It must be around 14 years ago Sam. I went to see Waterworld, very disappointing after all the hype surrounding it.
I had to stuff tissues in my ears to try and cut down the sound a little. I was talking to a neighbour a week or so later and she had been to see it too and said it was too loud and she was in her 70s so I wouldnt have thought that she had the best hearing in the world.
I much prefer watching films on my own TV with my DTS sound system so that I can have it at the level I like. Unfortunately these days, if its an action film, they seem to have the sound mixing all cocked up. If you have the volume set for the effects to the right level the dialogue is too quiet, if you set the dialogue at the right level then the effects are deafening
I wonder if younger people are going deaf or losing some of their hearing early because of them having mp3 players set too loud and the cinemas are cranking up the volume so that they can hear it, to the discomfort of people who dont have any hearing problems