is shaped like a Japanese pagoda, and has a garden at the side where you can sit in peaceful surroundings watching a little pond, until it's time to go inside. There's no food sold in the lobby, but once inside the theater there's a young woman who comes around with a basket/tray thing on straps around her shoulders, selling a modest assortment of candy and etc. People seem to buy these things sparsely or not at all, and consume them discreetly when they do. There are no popcorn boxes, no soft drink cups (and definitely no soft drink mega tubs). The theater itself is glorious, old, highly decorated with carvings and paintings and fabrics, from ages past. It was recently partially restored, for a while I saw scaffolding inside when I went, now it's been removed. People are quiet, respectful, and any talking that might go on during the ads goes quiet when the previews start.

Oh and almost everyone stays seated while the credits roll.

And I'm not telling where it is.

http://www.evene.fr/culture/lieux/pagode-paris-1063.php

I still go to the movies but they usually aren't loud enough. My guess is they're afraid the sound if turned up properly will bleed through the cheap construction of the multiplex into the adjoining units.

A few weeks ago we saw Sunshine. Beautiful grand images with matching grand music--played at an absurdly dinky volume. After paying $9.75--ridiculous! I clambered over other patrons and told the kid outside. He relayed the message and the projectionist, grudgingly I assume, turned it up to a reasonable volume.

It's not just me going deaf. On the way back in a woman thanked me. The sound track shouldn't deafen, but should be bold. I'm sure many people miss out on this part of the full theatrical experience without quite registering what's missing, and of course few will bother to get up to complain even if they do.

Sound should be part of the experience but it's not anymore. They play it as low as they can get away with--and only out of the central speaker behind the screen. It's an epidemic. As more people get surround-systems at home, it's another reason to avoid bothering to go to the movies.

In an episode of Firefly Shepherd Book threatens Mal with the special hell reserved for child molesters and people who talk in the theatre.

What I wouldn't give to have your complaint. The last ten movies I've seen in a theater have been played at practically mind-splitting volume, especially at the beginning. Maybe the sound goes down after the intro, maybe my ears start to tune out the sound, but it's almost painful at times. And no, I'm not an old man complaining about those damn kids and their rock and roll. I like my music loud. I just don't like feeling the inside of my skull vibrating.

I'm one of those who does most of their movie-watching at home. But sometimes I'll venture out to a theater. There are three places in Chicago where I go...

Century Theaters in Evanston: An 18 screen facility. One side of the place has 12 screens devoted to big mainstream movies, and six screens on the other side devoted to indie and art films. The "artsy" side is best. Stadium seating, good picture and sound, a full bar in the lobby, very few kids, lots of adults who know how to behave in a theater.

The Music Box: One of the oldest theaters in town, it's devoted to indie, art, and classic movies. The seats aren't terribly comfortable, but that's the only thing wrong with the place. An absolutely gorgeous 1920s atmosphere, with real butter on the popcorn. http://www.musicboxtheatre.com/

Brew and View at the Vic: This is a big old theater in the middle of the yuppified Lincoln Park neighborhood. It's basically a bar that shows movies (they also have concerts). They show second-run hits, a lot of "B" pictures, and the occasional big-event TV show. People drink and talk and laugh all through the show, but it's okay because no one go to the place expecting a cinematic experience, and the sound is set up so you can stil hear the movie. A great casual place to go with friends. http://www.brewview.com/

I agree that the sound level in multiplex-type theatres is often too high. The projectionist needs to be aware that human bodies, or any bodies, absorb sound, and therefore the level needs to be turned up when the theatre is full and down when it is sparsely populated. Also distressing is hearing screaming and explosions from the theatre next door.

Since we're talking about a grown-up moviegoer's bill of rights, I would like to be able to go to a theatre and see grown-up movies- the sort of films that I probably wouldn't have enjoyed when I was 15, but which speak to my experiences now. Unless I'm mistaken, they used to make these things and actually show them in theatres.

Full Frontal, Memento, Adaptation....Are just excuses for not knowing how to write a story. We don't need another one. And while we're at it, we don't need to draw over the frames with a sharpie a-la 'A Scanner Darkly' either. Last but not least, put down the handheld camera. It's tedious.

Hard to believe but yesterday I saw a great movie told with a linear plot with stable camera shots, no special effects, it wasn't even in color. Yeah The Maltese Falcon is a great film. Learn from it.

I feel bad for y'all, but try living in a small college town in central Texas with absolutely NO THEATERS but a mid-sized multiplex off the freeway a few miles south. There's never anything but mainstream Hollywood schlock, the whole place is run by and geared towards college undergrads, and to see any film at or above the Scorcese level of arthouse means a longish drive up to Austin. Like most of the folks who've commented, we absolutely hate talkers, murmurers, cell phone checkers, but like the cat who always crawls into the lap of the person who's allergic to cats, they somehow manage to find us and sit within one or two rows. The Alamo Drafthouse is great, sure, but even at arthouse theaters like Dobie we've had problems (and Dobie's screens suck).

What makes it worse is I know what I'm missing -- I used to live in San Francisco, around the corner from a wonderful neighborhood theater. And of course there was the Castro and even mainstream theaters like the Kabuki had a bit of character. Now that's a movie town.