Are Bale and Neeson technically Brits?

I suppose that depends on how you consider 'technically'. I don't think Bale lives in Britain, and his career is abroad, same as Oldman's is. Likewise Neeson, Caine et al. But then - likewise me. And I consider myself British, damn it. (cue stirring music, flagwaving, cups of tea and random bowler hats)

Bale was born in Wales and raised in England, Portugal and California. AFAIC, he's one of ours.

Neeson's Northern Irish.

Michael Caine's a Londoner.

Gary Oldman's a Londoner.

Cillian Murphy's Irish (which you'd be very justified in saying I shouldn't be cheering for as British, and certainly he isn't British, but I do get just as chuffed for Irish nationals making it big in US movies as I do for Brits, 'cause they're only a stone's throw away, damn it, and it's a wee country, and yay them, and it's all the British Isles after all).

Tom Wilkinson's a Yorkshireman.

Linus Roache (BatDaddy) is from Manchester

Larry Holden (Finch) is from Northern Ireland.

Gerard Murphy (Judge Faden) is from Northern Ireland

...in fact, what the hell happened, you guys? All your Batman are belong to us!

Am also very envious of your drive-in experience, and your seeing Baleman Begins.

Nothing like being forced to watch commercials without the recourse of changing the channel or hitting mute.

Really, those commercials are so, so galling.

Reposting my continual rant that never closes. We have commercials on TV because they subsidize the shows. TV is free. Money has to come from somewhere; comes from selling time to advertisers. Cable, which is not free, has no commercials.

But now, people are so innured to commercials that not only do cable TV channels have them (although thankfully not as bad as broadcast) but MOVIES, where you are paying to see the movie, have them. It's offensive. I'm not paying to watch an ad. If, like magazines, the product would otherwise be so expensive no one would buy it, I could understand. But the theaters used to be able to rent the movie to show and make up the rental cost via ticket sales. Seems to me the ads are pure profit for the theater consortiums....and when I'm paying a day's wage for popcorn, I'm not thinking they need any more largesse.

Did you know there's money in Scrabble?

I knew this! Or, I think I knew it. Back on Table Talk, one of the members was a competitive crossword puzzler (at8ax was his name). He informed the TTTV folder about an ABC News report on competitive puzzling, and we all tuned in, and he had neglected to mention than he won the competition in question.

I know he had a day job, but.

Scrabble champions have to do a lot of boring agony stuff to get to the champion level -- memorize random combinations of letters. There's a guy on the New York Times editorial page who theorizes that there has never been a female Scrabble champion because women are hard-wired not to be that dorky. (I don't especially agree, but it's a funny theory.)

But the theaters used to be able to rent the movie to show and make up the rental cost via ticket sales.

They're not in the job of breaking even, though -- they're there to make a profit. My understanding is that it hasn't been possible off tickets alone for a long time. That's why the food costs an arm and a leg. My secondary assumption was that commercials were more of that -- keeping ticket costs down, effectively.

If, like magazines, the product would otherwise be so expensive no one would buy it, I could understand

Except that this is the case. Movie theatres make next to nothing on ticket sales. Profit comes from ads and popcorn.

I don't really understand the "can't talk before the movie anymore" complaint -- has anyone ever really been shushed for talking during a Fanta ad?

I would have shushed them, were everyone around me not staring perplexed or horror-struck at the screen in silence. I love the Fantanas!

Ads don't bother me. I mean, trailers are ads, and we expect them. Adding other products to the mix to make my ticket cheaper seems a small price to pay.

I wish they'd mix the ads up more. That run of LA Times ads has been going since I got here, and it's hateful.

But, really, I don't care. They air before the movie start time, I don't have to look, and I can still talk. I even allow for one-liners during trailers.

I work in a theater, and it's true that the theater company doesn't make money off the ticket sales. That money goes directly to the company making the film. Plus, the theater company has to pay for lots of accessories, like shipping the prints to and fro, equipment and maintenance, employees, buildings, etc.etc. The large majority of their profit comes from the food.

I certainly agree that the food is too expensive. Sometimes I feel absurd trying to convince people that $3.25 for a large soda or $6.00 for a tub of popcorn is a good value. $4.25 for a liter of water my foot! Yeah, they're making a crazy profit. But that profit also paid for the giant screen, powerful speakers and squishy stadium seats. Also, it's a bit of a vicious cycle... the more expensive the food, the less people buy it, the higher the prices get. But it's hard to convince people that if everyone buys a drink at the movie, eventually their popcorn might get cheaper.