From the article:
When we went to our seats, the wait staff let us know that despite the fact that the previews were playing, we wouldn’t know until the movie actually started whether we could see the film or not. If it didn’t work, the screen would just turn black. Luckily, the film went through without a hitch.
watch a literal half hour of ads and then maybe, if you’re very lucky, you get to watch the movie you paid for.
Alamo Drafthouse plays strange ads… a lot of times they are movie reels from ages ago that follow the theme of the movie or it’s a voice mail from an angry guest about how they got kicked out from the theater. Usually this: https://youtu.be/1L3eeC2lJZs?si=Z4i3cHrZ-twfVD_S or weird shit like this https://youtu.be/Ze5kyR3ogso?si=jTRIC-q6bcOjNHvC
Why show up on time? Most theaters have assigned seats now. Just show up 20 minutes after start time.