First Look Became First Sound at AMC Theatre in First Colony Sunday

Keeping us on our toes.

But sometimes, especially on weekends, things can get a little wonky as when a projectionist dozes off in the upstairs booth or fails to show for his shift.

So when we settled into our seats Sunday at the AMC in First Colony to see Les Misérables, we weren't entirely shocked to hear voices talking at us from the screen, but the screen itself was dark.

At first we weren't too bothered. It was, after all, First Look, used to promote local business and TV shows on the bubble with the occasional movie trivia test.

Until you realize that just hearing First Look is infinitely more irritating than hearing and seeing it. And then there was the little matter of whether this was going to continue into the movie itself.

So Art Attack headed for the lobby, snagging the first AMC employee she found, to say hey, there's something wrong in No. 4; there's no picture.

"What time does the movie start?" the (I'm thinking) teenage girl asked me.

"Four-fifteen," I served up. It was about 4:05 now.

"That's when the picture will start." she said.

"But until then we just listen to First Look?" I asked just to make sure.

"Yes, that's when it will start."

"Is this some new policy?"

"That's how we handle it."

So like a dutiful sheep, I headed back to my seat, where just before 4:15 the voice on screen said they hoped we'd enjoyed our look at First Look. And at about 4:17, we did finally get a screen filled with images and all the previews our hearts desired before the film.

Today, we put in a call to Ryan Noonan, head spokesman for AMC nationally. And he quickly put to rest the "new policy" explanation.

"It shouldn't have happened. Occasionally there are technical difficulties," he said. "First Look runs on a different system than the movies."

So no, AMC has not decided that we need to just listen to First Look. "Someone gave you a totally bogus poor explanation," Noonan said.

Well whew, we say. As no doubt do the First Look advertisers who probably paid for their messages to be seen as well as heard.