience of changing to a movie of choice should I find the one of choice boring ,inappropriate for the ones viewing or just plain garbarge or my time frame has to be changed especially when it comes to family schedules and needs.

  • WHAT????

    This article, what a waste of time

  • Dkoplos

    ALL popcorn now-a-days have chemicals in them. Yes, even at home. Ever wonder why your whole house smells of popcorn when you make a microwavable bag? chemicals. They are in such a tiny amount that it really won’t hurt you

  • Dkoplos

    ALL popcorn now-a-days have chemicals in them. Yes, even at home. Ever wonder why your whole house smells of popcorn when you make a microwavable bag? chemicals. They are in such a tiny amount that it really won’t hurt you

    • Anonymous

      You can microwave regular popcorn in a regular paper bag, you just have to close the bag well.

      I have meet people who think popcorn is only made in microwave bags and theaters.

  • Jackass

    bullshit

  • Jackass

    bullshit

  • Film_Shark

    Another secret the employees don’t tell you.  They know you’re sneaking in your own bottled water and snacks.  I see the empty wrappers when cleaning up between showtimes.

    • Anonymous

      “sneaking in”??? Kiss my belt buckle, I carry what I will in my bag. Seriously, sneaking in bottled water? Er, no, I’m bringing it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002738659584 Sean Hawke

    Man, what patronizing outfits.  Check out the bow tie in slide 6 and the dude in a blazer and weird little hate in slide 11.

    As if working the concession stand isn’t an embarrassing enough job as it is they make you wear that stupid looking crap.

  • http://twitter.com/SirRealDouglas D

    this isnt true. The profit margin on concessions is astronomically higher than it is for tickets, HOWEVER, the actual amount of money taken in my tickets dwarfs the amount made with conessions. studios take anywhere from 40-50% of tickets sales depending on the theater and the film. theaters pay anywhere from 8-15% of the retail concession price. The average concession revenue per customer (this includes customers who dont purchase concessions) averages $3. so even though the margin is less on tickets. clearly 60% of a $10 ticket per customer is much more money than 85% of $3. In fact the concessions typically make up 30% of the overall profit.

  • http://twitter.com/SirRealDouglas D

    this isnt true. The profit margin on concessions is astronomically higher than it is for tickets, HOWEVER, the actual amount of money taken in my tickets dwarfs the amount made with conessions. studios take anywhere from 40-50% of tickets sales depending on the theater and the film. theaters pay anywhere from 8-15% of the retail concession price. The average concession revenue per customer (this includes customers who dont purchase concessions) averages $3. so even though the margin is less on tickets. clearly 60% of a $10 ticket per customer is much more money than 85% of $3. In fact the concessions typically make up 30% of the overall profit.

  • Mayriverpt

    Many theatre corps. have gone bankrupt because the only profit is from popcorn, soft drinks and candy. Hollywood, unions, overpaid actors, and producers have driven the cost up to the current levels. That is why you see so many mindless movies targeting teenage boys who consume the most junk food. The article should place the blame to those who have caused the problem in my humble opinion. Cheers

  • Tonyrozensky

    I worked at the Woods Theatre in downtown Chicago for a few days as a teenager in the late 60′s.   They kept  many large bags of popcorn in the basement.  Fresh popcorn was a myth.

  • Saladin

    Movie makers go out of Business ??????   Ha!  HA!  HA!  Never happen .

    WhenI was a kid the under 12 price was 10Cents and adults 25 centas.

    right aftere World War 2 they learned there is no limit to what the public will pay to see a movie.

    They may complain about the price of food , housing or medial care ,But movies,Never.

  • Paulberg7765

    Wow…what a great article!   And such insight!   Look out, here comes the next Pulitzer winner

  • Minorkle

    Tienes
    razón. Cines sólo van a ponerse fuera del negocio. Con películas está
    disponible en DVD mucho antes tras el lanzamiento que solían, menos
    gente se molesta con entradas sobrevaluadas, alimentos sobrevaluados y
    gente hablando en sus teléfonos.

     

  • Minorkle

    Tienes
    razón. Cines sólo van a ponerse fuera del negocio. Con películas está
    disponible en DVD mucho antes tras el lanzamiento que solían, menos
    gente se molesta con entradas sobrevaluadas, alimentos sobrevaluados y
    gente hablando en sus teléfonos.

     

  • Anonymous

    When I worked at a theater, if you asked for “extra butter” it cost 25 cents more. If you just said “lots of butter” it was free.

  • Deaf Speak Out

    Most of AMC Theaters failed to provide all closed-captioning  availability 
    for the deaf people who doesn’t understand what the movie said over again.

    We all deaf people feel that the AMC Theaters still abused to overcharge more
    than $12.00 to up to deaf people who suffered to don’t understand the movie
    action said at all times.

    We all deaf people feel that AMC Theaters should accept to provide the lower
    child price for the deaf people without providing closed-captioning availability.

  • OhioMovieBuff

    I am a movie theater employee and have been for almost 30 years. I don’t know who they talked to or what theater change would allow this to happen but not where I work. There are several inaccurate statements. I remember getting yelled at by a customer one time because the sales tax they paid went up, and it was my fault. Or the time, I had a customer cuse me out because the movie they watched was a horror movie and the movie poster did not promote it as a horror movie. However, she did sit there and watch the whole thing.

    Also, one of the comments stated that the theaters will put themselves out of business. That is wrong too. The theater chains are hand-tied due to the studios that produce the movies. The average profit on tickets for a theater is roughly 20% which works out to be about $2.00. The theater chain I work for has actually refused to show certain movies because of how much the studios want of the ticket price. So concession is the only way to make money to pay for the building, utilities, and other overhead expenses. Yes. The studios are shrinking the window from a movies released in a theater to a movie released on DVD. I believe most are down to a 90 day window, but think of this, if the studio only had DVD sales to make profit, then they will jack up the price on the DVD’s. Everything is a balance.

    Next time you get upset for paying $7 for popcorn, remember that $10 beer that you got at your last sporting event. You did not mind paying $10 for beer so why would you get upset for paying $7 for popcorn?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=708129137 Andrew Love

    Bring in outside food, or downloading a pirated movie is YOU justifying stealing because you think you are entitled to something. Movies are a luxury, not a necessity.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=708129137 Andrew Love

    You have no idea what you are talking about…no Exibitor pays a studio 80%. Most deals starts at 60/40 (in the studios favor), then 50/50, then 40/60 (in the Theatres favor).

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=708129137 Andrew Love

    You have no idea what you are talking about…no Exibitor pays a studio 80%. Most deals starts at 60/40 (in the studios favor), then 50/50, then 40/60 (in the Theatres favor).

  • Guest


    Popcorn costs almost nothing to make.”

    That’s a secret? Who doesn’t know that? lol

  • Guest


    Popcorn costs almost nothing to make.”

    That’s a secret? Who doesn’t know that? lol

  • Richcass69

    #14:  I am a loser with no marketable skills so I work in a theater.

  • Uragoner

    Hostile article written by someone who should just wait for it to be on cable

  • Juventud20

    I happen to work in a movie theater, and what people dont realize that the overpricing is done for a reason. People pirate movies, and movies studios have to re-coperate loses somehow. Concessions is overpriced in order to cover overhead, and sometimes theres little profit leftover. Theres employees to pay, electricity to pay for(One projector uses enough energy to power a small house) companies who supply our concession items need to be paid, and other items such as condiments, toilet paper, seat covers, garbage bags, etc need to be paid for. When we say we cant give you extra cups for inventory purposes, we mean it!  EVERYTHING gets counted at the end of the night. We need to match sales with inventory, if its off even a little bit it throws everything off, especially when it comes to ordering more stock. Thats not cheap. I recieved shipment several times and checked to make sure everything was there and accounted for, and when I saw the invoice I nearly sh*t myself because we were spending anywhere between $5,000 and $10,000 on just one concession shipment from one company alone. We deal with about three different companies for concession items Who know how many other companies we deal with for things like the projectors, bathroom supplies etc. 

  • Mr_ripley59

    The reason the popcorn looks yellow is because its the canola oil or butter flavoring used..In other words its not  real butter. I know of this because I worked in a movie theater for 20 years..

  • Mr_ripley59

    This is  TRUE.. and thats why the employees upsell items and thats why there are all those combos. But what is not said that  the higher the prices the less people are going to buy and hence bring outside food in. A trick  is to add a bit more salt to the popcorn  making the customer more thirsty with that salt they will have to come back for another drink. lower the food items  and more variety will allow customers to  not bring in those leftover and buy a popcorn. Also certain movies are not good popcorn movies and some are good ones. Horror movies do not make good  popcorn movies but comedies and dramas do…

  • Mr_ripley59

    True FACT:

  • Mr_ripley59

    Hotdogs and  Pretzels  are placed in the morning.. and rotate all day and into the last shift if no one buys one.  Hotdogs and Pretzels are heavy foods so  hardly anymore will wanna buy them at the midnight shows. The more fatter the less customers wll wanna buy more then one.. thinner dogs and people willy buy more then one

  • Mr_ripley59

    TRUE  during my time working maybe not so much now.. but would work

  • Mr_ripley59

    TRUE FACT

  • Mr_ripley59

    VERY TRUE FACT

  • avatarstinks

    I don’t go to movies any more. Waste of time and money. Most of them aren’t worth paying for. We usually just wait until they come out on regular cable. We don’t even think most of them are worth paying for on PPV channels. As for food at the theaters, I used to take a bag of M&Ms for each of us and just go out for ice cream or drinks AFTER the movie.

  • avatarstinks

    I don’t go to movies any more. Waste of time and money. Most of them aren’t worth paying for. We usually just wait until they come out on regular cable. We don’t even think most of them are worth paying for on PPV channels. As for food at the theaters, I used to take a bag of M&Ms for each of us and just go out for ice cream or drinks AFTER the movie.

  • Jon5may68

    dvd out soon…pop and popcorn at home…still cheaper and i get to keep what i bought.

  • Adam

    The average cost per ticket in 2011 was $7.94. In 1971 it was $1.65. Adjusting that amount for inflation and it would be $9.22. It’s actually cheaper to see a movie now.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/Y5AMNZLDRGXH4NAPYQGO5ZTQQA Keyoff

    Alright, that was a waste of 3 minutes of my life.
    Who the hell is Ilana Struass and how did she get a job as a writer?

  • Dmsfrr

    I once saw a theater manager make the concession counter staff wash mold off a full case of hotdogs before cooking them.

  • Mozzie

    Lol… Readers Digest.. At least there’s one place for the grannies to hang out

  • Afulcanelli1977

    Having managed a theater for 5 years, I can verify not all these statements are true.  But the truest line is about the concession sales:  that’s how theater’s make the bulk of their money.  Box office sales usually begin to make revenue for the theater after about the 3rd or 4th week of its showing, even if it is a minute amount.  My theater never recycled popcorn:  we either allowed the employees to take the leftovers home or just threw it out (it is really cheap, but quite yummy!)  NEVER eat anything but the popcorn or candy or boxed goods that are sold at the theater.  I wholeheartedly agree with this.

    As far as complaining customers; 90% of the gripes are over trite situations either the customer created or is beyond our control.  Berating my employees never helped a customer’s cause.  It only served to guarantee them never getting what they asked/complained about  (sorry, customer service only goes so far and presentation is very important.) 

  • Anonymous

    The “go to the movies” business model is totally outdated and inappropriate for contemporary technology. I’ve got a 58″ plasma tv in my studio apartment, and a sound system that compares favorably to the ones in the cinema. Take the real estate costs, the ridiculous concession marketplace and the projector infrastructure out of the picture, and just distribute first-run films via internet on services like Netflix, Hulu and XBox.  There are better places/ways for us to “commune” as a society than in movie theaters — just pointing out that while cinemas may have survived the advent of television, they will not survive the 60″ LED flat panel combined with massive bandwidth, home theater receivers and in-home wireless speaker technology.

    • Anonymous

      Not true it is about getting out of the house and losing all my problems for a few hours. If at home phone does not stop.

  • Thc1789

    She missed a big one. Employees are supposed to say “Do you want butter FLAVORING on your popcorn.” Its not real butter, it a synthetic blend of oils.

  • Actual Thinker

    THIS is what the employees don’t tell you?  I have a secret, too!  Anything on that List of the Boringly Obvious that amazes anyone here simply shows that movie-goers are more stupid than the minimum-wage “inner sanctum” of employee drones.  You probably think Memorial Day sales at department stores are amazing and valid, too. 

  • Anonymous

    You forgot to mention the high school junior running the projector is clueless. The thing that most infuriates me about going to the theater these days is after I’ve paid the price for a ticket I’m then subjected to the same commercials I get watching TV at home. Ad time pays for what is essentially a free service (TV broadcasts). I still don’t like it, but I get it. What I don’t get and find completely inexcusable is being subjected to the same commercials after I’ve PAID for my admission to the showing. I have a pretty high end home theater (dedicated room, D-ILA projector, 12 foot screen, 6000 watt sound system, supremely comfortable theater chairs) but I would still go to a decent theater for some of the blockbuster action movies and put up with the stench and filth and rude people were it not for being subjected to television commercials with my paid admission. That was just the last straw for me. We wait for the video releases at our house and fast forward through the ads.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YST67AHQZAYUGLRJ7Z4OZPBFHY williamc

    The difference between Extreme Digital and IMAX is miniscule.  It is not enough that it would make make any appreciable difference to the average movie goer.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YST67AHQZAYUGLRJ7Z4OZPBFHY williamc

    Just got to umber three and they made my point for me.

  • Bart

    All smells are caused by chemicals, that’s how smell works.

  • Bart

    All smells are caused by chemicals, that’s how smell works.

  • Batshiatcrazy

    Slide shows are for newbies to the net and retards

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/Y5WVXDSHGCQVFYZEUFZ2AZBPZU Carolyn

     I agree, movies are TOO expensive, TOO dumbed-down for teen-age males. We need more chick flicks, more kiddie movies, & movies for adults! BYOF (bring your own food & pop). Also, the Blockbuster gets the Oscar!

  • Anonymous

    How about the fake coupons? We used to give out little cards entitling the holder to “50 cents off our regular price for a large soda” without telling them that anyone who walked up without a coupon also got the same 50 cents off. I don’t know if they’re still allowed to do that, though.

  • Anonymous

    How about the fake coupons? We used to give out little cards entitling the holder to “50 cents off our regular price for a large soda” without telling them that anyone who walked up without a coupon also got the same 50 cents off. I don’t know if they’re still allowed to do that, though.

  • Anonymous

    How about the fake coupons? We used to give out little cards entitling the holder to “50 cents off our regular price for a large soda” without telling them that anyone who walked up without a coupon also got the same 50 cents off. I don’t know if they’re still allowed to do that, though.

  • Dddd44

    A. Don’t go.
    B. Sse up a nice home Theater.
    C. What ch what you want, when you want.
    D. No more out of control people.
    E. No more water cokes and crap Pop Corn..
    Home is where it is at…

  • Anonymous

    I grew up as the child of a self admitted popcorn snob.. I know the difference between warm and fresh popcorn ;-)

  • guest

    dont blame the movie theaters for prices.  movie theater employees make minimum wage, will smith gets 50+ million for a movie.  and how come no one complains about the prices of concessions at sporting events?  and the comment about MGRs supporting their employees is true, mostly because customers like to complain that they didnt like the ending of a movie or that prices(set by corporate board members) were too high, leave your unhappiness with life at home.

  • Sally

    I am a former movie theatre employee and I can verify all these statements are correct from my experience!!!

  • Victoriafarnell1

    other things you didn’t know:

    if the 3D movie looks a little dark to you, its not just the glasses. projectionists are supposed to calibrate the bulbs to a specific light level for each film. but this process is time consuming and tedious so it almost never gets done correctly.

    projector bulbs have strict operating limits but are often used for more hours than they were built to last because bulbs cost 3k each. light loss can be the result.

    the type and thickness of glass used for the portholes is often not ideal for digital projection. it’s too thick and cloudy. dust and dirt just make it worse.

    movies always start at least 2 minutes late. if the schedule says 2:30, projectionists are told not to start the movie before 2:32 and after that we have a 5 minute window in which we are still considered on time so your movie may very well be 7 minutes late before the previews even start.

    there’s always at least 15 minutes of previews and sometimes more. we have strict orders for which previews go on which movies and in which order. “trailers checkers” attend theaters often to make sure we’re showing the correct previews. that being said, we sometimes skip or fast forward through the previews if a technical problem has caused the show to start late.

    if you stay to watch the ending credits for the latest running show of the night, we hate you. it’s 2:30 in the morning and we want to get the machines shut down and go home asap. i’ve often turned the lights up really high during the credits to hint to that last couple that it’s time to GO.

    WE CAN SEE YOU HAVING SEX. there’s humans in the booth less of the time since the advent of digital projection but we’re still up there! and we have to look through the port glass to do quality checks. you’re never alone. we can see you from the booth.

    3D movies are only worth the money if they were filmed in 3D. a re-release of beauty and the beast 3D is just a way to take your money. the quality wont be near as good as a movie filmed with a 3D camera.

    films have digital watermarks that only the producers can spot. if you try to pirate, either by stealing the drive or filming the screen, they can track down exactly which theater it came from.

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.michaels1 Joe Michaels

    For my wife and me, a movie at the theatre is like a nice restaurant: we only go once a year. It has to be a movie we really want to see…maybe even “waited” for. A far cry from when we used to date (25 years ago). Those days, we’d see two, sometimes three, movies in one weekend.

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.michaels1 Joe Michaels

    For my wife and me, a movie at the theatre is like a nice restaurant: we only go once a year. It has to be a movie we really want to see…maybe even “waited” for. A far cry from when we used to date (25 years ago). Those days, we’d see two, sometimes three, movies in one weekend.

    • da master

      only one movie a year? no offense but you and your wife sound boring. 

      • Big2Sister

        Coming from someone who most likely practices boring in the mirror.

      • http://www.facebook.com/joe.michaels1 Joe Michaels

        I know. Right? But we’ve been together for 31 years — married for 26. And we make each other laugh every day. Every day! We’re into many things — and we’re always sharing stuff with each other. I guess, for some people, there’s more to life than movies.

  • tudnut

    Okay, admittedly I haven’t been to the show in years.  But during the 90′s (and before) I went practically every day.  Maybe the new multiplexes have built themselves in such a way as to stop this…but I doubt it.

    Look at number 3:  the theater is only making money from the concessions for the first couple of months.  I knew that all along, plus how many pictures last more than a couple of months now?  The studios are eager to get them on dvd.

    And then there’s 4:  we know how you sneak in.

    Put them together, along with a presumed number 14, the kids running the place couldn’t care less, and what do you have?  A recipe for dividing that exorbitant cost of viewing a film, a way to make your outing a paid-for double feature.  (Or more.)

    Go in with a newspaper schedule of the start times, and a watch.  When the first movie (the one you paid for) ends, check which other one is about to begin, and start to amble over there.  But on your way, buy a box of popcorn.  Now you’ve just given back to the theater, you’ve just put money in the kids’ pockets, and they won’t throw you out no matter what.

    Nor should they.  That 12 bucks you paid coming in goes right back to the studio; that 3 bucks you paid for the popcorn is what pays their salary.

    They’ll never admit this, but as long as you keep buying popcorn and concessions, you should be allowed to see all the films you like.

    Would the studios approve of this?  Hell no.  But then, they’re the ones who have manuevered themselves over the years to have this stranglehold on theaters.  And if the theater-owner (and, by default, his employees) happens to want to treat you as a guest and allow you to see some film free of charge, that’s his business.

    And all for the price of a box of popcorn.

  • melo

    actually one movie employee told me this,that they make most of their money from concessions cause me and my cosine was complaining why was everything so high 

  • mamaflo

    I go to the movies nearly every Friday. I always insist on my pop corn fresh and hot from the popper.  I am a senior so I get the senior discount,  $5.00.  I also never go when the movie is new,  too many people and too much noise.  There have been time when I have been the only person in the theatre.  most enjoyable that way.

  • Peach

    We got to the frist run movies 5 times a month but we never buy any drinks or food there.  We are lucky our movie theater is in a area that has about 10 places to eat, we go early and eat good food for about 75% less money.  Now how stupid would they be to keep over charging on the snacks they have to offer.  Come on it does not take a scholor to understand with the all we have to dealw ith going to a $25.00 per person movie is not on the our top priorties.

    When you have kids who drink and eat h ow can a family afford to take all the kids and supply them with refreshments you might as well go to Disneyland at least you have the whole day for your money!  A family can rent movies for a buck at the super market and while your there but micro pop it is always on sale like a buck, then get a liter of soda for less than a buck…see I figured person…a DVD, popcorn, a liter of soda, a candy grand total $4.00 plus tax.  STAY HOME!

  • Greg

    Number 5 cracks me up!!!!

    I worked at a movie theater for a couple years in high school.   At the end of the night the popcorn is put in a garbage bag and reheated for the next day. (hence, I would not want to eat that!!!)   The hot dogs are fine, if they don’t sell they are thrown out, it’s the buns that are counted for inventory purposes!  As for the nachos, the chips move so much they don’t sit idle and the cheese is either boiling hot or put in the cold locker at the end of the night…  inventory on them is counted on the trays you receive when you order them.  Same with soft drink cups.

    whoever wrote this should actually learn more about the business before pretending to know anything about it.

  • Projectionist

    I love how your article is full of it. Did you do your research in one place?

  • http://www.facebook.com/lizmargib Liz Gibson

    If you go to the Century movie theaters chain, ask for headphones at the custimer service section to offset the douchebags that talk during the show. It’s free but do the honorable thing and return it.Don’t run off with it.

  • Emerald50

    Sorry all you “movies are too expensive” people, but people LOVE going to the movies. They are not “dying out”. Studios invest millions of dollars in them for a reason: they make money. All the after-market sales like DVDs and rentals and etc more than make up for any lost revenue after a movie is off the screen, so stop acting like you’re going to bring down the industry: your paltry dollars don’t mean much. Look for record numbers of people “not going to the movies” when Batman opens in a couple of weeks.

  • Emerald50

    Sorry all you “movies are too expensive” people, but people LOVE going to the movies. They are not “dying out”. Studios invest millions of dollars in them for a reason: they make money. All the after-market sales like DVDs and rentals and etc more than make up for any lost revenue after a movie is off the screen, so stop acting like you’re going to bring down the industry: your paltry dollars don’t mean much. Look for record numbers of people “not going to the movies” when Batman opens in a couple of weeks.

  • Jge3

    yo suck

  • Jaxsearch

    I have naturally dark brown hair and because i have never smoked and tried to stay out of the sun, I look slightly younger than 60, which is the local theater’s cutoff for senior discounts. The cashier has essentially told me he doesn’t believe me anyway, my husband (who’s mostly bald, has gray hair and is younger than I am) gets embarrassed, and I feel silly asking for so,ething the company’s policy says I can have.

  • Anonymous

    Been to 3 movies in the last few weeks, which is more times than I’ve been in the last 15 years.  The $6 matinee is not bad, but to get a bag of popcorn and drink is $10!  Ridiculous.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Waltmitchell Walt Mitchell

    To Jaxsearch, who complained about looking too young to qualify for the 60-plus senior discount at the movies:  The solution to that problem is simple.  At the boxoffice, simply show your driver’s license (or other photo ID that gives your birthdate), and–Bingo!–discount granted!  That also shuts up the wiseguy or wisegal who doesn’t believe you!   :-)

  • Anonymous

    Soda is also hugely profitable – the cost is something like $0.25 a liter in bulk.  Thus on a $5.00 soda they’re probably making $4.25-$4.50 of pure profit.  Wholesale cost for boxed candy is around $0.40-$0.50 and sells for $4-$5.  So… make no mistake, the theaters are making big money on concessions.  

  • deborahsmithe

    yeah, sorry for the theaters, but with sticky seats and inconsiderate jerkballs on cellphones, i’d rather watch movies at home.  

    saving all that cinema cost – i can afford a new really big hi def tv, and bigger still every few years. 

    plus, then maybe the people acting in movies who do nothing more than tell other’s stories won’t get the zillions of dollars they demand, paid for by all those theaters (using our $$$$) with their nasty seats and armrests - and kids (or other idiots) will instead idolize people who are truly great and accomplished, and all will be good with the world.  i’m a happy cable camper.

  • Brulight

    You know that blockbuster movie that everybody has been waiting to open for six months and you know it is going to sell out every show for the first weekend? The first screening in the morning won’t even be half full. This even works in Manhattan. Also, I think 3D is a total ripoff. The look is not that much better for the extra money.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Land/1567519292 Mike Land

    I worked briefly for a large chain theatre.  Go to movies Monday through Thursday. Many have single ticket takers close to the front door on those days, especially from noon to 5pm.  Ours did not even have a ticket taker at those times.  Ours was a multi-winged theatre that only had section ticket takers after 5pm and mainly on weekends.  It means you can theatre hop.  The manager usually doesn’t care as long as you continue to visit the snack bar.  Our popcorn trick was to leave the doors slightly open so that the smells get out better.  But that’s if you always get fresh popcorn.  For a major event such as Twilight fans, we pop up 55-gallon bags full of popcorn early in the week and then warehouse it in our dry storage area.  We might have 10 bags level full of popped corn.  Then on the debut day, we pull it out and fill up the machines all across the complex.  The heat lamps will do the rest of the job.  You can always dump complimentary butter flavored oil on it. Don’t feel bad, sports stadiums pop as many as 100, 55-gallon bags to have for game day.  Yes, we did delight on what you bring into our movie house.  Large boxes of pizza, small cartons of ice cream, Chinese food, your own bag of popcorn in a grocery sack, your own movie sized candy from CVS, and all sorts of drinks.  If you are curious as to why there used to be a big hole in the cup holder,.it was so a can or bottle falls through. You used to hear cans or bottles rolling down to the front aisle.  We fixed the glitch by adding a plastic cross holder so that we could sell you our own bottled drinks at tremendous profits. 
    We had what I affectionately call to this day, The Screening Rooms.  You might as well watch the movie at home with a DLP projector.  These theatres had 67 seats.  Its only purpose was to let us keep a marginal movie on the marquee just a few days longer than our competition.  Try to get there before we move it to those rooms.  Its better waiting and then going to a $1 cinema and watching it on their full sized screen. 
    Last, we are measuring you, “they are watching”.  That is Nielsen Theatre Market Research.  They report back to the producer early results of trailers.  We randomly pulled out guests who fit a demographic and show them a brief trailer.  Then we give a 5-minute computerized survey.  You can actually do the survey yourself from home but I’ll be nice and not post web pages.  However, search Sony Pictures Survey and it will let you get in from their portal.  Hey, you can win a $5000 Sony system that they give out each week.  One frequent survey is married, Latino, women, 2 kids under 10, and husband not present.  What did they think about the trailer for Madagascar III.  Did the kids understand the plot.  Will they tell their friends to watch it because of their opinion of the trailer.
    We got paid up to $15 per survey so that’s a nice spiff.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Land/1567519292 Mike Land

    I worked briefly for a large chain theatre.  Go to movies Monday through Thursday. Many have single ticket takers close to the front door on those days, especially from noon to 5pm.  Ours did not even have a ticket taker at those times.  Ours was a multi-winged theatre that only had section ticket takers after 5pm and mainly on weekends.  It means you can theatre hop.  The manager usually doesn’t care as long as you continue to visit the snack bar.  Our popcorn trick was to leave the doors slightly open so that the smells get out better.  But that’s if you always get fresh popcorn.  For a major event such as Twilight fans, we pop up 55-gallon bags full of popcorn early in the week and then warehouse it in our dry storage area.  We might have 10 bags level full of popped corn.  Then on the debut day, we pull it out and fill up the machines all across the complex.  The heat lamps will do the rest of the job.  You can always dump complimentary butter flavored oil on it. Don’t feel bad, sports stadiums pop as many as 100, 55-gallon bags to have for game day.  Yes, we did delight on what you bring into our movie house.  Large boxes of pizza, small cartons of ice cream, Chinese food, your own bag of popcorn in a grocery sack, your own movie sized candy from CVS, and all sorts of drinks.  If you are curious as to why there used to be a big hole in the cup holder,.it was so a can or bottle falls through. You used to hear cans or bottles rolling down to the front aisle.  We fixed the glitch by adding a plastic cross holder so that we could sell you our own bottled drinks at tremendous profits. 
    We had what I affectionately call to this day, The Screening Rooms.  You might as well watch the movie at home with a DLP projector.  These theatres had 67 seats.  Its only purpose was to let us keep a marginal movie on the marquee just a few days longer than our competition.  Try to get there before we move it to those rooms.  Its better waiting and then going to a $1 cinema and watching it on their full sized screen. 
    Last, we are measuring you, “they are watching”.  That is Nielsen Theatre Market Research.  They report back to the producer early results of trailers.  We randomly pulled out guests who fit a demographic and show them a brief trailer.  Then we give a 5-minute computerized survey.  You can actually do the survey yourself from home but I’ll be nice and not post web pages.  However, search Sony Pictures Survey and it will let you get in from their portal.  Hey, you can win a $5000 Sony system that they give out each week.  One frequent survey is married, Latino, women, 2 kids under 10, and husband not present.  What did they think about the trailer for Madagascar III.  Did the kids understand the plot.  Will they tell their friends to watch it because of their opinion of the trailer.
    We got paid up to $15 per survey so that’s a nice spiff.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Land/1567519292 Mike Land

    I worked briefly for a large chain theatre.  Go to movies Monday through Thursday. Many have single ticket takers close to the front door on those days, especially from noon to 5pm.  Ours did not even have a ticket taker at those times.  Ours was a multi-winged theatre that only had section ticket takers after 5pm and mainly on weekends.  It means you can theatre hop.  The manager usually doesn’t care as long as you continue to visit the snack bar.  Our popcorn trick was to leave the doors slightly open so that the smells get out better.  But that’s if you always get fresh popcorn.  For a major event such as Twilight fans, we pop up 55-gallon bags full of popcorn early in the week and then warehouse it in our dry storage area.  We might have 10 bags level full of popped corn.  Then on the debut day, we pull it out and fill up the machines all across the complex.  The heat lamps will do the rest of the job.  You can always dump complimentary butter flavored oil on it. Don’t feel bad, sports stadiums pop as many as 100, 55-gallon bags to have for game day.  Yes, we did delight on what you bring into our movie house.  Large boxes of pizza, small cartons of ice cream, Chinese food, your own bag of popcorn in a grocery sack, your own movie sized candy from CVS, and all sorts of drinks.  If you are curious as to why there used to be a big hole in the cup holder,.it was so a can or bottle falls through. You used to hear cans or bottles rolling down to the front aisle.  We fixed the glitch by adding a plastic cross holder so that we could sell you our own bottled drinks at tremendous profits. 
    We had what I affectionately call to this day, The Screening Rooms.  You might as well watch the movie at home with a DLP projector.  These theatres had 67 seats.  Its only purpose was to let us keep a marginal movie on the marquee just a few days longer than our competition.  Try to get there before we move it to those rooms.  Its better waiting and then going to a $1 cinema and watching it on their full sized screen. 
    Last, we are measuring you, “they are watching”.  That is Nielsen Theatre Market Research.  They report back to the producer early results of trailers.  We randomly pulled out guests who fit a demographic and show them a brief trailer.  Then we give a 5-minute computerized survey.  You can actually do the survey yourself from home but I’ll be nice and not post web pages.  However, search Sony Pictures Survey and it will let you get in from their portal.  Hey, you can win a $5000 Sony system that they give out each week.  One frequent survey is married, Latino, women, 2 kids under 10, and husband not present.  What did they think about the trailer for Madagascar III.  Did the kids understand the plot.  Will they tell their friends to watch it because of their opinion of the trailer.
    We got paid up to $15 per survey so that’s a nice spiff.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Land/1567519292 Mike Land

    I worked briefly for a large chain theatre.  Go to movies Monday through Thursday. Many have single ticket takers close to the front door on those days, especially from noon to 5pm.  Ours did not even have a ticket taker at those times.  Ours was a multi-winged theatre that only had section ticket takers after 5pm and mainly on weekends.  It means you can theatre hop.  The manager usually doesn’t care as long as you continue to visit the snack bar.  Our popcorn trick was to leave the doors slightly open so that the smells get out better.  But that’s if you always get fresh popcorn.  For a major event such as Twilight fans, we pop up 55-gallon bags full of popcorn early in the week and then warehouse it in our dry storage area.  We might have 10 bags level full of popped corn.  Then on the debut day, we pull it out and fill up the machines all across the complex.  The heat lamps will do the rest of the job.  You can always dump complimentary butter flavored oil on it. Don’t feel bad, sports stadiums pop as many as 100, 55-gallon bags to have for game day.  Yes, we did delight on what you bring into our movie house.  Large boxes of pizza, small cartons of ice cream, Chinese food, your own bag of popcorn in a grocery sack, your own movie sized candy from CVS, and all sorts of drinks.  If you are curious as to why there used to be a big hole in the cup holder,.it was so a can or bottle falls through. You used to hear cans or bottles rolling down to the front aisle.  We fixed the glitch by adding a plastic cross holder so that we could sell you our own bottled drinks at tremendous profits. 
    We had what I affectionately call to this day, The Screening Rooms.  You might as well watch the movie at home with a DLP projector.  These theatres had 67 seats.  Its only purpose was to let us keep a marginal movie on the marquee just a few days longer than our competition.  Try to get there before we move it to those rooms.  Its better waiting and then going to a $1 cinema and watching it on their full sized screen. 
    Last, we are measuring you, “they are watching”.  That is Nielsen Theatre Market Research.  They report back to the producer early results of trailers.  We randomly pulled out guests who fit a demographic and show them a brief trailer.  Then we give a 5-minute computerized survey.  You can actually do the survey yourself from home but I’ll be nice and not post web pages.  However, search Sony Pictures Survey and it will let you get in from their portal.  Hey, you can win a $5000 Sony system that they give out each week.  One frequent survey is married, Latino, women, 2 kids under 10, and husband not present.  What did they think about the trailer for Madagascar III.  Did the kids understand the plot.  Will they tell their friends to watch it because of their opinion of the trailer.
    We got paid up to $15 per survey so that’s a nice spiff.

  • Melanielang86

    With netflix & the redbox, these overpriced movie theaters will go out of business real soon!!!

  • Perla

    i love popcorn

  • Jeffrey Schall

    The “topping” they put on popcorn is not butter or margarine.  It is a soy product.  When I worked at a theater during High School, I once knew a guy who was dared to drink a dixie-cup of the “topping.”  Dude had the runs for days.  Topping is nasty stuff in large doses.

  • guestplex

    I work for a Canadian Theatre company ( one of the biggest) and after 5 years I know enough to tell everyone this article is very silly.

    1.There are no Chemicals to make popcorn smells fill the theatre. This is a complete and utter lie. Have you ever made popcorn at home from a bag? Yeah it smells up the whole kitchen with a nice smell …. and for a long while– that is normal, and natural.

    2. Digital is obviously not as good as IMAX that’s why IMAX is IMAX. All theatres have gone (or are on the way to) digital projection because in comparison to the old film, it offers a clearer visual for the guest, easier to fix in case the film gets tangled up in the projection booth and also it is much safer since the old-style film is extremely flammable and combustible–  yes it is easier to run but that is not the reason for the switch at all.

    3. It is true most of the money does not go to the theatre this is why concessions are expensive. I don’t know why the above article says for the first month or two, movies are not usually even in theatres for that long… and even if they were, a portion would still go to the distributors and the actors-  who do you think pays for the actors pay cheques?  Also what bugs me about this one is any theatre employee would gladly tell you this… i’s no secret as the title of the article suggests.

    4. ”
    I know all the methods you use to sneak in. I just don’t always care enough to kick you out for it.”
    Im just going to skip commenting on this one….. it depends on the employee.

    5. ” The only foods I trust are the popcorn, drinks, and boxed candy. I wouldn’t eat the pretzels, hot dogs, or nachos.” – whatever employee said this must work at a gross and grungy theatre. Our theatres are clean and have fresh good food. The nachos are the best!6. this one is also stupid, from experience, if the guest is right… the guest is treated as such. If the guest is in the wrong, they will be made aware of it. If the employee is in the wrong- they will be made aware of it.7. Combos do save you money- that’s why they are combos. what a stupid assumption.Go ahead try it, you’ll see.8. i dont even get number 8… our sizes  have been the same for years.9. Microwave pizzas?? Wow .. not at our theatres, we have real pizza ovens you can see them come out. I have rolled and baked 100′s of them with my own hands,10. No we cannot give extra cups or bags, because it is inventoried… again NOT a secret… theatre employees openly tell the guest the reason for not being able to provide extra containers.  stupid .This article is very stupid.

    • Noodles

      I dont care how much you defend the food at a movie theater, THERE IS chemicals in the topping. I’ll make you a deal, thousand bucks if you, as not a chemist, and just some guy who works a theater, can tell me exactly what every item in the topping is, same with the “cheese product” for those nachos. Now, I can’t say that the intent of those chemicals is to create a pleasant odor, but they are definitely there. In fact, I doubt you could identify the chemicals in the soda, hot dogs (which incidentally might be prepared in a clean environment, but are made from meat fillers, i.e. leftover scraps of anything animal based, turkey, pork, whatever was laying around– not exactly high quality food) pretzels or anythings really thats served at a concession stand. 

      Using the words “clean, fresh, good food” is not only a bold face lie, it’s insulting. I have come to LOVE my drive in movie theater that allows me to pay 6 dollars to bring in whatever food I like– I bring my kids tea, bags of grapes, sliced fruit, and my favorite, non genetically modified whoe grain popcorn from trader joes with my own real butter topping and sea salt– healthy  THAT is fresh food. and yes, I can tell you exactly what everything is that’s in it. 

      It’s very hard to make a clear decision on the combos since the movie theater chains I have been to in both Michigan and TN don’t label individual prices…I’m sure that is no accident. 

      I’m sorry, but I think our idea of what “good food” is has become completely distorted and I can see you’re very fired up and defensive, but this is an argument you will not win. 

  • tobe

    i use to work in a dollar theatre. we found a bloated mouse in the candy counter, they pulled it out and never cleaned the area out. when i started to say something out loud they told me to shut up.  I still get iffy about movie theatre food, particularly dollar theaters.  (the little movie theaters that show movies that have recently left the theatre)

  • tobe

    just like most places that serve food, you know what goes on when you work there and it loses its flavor

  • http://www.facebook.com/FrankAlfredAquino Frank A Aquino

    I rarely drink or eat anything at the cinema for the above reasons. If you drink something, You may miss something when going to the restroom. The Popcorn and the so called Butter are vile , I would never have Butter on the popcorn. A friend would smuggle in their own popcorn made at home in a backpack.

  • http://www.facebook.com/FrankAlfredAquino Frank A Aquino

    I rarely drink or eat anything at the cinema for the above reasons. If you drink something, You may miss something when going to the restroom. The Popcorn and the so called Butter are vile , I would never have Butter on the popcorn. A friend would smuggle in their own popcorn made at home in a backpack.

  • http://www.facebook.com/ownage003 Tony Baril

    All of these things are so true! I hate when people want extra cups or bags, we can give out a small free courtesy cup and box for you to put your things in, and if thats a problem…sucks! 
    It is quite beneficial getting free movies so that way you can scout out the good ones and see the crappy ones for free! 

  • S0sickandtired

    This is the most disgusting piece of slander I have ever read. How about you print an article entitled ‘Thirteen things a GOOD movie theater employee with a decent manager won’t tell you?” Yes, I manage a theater and I have never ‘patted an employee on the back’ after a customer left (chances are, if they were rude to a customer or in the wrong they’re being pulled into the office to be written up or terminated after the customer leaves). Do you really support this kind of terrible article? A good employee won’t turn his back when someone is sneaking in (or how about you write an article entitled ‘Another reason your prices are so high at the movies. You sneak in and throw trash around and hey, have you ever considered how much money it costs to pay the janitorial service and the employees to clean up your mess?’) and yes, popcorn stays fresh but it’s also thrown out at night and MADE FRESH DAILY! Did one of the pay-per-view channels throw you some bucks to slam the theater business? I love how you explain the reason for the cost of concession items but still oh-so-slyly call them ‘overpriced’. Carefully written insults and backhanded ‘truths’ don’t change a piece of trash article. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

  • Mikerrr

    I’m not going to call the author a liar, but as a former movie theatre employee I’m going to say that I believe the “chemicals in the popcorn” thing is a load of crap. At my theatre we did not pop the popcorn fresh every day as the signs might have suggested, but we certainly didn’t add any “chemicals” to make the lobby smell good. I have no idea what the buttery liquid was that we pumped onto popcorn, but it wasn’t some secret “chemical” that we added for aroma – it was just a butter substitute.

  • Jenviso

    It’s MUCH cheaper to rent a Netfix  and watch it at home!

  • Anonymous

    I cannot sit near anyone in a theater who has a tub of that “garbage.”  The smell of it makes me
    nearly throw up.  Does not smell like “butter.”  It is chemicals and people who work in the plant where it is made have gotten ill just smelling it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/shaimahfaith Shaimah Faith Espinosa Quilat

    wanna do some like that too…

  • http://www.facebook.com/shaimahfaith Shaimah Faith Espinosa Quilat

    wanna do some like that too…

  • http://twitter.com/2254 Michael Marr

    Customers demand all kind of respect and service for that $12. Or even at the $2 theater.

    Also, they won’t tell you that you can bring food from outside if you have a special diet. And that diet better not be Coke and Mike and Ike.

  • Guest

    number 13 isn’t true. Movie theater was my first job and we ALWAYS threw out old popcorn at the end of the night. They’d let employees take it home.

  • Guest

    number 13 isn’t true. Movie theater was my first job and we ALWAYS threw out old popcorn at the end of the night. They’d let employees take it home.

  • Guest

    number 13 isn’t true. Movie theater was my first job and we ALWAYS threw out old popcorn at the end of the night. They’d let employees take it home.

  • romancegirl1963

    That’s why i enjoy Netflix at home and Dvd’s from the library. I went to a movie recently and the volume inside the theater was soooooooo loud I had a headache when I left. Why does the volume have to be so loud?

    • Maxx3283

       Because the people around you wont shut the hell up

  • Guest

    There’s no chemicals in the popcorn.  It’s kernals, corn oil, and popcorn salt.  That’s it.  The butter on the other hand, is polyurethane something… not butter.

  • Roosterfix

    Ugh…authors lost me at “trust the popcorn”. I LOVE the cinema! Love going to the movies! Heck I even love the hot dogs! I worked at a theater in college n these kids just sound lazy and uninterested in film AND employment.

  • Thembt2007

    “pat me on the back when you leave” is dependent on the demographic of all involved. A guy to a guy employee. Older female to teen male employee. Woman customer, male customer. Young teen customer, to an adult employee. Any customer to an all hispanic  staff, a hispanic customer to an all white staff, a white customer to an all black staff, A black employee with a white superior, A black customer to a white employee and supervisor. ALL these things matter as to whether the employee will be held accountable. White teen boy who gets a black woman complaining to a white older male boss? no fear at all.

  • Muladeva

    where to lodge complaints on Movie Theaters..?
     

  • cloak and dagger

    This list is stupid and misleading.As a movie theater manager for 15 years Ive told customers most of those things many times.There is no reason to hide any of it, except maybe the sweeping under the seats. I have also eaten all of those foods employees wont touch. So congrats on blowing our secrets out of the water.Oh and the popcorn does not have a chemical in it to fill the theater, freshly popped popcorn in the lobby just smells good, its popped in oil and with buttery flavoring which is what you smell.The corn kernals are simply just that.Oh and look at the cost of doing something other than going to the movies as a alternative entertainment choice the  movie compares favorably as opposed to other choices.Blame the studios for the high prices because they are the ones who cause the high prices with their high demands for ticket price percentages.Alot of this stuff is correct just not state secrets.

  • http://twitter.com/LOBUCHOWSKI loretta obuchowski

    Why does it smell so good? um, most of the chain movie theaters I have recently been to smell like tinkle. 

  • http://www.larry-kelly.com/ Larry Kelly

    As a senior, I can go to the movies here in the Midwest for less then watching a pay movie on DIRECTV. Watching on the big screen in an audience is still a special experience.

  • movie lover

    glad to know the first showings pay the stars,  I will wait until the movies are on video,  the stars will have less money to spend on political  campaignes….

  • Paul Beck50

    I have a feeling that there are 13 more things, (the really disgusting ones) that they will never tell us………

  • http://www.facebook.com/CrystalRose08 Crystal Rose

    1.-It’s not chemical’s it’s Canola Oil
    2.-I’ve Never heard of “Extreme Digital”
    3.-ALL box office money goes to the movie companies and yes that’s why the food is so expensive.
    4.-Yupp 
    5.-Depends on the theater. Not every theater actually cooks the food the right way or keeps the machines as clean as they are supposed to 
    6.-Yupp. We know all the rules and we can tell u them until were blue in the face but you wont listen until u hear it from my manager.
    7.-Most combo meals do save you money. If you buy a large popcorn and med/large drink you save money on the candy. It’s kinda fine print depending on what you order but in the end you usually save money.
    8.-I think they’re implying the sizes change a lot…That depends on the theater
    9.-Yupp. However if you ask nicely most theaters will bring the food to you in your theater when it’s ready so you don’t have to wait in the crowded lobby.
    10.-True. “Regal” theaters offer small 4oz cups though for free
    11.-True but if your awesome like we are here in upstate NY (not including Crossgates because they suck) we actually have a cool technique on cleaning so everything even under the seats gets swept up.
    12.-True…Trailers are AWESOME!!! …and it makes u come back *guilty* but still 
    13.-VERY True.

  • JAM

    I work at a small-town movie theater – and in an effort to remain community friendly, the owners have made all tickets $3. We show movies in their second wave (about a month or so after they come out). You can get a ticket, large popcorn and drink for about $8. Total.

    And for all the love we get for it, I know we’re constantly struggling to meet our overhead. Running  a theater is not just concessions and sweeping. It’s security systems and projectors and sound equipment, not to mention minimum wages for workers such as myself. So while I lament how expensive the movie-going experience has become, I have a better understanding as to why those prices are so high. When you have to send most of your money to a studio, you have to inflate if only to keep yourself afloat.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/2IP6CNCOABVYWXP2GHETWASPFI Terry

                          Gee Luna… why don’t you just tell us your life story and be done with it……………Boring

  • Notamiddleagedmoron

    Pirate everything, pay for nothing.

  • Pleiades357

    “6. Chances are, if you complain to the manager and he sides with you, he’s just putting on a show to calm you down. The manager might pretend to yell at me for a minute, but he’ll pat me on the back the moment you’re out of sight.” 
    And theaters wonder why attendance is down. Why would I pay to see a movie and deal with poor conditions, poor behavior from other attendees and unprofessional employees? (not to mention “commercials, painfully loud sound….). An AMC in Irvine was running a different movie than the movie shown over the door. The employee we spoke to behaved as if it made no difference to him, offering to let us return and see the movie we purchased the tickets for (kill time til the next run) as if he were doing us a big favor. When I was not happy with his attitude he offered to compensate with free passes, that expired in a couple weeks… I like the big screen, but not worth dealing with the rest of the package. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/johnny.mindell Johnny Mindell

    wow

  • Theatergirl

    How about – we have people who come to the theater to count moviegoers for particular shows. If the number in the theater doesn’t match the number of tickets sold (because you snuck from one theater to another) then the movie companies may punish us by not sending us their best movies. It may not seem like a big deal to switch theaters, but it may result in you having to drive farther next time for a movie you want to see.

  • DigestingReader

    “Combination deals don’t save you money…” because customers do not have more than a 3rd grade education to add prices.

  • Guest

    Not all entirely accurate, but pretty close on most counts.

  • Pleiva

    Wow I didn’t know readers’s digest still existed. I have warm memories of the print version but after reading this article I doubt it will be around much longer at all. Who is the target audience here, some hick in Bugtussle?

  • iSeeMovies

    I worked at a movie theater and never had any worries telling people half of this stuff.

  • Anonymous

    Some right and some wrong.

    Popcorn at home stinks up the house too.  I worked in theatres for 25 years.  After while popcorn smells awful to you.  I used to say” food should have an aroma, not an ODOR”  I had to shower to get the smell off me after work. 

  • Anonymous

    Some right and some wrong.

    Popcorn at home stinks up the house too.  I worked in theatres for 25 years.  After while popcorn smells awful to you.  I used to say” food should have an aroma, not an ODOR”  I had to shower to get the smell off me after work. 

  • Anonymous

    In fact, theaters count so much on concession stand sales that Sergio Leone’s great Western, “Once Upon a Time in the West” (#2 on IMDB’s “Best Westerns” list – to Leone’s “The Good the Bad and the Ugly”) was cut from the (already cut, from 175 minutes) international print length pf 165 minutes in 1969, because the theaters complained that they needed to get in another show each day so they could sell more popcorn.

    Some of the scenes cut were vital to understanding the plot.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1227559533 Sheepy T. Sheep

    #1 isn’t true.  There are not special chemicals in the popcorn that make it smell better than normal popcorn.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jon-Weiss/1318734279 Jon Weiss

    Haven’t been to a movie in a long time, no real need, I am a patient person and I can wait to see the movies on DVD or “On Demand” from the cable company.   No need to put up with obnoxious people (other theater goers) in the theaters.

  • Guest

    I’ve worked at the movie theater. Nothing on this list is a huge secret. Yeah, the popcorn is a day or two old (at the most) but its warmed up and still tastes fine. Everyone knows the concessions are expensive, and that’s how theaters make money. I don’t know what NOT eating the pretzels, nachos or hot dogs is all about. I eat them. And I don’t think the garbage is swept under the seats due to time constraints…that’s just good old-fashion laziness from minimum wage workers. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/fabricatedego Joseph Elvin Legg

    Actually as a supervisor in a theater, we all eat the nachos and the hot dogs.  We have pretty good quality Angus beef hot dogs.  They are the best thing on the menu.  Our pretzels and nachos aren’t too shabby either.   Also, our popcorn sizes don’t change all that much.

  • Dpayne2615

    That is why I always bring in my own food. Go ahead and have some wine too, they come in small bottles that fit nicely in your pocket.

  • Ferrentinojohnte

    when u work at a movie theater dont u get free movies

  • http://www.smugscout.com/ Smug Scout

    Another thing I heard from theater employees is that ticket prices have gone up as people have littered more!  Because so many people throw popcorn all over the place and leave bags and cups behind, more staff have had to be hired to clean up between films. They even thanked me for throwing out my cup. I told them they shouldn’t need to!

  • Bdog

    As a former employee I can tell you that we DO get free movie passes whenever we want.  I can also tell you that popcorn is thrown out EVERY NIGHT.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ender-Wiggin/100000885624281 Ender Wiggin

    let’s see.. #1 is a lie, it’s just popcorn. comes in hundred pound bags, no chemicals involved. 3 is pretty common knowledge. 7 is only a problem if you can’t do basic math. 8 doesn’t even make much sense. 13. bullshit, popcorn costs pennies, no one saves it overnight and rewarms it the next day.   and half of the rest was just crap..   1/10

  • Ais_computers

    Nice way to get people to participate in your survey…I’ll never read your articles in the future……

  • Abccarpet1

    get bootleg copies of everything sold on the street, who the hell wants to pay $12.00 for a movie ticket, think about your family first, not Hollywood and a buncg of ego driven overpaid actors!

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/6WUEIXDTGM426USJ5FT5CH2CTE Jeff Dearman

    I like movie theaters and will keep going to them I get the AAA passes. to save money.

    I also go on Tues evenings they have all day matinee price at Revere Cinema in Boston. I always get popcorn with extra butter, to defy the government telling me what to do. If I want extra butter I’ll have extra butter. I wont let the government tell me what is good and what is not good for me. I like the butter. Whatever it has chemicals in it, so does everything else that tastes good. LIVE with it. Just work out and eat healthy the rest of the time and one or two times you go to the m ovie wont kill you. 

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/6WUEIXDTGM426USJ5FT5CH2CTE Jeff Dearman

    For those who worry about movie prices, look into the theaters that offer all day matinee prices. on certain days (Like my theater has Tuesdays) which is great. You can get the theater to yourself sometimes. And look into the AAA passes if you have triple A =) 

  • Anonymous

    The point about movie sales isn’t true. Movie theaters pay a fixed rate to buy the rights to the movie, so for the first month they may not see profits, but there isn’t a contract that makes movie revenue “go to studios” for the first month. 

  • Mcastanu

    It’s not really anything new at my age– we used to walk to the neighborhood theater (what’s that, right??)with 50 cents– 25 to get in 10 for a soda and 15 for popcorn and NO I am not 95.  I’ve stopped going– there’s Redbox and Free at the library, but for a long time, I’d sneak in my own popcorn and candy and buy a drink.  Anythihg else they sell is plain awful.  I still make my own popcorn over the stove Hate that microwave stuff– it tastes funny

  • http://profiles.google.com/09silver David Silva

    Two more things:
    1) You could have seen this plus 100 more movies at Netflix for le$$.
    2) Theater popcorn always uses Canola Oil which is horrible for you.

  • Phrosty420

    “#13. Popcorn keeps for a day or two. Many customers confuse warm with fresh.”
    –Well not in Florida they throw it all out at end of the night

  • GUEST

    If you don’t want to buy the popcorn, then don’t buy popcorn. They won’t force you to buy.
    If you prefer to watch a movie in theaters then wait for the DVD-copy. They wouldn’t force you either. Simple as that. I you think they it’s not work, then fall for the advertisements. PERIOD.

  • Julikell

    Number One is nonsense! Anybody who has worked in an office knows how pungent and permeating the aroma of popcorn is. In one office I worked in, employees were, in fact, forbidden from popping popcorn in the microwave.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/73NFAPIGXRMBQS36IQIP3BZVZU Captain

    During the Depression, my father was a grade school kids and his family was in poverty.  He loved the movies, but they cost a dime.  To get the money, he would walk for hours along the roadsides to find errant pop bottles or tin cans that someone discarded (a bottle bottle or two could be sold for a penny and a pound of tin, which cans were actually made of then, could also be sold for a penny or two).  If he was lucky enough to earn the ten cents to go to the theater (forget money to buy popcorn or other concessions), he would get to watch a chapter in each of the serials that were playing that week (to be continued the next week if he could come up with another tens cents from hours of walking the roadsides).

    Go ahead.  Gripe about what YOU have to pay to see a movie or buy a concession.

    • Green Bay Gentleman

       Then he walked to school barefoot, uphill both ways. 

      Look times have changed since the great depression.  Old previous slaves would probably sneer at the complaints your Grandfather made.  So the gripes we make are in context and in time.  You can’t compare different eras.

    • Green Bay Gentleman

       Then he walked to school barefoot, uphill both ways. 

      Look times have changed since the great depression.  Old previous slaves would probably sneer at the complaints your Grandfather made.  So the gripes we make are in context and in time.  You can’t compare different eras.

  • Allison

    ^ clearly doesn’t work at AMC; we threw out all our unused popcorn at the end of the night. All our popcorn was fresh, usually made in the last hour or so when it was busy, yet so many people insisted on me sticking my arms under a rain of burning hot popcorn and oil splatter (which hurt like hell) so they could have fresh popcorn.

    but this person is spot on about cleaning. the ushers aren’t lazy, just extremely overworked and usually pressed for time.

  • Fausa1

    I ALWAYS bring my own food or drink..to h*ll with their thievery disguised as prices…if all the ticket money goes to the studio for the first month or two , sounds like the theater CEO’S aren’t very good at business negotiation..tough noogies….

  • JULIANALORES

     

    i just want to share my experience and testimony here.. i was married for 6
    years to my husband and all of a sudden, another woman came into the picture..
    he started hailing me and he was abusive..but i still loved him with all my
    heart and wanted him at all cost…then he filed for divorce..my whole life was
    turning apart and i didn’t know what to do..he moved out of the house and
    abandoned the kids.. so someone told me about trying spiritual means to get my
    husband back and introduced me to a spell caster…so i decided to try it
    reluctantly..although i didn’t believe in all those things… then when he did
    the special prayers and spell, after 2days, my husband came back and was
    pleading..he had realized his mistakes..i just couldn’t believe it.. anyways we
    are back together now and we are happy..in case anyone needs this man, his
    email address abuluspiritualtemple@yahoo.com his spells is for a better life.
    again his email is abuluspiritualtemple@yahoo.com

  • Macksta233

    We NEVER saved popcorn from the previous night.  It’s so cheap to make, why would you? That’s disgusting.

  • Anonymous

    I rent movies at Red Box.  Who wants to pay for the overpriced tickets to help pay the million dollar salaries of the stars? Let the doofus neighbor/co-worker see it so you know whether to rent it or not.

  • Samfaniam

    So true on popcorn.  The theater I worked at had a popcorn guy.  He only came in twice a week, worked a few hours, and filled our storeroom with giant trash bags of popcorn.  All we did was put it in the warmer.

  • JJM

    This is insane. I’ve worked at a movie theatre for the past four years and none of this happens at my theatre. The popcorn is made fresh everyday and throughout the day. The popcorn that is left over at the end of the night is thrown away. There is no chemicals what so ever in the popcorn or butter. Popcorn is just seed and is popped with coconut oil and regular popcorn salt. The butter is made of soy and has butter flavoring. I know of some Theatres that do use actual butter. I can’t say anything about the hotdogs and/or pretzels because we don’t sell them. The ushers clean the Theatres thoroughly between shows because there is a good half hour between shows. If there’s multiple Theatres getting out at the same time on a busy night, we have multiple people clean them out. Pushing the garbage under the seats is just plain laziness. The concession prices are high because that’s how the company makes their money. The bag sizes have never changed. For the last four years our small size has always been the same size. I’m surprised that the companies/managers of the employees that answered for this article are actually doing these things and getting away with it!

  • grayjohn

    13 reasons I haven’t been inside a theatre in about 13 years.  That and rude aduience members who can’t STFU and mothers who bring newborns in so they can pinch them at critical moments of the movie so you can’t hear the dialogue over their screaming baby.

  • jw

    Also, you wouldn’t have to come early and stand in line (outside, sometimes) for 45 minutes to an hour, if people would just clean up after themselves.  When we have to take the time to clean up soda spills, clean up popcorn someone obviously just dumped and all of that, it takes more time to open the theater.  If the theater is relatively clean, we would be letting people in ASAP.

  • JASMINE1971

    as a single mother of 3  living on a very tight income /an even tighter after being diagnosed woth multiple sclerosis , i always waited for movies  at the dollar theater in north richland hills texas & i always carry a large purse on a dailey basis so no diffrent  id pack soda, candy , pop corn , & hot dogs , chips & pickles  that covers almost every thing they offer ,  i am very serious  i cant afford all the expensive food plus tickets much less at the rave theater ect  saw 1st movie narnia at rave with kids only time ever  all other x only dollar theater    ps i have never been asked whats in my bag !!!!!!!!! for 1 its an invasion of my privacey  if  they did ,  they kids were very satisfied with my  movie goodies never complained wen we got ready for a movie outing they they whay we  would pack to take  another thing if you have a  diabetic child or child with celiacs or other gluten issues youd have to bring your own food items      & now i have a grand daughter will be 2 yrs old in late january ill do the same with her, its called learing to live in tough economic times & to not buy in to the comercialism  in our counrty , from the crap at the cash register waiting in line your kid want thet are tired & hungry & want all the candy they see rt then  same as at movie theater ect  teach them wen young & off better alternatives & eat b4 shopping or seeing a movie helps & bring snacks with you  alot of kids like cracker jax just ideas ive used  with my own kids  my kids were allowed soda & candy just as i was & my gran daughter is nothing wrong with most items with moderation, with a few excetions

    hope this helps but id never buy they expensive theater items NEVER NEVER !!!!!!!!

  • Anonymous

    [“Extreme Digital” is actually lower quality than IMAX digital. We use it because it’s easier to maintain.] You use Extreme Digital because you don’t have screens large enough to accomodate the IMAX format in your movie theater. Not to mention few movies are shot in IMAX format.

  • DarkMarcsun

    Actually you don’t want to eat the popcorn or drink the soda either.  Inventory and bookkeeping is done via counting cups and bags or containers of popcorn.   I knew a manager who “supplemented” his income by collecting discarded cups and popcorn bags, refunding them out of the register into his pocket and reselling popcorn in soda in the discarded items in order to keep inventory matching receipts.

  • Joseph Sardashti

    I worked at a major chain movie theater, and most of this is bullshit.

  • Brian Scott Gregory

    Well obviously this story is crap. If they wouldnt tell you, why the hell would they tell a reporter and blab it to the world? NO. WHat a movie theatre employee won’t tell you is things like this:

    a) It’s not uncommon for the movie theatre employees to have orgies in the theatre late night, and put movies like “Flesh Gordon” on the screen.
    b) There IS a special sauce.
    c) The theatre doesnt make money on concessions either. Most dont even break even. Kinda begs the question… How do they stay in business? Go back to point (a), and think about energy…
    d) Theatres intentionally hire ‘good looking kids’. For a reason. Lust. What a powerful motivator.
    e) Image isnt the experience. SOUND is the experience of image. We all have different vision, and it’s actually SOUND that shapes that experience. Movie theatre owners KNOW this. And exploit it
    f) How do they exploit it? The ‘digital experience’, you are not watching the same movie as the person next to you.
    g) Movies are free. Created as a result of ‘new life’. Distributors abuse this relationship and profit at your expense. All they do is provide a distribution service for what’s already “Floating in the ether”, and ‘time it’ like a machine. THink Matrix. It’s ALL timed. We’re not even supposed to ‘know’ what’s coming out next year, then they invented ‘trailers’ to cut down on ‘probabilistic sensing of the future’… Truth is, all of space and time is available on the ether, there’s a monstrous system around this all that is trying to trap us in it… I say, let it trap us, it’s an interesting experience, is it not?

  • Brian Scott Gregory

    Well obviously this story is crap. If they wouldnt tell you, why the hell would they tell a reporter and blab it to the world? NO. WHat a movie theatre employee won’t tell you is things like this:

    a) It’s not uncommon for the movie theatre employees to have orgies in the theatre late night, and put movies like “Flesh Gordon” on the screen.
    b) There IS a special sauce.
    c) The theatre doesnt make money on concessions either. Most dont even break even. Kinda begs the question… How do they stay in business? Go back to point (a), and think about energy…
    d) Theatres intentionally hire ‘good looking kids’. For a reason. Lust. What a powerful motivator.
    e) Image isnt the experience. SOUND is the experience of image. We all have different vision, and it’s actually SOUND that shapes that experience. Movie theatre owners KNOW this. And exploit it
    f) How do they exploit it? The ‘digital experience’, you are not watching the same movie as the person next to you.
    g) Movies are free. Created as a result of ‘new life’. Distributors abuse this relationship and profit at your expense. All they do is provide a distribution service for what’s already “Floating in the ether”, and ‘time it’ like a machine. THink Matrix. It’s ALL timed. We’re not even supposed to ‘know’ what’s coming out next year, then they invented ‘trailers’ to cut down on ‘probabilistic sensing of the future’… Truth is, all of space and time is available on the ether, there’s a monstrous system around this all that is trying to trap us in it… I say, let it trap us, it’s an interesting experience, is it not?

  • Salsero

    Iused2 go 2 the  movies when my daughter was growing but now that she’s all growing up I stop to expensive this days I rather buy a dvd n enjoy it  in my home don’t need 2 deal with morons talking on their cellphones …….

  • campell

    Haha, yes! I worked my summers in a theater in high school and got so tired of people’s impatience, complaints of our food, prices, cleanliness. SSDD. Don’t ask that kid if the nachos or the hot dogs are better. It’s a movie theater, not the Julia Child’s kitchen.

  • Tcrackel

    Remember you when buy popcorn you are really paying to keep the theater clean, witch is why we always make a point in buying a large popcorn.

  • Joe2cool4U

    I am by no means a movie buff (movies these days are simply too lame). 
    Here are a few movie tips: 

    1.  Try to make the matinee (usually before 6 pm).  Ticket prices are usually a few bucks less. 

    2.   Get discounted tickets from other sources, such as Coupon Books or Groupon Deals

    3.  For Candy, head to your nearest Walgreens  – they have movie sized candies at 3 for $3.  I think 1 movie candy costs $4 or $5 EACH.  I use my wife’s purse to sneak in the goods. 

    4.  Thirsty?  There are water fountains.  Free.  For $5 for a small drink, I can buy a 24-pack of cokes.  Thank you no. 

    5.  Popcorn – I will let you use your own discretion on this one.  Popcorn is part of the movie experience.  Some things should not be skimmed on.  Endnote:  The “butter” is not actually butter, but a “butter-flavored” OIL.  I like my popcorn dry. 

  • David

    Not a very good article.  I spent 7 years working in movie theatres working every position from doorman to senior management.

    Numbers correspond to slide numbers:1) Popcorn doesn’t need added chemicals to make its aroma fill the theatre.  I worked at a chain that used popcorn seed, oil, and salt…and our popcorn was plenty aromatic.  Yes, there are products like flavacol that claim to make the popcorn more aromatic, but their use is hardly universal.3) While contracts with movie studies are front-loaded, 100% of the revenue is never going to the studio.  The percentage the studio keeps (known as film rent), which might run around 90% to start, usually drops dramatically after the 2nd weekend a movie has been out.  But yes, it would be correct to say that theatres rely on concession stands to make money.

    5) There’s nothing wrong with the pretzels, nachos, or hot dogs from a theatre vs. the food from any fast food restaurant.  Theatres undergo health inspections just like other place that serves food.

    6) If a manager is regularly pretending to yell at employees, they have serious issues and would receiving coaching (or an invitation to leave) if they had worked for me.  Seriously, where do the “sources” for this article work?  Does satan run a movie theatre?

    8) Sizes really don’t change that often.  And you’ll still save calories if you order a small and eat the whole thing vs. ordering a medium and eating the whole thing.  What was the point?

    9) I suppose some chains probably do microwave their frozen pizzas, but any self-respecting non-dollar-theatre is probably using a belt-driven oven or a ‘turbochef’ or equivalent.

    10) This actually sounds like something a movie theatre employee _would_ tell you.  In fact, I had to say it many times.  But I have also never been to a movie theatre that didn’t offer smaller ‘courtesy cups’ that weren’t inventoried, such as you might use if a customer asked for water.

    12) Movies that start late, end late.  There is no fast-forward button that enables a projectionist to start a movie late but still end it on time for the ushers.  Yes, the advertised start time is actually the start of the previews, but I don’t think anyone who has ever been to a movie doesn’t know that already.

    13) Actually, it will keep for a full week, and many, many people (myself included) prefer it a couple of days old vs. fresh from the popper.  I’m just nitpicking though…the overall point made here is correct: customers do not know the difference between fresh and warm.  

  • Dyl_ptr59

    Why don’t they tell us something we didn’t already know?

  • tw1zt3dpsych0

    makes u think y would thay say that

  • Lolshailla

    well maybe if the concessions were cheaper more and more people would actually pay to get them. *gasp*

  • Awoodger

    why buy all the crap food anyway??? whats wrong with going just to see the film????

  • filmy

    I work at a movie theater.  NO movie theater puts a chemical in their popcorn to enhance the smell.  Have you ever made popcorn in your own home, or at work in the microwave? 

    Every job I’ve ever worked, if a customer complained, the manager would side with the customer and then tell me not to worry about it.  People don’t get mad at the employee, mostly they are mad at something in their own lives and are taking it out on the next minimum wage person they can find so they feel better about themselves.

    Most of the other stuff in the list are things that we would gladly tell you if you asked.

  • Ari Noel

    I work at a movie theater as an usher and concessionist…I love my co-workers about 90% of the 13 things are true. Everyone should be aware of movie and food costs by now, yet I still get, “What!!! That much for popcorn and soda! That’s ridiculous!” Be nice to workers there, we know it’s expensive, but we don’t make the prices. We are there from 5 to 8 hours sweeping up popcorn, throwing away half drunken sodas and barely touched candy boxes and restocking bathroom supplies. When people are nice we as workers will work even harder to get you to where you want to be with a genuine smile and our very best customer service! As for the people who wait in concession lines yesterday for about 30 minutes during the crazy Christmas rush and had their orders ready and a smile on their face I thank you and love you, and hope you enjoyed your movie

  • Anonymous

    Movie popcorn has such a nauseating smell that I cannot sit by anyone who eats it.  Truly, it makes me 
    gag.  It smells NOTHING LIKE BUTTER.  And, I’ll bet it tastes terrible.  Made from chemicals for sure.

  • Tony D

    Extreme digital is not really lower quality. IMAX is a singular way of shooting film and is not used easily, or economically. IMA’ quality needs to be higher to prject smoothly and clearly on a standard IMAX 6 story screen. Extreme digital is perceived (key word) in the same way, same quality, when shown in a standard digital theater.

  • Tony D

    First – please excuse the typos in the last post. 
    Second – about the popcorn. Not only is the aroma created with chemicals, so is the “buttery taste”. A small popcorn can add 1,000 calories to your daily intake.  

    Not to mention a ton of triglycerides, salt, and tons of chemicals that you can’t pronounce. 

    In other words: it’s not your mother’s popcorn

  • Mamalovezvargas5

    I worked at a theater. We would rub i ce cubes on the hit dogs to make them plump up and look juicier.

  • JM60506

    As someone who lives with a theater manager and who loves to go to the movies I can say this is all 100% ;ies. I am very surprised that Readers digest would print something with out fact checking.  This in not only fairy tail and urban legends it mislead readers. I am very surprised at RD.

  • PJCAZ

    Most movies are pure crap. Most movies on cable are pure crap. You will be amazed how good the movies are on turner classic movies. Give it a shot.

    As for going to the movies it is all to stressful. Why pay $10.00 to watch T.V. ads.  Don’t forget how rude most movie goers are.

    I stay home with my 70″ screen and better sound.

  • Anonymous

    A lot of these behind the scenes secrets that “if only people knew”… are really totally understandable and acceptable. Like sweeping the debris under the seats, the manager siding with the staff, the stuff not to eat, the time to heat a pizza; all of this stuff is more or less what you expect, and in the grand scheme of things, it’s fine. The big problem is the prices, but that’s an American consumerism thing, a film industry “bigger=better” mindset, which we’re so accustomed to in everything we do and eat and drive etc. 

  • Nowayman

    Going out to the movies is like riding in the back row of a Greyhound Bus….it can and most always is a bad experience. Dirty floors and seats, overpriced snacks, nasty rude people, and a fuzzy quality picture on the screen. I would rather wait a few weeks and watch any movie on my nice large HD TV in the safety of my home.
    In my opinion movie theaters will go the way local newspapers have gone, theaters have not kept up with the times and invested back into high tech equipment, so as the go out of business they can only blame themselves. There is no excuse for any movie theater chain charging extremely high prices and still using the same old projectors they used back in 1960.

    • Anonymous

      Then you have gone to the wrong cinema theaters. Try to go to a cinema house that has taken the time to go through renovations and/or a new cinema house where there’s more room, many screening rooms, and plenty of employees to do all the work req’d when running a cinema house. Our closest cinema theater is almost always clean, spot-on at the concession stand albeit it can take a bit of a waiting time if there’s a tremendous crowd such as when a high-ranking move has come out and it’s the first screening or the midnight screening. 

      The manager(s), ushers, ticket takers, concession employees are all “johnny on the spot” and more than willing to help in any manner possible or required when dealing with young customers and especially disabled customers. As I mentioned in another post on this particular clip, most often (actually the last couple of years) the ticket-taker who handles sales doesn’t charge me to go and our daughter receives a discount b/c she brings her grade school identification card b/c they offer really decent discounts for students whether they are in college or grade school (K-12). My college identification card was still valid even though my days as a college student ended many years ago – the date of expiration wasn’t included so I was able to use my college identification card for the discount (I also attended 2 semesters in the art program, one was a refresher course for me; while the other was an actual class in sculpting pottery rather than throwing it on a wheel. I am a multi-generation potter but I had not worked on a wheel in a number of years so I was able to take the class as a refresher but my skills were so impeccable I was placed in the advanced class rather than the beginner pottery throwing class. The college is a small community college but they have a nice Fine Arts program. Even though I graduated from college, not this college as I attended ECU, I still received a college identification card for that particular college, which was recognized at the cinema for a discounted price b/c I was technically a college student even though I was a college graduate. My time there allowed me access to a kiln, glazes, resist, and some of my work was submitted via photos to a gallery several counties away, accepted, then shipped to the arts gallery where it went on display among the section that showcased local Native American Indian pottery made as my ancestors and others who kept the staple of living alive. Other pieces were put on display at the art center nearest to our home. I had no clue that the pieces or the manner in which I made pottery had it’s origins in Native American Indian tradition; hwr, it would stand to reason it was b/c my maternal great-grandfather, maternal grandmother, & a couple aunts taught me to throw on a kick-wheel, aka a manual wheel. It took me forever to adjust to an electric wheel but I managed. Our family worked in pottery making all types of pieces but especially staple pieces used every day for more generations than any of us can recall. All we know is that the making of pottery and even digging of pottery clay that is transformed into throwing pottery is part of our heritage; it is also how my family came to have the last name Potter, after the 1860′s law change that included all Native American Indians who did not live on the Reservations were included in the census records and in doing so, had to have a last name. But I digress)

      Again, I think you would enjoy going to the cinema theater if you were to call around to find one that is renovated recently or a newly built cinema. The cinema house along with the quality of the films are much nicer than in the 50s and believe me, I’ve spent hours at what was once called the “Teacherage,” which was where all of Ava Gardner’s items were located including her clothing from specific films and all her movies as well as a few props. When I lived in the same community where she grew up, I spent hours upon hours at the Teacherage watching her films. It’s just a shame that the nearby town swooped down and took everything then put it all in a museum where you have to pay way too much to even go in the building and they don’t offer the ability to watch the films except at certain times of the year and then it’s even more expensive! When the museum, if you will, was at the Teacherage, it didn’t matter when you came in. If you wanted to watch her movies or peruse the props and clothing from the movies (look at but not touch without permission and it was rarely given although I was fortunate enough to be allowed to hold some of the items and feel the material of the gowns she wore in the films not to mention having watched every film she made – including the cameo role from “The Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean.” I’m only sad that I was never able to share that experience with our oldest daughter as we lived in the area when she came along and was old enough to understand the history held within that building. I was even fortunate enough to have the opportunity to meet Ava Gardner some years before she passed away. She came back to the community where she grew up and I happened to be leaving the Teacherage to stop by this little Mom & Pop store when I couldn’t help but see this long, lean, beautiful limousine. I knew it wasn’t polite to stare but I couldn’t help it. A nice black shiny limousine was totally out of place in a rural area where it sat parked. As soon as the woman lowered the window, I immediately knew who she was and we had a nice conversation before her driver returned with a Pepsi (in the glass bottles back then), & a few other items that were in a bag. 

      I know that many people have made the claim that Ava Gardner could be quite the b*tch, but that day, she was gracious, kind, and she smiled the entire time I was asking her questions about her movies and dresses she wore in them that were sitting in the Teacherage at that time, she even took the time to answer all my questions. In retrospect, I can’t help but imagine that she was probably looking at me with my dark complexion from my ethnic roots and the 2 separate yet immaculate braids while reflecting upon her years as young girl who like me, ran around barefoot in cut-off jeans, walking to the store for a drink and pack of nabs before heading back home. Most Native American Indian girls wear their hair in 2 braids until about 15-16 years old then the hair is put into a single braid, which in the generations past meant that the girl was of marrying age and no longer a child – this is from a whole other era but it was force of habit as much as tradition although we don’t marry that young. I even braided my girls hair into 2 braids every morning before school until they were around 15-16 years old then I changed their braiding from 2 braids to a single braid. Many boys who grew their hair long often had it braided into a single braid in the back although the braid was a bit different from the braid of a young teenage or adult girl or grown woman. 

      There was always popcorn available along with drinks in glass bottles at the Teacherage w/plenty of comfortable cushioned chairs and couches where we’d sit to watch the movies on a projection screen. At times, the room was so full many of the kids would sit on the floor to watch the movies. This is the type of cinema I miss b/c it had a major personal touch to it. And, even better it was free although donations were welcome; I’d save money earned barning tobacco, waitressing, and catching fish and crabs in nets and crab pots that I sold to a seafood shop owner along with any oysters I was able to ice down and bring back. I’d always try to donate several dollars when I could but most of my money had to be saved to buy school clothes, supplies, and cover lunch money for my younger sibling & me during the school year before my emancipation and request for legal guardianship and physical custody of my sibling, which was approved. It wasn’t long after when we moved out of the area; I didn’t find out about the nearby town literally “stealing the exhibit to make money” until I came back to visit a few friends and check on the case for child support to help support my sibling, which never came as our parents, incl’g the alcoholic abusive father, had dropped off the grid and went their separate ways but never paid a dime in support and didn’t resurface again until the statutes of limitations had expired. I’m thankful I was able to share many things with him but my all-time favorite was when he was little and heard the DC orchestra perform in the open Colosseum that sits not far from where every president since the White House was moved to DC, stood in a protected area that was cordoned off where they take the oath of office along with the vice-president. We lived near Georgetown U, so we were literally steeped in history and historical landmarks put into place to honor the fallen in various wars along with those who are put to rest together at Arlington National Cemetery.  

      I do miss those old movies played on projection machines where the film is on a drop screen. The trouble today is there are few films that can match the beauty as well as the drawn-in plots that kept the spark to stay until the film was over in order to find out how it ended… It’s yet another bit of proof of the US dumbing down the citizens & makes me thankful our kids along with my sibling were home-schooled as well as attending public school. The home-schooling lessons taught them what they didn’t learn in a school house – most particularly is the art of how to spell along with the correct manner to go about researching a subject, word, concept, and the use of a thesaurus, dictionary, library w/the Dewy Decimal System, and other research books that are available in various stacks within the library. Each can research just about anything and put the answers in an essay form or bullet-stile list. 

  • Obitusotium

    What is this? Some teenager’s tantrum? This was a waste of my time and I stopped reading 1/2 way thru it.
    Come back when you have some REAL insider info
    sheesh

  • Dod67

    A $1.00 for a movie we use to get in for .25 cents and could stay all day, popcorn was 35 cents and a coke was 10 cents. This was in the late 50′s to early 60′s a great time to live!! 

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/James-LilJimmy-Edward-Clipper-Jr/100002788922743 James Li’lJimmy Edward Clipper

    This is how you know you’re a little too esoteric. When you start subliminalizing errthang.

  • Dwain Meyer

    I would like them to tell me why the people working concessions are the slowest people in the world.

  • Anonymous

    I do not buy the drinks from the machines, b/c have you ever went to a fast food ETC and wiped the sprout with a clean napkin , GEE the black filthy sooth is DISGUSTING…

  • Anonymous

    GET DOWN !
    THERE IS A MAN WITH A GUN!

  • CRC

    Being a theatre manager for almost 13 years I will try to help answer some of these slides.
    1 – False, there are no chemicals in the popcorn, the aroma fills the theatre is because we pop so much of it.  Most theatres use popcorn seed, canola oil, and a yellow colored salt to give it the yellow color when mixed with the oil.
    2 – True and False, Extreme is a little bit lower quality than Imax as the screen diminutions are slightly different, Maintenance is the same.
    3- True, A large tub of popcorn casts 15 to 25 cents to make including the cost of the tub. The concession stand pays for everything in the theatre; employee wages, rent, electricity any repairs to the building and equipment etc.
    4 – True, if the movie itself has already started it is not worth the hassle to kick some one out, depending on the manager, some managers just want to be mean and will kick you out to break up their day.
    5 – False, when I worked there I ate everything, the theater just like all places that serve food are inspected by the health department at least once a year.  Theatres because of the high volume they do can actually be inspected 2 to 3 times a year and are required to maintain a high standard for its food to be sold.
    6 – False, As a manager we take all complaints and complements seriously, however a good manager will never discipline an employee in front of other employees or customers.  If the complaint is serious enough the employee is pulled to the back during a slow period and talked to in private to hear their side as well.  If it is serious enough they will be written up or if the situation calls for it terminated.  Yelling at an employee in front of others only gives the theatre a bad rep and hurts employee morale.
    7 – True, at some theatres they don’t, it is just for ease of ordering.  While at others it might save you a dollar or two
    8 – False, Popcorn and sodas are cheap, it would cost the company more to design and make new sizes of bags or cups than it is to just keep things the same, working in the theater for 13 years we changed a bag size for popcorn 1 time, when we changed the bucket to a large bag.
    9 – True, stop getting angry.  False, most theatres that serve pizzas don’t use microwaves, they use an oven called a turbo chef.  It looks like the ovens used in the subway sandwich shops only bigger.  It uses circulated heat at high temperatures to cook and heat the food.  If they used a microwave the food would still be cold in the middle, the outside would be overdone or both.
    10 – Mostly true, most theatres inventory every night, I have worked for one that inventories at the end of the theatres work week (Thursdays)  Things we inventoried daily; Cups, bags, candy, Food trays, food.  Inventoried weekly; popcorn seed, condiments, any bulk items like salt, popping oil, coke syrup, carbonation, straws etc.
     11 – At a dollar theatre maybe, at the theatre I worked at never, we would have anywhere from 30 min to an hour between showings to clean a theatre properly, and at peak times we had more ushers on duty to clean the theatres or managers and other employees would help out if concession or box office were slow.
    12 – False, the times listed in the papers or online are the times the prevues and advertisements start.  Depending on the theatre those are between 10 to 15 minutes.  The theatre knows the length of all trailers and advertisements along with the movie and closing credits so the ushers know when to clean the theatre.  We like you to get there early so you can find your seat and not have to climb over others while the previews are going or the movie itself.
    13 – Unfortunately true, popcorn that might have been popped the night before might be used for the opening shows if it is popped in back where you don’t see it.  If it is popped where you can watch it being popped it is popped fresh.
     
    6 are true
    7 are false
    1 is both true and false

  • JP

    That boy in Picture #6 is hot! :)

  • Spokesnight

    Digital projection is crap, when compared to 35mm. It doesn’t look anything like film and there’s no grain which is what film is all about. I don’t want a pristine, perfect picture which is so clear it looks as though I’m looking through a window! It’s supposed to have the resolution of film and everything that goes with it. Digital is cheap and tacky, hence the reason I no longer pay to view films in the cinema, unless the tickets are free – and there’s no shortage of places to get these freebies either!

  • Daniel

    Viruses and bacteria exists all over the seats and arm rests.

  • Brandl1955

    One of the reasons I am shopping for a new go to website

  • goinstrong

    Pierre, SD: one movie theater (3 screens); popcorn ALWAYS made fresh in front of guests; admission before 6:00 p.m. is $6.00 for everyone – after 6:00 p.m. it’s $8.00 for adults, and $6.00 for children and seniors.

    Theater managers take customer concerns very seriously and are quickly responsive to issues. It’s a pleasant experience, EXCEPT for those pitiful souls who believe their lives are SO important they can disregard the theater’s cell phone rules. Fortunately, theater managers and staff respond to complaints swiftly and surely.

    If you cannot set aside your addiction to your phone for a 2 hour movie, you have SERIOUS personal problems and need professional help.

  • No_extra_money

    with the price you pay now to take a family of 5 out to the movies, you can fill up your car for a week!!!!!

    now the movie companies are wondering why so many people are downloading or “pirating” movies.
    get with the times, stop making Billions in profits and settle for Millions instead

  • Babs815

    So, dear movie theater employees, thanks for letting us all know we are being played for fools.  With all the available sources of movies outside of theaters these days, maybe we don’t need to see movies in a theater.  Looks like your jobs could be extinct before too long; nice going…
    Some things are better left a mystery.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/7ASY3VBNP2V5QLFLDKVLWGBRZ4 Lester Hartness

    Wow.  What a waste of time, reading this pathetic attempt at an expose’.

  • http://twitter.com/virgofromjersey Andrew

    I run a movie theatre and I have for the past 10 years, this list is almost entirely BS.

  • lex

    I don’t go to movies anymore.  Too expensive and usually the library has realtively recent movies which I can take out for nothing.  Many of the movies are also just plain junk.

    Hollywood celebs make too much money and should be among those labeled in our society as overly rich. 

    Boycott Hollwood.  Boycott movies that cost you money.

  • Anonymous

    It has never been my experience for a manager to “take the consumer’s side when an employee screws up then pat them on the back afterward!” I know several people, including managers who have been reprimanded for their behavior if they were not courteous to the consumer! I’ve also been told by the general staff and even the managers that some employees were fired on the spot for bad behavior! 

    Each time our daughter and I go out to the cinema theater, she shows her school identification b/c they offer a discount for students, which knocks a considerable amount off the cost of tickets; as for me, most of the time I’m not charged a ticket b/c of my blindness. If there is something happening on the screen that I can’t figure out, each of my daughters over many years, as our oldest is a grown woman, working toward her grad degree (4th degree total), married, & has step-children w/one having autism – but now I go with our youngest daughter so she can tell me what is happening on the screen b/c I can’t see it for myself. The manager of this particular theater is extremely kind, courteous, and either he personally helps us (most often it’s him personally) or has one of his employees help us get our popcorn as there is nothing better than cinema theater popcorn w/extra butter added and a drink for whichever of our girls goes with me or me with them. Then they help us find the right screening room with a seat that’s about 4 to 5 rows back from the screen (both girls wear corrective lenses – glasses & contact lenses) to make it easier for them to see the screen; fortunately neither of them have shown signs of my retinal eye disease as it’s genetic, albeit from a recessive gene, not a dominant one). The manager knows I bring my own drink with me b/c they don’t carry the Caffeine-Free Mt. Dews & regular Mt. Dew drinks give trigger horrid migraines and it doesn’t take much to trigger one. 

    Despite the courteous and kind nature of this particular manager, all his employees know that he won’t tolerate any screwing around on the job or treating cinema theater customers with anything short of respect! It doesn’t matter if they’re on duty at the concession stand, the window where tickets are sold, or the ushers who help cinema go’ers find their screening rooms. We had a nice conversation when 1st began going to the cinema; he runs the theater as I have run companies where I was the one in charge. You come to work to work, not play or fool around. If allowed to continue,  it costs the business money they could make from consumers and that’s money they cannot afford to lose – especially in this economy! He runs a tight ship so this #6 of 14 “things to know about the cinema theater” is total bunk. 

    I don’t know where this editor obtained the information claimed in this clip but it must have been from a crappy cinema theater that doesn’t have a lot of business and severely limited return business! Even the older cinema house that is still running after some 50 years and having undergone a restoration and update to modern code, has always been run in the same tight-ship manner. I know the owner as well as the various managers along with quite a few of the employees who handle the ticket sales, concession stand, projection room, and serve as ushers & they will all say that the owner will can them in a heart-beat if they are not doing their job. The owner and now the owner’s son who runs the business b/c his father is too elderly to keep up with everything required to run the cinema took his lessons of running the business just as tight as his father did for decades and he expects his employees, even those who are still working and were around to see him grow up in the cinema before heading off to college, each employee treats every customer that walks in the door – including my four-legged friend who serves as my eyes… My guide dog is always a major source of conversation when we got to the cinema together. 

    Although, we have had our mix-ups along the way. When our oldest daughter was a junior or senior in high school we wanted to see The Lake House at the cinema versus waiting on it to come to DVD. There is a part in the movie where a dog is in it and he’s starts barking. Of course, I didn’t realize it was a dog on the screen so I quietly scolded my guide dog who was half asleep on the carpeted section of the floor where he usually slept while I listened to the movie & because the carpeted area is clean – although, each cinema’s employees have been kind enough to keep a large blanket-type covering for the floor in order to prevent any popcorn or candies out of his fur if we came to a later viewing; it was sweet of them and prevented me from having to give my dog a quick hose off & drying out with a towel before bringing him inside. I am proud to say that the primary managers and their co-managers who handled situations when the primary manager is busy along with the other employees have always treated us with the utmost respect and courtesy when we are able to afford to go to the cinema. We tend to wait until the crowds die down some so we don’t bother anyone when I have to ask the girls what is happening in the movie, particularly during the quiet times. And, I always have one of the girls around to let me know that my guide dog is not barking or whimpering – it’s a dog on the screen. Everyone in that particular screening room got a wonderful laugh out of it; but it is important to add that they were laughing “WITH US” and NOT – AT US. Even I couldn’t help but laugh. I even apologized to my guide dog and gave him a few kernels of popcorn for my mistake. 

    In closing, this editor needs to visit a real, well-run, cinema theater because I have been in and out of the movie screening room over the course of more than a few decades and I have been close friends of employees as well as management of cinema houses and they do not act in this manner. If an employee screws up – they’re usually booted out the door!

  • http://www.facebook.com/luis.barretolugo Luis Barreto Lugo

    BARACK OBAMA;TRANSCENDS, WITH HIS SAME SEX MARRIAGES ; IT IS ANTI  USA RELIGIOUS CUSTOM

    • FoxIsForRetards

      F U C K O F F!

  • Movie Theatre Owner

    Here are some first hand facts …

    1. The popcorn has no extra chemicals in it to make it smell better. The theatre receives raw popcorn in 35-50 pound sacks and cook it with popping oil which is purely canola and/or coconut oil.
    2. IMAX digital projectors are the exact same projectors used in every movie theatre auditorium regardless of size. The only difference between projectors is the size bulb they can accommodate based on the screen size. The larger the screen, the larger the bulb. Simple math and there is NOTHING special about an IMAX projector.
    3. Most studios now charge theatres an aggregate rental based on the movie performance. This means that the percentage rental the theatre pays doesn’t change between the opening and ending date of an engagement. The simple fact is that admission ticket prices would be higher if there weren’t as much profit in concessions as there is. And, by the way, the cost of raw popcorn is skyrocketing because of the midwest drought conditions. The author of this myth should go buy some raw popcorn and do the math before writing irresponsibly.
    4. True, most theatres would rather allow you to quietly cheat them by switching auditoriums and watching multiple movies for one price, than upset the rest of their customers by ejecting you.
    5. There’s nothing like a good Nathan’s all-beef hotdog.
    6. A good manager knows that the customer is the real boss and goes out of his way to make the customer happy. A good manager also goes out of his way to support his employees because he otherwise won’t have any.
    7. Yes, some theatres do a better job than others by giving their customers a better deal.
    8. Not quite. Popcorn bag sizes haven’t changed in over 15 years.
    9. Wow, they got the math right for once.
    10. That’s why all theatres have courtesy cups on hand. Yes, they all do inventory, but they also will supply cups on request because that amounts to good customer service.
    11. Wrong again. Employees aren’t trained to sweep anything under the seats. One bad employee among thousands does not an industry make.
    12. Movies usually start when they’re supposed to. Today isn’t like the old days with projectionists. Movies and preview times are programmed into an Library Main Server and computers rarely make errors.
    13. The best popcorn is not that which just came out of the kettle. The fact is that popcorn needs to dry out because freshly popped corn has too much condensation. That’s why most popcorn storage units blow warm air on the corn to remove condensation and give it a crisp taste. If you ever at freshly popped corn, you would know that it is not as crisp as that which has sit for 30 minutes or more. And, popcorn properly heated and then stored is just as good the next day as 30 minutes out of the popper.

    The author of this piece should be shot for providing so much misinformation to readers.

  • A Movie Goer

    Honestly, the last few times that I’ve been to the movie theater, it was crowded and the air smelled pretty disgusting.  I would think that there are a lot of germs passed around at your typical packed movie theater.  Sometimes, the volume is so high that even with ear plugs in, it is still too loud.  Regardless, we still go.

  • Ranch

    Going to the theater today has replaced going to the Drive-In. No reason for anyone past college to go.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000241800312 Mark Warneke

    “No, I can’t give you extra cups.”

    Um…any theater employee will tell you no if you ask for an extra cup. They’ll tell you they can’t give it to you, that they have to charge you full price. It’s common knowledge.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jonathan-Grant/100000762862995 Jonathan Grant

    I blame the movie houses because they don’t demand a better split from the movie studios. Show us a good foreign flick, charge us less, and make more money in the process.
    I blame the movie studios because they are greedy.
    I blame the actors because they are overpaid and undertalented (The stunt men and women are the real talents).
    And I blame the American public, particularly the younger people who make up the bulk of movie goers, because your patronage keeps the prices sky high. If you did not go to the movies, the actors would have to lower their demands, the movie studios would lower their prices, and the movie houses could lower their prices.

  • Janis

    WE GO TO THE EARLY MOVIES, Not just for the price but because I don’t like sitting in a crowded theater next to a stranger. I carry our bottled drinks in my oversized purse. We buy the popcorn. Total spent at the movies $17 every weekend. But I will never stop going to the movies. I hate to rent movies.

  • Duffy Johnson

    Ticket prices don’t bother me much (although matinee prices should be uniformly 1/2 what an evening ticket costs, and anything before 6 should be a matinee). And I never have issues with movies beginning late. I could do without so many previews, especially the corporate-theatre-produced promotion reels. But concession prices are b.s.. I rarely buy anything to eat or drink in the theatre. Call me peculiar, but I prefer to pay 1/3 as much for twice the snacks at the local dollar store and bring it in. And no theatre can kick me out for it.

  • Dyonus

    #12 isn’t true. I’ve had to clean a theater before and the time it ending was off from our schedule meaning my cleaning of that theater was put off.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Shamma-Lammadingdong/100003467284195 Shamma Lammadingdong

    Don’t trust the popcorn. I’ve worked in a theater. You know what we did with the old popcorn from the previous day? We put it in trash bags and added it to the next day’s batch. Also, the stainless steel spray cleaner used to clean the popcorn bins is toxic. It was simply sprayed on and wiped away, not washed away, so all that nasty cleaner residue got on the popcorn. Also, the “butter” is nothing but artery-clogging oil.

  • JPM

    I don’t like going to the movies much — hollywood is way too liberal and I am sick of those rich bastards trying to tell the rest of the American people how to live.

  • newsn4mee

    time to update this article.. if the first comment is from 2 years ago… shouldn’t newest comments be listed first??

  • newsn4mee

    I have a theater in my house… better sound, actually, Without crazy popcorn and soda prices. Home Theater should be the biggest threat to cinemas, and I’ll do whatever I can to spread the word… it is doable, even on a budget.

  • newsn4mee

    hey idiots!!! why is there no option to list newest posts first?? Not much point in showing a 2 year old post first !! What are you trying to hide?? Current, relevant posts? Actual user opinions? Reader’s Digest… what a joke… how about contributing to a real discussion? Keep posting regurgitated garbage, and keep watching your subscriber base leave. Nice work. Internet opinions must not matter to you… that’s why Reader’s Digest doesn’t matter to us. Are you listening, or just ignoring posts that don’t fit in your current marketing paradigm? Fix it, or see your subscriber base dwindle to ZERO !!

  • newsn4mee

    Robert Guth… fix this or you’ll be gone too, and deservedly so.

  • pickaninnykillah

    Pass the word, ‘moderator’.

  • Blogger

    Interesting article and informative. However, I think that the title should be changed to “13 Things A Movie Theatre Manager Won’t Tell You”. I worked as a theatre employee for 4 years in practically all of the positions except as the projection crew worker and management. Out of all of the staff meetings, and round table discussions the employees were only priveledged to hear management ranting on about how many sales we made for the month, employees complaining about being over worked or underpaid, working too many hours OR Not having enough hours etc…, Additionally, what the projection of sales were going to be the following month and to push for even more sales through management offering lame incentives to top performers. About the popcorn, the only thing we did was to pop the corn and sell it. No employee was ever informed in regards to anything about the behind the scenes info from the moment of hire to the day they no longer worked there. I don’t know what the current conditions are a of now working for the movie theatre things may have changed, ultimately, working at a movie theatre changed the way that I view any retail position for life, and over 13 years ago from there is why I made it my mission to work for the FEDS I havn’t worked a retail position in just that long I’ve only had one my entire life for the first and the last THE movie theatre!
    Reading this article actually gives alot of insight that suggests they truly haven’t changed thier strategies ” Inflation, High Turnover,Deceptive, Lack of regard for thier employees etc… I Agree with most of the posters they are really putting themselves in a no win situation in competition with new digital technology such as video streaming. I don’t think they will go out of business any time soon but thier revenue decreasing is certainly possible! I mean Let’s be Honest…… Would you rather go out to the Movies and spend $40-$80-$100 dollars on the Movie Theatre when a new movie comes out OR Save some much needed money that could go elsewhere and just wait and stream it from the comfort of your home for over HALF the price that you would pay for popcorn and a large soda and maybe perhaps a box of candy and then throw in a couple extra movies on top of that????? I don’t know about anyone else here but the movies are now only priveledged outings only for special occassions in my eyes. When I was a kid sure… that was the form of entertainment not much else you could do, but technology is advancing so rapidly that either the traditional catches up to the new or it starts to fade out gradually just like we went from tape recorders to CD’s and now the new thing…… Ipods, Ipads, IPhones, and Androids where you can download all of your songs AND Stream Movies where you don’t need either!!

  • Jeremy

    I work for a theater exhibitor company. Believe me when I say there is a lot of misunderstanding about what it actually takes to get a movie on screen. First of all the producers and directors don’t make movies for your living room, they make them for the big screen. When Sony, Fox and others were talking about doing premium video on demand 30-45 days after release in theaters for $30 through Direct TV, the theater companies were not the only ones that fought that. James Cameron and many other directors fought against that as well. Because James Cameron and the others all said, “We do not make movies for the TV screen. No matter what you tell yourself or think you know, unless you have about $50,000 or more to drop on creating your own personal big screen auditorium, nothing on the market comes even close to duplicating the presentation and sound on the BIG SCREEN. Yeah your DVD may be $1 at Redbox however how much did you spend to get that big screen tv and surround sound system trying to mimick a movie theater. Many times several thousands of dollars. Theaters are constantly upgrading projectors, sound and technology to blow the doors off of any home system on the market. A lot of research goes in to every aspect of the auditorium from the curtains and sound folding on the walls to the projectors and sound systems designed to envelope you into the movie. The current digital projectors have been capable of over 4000 dpi long before the first 4k TV’s came on to the market. And some of these projectors are capable of no less then 35 trillion colors at 4k resolution on a screens as big as 50′ high by 75′ wide or bigger. The sound systems or nothing to mock either because like I said unless you have a lot of money you have to try to compete with a sound system at times capable of over 60,000 watts of power or more.

    Technically the Theaters do get about 50% of the ticket sales however most of that goes right back in to fees charged the theaters to show these movies on their screens. only 1% to, if your lucky, 3% of that 50% is profit. A very small margin. In order to keep up with the times and pay bills and employees it comes out of concession. There are many many good ways to save $ at the theater if you know where to look. Many theaters companies provide coupons or special deals on concession through their websites. Also try to see movies during matinee times and some chains even have Early Bird Specials that apply to the first matinee showtime of each film title and even have discount days. Check with your local theater for money saving information. I of all people understand how expensive concession can be but it is no difference than if you went to a game at a stadium or a concert. They are seriously inflated there as well. If you sneak or bring your own food and drinks in, you are making it harder for theaters to operate and in order to keep up with demand, they unfortunately have to increase prices. In a nut shell, stealing. You are affecting my way of life and your overall movie going experience. Because, we can’t take care of the customer effectively if we can’t pay the employees. It is a lot harder to monitor 10 or more auditoriums. You can’t just place an employee in the auditorium for the duration of the movie. We try to have a dedicated usher or 2 to roam through the theaters performing checks to quell distrubances such as cell phones but unfortunately we can’t be everywhere at the same time.

  • Wesley Enterline

    I worked in movie theaters for 14 years and can say most of this is totally B.S.

    1. If you want to know the ingredients, just ask. There is no “special scent chemical.” Ridiculous.

    2.Obviously IMAX is superior because it is filmed using special IMAX cameras or digitally remastered frame by frame. IMAX also traditionally used 70 mm film stock, which is inherently superior. DUH

    3.Theaters earn a percentage of box office revenue, and that revenue increases as weeks go on. Big blockbusters might have totally different deals than the newest crappy horror movie. It is closer to an even split after a couple weeks on most movies because most movies don’t run for two months in a location.

    4.True

    5. Nachos are often bagged independently. I wouldn’t trust any food that required prep or cooking. I would never eat any meat product at a theater.

    6. This is just some stupid thing a high school kid would say. Simplistic crap. I handled LEGITIMATE complaints about employees properly. Here’s a hint… don’t be a jerk and you might get a pass for a legit complaint.

    7.Probably the case. It’s more for speed of ordering to keep lines moving. Probably a similar case at most fast food joints too.

    8. Another dumb comment. I only experienced three re-classifications of sizes in 14 years.

    9. Pointless. Most theaters use TurboChef ovens for frozen baked goods now. We used ovens for pretzels at our locations. No microwave anywhere.

    10.True.

    11. True, also due to laziness on usher’s part too. But often the schedule doesn’t allow for full cleaning. If you saw brooms and a manager in there before you, they’re doing the best you can ever expect.

    12. Increasingly true, especially at big chain exhibitors. Commonly nowadays, however, the previews are led in by ads running through the main projector. Before it was a separate small projector displaying ads. Then again, you can’t go anywhere without seeing ads and if you’re not watching commercials, you’re paying more at the concession stand.

    13.This was a practice at a theater I worked at, but we got a lot of complaints and stopped the practice. For the vast majority of my career and every subsequent theater I worked at, we ALWAYS popped fresh. The only time we sold “old” stuff was for refills after the concession stand was closed. It does not keep as well as this indicates.

    In summary, this slideshow is pointless. Ask real employees, not some kid with six months experience who thinks he knows all the secrets.

  • dottie

    I also remember when you could buy a ticket and stay in the movie all day!

  • Moose

    #3 is true. and any employee will tell you that.

  • Moose

    #4 is half way true. we do care, but sometimes it will cause too much of a disturbance to kick them out. We care about our customers. This is based off of 10 years of being a theater mgr. #5 not true. we ensure everything food is acceptable to the consumer, if we won’t eat it, we won’t sell it. #6- that’s a situational base statement, as with any business some supervisors care and some don’t. #7- just do the math yourself. #8- product size does change, but obviously a small at any point in time will be less calories than a medium. #9- who microwaves pizza???? yuck. cinemark doesn’t. they use a pizza oven. #10 is true and if you ask an employee for an extra cup that’s exactly what they’ll tell you. #11- some employees may do that if they are really behind, but at the end of the night it all gets cleaned by custodial workers who have all night to clean. #12- movies don’t start late. The posted newspaper/ internet time is the time the previews start. you just have to be aware of that.

  • http://www.facebook.com/howard.philipson.3 Howard Philipson

    If you like to go to the movies, then eat before you go, and go during the day when prices are less. It also helps if you can get to 65 as quickly as possible and derive the senior discount benefit. I rarely go but the last time I paid $5.50 I believe. The best part is that I actually liked the film ( much too much violence to go with my wife ). Also note that a movie that does not play well in the U>S> may be a big hit in other Countries.
    It might also help if so many people didn’t get “whacked” in the film and then I could go with my wife. A lot of women do not like the violence. Bottom line is I saw a film with an interesting plot but way too much visible violence, which was quite unnecessary to show. Also the folks in the story that “solved” the mystery could not have done so in all reality, which takes away from the story for me. Good acting. Won’t mention the film.

  • Dragon1950

    About 45 years ago I worked for a short period of time at a drive-in concession stand. At the end of the night we emptied the unsold pop-corn boxes into a clean trash can and the next day we re-boxed it and sold it first before the fresh pop-corn for the night.

  • Cineemployee

    This is all true. We get our paychecks from the money made from concessions. I’d NEVER eat anything there that wasn’t packaged! You’d be surprised how many hot dog turn out green or grey, but you’ll never notice in the dark theater. The seats are disgsusting so don’t get too comfertable in them. Most of the time you can smack the seats and watch all the skin, dust, and hair fly into the air. The carpets in most theatres are sick too. The one in ours isnt black at all but bright red! And it’s against the law for employees to make you show what your hiding although they can ask you to leave if they can see it clearly. The managers wont pat their employees on the back after theyve calmed down a customer however. Everyone of our managers treats us like their personal slave and corporate ignores complaints and emails. Most need the money so they keep their mouths shut. And the bathrooms… Don’t get me started on the batnrooms…

  • kristy

    i see a lot of movies for free, by going to screenings…the only thing they cost is your time(which can be a few hours if it’s a big movie)….if i really want to see something on the big screen, that missed a screening for, then i just do cheap day specials….they’re not hard to find, just do a bit of internet digging ;0)
    as for the cost of concessions, i used to work in a theatre, so i know what companies will charge just for the “privilege” of showing their movies (g. lucas was the worst!)…it sux, n i would still bring in snacks of my own, but i at least have a better understanding of the prices….a cinema just isn’t going to make it on ticket sales alone :0/

  • http://twitter.com/naptownmvp JT

    I’ve never worked in a movie theater and all of these are pretty easy to know. Except the first one. That one was interesting (and probably why it was first).

  • The Brainmaker

    1. We get bored and shoot lobby patrons in the head with popcorn kernels through the vents upstairs in projection. But we can’t unless we have McDonald’s vintage huge milkshake straws.

    2. Our boss makes us collect extra popcorn buckets so he can add them to inventory and keep the overage (inventory is tracked to containers). He also likes to work the box office occasionally, and I guess there’s an angle there too.

    3. We hate our owners because they pay us beans compared to what they rake in. So if you want to smuggle food and drinks in, be our guest. We don’t get paid based on what you buy.

    4. Of course we cannot ‘clean’ theaters between shows. We simply sweep the aisle trash and popcorn to the seats, where it isn’t visible. Maybe we will pick up the popcorn containers though, since our boss gives us extra money for them.

    5. Yes, we save the day’s last popcorn and mix it in with tomorrow’s batch for the ‘cheap’ matinee crowd. Like the owners say, you get what you pay for. I should know, they don’t pay me sh**.

  • James

    regardless..still hard to beat watching a good first-run movie on the big screen. I’ve got a pretty high end Home theater in my basement, and I still feel a need to go out and watch movies.

  • E

    As a matter of fact I work at a movie theatre (Regal) and most of the things in the slideshow are correct, expect for the fact that we do not cooked frozen pizzas in the microwave (they are made in an oven immediately after being ordered so they don’t sit around). Also, popcorn is NEVER kept around for the next day, all the popcorn made from the day is thrown out at the end of the night, and there are definitely more than just, drinks, popcorn and candy you can trust, nachos are very safe considering they are prepackaged when given to you. People need to stop complaining about prices to us, we can’t do anything about it!! Sure, us employees get 2 free tickets a day but we still pay the same for concessions as everyone else does. We honestly are very underpaid, people who have been working there for 4 years + don’t even make it to $8.00. If you don’t like our prices, than don’t come to the theatre, easy as that.

  • SPINMASTER

    Attending the movies simply is no longer economical. Its just not worth it. If you love movies like I do, invest in a nice large screen TV and rent them. Sure, there are some cheap admission days at 5 to 6 bucks. But you can rent 2 for that price. And you can make your own quality healthy popcorn and snacks at home. I recently added a quality room to my home complete with nice chairs and a big screen. Not only is it nicer, I don’t have to worry about people excessively talking or coughing all around me. Your call..but your money can be better spent.

  • Me

    We know food at the concession is overpriced. We obviously don’t care, because unlike you, $10 is not two years income.

    We know the manager is only agreeing with us to calm us down, and will probably never reprimand you. We don’t care, because at the end of the day, you’re still at the bottom of the food chain working for scraps.

    We’ve known since the beginning of time that movies start late. News flash – some of us like watching the previews.

    It always seems like the most stupid people are always the ones who think they’re the smartest. News flash kid, we’re not morons. We know how the theaters operate, to an equal or greater extent then the guy who is sweeping the floors and pouring popcorn into buckets.

  • kay

    LOL…I’ve worked concession stand for two movie theaters….these “confessions” are nothing. Popcorn keeps for a day or two? Umm I’ve seen a lot worse. We were made to scoop up the extra popcorn at night and it was kept upstairs in the projector removes…INDEFINITELY…in case of a popcorn maker malfunction…which I have witnessed and said bags of reserve popcorn used. While bagged upstairs there are constantly mice around..who can and do easily get into the bags. Same for the boxed candies…did you know mice like peanut butter? Yeah they do. And basically any food product. Or other bugs that get into the sacks of popcorn kernels. Don’t trust the soda either, foundtain nozzles that are not cleaned properly collect mildew. So many things that I’m sure any restaurant worker would say the same thing for…I just know for myself I will never ever eat at a movie theater again since the things I’ve seen.

  • sandy

    chemicals in the popcorn??? Great- and we wonder why so many people have cancer!!

  • sandy

    I spent almost $30 to take my two kids to see the new 3D (hate it!!) movies for kids- just a way to make more money off the kid movies. The glasses s*cked- ruined the whole movie as the quality of 3D was SO poor (it was a Disney movie).
    The amount of money is just NOT worth going. They had the gall to charge $4.00 for a SMALL drink! What a rip off.

  • Inachu Ikimasho

    I used to work at a theater when I was 19. Biggest tip to give you guys is this!
    Do not wear dockers to the movies at all! I see men wearing dockers and then I know money will fall out. 20 years ago I found a wad of money bigger than a paychecks worth and nobody claimed it and honestly I did not touch it for 3 weeks.

    After nobody came looking for it then it was mine! Just like the law says. Finders keepers LOOSERS WEEPERS! So no baggy pants yall! or the money is mine mine mine!

  • Anne Ominous

    There are still “second run” movie theaters out there that charge $1 matinee rates and $4 or $5 evening rates, they are just showing movies that have already been and gone from the majors.

  • Jo

    14. All the reasons why I wont go to a movie anymore.

  • http://www.facebook.com/gracie.lake.5 Gracie Lake

    I love going to movies and I almost always get the popcorn (although you hafta skip a meal then). ‘Specially now that I can grab the “senior” rate. Your turn will come too…