KEY POINTS:
If the noise of popcorn being crunched, or lolly packets being rustled doesn't annoy you, cellphone users might.
Bridgeway Cinemas manager Jean Smith says it's "bizarre" how attached people are to their mobile phones.
"They can't do without them, even for a couple of hours."
She says most patrons follow the cinema's screened advice to switch off, but many leave them on silent and when they vibrate "open them up to text back".
She says that means the phones light up, which can be "painful" for other cinemagoers.
Smith has never had to kick someone out for using a phone, but occasionally people leave the theatre to complain about their use.
"Staff don't sit in the theatres like they used to, but if someone complains we have a word."
Lido Cinema owner Richard Dalton says his customers are generally "responsible" and he gets one complaint a year about cellphone use.
SkyCity cinemas general manager Jane Hastings says that cellphones are "part of modern life".
Customers are generally considerate and complaints are "very infrequent".
