I go to the cinema about once a month these days. It used to be once a week until a two for one offer was withdrawn in the UK Cineworld chain called Orange Wednesdays.
Its too expensive without the offer, costing around £10 for an adult ticket.
Over the years I have seen the death of the town centre cinema and the unstoppable rise of the Multiplex. At my own Cineworld I have seen the combining of the food counter with ticket sales, a rather cynical move I thought, together with allocated seating, which I can't stand to be honest as I like to choose exactly where I sit once inside. Or at least I did!
The latest efficiency is the reduction in size of the house magazine to a two sided leaflet. This is streamlining gone mad. No doubt the reasons quoted would be the change in peoples' reading habits but I personally think its a sad day when there is virtually no printed material in a cinema.
I have to face it though, as long as I love movies I will go to the cinema no matter what they do regardless of whether I like the changes or not. Only a totally ludicrous rise on price would stop me completely.
What are your cinema habits and experiences readers?
A crucial point here Woodsy. Not to speak of cinemas degrading from movie palaces to industrial multiplex bunkers, it has been downfall in many respects. When in the past the main course was preceded by thrilling trailers enticing to come back for more, today there are so many prolonged tv-commercials that I think the cinema should pay us for enduring them. And when the movie starts, the main course is enjoyed right beside me from a noisy candy bag. And cinemas, they are happy to go with the flow as long as food sales are good. Not to speak of the mobile phone habits of today's audiences. No wonder many will opt for domestic viewing with no distractions.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the only improvement has been a technical one, although with some unnecessary excesses like unmotivated 3D and soapy High Frame Rate experiments. That said, a good movie is good even if viewed from a big box VHS!
I know what you mean about the ads Arto. I used to love the Pearl and Dean slab of ads we had before movies here in the UK but that icon has long gone. Now its mostly car and phone adverts for the young hip audience. the content doesn't bother me, its as you say, the number of them. Obviously I like trailers as that tells me what's coming to town but the ads and the trailers last around 25 minutes now. So an 8.30pm film will only actually start at nearly 9pm, by which time I've eaten all my popcorn! Bring B-movies back I say and lets have double bills again!
DeleteYou guys in the U.K. have 'printed materials' in your theaters? What's in it? I don't think I've ever seen that except for live performances here in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteI used to love going to the theater... and rising prices never gave me too much pause... the commercials are annoying, yes, but what really killed it for me, the reason I haven't been in months and only go a couple times a year now (when friends insist) are the absolutely rude audiences who behave as if they are at home in their own living rooms... conversation, phones and general noise. Whatever the joys of communal viewing might be I'd much prefer to wait and watch the film at home... rather than in a barn full of talking animals.
There are some theaters here that happily toss out chatty customers... but that's rare.
I know what you mean KG, the barnyard is a noisy place but thankfully only really gets bad when there's an obvious teen blockbuster on like s Superhero flick, Twilight, Hunger Games or similar. I love to see Marvel films on the bog screen so I have to put up with all the animal noises now and then! Star Wars Awakens will be a true test on December 18th when it opens. If ever a film had mass appeal with adults and kids alike its that! The barn will be bursting!
DeletePS. the printed materials are cinema magazines, which have been a feature of our flicks for decades. There area also some free posters and leaflets most weeks.
I was about to ask the same thing as knobgobbler, as we have not had these printed materials, aoart from some cinemag wannabies given out for free. Back in the 80's, there used to be a weekly three-fold brochure, advertising all that cinemas around Helsinki had to offer. A kinda cinemagoer's bible at the time, killed by cinema chain competition.
ReplyDeleteAnother point, have you noticed that cinema foyer stills have disappeared without a trace. When did that happen?