Issues to consider when rating, or things about this site that I feel may be unfair:

• Many problems at certain theatres are not the fault of the local staff, and I need to make that more clear. Examples: aspect ratio problems at Hollywood 16 and Madison Square 12, maintenance problems at certain locations.
• I have not visited every auditorium of every theatre, although at this time there are few that I haven't visited.
• Some auditoriums of certain theatres get visited at a higher frequency than other auditoriums within that same theatre. Since this is bound to be true for most moviegoers, I don't see it to be problem. New releases tend to be put in a certain set of larger auditoriums most of the time.
• It is difficult to determine exact dimensions by eyeballing. Some of my screen and auditorium dimensions may be off by a foot. I only measure width, and not height, by eyeballing. Now, as a cruel joke to me, I can imagine the fun a theatre company can have with me by altering a particular aspect of their facility so that I'll overestimate their screen and auditorium sizes. It would cost too much money, so they won't do it, so I'm pretty safe. (I am currently checking aspect ratios more carefully by using a rectangular card that folds to 1.85:1 and 2.39:1, or by using a rectangular strip of paper, which I fold to make it the same ratio as the screen, then measure it later.)
• I don't always sit in the same place in an auditorium. Simply changing seats can cause certain problems to become more distracting, or less distracting. For example, sitting in the rear of an auditorium makes focus problems less noticeable. All moviegoers sit in different places from time to time, so this isn't really a problem.
• I know the staff at some theatres, and do not know the staff as well, or at all, at others. I make every attempt to not let this bias my ratings.
• In some theatres, I am more likely to mention problems to the staff than at others, depending on my previous dealings with the staff, and on their previous projection quality. A theatre that has an exceptional projection quality record is more likely to get such comments, if I feel the comments will result in the problem being checked out.
• Being admitted for free does not change the way I rate presentations. Fortunately (or unfortunately :-) ), no theatre staff members currently let me in for free.
• There have been a couple of occasions when I have visited a theatre and was unable to see the movie I wanted (and my friends wanted) because of it being sold out, or because of a technical problem. These are not listed, and not counted as visits. I have never counted those as visits, and I feel that the fair thing to do is to continue to consistently use that policy.
• Should unexpected inconveniences encountered between ticket purchase time and entry into the auditorium be figured in a score? They should be noted, but should they deduct from the score? For example, see Cobb Hollywood 16, Star Wars, 1997/01/31, or Regal Madison Square 12, Flubber, 1997/11/28. I need to go back and be sure I am consistent in the way I handle these situations. I currently deduct for such problems if it personally caused me inconvenience.
• I decided in 1999 to not deduct more than 2 points for any problems that only existed during the previews, or the credits, if the movie itself did not have the problem, unless the problem was very severe. I made the change retroactive and made adjustments to previous assigned grades accordingly.
• Most of the time, I stay for the credits. Sometimes, I don't. If I stay for the credits and something goes wrong, a point or two can be deducted that wouldn't have been if I had left when the credits started. For examples, see Regal River Oaks Cinema 8, Good Will Hunting, 1998/02/07; Regal Gateway Cinemas 4, Waterboy, 1999/02/28, and Carmike 10, Dead Man on Campus, 1998/08/23.
• Under the current policy, a theatre, in an auditorium without digital sound, can play an optical soundtrack and get a 100 rating, but in an auditorium with digital sound, if the movie is supposed to have digital sound (and is advertised as having digital sound, such as DTS), points will be deducted for playing the movie with optical analog sound. For example, see Carmike 10, for movies "You've Got Mail", "Slums of Beverly Hills" in auditorium 2.
• Sometimes I see a movie more than once, and I'll notice a problem that I may not have noticed if it were my first viewing. For example, see Regal River Oaks Cinema 8, Good Will Hunting (The issue of the intermission music being faintly audible, which I may not have noticed if I hadn't already seen the movie.)
• I made the decision from the start of this rating system not to count off for distractions caused by members of the audience. It's true that kids with laser pointers, crying babies, talking children, cellular phone freaks, seat kickers, and rowdy groups of pre-teens that get up and move a lot and throw candy at each other detract from the movie experience, but these types of problems are difficult to control. I note them when they're bad, but I don't deduct.

Site created February 9, 1998

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