I completely agree with this whole argument! I went to see a Hannah Gadsby comedy show (amazing and hilarious) last year, and they required everyone to put their phones in these locked pouches that would only be unlocked after the show while leaving. It was so lovely to be free of any temptation to check my phone, and of course it was great to not have to see other people pulling out their phones to take photos or videos or just scroll on social media and text. You mostly mentioned the scrolling and texting, but at live shows and concerts I would say even more annoying is when people just hold up their phone for long periods taking videos they'll never watch and that take us all out of the experience of the moment. So I do think pretty much all events, from movies to plays to comedy shows to concerts, should have the no-phone policy.
As far as the length of movies, I agree overall but with an important caveat. We need to bring back intermissions! Indian films are all really long, but they also always have an intermission. Titanic had an intermission. 2001: A Space Odyssey had an intermission. Lawrence of Arabia had an intermission. I would venture to guess that all movies over 2 hours 30 minutes had an intermission until somewhere around the year 2000. For some reason the practice vanished, and the only American movie since then I can remember having an intermission was The Hateful Eight in its 70 mm "Roadshow Edition." I think if Killers of the Flower Moon had an intermission, way more people would have seen it in the theater, and it would also reduce people's issues with being away from their phones for so long. What if we had a no-phone policy while the movie is playing, but phones were allowed during the intermission? I think that would work well. Intermissions also cut down on people leaving the movie to go to the bathroom at random times, which is distracting, since people would know they have that opportunity halfway through the movie. What do you think?
Zef -- I definitely don't mind an intermission at all, but I leave it up to the filmmaker. In the case of KOTFM, Scorsese was definitely opposed to one, and I can see why you would want a continuous experience there.
I don't think it's an unrealistic expectation to ask an audience to sit without an intermission for four hours. (Longer, and I get it.) I also don't really understand those who are so frightened about the prospect of a bathroom break; before DVD and DVR, it used to be regarded as totally acceptable to miss a few minutes of a movie.
I get what you're saying about entrances/exits during the show being distracting, but in my experience, when you give people an intermission, hoards come back 3 or 4 minutes late and cause the same distraction. By the same token, I also don't think "knowing" one has an intermission coming up would cut down on phone use; if you can't sit for 4 hours without checking your phone, you most likely can't sit for 2 either.
Funny you mention the intermissions on Indian films, nearly all of which have the interval... In the U.S., though, Cinemark is the only chain to actually honor it. No other major chain (to my knowledge) puts a 10-minute buffer/countdown in between the two halves of the film on the DCP playlist. So you get the "Interval" card and then you roll right into the second half. One of my biggest pet peeves with American exhibitors showing Indian films these days! Especially given that the scene right after the interval is often very important, so it isn't a good time to run out.
I completely agree with this whole argument! I went to see a Hannah Gadsby comedy show (amazing and hilarious) last year, and they required everyone to put their phones in these locked pouches that would only be unlocked after the show while leaving. It was so lovely to be free of any temptation to check my phone, and of course it was great to not have to see other people pulling out their phones to take photos or videos or just scroll on social media and text. You mostly mentioned the scrolling and texting, but at live shows and concerts I would say even more annoying is when people just hold up their phone for long periods taking videos they'll never watch and that take us all out of the experience of the moment. So I do think pretty much all events, from movies to plays to comedy shows to concerts, should have the no-phone policy.
As far as the length of movies, I agree overall but with an important caveat. We need to bring back intermissions! Indian films are all really long, but they also always have an intermission. Titanic had an intermission. 2001: A Space Odyssey had an intermission. Lawrence of Arabia had an intermission. I would venture to guess that all movies over 2 hours 30 minutes had an intermission until somewhere around the year 2000. For some reason the practice vanished, and the only American movie since then I can remember having an intermission was The Hateful Eight in its 70 mm "Roadshow Edition." I think if Killers of the Flower Moon had an intermission, way more people would have seen it in the theater, and it would also reduce people's issues with being away from their phones for so long. What if we had a no-phone policy while the movie is playing, but phones were allowed during the intermission? I think that would work well. Intermissions also cut down on people leaving the movie to go to the bathroom at random times, which is distracting, since people would know they have that opportunity halfway through the movie. What do you think?
Zef -- I definitely don't mind an intermission at all, but I leave it up to the filmmaker. In the case of KOTFM, Scorsese was definitely opposed to one, and I can see why you would want a continuous experience there.
I don't think it's an unrealistic expectation to ask an audience to sit without an intermission for four hours. (Longer, and I get it.) I also don't really understand those who are so frightened about the prospect of a bathroom break; before DVD and DVR, it used to be regarded as totally acceptable to miss a few minutes of a movie.
I get what you're saying about entrances/exits during the show being distracting, but in my experience, when you give people an intermission, hoards come back 3 or 4 minutes late and cause the same distraction. By the same token, I also don't think "knowing" one has an intermission coming up would cut down on phone use; if you can't sit for 4 hours without checking your phone, you most likely can't sit for 2 either.
Funny you mention the intermissions on Indian films, nearly all of which have the interval... In the U.S., though, Cinemark is the only chain to actually honor it. No other major chain (to my knowledge) puts a 10-minute buffer/countdown in between the two halves of the film on the DCP playlist. So you get the "Interval" card and then you roll right into the second half. One of my biggest pet peeves with American exhibitors showing Indian films these days! Especially given that the scene right after the interval is often very important, so it isn't a good time to run out.