Dann says enough of the 'waking from a nightmare' cliche

A real wake-up call

Three times in Mike Flanagan's horror sequel "Ouija: Origin of Evil," characters wake up from bad dreams by bolting upright in bed like spring-loaded switchblades.

In movies, characters can never just open their eyes after a bad dream. They are required by Hollywood's unwritten rules to violently rise, gasp and, in many cases, break out into a gallon of sweat.

The "Ouija" actors join a long list of other performers who've also bolted out of bed, among them Susan Sarandon in "Safe Passage," Scott Glenn in "Past Tense," Julian Sands in "Boxing Helena," Robin Tunney in "End of Days," Nia Long in "Big Mamma's House," Chris Evans in "The Perfect Score," Ashley Judd in "Twisted," Jim Caviezel in "Bobby Short Stroke of Genius," Jennifer Garner in "Elektra," Jessica Alba in "The Eye" and many more.

Making over theaters

• AMC's South Barrington 30 may have to change its name to AMC South Barrington 26 once renovations are complete. The multiplex is modernizing its auditoriums with bigger, but fewer, recliner seats. But, in the process, it will lose four auditoriums, according to employees.

• Also this month, AMC's Oakbrook Center 12 now features Dolby Cinema, combining Dolby Vision dramatic imaging and Dolby Atmos audio, along with recliner seats that can pulsate with the action on screen. Oakbrook Center 12's improvements come on the heels of AMC Oakbrook Center 4's full renovation in 2015.

'Canned' hunts canned

The documentary "Blood Lions" will have its Chicago premiere at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23, at The Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. Director Bruce Young, an international wildlife expert, will conduct a post-film discussion about the "canned" lion hunting industry.

(A "canned hunt" is when a wild animal is confined to a small area to make it easy for a "hunter" to bag a lion's head for trophy.)

Tickets cost $12. Go to musicboxtheatre.com/films/blood-lions or bloodlions.org.

Movies going cheaper

The price of movie tickets dropped during 2016's third quarter. Variety reports that fewer 3-D films translated into average ticket prices falling 2.5 percent to $8.51, according to the National Association of Theatre Owners, an industry lobbying group. That's down from the record-setting $8.73 during the second quarter. But, through the first nine months of 2016, average ticket prices hit $8.60, exceeding the average $8.43 during 2015.