6 Things That Have Well And Truly Taken Surprise Out Of Cinema

By Tim Colman /

6. Watching Trailers

I know a chap who takes his iPad to the cinema and, when the trailers come on, he puts his earphones on and watches Bruce Springsteen rock videos at high volume so he doesn€™t ruin any films he hasn€™t seen yet. He looks a tiny bit mental, but he€™s clearly a genius, aside from the whole "suspected piracy" thing. Trailers spoiling films is by no means a new thing. In the 30€™s and 40€™s trailers were effectively just shots from the film with massive captions like €œSEE OUR HERO FIGHT AND DEFEAT THE EVIL ROBOT TIGER AFTER ABOUT 53 MINUTES€ or €œWATCH AS HER HEART IS MELTED BY HIS ROGUISH CHARMS AND BANJO PLAYING SKILLS€. Nowadays it€™s effectively the first third of the film on fast forward, three of the key action sequences, and an out of context line from somewhere else in the movie that sounds cool. As a result you spend most of the film going €˜yep, remember that from the trailer€™ - such as, specifically the bit where Bruce Willis uses a car to take out a helicopter. Tip to avoid spoilers: Some combination of a blindfold, earplugs, and memory wipe system will work a treat.