Comments on: Sir, Please Move Your Head: Nostalgia vs. Stadium Seating

By: Casablanca on the Big Screen | Unmuzzled Thoughts (about Teaching and Pop Culture)

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 19:10:29 +0000

[...] about 30 minutes before the film began, the husband and I opted for front-row balcony seats. As I’ve written before, The Michigan Theater’s main floor consists of low-pitch seating, which is aesthetically [...]

By: Home Theater Seating HQ

Home Theater Seating HQ — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:12:22 +0000

sounds like you had a good experience

By: Movie Lover’s Carnival 006 | V Love Movies

Movie Lover’s Carnival 006 | V Love Movies — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:42:13 +0000

[...] Marshall presents Sir, Please Move Your Head: Nostalgia vs. Stadium Seating posted at unmuzzled thoughts (about film, television, and [...]

By: Kelli Marshall

Kelli Marshall — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:42:45 +0000

$4.00 tickets and free popcorn for "members" sound divine! Thanks for the comment.

By: Annie Petersen

Annie Petersen — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:10:13 +0000

Interesting post, Kelli, and one with which I (mostly) agree. I get uncomfortable easily while watching movies, and you'll often find me in some odd position with my feet on the chair beside me. (This is also part of the reason I loathe screenings on campus — not only is the projection and sound quality horrible, but the seats are as well. Not true here at Whitman, but most definitely at UT). At the same time, when I go to one of the beautiful picture palaces, as the one you attended clearly was, I fetishize the uncomfortableness. Back in Austin, the Paramount (a vaudeville theater transformed into a picture palace) features a summer-long movie series of classics, modern classics, epics, 70 mm restorations, etc. etc. — four films a week, each screened twice, and you can get a ticket packet that basically means you pay $4 a film. Plus free popcorn if you pay an extra $15 at the beginning of the summer to become a "member." IT IS THE BEST THING IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE. And while the theater is over air-conditioned and the seats are super narrow and perhaps even more uncomfortable than school desks, I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world, and certainly not stadium seating. (And I know you're not advocating that change). When I'm in a full theater (as it most often is) of cinephiles, elderly nostalgics, and young kids first experiencing the delights of *The Awful Truth,* I'm transported and have no time to think about how uncomfortable I am. So maybe that's what it is — when you're watching something like *Sherlock Holmes,* you have time to think about the feeling of your butt in the seat. When you're watching masterpieces, the numbness just slips away.