Siri’s Sweet Voice Threatens Rude Moviegoers With Humiliation

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Siri has a dark side. Try to send a text in a movie theater, and you might feel the life-destroying wrath of Apple’s perky AI helper.

That’s the message delivered in a new PSA-style video that’s the Alamo Drafthouse‘s latest salvo in the war on rude moviegoers. The creative clip, which will be shown ahead of screenings of Spike Jonze’s Her at the indie tastemaker’s theaters, uses the voice of Siri to send an anti-texting message.

For the new video (below), Alamo enlisted Susan Bennett, the voice actor who brings Siri to life. Bennett’s instantly recognizable voice responds with all the icy precision of HAL-9000 to a clueless iPhone user’s attempt to send a text from within one of the Drafthouse’s cinematic temples.

The Austin, Texas-based indie chain is famous in movie-nerd circles for its hardline stance against the sort of phone-addicted nitwits whose antics can ruin a screening.

The Siri entry in Alamo’s “Don’t Talk or Text” campaign might not be quite as funny (or as NSFW) as the hilarious PSA built around an angry voicemail left by a bounced moviegoer, but it’s yet another novel attempt to get a simple message through the thick skulls of morons who can’t put down their phones while the film’s rolling.

BTW, the Alamo’s movie mavens have selected Her as the latest entry in the theaters’ “Drafthouse Recommends” series, which highlights “groundbreaking, innovative and provocative films that push the boundaries of genre, represent enigmatic subjects or highlight emerging new talent.”

According to a Drafthouse press release: “The Alamo is in love with Her. Writer/director Spike Jonze’s gorgeous, poignant love story between man and artificial intelligence was chosen as one of the top 10 movies of 2013 by Alamo programmers. The January edition of the Alamo’s monthly print magazine, BIRTH.MOVIES.DEATH., also celebrates Her on the cover of the magazine, as well as in the editorial.”

https://vimeo.com/83350609

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