Does anyone on OTF still go to the cinema?

[Felicity, I guess so]

I go at least once a week and have since childhood. When I’ve lived in cities with lots of cinemas and a variety of art house/revival screens (Toulouse, Madrid) I probably went 4 times a week. And when I used to visit students on their year abroad and get a couple of days in Paris, the 1st thing I’d do was plan how many films I could squeeze in.
This week saw Peterloo, You Were Never Really Here (again) and Bohemian Rhapsody. All busy screenings- was surprised how many at Bo Rap and I wouldn’t be surprised if Mesut Ozil, I mean Remi Malek gets nominated

[Snake Plissken]

I'm going for the first time three and bit years this week. Admittedly to watch Escape from New York but it still counts. The last films I watched before that were a double bill of Mad Max: Fury Road and Mr Holmes.

[Benjm]

...Bo Rap...

Please, never do that again.

[slackster]

Don’t go nowhere near as much as I used to, and generally avoid the mainstream venues selling wheelbarrows of popcorn and other snacks at silly prices, to insufferable twats who invariably end up sitting near me.

We have an independent screen (Kino) a short drive away, and an arts venue that shows plenty of films in its lineup. These I’ll use to watch a movie maybe 4 times a year, plus the same number of relayed screenings of theatre productions - which I guess is a relatively modern novelty that works surprisingly well as an easy-access alternative.

But mostly I’ll wait for releases to show up on the streaming services - even paying a tenner to watch a newish release sometimes before it’s available for “free” if I’m really keen.

[Ray de Galles]

I’ve never really got the objection to popcorn & drinks at the cinema, mainly because I like them and am able to eat and drink them quietly.

However, one major problem with modern cinemas is selling the tickets and food & drink from the same fucking tills! If you want to quickly buy a ticket, you’re stuck behind people queuing for food, if you want to buy popcorn you’re stuck behind people umming and aaahing over what seat they want for a screening.

Of course, they’ve got rid of the dedicated tills to cut down on staff numbers which leads to the other main problem with large cinemas - no more ushers and the last employee you see in a cinema is the one who checks your ticket before you wander off to one of the dozen or so screens to fend for yourself for the next few hours.

[Fussbudget]

I’ve never really got the objection to popcorn & drinks at the cinema, mainly because I like them and am able to eat and drink them quietly.

Ha, the other patrons will be the judges of that. I'm generally not keen because people eating and drinking are never as quiet as they think they are, but I mind much less if it's in a noisy blockbuster or horror screening than if it's a quiet contemplative arthouse flick.

Though the main problem with my local popcornoplex is that the walls between the different screens seem to be paper-thin, so that in the quiet bits of a film you will often hear the adverts, musical numbers or bangy/crashy stuff going on in the next screen which is pretty fucking unacceptable to be honest. I don't think Widows was particularly improved by having bits of Queen songs interspersed between the heist sequences.

[sw2borshch]

Can I rant about the superannuated gassing yobs in the picture house the other day?

[Benjm]

I don't think Widows was particularly improved by having bits of Queen songs interspersed between the heist sequences.

I doubt that the Queen film is improved by having bits of Queen songs interspersed with the rest of it, but at least the punters know what they asked for.

[elguapo4]

Can I rant about the superannuated gassing yobs in the picture house the other day?

Please do.

[Hot Pepsi]

Our theater only does that when the place is nearly empty anyway - like 10 pm on a Wednesday. That would be irritating when there’s a line.

Also, if there’s something wrong with the projection, there’s nobody who works there watching, apparently, so some intrepid patron - usually a parent of restless kids - has to go find somebody who works there to at least let them know. At least, that’s how I think it works. I’ve never been that person. I wouldn’t have the patience to explain to the 15-year-old serving popcorn that they need to fix the movie.

[San Bernardhinault]

Absolutely right about paper thin walls. I don’t need to hear your stupid explosions from your stupid superhero robot movie when I’m trying to watch something different. We’ve had massive loudness inflation almost to match CGI budget inflation. But there’s no wall insulation inflation to match it.

[Hot Pepsi]

Absolutely right about paper thin walls. I don’t need to hear your stupid explosions from your stupid superhero robot movie when I’m trying to watch something different. We’ve had massive loudness inflation almost to match CGI budget inflation. But there’s no wall insulation inflation to match it.

This is one of the reasons I sit in the middle toward the front, but I think the insulation may have improved. I haven’t noticed that “sound overflow” problem as much lately as I did 10-15 years ago.

Competition with home entertainment options is the only thing pushing cinema owners to make any effort at all.

Even in big cities, one doesn’t usually have a lot of choices on where to see a given movie and even if there are, all those theaters may be owned by the same company. So there’s not a ton of competition among theaters.

[Ray de Galles]

Our theater only does that when the place is nearly empty anyway - like 10 pm on a Wednesday. That would be irritating when there’s a line.

Also, if there’s something wrong with the projection, there’s nobody who works there watching, apparently, so some intrepid patron - usually a parent of restless kids - has to go find somebody who works there to at least let them know. At least, that’s how I think it works. I’ve never been that person. I wouldn’t have the patience to explain to the 15-year-old serving popcorn that they need to fix the movie.

When I went to see ‘Isle Of Dogs’ at Curzon Bloomsbury (ostensibly an arthouse cineastes type of place) earlier in the year, I noticed a very annoying high-pitched noise from the back of/outside the screening room while watching the trailers. I went to find a member of staff who came in but said they could hear nothing, so I moved to the front seats where it was minimised but still audible.

I loved the film but on the way out pointed out the noise to a seemingly more senior member of staff and when we went back in to the screening said “Oh yeah, that’s the aircon on the digital projector, it must be working overtime because of the heat. Someone should fix that”.

He gave me a comp ticket for another time but that’s what cinemas do now instead of ensuring it’s a good experience - hand out comps at the drop of a hat. I have anything up to half a dozen in my wallet at any one time (because I’ll always complain if anything’s not satisfactory) but I just wish they actually just bothered to get it right.

[tracteurgarcon]

Stopped going for ages due to the price and the general levels of awful behaviour of other cinema goers but now I've moved to Loughborough the local odeon is £4 (FOUR POUNDS!!!) for adult tickets and doesn't seem to be full of twats on their phones and I manage a film every couple of months or so.

[Jah Womble]

Stopped going for ages due to the price and the general levels of awful behaviour of other cinema goers...

Matinees. That's where it's at.

[Aitch]

I often go here. At least once a week, sometimes two or three films in a day. €19 a month unlimited attendance at all the art house kinos in the country. Love it! But then I’ve never seen Star Wars.

[tracteurgarcon]

Matinees. That's where it's at.

Yep. Being self-employed and mostly working evenings and weekends certainly has it's advantages.

[San Bernardhinault]

Even in big cities, one doesn’t usually have a lot of choices on where to see a given movie and even if there are, all those theaters may be owned by the same company. So there’s not a ton of competition among theaters.

We have 3 different independentish brands (Arclight, Angelika and Cinepolis) who're doing the craft beer, slightly better than pop-corn food, and comfy big reclining seats thing. And even the AMC type chains are having to move to selling beer and making the seating much more comfortable. Because those places make absolutely stonking margins on the food and drink. It's interesting, because the people who go and see less mainstreamy blockbustery stuff seem to be people who're more willing to spend on food and drinks, so it creates a bit more of a market for a wider range of films.

The only downside to these places is that they're often relatively small big-screens, not the full blown massive screens that show your Marvel/Star Wars Spinoff things.

[San Bernardhinault]

Oh, and I absolutely love having the cinema to myself, or just me and the missus. It doesn't happen often, but it's great when it does. Usually lunchish showings on weekdays.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Our local Vue has just upgraded to one of those where every seat is a recliner leather job with a swivel table. Short of actually being massaged by an usherette during the film it's like business class in Etihad. Perversely, this has made us ration our 6 free visits we get from some offer or something, saying "ooh, we'll save those for when the Oscar candidates come out in January" instead of going to see Robin Hood or whatever this weekend.

[treibeis]

I doubt that the Queen film is improved by having bits of Queen songs interspersed with the rest of it, but at least the punters know what they asked for.

I was never a big Queen fan - fuck, I wasn't even a minuscule Queen fan -, but it's good. Honestly.

[treibeis]

I’ve never really got the objection to popcorn & drinks at the cinema, mainly because I like them and am able to eat and drink them quietly.

A mate of mine, on a first date, got to the pictures late and, when he took his seat, realised he'd sat on the previous occupant's nachos (with gloopy red sauce). Rather than a-weepin' and a-wailin', he just sat through (or, rather, in) it for the duration of the film. And reckons, to this day, that his date didn't notice.

[Hot Pepsi]

I was never a big Queen fan - fuck, I wasn't even a minuscule Queen fan -, but it's good. Honestly.

That's a useful endorsement. The critics haven't generally been super-impressed and the only rave I heard was from somebody about 10 years older than me that has a nostalgic connection to Queen. So maybe I'll see it eventually, at least.

I think Queen is perhaps the best "stadium rock" band - and I don't just mean that in a damning-with-faint-praise sorta way - and Mercury certainly was a great performer - perhaps the greatest - of that type, but I've never been a a "stadium rock" sort of person and am generally indifferent to most of Queen's singles. I've never listened to any of their albums.

I suspect that some critics think that rock - at least like that - is just passe now, "no longer relevant," and maybe a bit embarrassing, and therefore view films like this as part of "that generation's" death rattle, and perhaps some older critics are a bit sad that rock - at least of that sort - is now in it's "sentimental biographic film" phase of history. I think the audience, on the other hand, is more open to being transported back to that time, whether they were there the first time or not.

I also recall somebody on this very board - I forget who it was, exactly - saying that Brian May seems to think that he was the star of Queen. I find that funny.

[Ray de Galles]

I’ve long loved classic era Queen but was lesss than enthusiastic about the film. However my wife and children (the latter of whom know the band via Glee, the Singstar game and Spotify) dragged me along to see it as a family outing.

It’s ropey and one-dimensional as a movie but enjoyable enough and that is almost solely down to the music and quality of the recreated live performances, particularly the Live Aid set which is performed pretty much in full and with fantastic attention to detail.

Some of it almost seems like a ‘Comic Strip Presents...’ at times though, given the tendency towards caricature of the personalities and events. Though there lots of in jokes (like the punchline of the Mike Myers cameo) for anyone with a decent knowledge of the band’s history and cultural impact too.

[Patrick Thistle]

A mate of mine, on a first date, got to the pictures late and, when he took his seat, realised he'd sat on the previous occupant's nachos (with gloopy red sauce). Rather than a-weepin' and a-wailin', he just sat through (or, rather, in) it for the duration of the film. And reckons, to this day, that his date didn't notice.

I used to work in a multiplex cinema. The nachos came in these black triangular trays with the sauce in one of the points. People ate the nachos but not the sauce. Then they'd leave the empty tray on the floor. Even with the house lights up its impossible to see an empty black tray in the dark so it was very easy to step on the empty bit and flip the tray so that salsa flew up your leg. They were known as landmines among the staff.

Everyone who has ever left their rubbish behind in a cinema is going to burn in hell forever. No exceptions.