More Movieplexy

Garth Drabinsky, CEO and president of the Cineplex Odeon theater chain, has been giving great speeches all year long about how much he cares about us, the moviegoing public and how much he wants to upgrade the moviegoing experience.

But just drop into one of his theaters--as my friends and I did recently. Want to know what his idea of upgrading the moviegoing experience is? It’s having to sit through several commercials and a documentary on how they made one of ‘em! You should have heard the audience scream and hiss at the screen. Incredible.

And for this, I and my friends paid $6 each, Los Angeles first-run ticket prices!

Anyway, the Universal City Cinemas are off my list of theaters to visit in the future, and I hope the people out there start complaining, boycotting, yelling and screaming at whichever theaters start this practice.

LAWRENCE BROOKS

Los Angeles

According to Cineplex Senior VP of Marketing and Communications Lynda Friendly, Brooks saw an ad for Diet Coke and the two-minute trailer that shows how it was produced. They are part of a test-marketing program that has so far received a favorable response from a majority of moviegoers surveyed, she said. The trailer is “aesthetically quite lovely,” she said, adding that it is sometimes followed by applause.