gotcha!

[Aman619]

looks like theyre serious about stopping piracy in theatres!!

 

[deathlok]

Two things surprise me about the article.

 

1. The projectionist has night vision goggles?

2. a $500 reward. When I go to see Spidey2 I'm looking for recorders now.

[Aman619]

this was in Hollywood reporter. And there was an article earlier stating that theatres would be using stepped up procedures to spot pirates.. so I think they were pleased to have this followup to report as well!!

[sterlingcomics]

for some reason, the Seinfeld episode when Jerry is forced to film movies for a pirate comes to mind...

[Aman619]

thats was a great episode. as Jerry gets all huffy about his cenematic standards being violated!!

[Darthdiesel]

looks like theyre serious about stopping piracy in theatres!!

 

 

Nothing kills box office numbers like having a new realease available for download on Kazaa.com minutes after the first showing ends

[shadroch]

I'll be hitting the Times Square area right after tonites Yankee-bosux game. If the trend continues,I can have a bootleg of Spidey2 to watch tomorrow.

[Mr. Zipper]

looks like theyre serious about stopping piracy in theatres!!

 

 

Nothing kills box office numbers like having a new realease available for download on Kazaa.com minutes after the first showing ends

 

You really think bootlegging has an appreciable effect on box office numbers?

 

Who wants to watch a crappy camcorder bootleg on their computer? Working in NYC, some guys from the office used to buy bootleg DVDs off the street once in a while... unless it was a reviewers advance copy, they were always terrible.

 

Has anyone here ever settled for a bootleg movie instead of going to see a movie (a movie that you WOULD HAVE gone to see in the theater if you didn't have the bootleg)?

 

[blutobc]

 

Nothing kills box office numbers like having a new realease available for download on Kazaa.com minutes after the first showing ends

 

Yes, go to the almighty Kazaa for your bootlegs....then check your computer for spyware, auto dialers, redirects, and viruses.

 

I think I'll save some money and go to the movies....and Not have to buy a new hard drive.

[Aman619]

I was bummed that the showing I went to was a smallish screen - - about 40' wide. I thought about leaving and seeing it another time in a better location. BUT - - I was actually impressed with the brightness etc of the image I got and the sound was great too. So I dont feel I missed out on anything. I mention this cause I dont see how anyone here would ever be satisfied watching a bootleg cammcorder version of this film!!!

 

Bets part of my midnight screening was that it was only me and ten other people.

worst part was that one of them was a crying baby! and, lets face it, a movie like this is better with a full crowd reacting with you...as long as I dont have to fight for elbow room or sit with talkers and popcorn bag candy wrapper noisemakers!!!

[Darthdiesel]

looks like theyre serious about stopping piracy in theatres!!

 

 

Nothing kills box office numbers like having a new realease available for download on Kazaa.com minutes after the first showing ends

 

You really think bootlegging has an appreciable effect on box office numbers?

 

Who wants to watch a crappy camcorder bootleg on their computer? Working in NYC, some guys from the office used to buy bootleg DVDs off the street once in a while... unless it was a reviewers advance copy, they were always terrible.

 

Has anyone here ever settled for a bootleg movie instead of going to see a movie (a movie that you WOULD HAVE gone to see in the theater if you didn't have the bootleg)?

 

 

Maybe "kills" is exaggerated but it does have an effect. bootleg quality is pretty crappy IMO and I'd rather pay to see certain movies at the theatres or wait for the DVD, but talking to some high-schoolers without steady incomes or young kids whose parents CAN't afford to take them, watching it off the internet is certainly their only option if they want to see it and talk about it with their friends right away. I still hear some of the younger folks at the comic shop talk about Kazaa.com as a main source of movie viewing. So someone is still doing it...regardless of the quality.

 

Since they started enforcing the laws on internet piracy, I've long since stopped this practice even for songs and yes the spyware issue was also a major factor of consideration, along with time.

 

The fact that it is available for free on the internet probably does affect box office sales negatively; otherwise why would the industry make such a big stink about it and start busting grandmothers and the pre-teen children doing it?

[Mr. Zipper]

worst part was that one of them was a crying baby!

 

I love the that bring their babies to late shows and expect everyone else to put up with their kid. I don't want to pay 10 bucks to listen to some stranger's kid cry for 2 hours. Makes me want to put Social Services Hotline on my cell phone...

 

If you can't get a sitter, STAY HOME. It's called sacrifice and part of being a responsible parent.

 

[Mr. Zipper]

The fact that it is available for free on the internet probably does affect box office sales negatively; otherwise why would the industry make such a big stink about it and start busting grandmothers and the pre-teen children doing it?

 

Because they don't want the horse to get out of the barn and wait too long like the music recording industry did. There is probably not much of an impact on box office sales now, but as technology gets better, broadband gets more common, they know it's a matter of time before the same thing that happened with music will happen to films. They are trying to nip it in the bud, IMO.

 

BTW, I got rid of Kazaa too. Too much risk and the music files were usually [!@#%^&^] quality anyway.

 

Binary newsgroups are the way to go. MUCH better file quality and no hassles.

[joe_collector]

The fact that it is available for free on the internet probably does affect box office sales negatively; otherwise why would the industry make such a big stink about it and start busting grandmothers and the pre-teen children doing it?

 

No one who has the cash to pay for the theatre ticket or DVD is going to pirate crapola "screeners" off the Internet. Those who do are exactly who you stated, young kids with no money, and even crapp beats nothing.

 

Now as for why movie studios 'pizz and moan" about how "Internet pirates are killing the box office", just think back to the horrible The Hulk movie. It tanked bigtime (since it was horrific and word of mouth spread fast) and as Big Fat Exec #27's job was on the line for greenlighting that POS...

 

Oh no, it's those Internet Pirates!! Aiiieee, man the hatches, tie down the main sail!!!

 

 

For another example of the same thing, movie execs were trying to get text pagers banned from theatres, as friends who saw a POS stinker would quickly send word of its POS-ness to their friends, thus causing people to leave lines and see other movies.

 

I remember Joel Silver screaming about that, when ticked-off viewers were exiting Matrix Revolutions, and text-messaging "STAY AWAY FROM THIS MATRIX POS" to all their friends.

 

Hey Joel, the movied sucked hard, live with it!!

 

The key is, Hollywood execs want to invent as many potential villains as they can, especially when a movie tanks hard and studio heads are gonna roll.

 

If a movie makes $400 million, you'll never hear a peep.

 

If a movie tanks, suddenly, it's pirates, text messages, seat switchers, Kazaa and a host of other evil villains taking the food from Joel Silver's kid's mouth.

[GOODBYE!-migration]

Its like RIAA person_without_enough_empathying about CD sales. You would think people that went to business school(unless they were just a cousin of the label president or something like that) would realize that RAISING MSRP during a recession, even a mild one, cutting back on new releases by up to 25%, releasing and over publizing the same formulaic old [!@#%^&^] that has turned more people off of new cd sales in the same ineffective and expensive ways that might have worked 20 years ago, that HORROR of HORROR total sales figure slip less than 5%.

 

They should be thanking their buyers for keeping the total sales from tanking even more. I don't know but maybe if they could lower the insane overhead caused by their music executives $5000 a week coke/sex/rare collectibles habit and maybe finding more cost effective ways of reaching the public besides over priced and rigged radio and tv ads that annoy 97% of the people the hear\see them, they might be able to release these albums at a more reasonable price, and increase total sale by volume instead of sticker price, plus maybe give more money to the people actually producing this music.

 

Much of the above applies to movies as well

[rjpb]

Pirating has a bigger effect on DVD sales than it does on theatrical box office. DVDs account for about 25-50% of the revenue stream for film, and as piracy becomes more pervasive it will have an effect similar to what has already happened to the music industry. When revenues decrease, people will lose jobs, and it won't just be highly paid execs and producers. Blaming pirates for bad business decisions is a cop out, but so is pretending it has no economic impact.

[GOODBYE!-migration]

Pirating has a bigger effect on DVD sales than it does on theatrical box office. DVDs account for about 25-50% of the revenue stream for film, and as piracy becomes more pervasive it will have an effect similar to what has already happened to the music industry. When revenues decrease, people will lose jobs, and it won't just be highly paid execs and producers. Blaming pirates for bad business decisions is a cop out, but so is pretending it has no economic impact.

 

I'm betting it doesn't have as much impact as they say. Their figures assume everyone buying/watching bootlegs would buy at full retail otherwise, which is ridiculous.

[rjpb]

I'm betting it doesn't have as much impact as they say. Their figures assume everyone buying/watching bootlegs would buy at full retail otherwise, which is ridiculous.

 

 

I wouldn't assume shoplifters would pay full retail otherwise either.

[valiantman]

worst part was that one of them was a crying baby!

 

I love the that bring their babies to late shows and expect everyone else to put up with their kid. I don't want to pay 10 bucks to listen to some stranger's kid cry for 2 hours. Makes me want to put Social Services Hotline on my cell phone...

 

If you can't get a sitter, STAY HOME. It's called sacrifice and part of being a responsible parent.

 

 

I went today to a 3:45pm showing of Spider-man 2 and the kids (I'd say about 10 years old)

behind me decided to just start talking in normal voices to each other

when the action scenes kicked in mid-movie. WTF?!?

 

I love it when the "adult" responsible for bringing them is sitting right next to them

not telling them to shut the f-up... as if they have no say over 10 year old boys.

 

I turned around and said, "This ISN'T your living room."

 

Evidently only one of the group understood my 'subtlety' because

he said "shut up" to his friends... the others just sat there like "what did that mean?".

 

Same thing happens at Harry Potter and any other "kids movie".

Are we supposed to just let the kids have their fun?

 

I don't remember being allowed to make a peep when I was a kid...

it was a "you'll-be-yanked-out-of-this-theater-in-a-second-young-man" situation.

Besides what was the point of talking about the movie?

We were all watching the same thing.

 

Ooohs and ahhhs... I got no problem with that... it's fun stuff.

But telling your buddy, "That's Doctor Octopus..." in extended details

forty minutes after the whole theater learned about Doctor Octopus... is just stupid.

 

Driver --- bring the short bus around front, I've got four boys for you to take home.

 

[dgillock]

 

Nothing kills box office numbers like having a new realease available for download on Kazaa.com minutes after the first showing ends

 

Yes, go to the almighty Kazaa for your bootlegs....then check your computer for spyware, auto dialers, redirects, and viruses.

 

I think I'll save some money and go to the movies....and Not have to buy a new hard drive.

 

 

and so true... if you're gonna be bad, you have to risk getting dirty.