The Great AMC Theater Time Waster

I am a movie going snob.  Living here for the most part in La La Land, I tend to gravitate to theaters that cater to industry folks.   The Arclight in Hollywood is my preferred theater of choice.   The Landmark in West LA isn't bad, although most of its clientele is over 80.   I have recently enjoyed the great amenities of the iPic in Westwood.   Also, if I get a chance to see something new or old at a movie palace like the Egyptian or the Aero or the Village in Westwood, I grab it.

But the theater that is closest to me (and even walkable) is the AMC complex in the Century City Mall.   Now this theater is populated with almost 75% Middle Eastern folks who never seem to realize you shouldn't talk when the picture is playing.   The theaters are nice but you definitely know you are not with an industry crowd.  This is the place that I will inhabit if I am wandering out to see something none of my friends want to see.   This is the theater I go to when viewing something all by my lonesome.

The most confounding aspect of the AMC theaters was recently driven home to me one more time on my last visit.   It's the amount of trailers they show prior to the feature presentation.  It now has officially gotten out of hand.

Say your movie start time is 7PM.   At places like the Arclight, you will get no more than three trailers prior to the feature.   You can easily plan your evening.  Not so much at AMC.   A 7PM start time means your movie gets underway at 730PM.   You have plenty of time to sip that soda at the food court.  Or browse Bloomingdale's.  Or have a colonoscopy.

I went to my local AMC last week and decided to count the mind numbing trailers prior to my film.   It was at least eight trailers because I started to drift into a coma.   I wanted to scream for the projectionist to grant us mercy.

What made this even more annoying were the trailers they were showing.   It's time for Hollywood to display their fall and holiday lines.   And, in this age of "mallet repeatedly to your head" diversity, every trailer was about somebody being oppressed.   Or grossly unfunny.   

Two different movies starring some slob named Tiffany Haddish.  Who the fuck is she?

A film showing Jennifer Lopez as a Hispanic woman fighting men in the business world.

One movie featuring Viola Davis battling the evil white man in Detroit.

A film detailing the early life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  At an early age, she is being played by Felicity Jones, which automatically means this film is a joke as Felicity looks nothing like the plug ugly judge.

Sitting through eight or nine trailers was bad enough.   But I was reminded again how Hollywood has lost the ability to entertain.   Now all it wants to do is educate.  From their point of view.

Somehow I think I might be going to the movies less this fall.   And, when I do, it certainly won't be to my local AMC.

Dinner last night:  BLT at Cafe 50s.