Does anyone on OTF still go to the cinema?

[Sean of the Shed]

Went to see Spiderman at the Cineworld in Hull last night. Only about 10-15% seats taken and fairly well spaced. Also most people at the cinema rarely speak that much, even less so shout or sing. As far as covid safety goes I would say that a cinema is one of the most hygienic places that you can gather indoors. I feel a lot safer in there than any restaurants or supermarkets.

[The Bean Counter]

The nearest cinema to us does a Kid's Club at weekends - various family/kid friendly films at lunchtime for €4 a pop. Now all other activities have taken a break for Christmas, I took them the last two weekends and they had a great time. In at least one case, they found the same film on Netflix later on, but (at that age anyway) the idea of making an outing of it and the whole cinema experience, is not to be underestimated.

Also, there were so few people actually in the cinema, It was probably safer than staying at home.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

I negotiated with my daughter that we'd go to see Licorice Pizza (or No Way Haim as I hilariously dubbed it) this week, but the local multiplex hasn't had it, and seems to have no plans to show it (despite acknowledging its existence). Daughter launched a campaign to go to House of Gucci, but that's already gone. So we had a look to see what was actually on, and in an eight screen cinema the "prime time" choices are No Way Home (seen), Matrix Resurrections (seen), The 355 (watched the trailer in hope of wanting to see it, but nope) and James Bond (not interested).

[Ray de Galles]

I managed to get to the cinema twenty times last year, though obviously that was less than normal as I don't think they reopened until around May/June.

I'm still hoping to get to the stage of making a trip a regular weekly (at least) occurrence, especially as tickets are free as members of our local Everyman cinemas on Monday evenings.

[Ginger Yellow]

I went to see The French Dispatch, my first cinema screening since the pandemic, a few weeks ago now. I only did it because it was free with my membership and I was off work so I could go to a matinee show when almost nobody else would be there (there ended up being two other people in the whole auditorium). As I may have said upthread, even before the pandemic I was only going to the cinema for my "free" tickets, so about five times a year. Even though my local cinema is pretty nice, I have a decent enough setup at home that I'd rather watch most films on the couch.

[Sean of the Shed]

"The French Dispatch" is giving me a French Mistake earworm.

[RobW]

After I flounced out of my local Cineworld's showing of House of Gucci (woman constantly on her phone, nobody else seemingly giving a shit), I finally cancelled my Unlimited membership and now have a lifetime membership of the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square. Obviously, i'll be paying a fortune, rather than £20 a month but at least i'll be sharing screenings with people who can keep quiet for 2 hours, one hopes. Plus, i'll see some brilliant old stuff i've not watched before on the big screen, and can still see blockbusters at Walthamstow Empire and go to the excellent Crouch End Art House.

[Hot Pepsi]

I tried one of those membership things but it wasn't with the actual cinema. It was a needlessly complicated deal with some third-party card. I miscalculated how valuable it was so I tried to quit it an hour after signing up for it. They told me to fuck off. Obnoxious. I put the BBB on them and they said they'd pay me back, but didn't. That was a few years ago. I gave up. But I felt so stupid and taken-advantage-of. I was a lot more anxious in those days.

Really, even if movies were $5 a ticket - instead of $12 for evening or $9 for matinee - I don't think I'll want to be going every week or even every month for the foreseeable future. It just feels irresponsible. And I generally prefer to stay home in almost all situations where that's an option.

I probably should adjust my attitude eventually. I had a really hard time finishing Power of the Dog and I can't seem to get through Lost Daughter. If I'd gone to see those in the theater, I'd be "pot-committed" and would force myself to have more patience and suffer through the hard-to-watch bits and would thereby get to enjoy the bits that look especially good on the big screen and maybe grasp what the point was. I can think of a few films that I saw at a cinema and was glad I did because I know I would have not been able to stay focused on them at home and yet was glad that I stuck with them in the theater. That one with Adam Sandler as the jeweler - I forget what it's called - and Manchester By the Sea and Parasite and Blue Valentine.

I have never walked out of a movie in a theater. Ever. Surprising to me, really. I think the closest I've come in recent years was AntMan 2. I was just overcome with a feeling of "Is this how I'm going to spend my life?" At least at home, I can put on a film like that and half pay attention to it while doing OTF or watching hockey on my phone.

I'd like to see House of Gucci, French Dispatch and Licorice Pizza. HOG is gone now, I don't think French Dispatch ever came here and I'm not sure I want to see Licorice Pizza badly enough to pay $12, let alone risk COVID. I'm not a bit PTA guy, really.

I'm sure I'll see all both eventually at home.

[Ginger Yellow]

That one with Adam Sandler as the jeweler - I forget what it's called - and Manchester By the Sea and Parasite and Blue Valentine.

Ironically, Uncut Gems and Manchester By The Sea were streaming only here.

[Ray de Galles]

If "here" is the UK/London then I saw Uncut Gems on its limited theatrical release in January 2020 and MBTS had a fuller run, as I recall.

[Hot Pepsi]

Traditionally, stuff that gets nominated for Oscars usually would get a wide release in January or February in the US and even come to places like where I live. That's been the best features of the Oscars.

But now Netflix et al are putting Oscar bait on their services and only making a token effort at a theatrical release for the sole purpose of being nominated. That was true even before the pandemic, so it might just be the way it is in the future.

Manchester By the Sea, MA, is the actual name of the town. Lovely place. Not a film I want to see again.

[San Bernardhinault]

Manchester-by-the-Sea was a very good film but definitely not something to enjoy watching. I've cycled there a few times. It's much less bleak than the movie suggests.

[Hot Pepsi]

It's not bleak. It's posh.
Though a lot of coastal New England towns have a kind of bleak Andrew Wyeth/Edward Hopper feel, especially in the winter, but there's a lot of money up on the North Shore with all those people who own big sailboats.

[San Bernardhinault]

I know it. There's still a real working fishing port thing going on in Gloucester. But for the rest of Cape Ann and the whole coastal North Shore, it feels like even the fisher-folk are hobbying lobster potters, not working class people. When I've cycled through Manchester seems to be a classic New England tourist/day-tripper/commuter money town with nice coffee shops and nice restaurants and so on, not the grim place shown in the movie. (I think Exiled On Main Street is our current live expert on the area?).

[Hot Pepsi]

Gloucester is known as the home port for the Andrea Gale, made famous by the book and film The Perfect Storm. That was in the early 90s when it was still sorta like that, but I think it's gentrifying pretty fast. I can't imagine that swordfishing is not a growth industry. PBS did a great doc on that about 15 years ago. I forget what it's called.

The Crows Nest, the pub in the story, sells merch and trades on its connection to the film. That suggests they've sold out to the tourists because that's just what they had to do.
http://www.crowsnestgloucester.com/index.php

The monument in the middle of town showing every local fisherman who was lost at sea is remarkable. In the "glory days" it was a few dozen guys every single year. Sure, it pays well for a job like that but, I'd rather do just about anything else than that.

[ursus arctos]

The digital version of that lost fisherman list runs to 829 pages

https://gloucester-ma.gov/DocumentCe...-SEAAPR?bidId=

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Licorice Pizza made it to my local cinema this week, so I went tonight.

It was all well done, if over long and it crammed in a couple of set pieces that probably didn't need to be in that movie, but PTA seemed to want to use (a bit Once Upon A Time in Encino, if you will).

Alana Haim is really good in her debut role (I've long been a fan of the band, and they are all in it, as are their parents, as their parents of course). It's worth reading the trivia section on imdb for the numerous real life and movie inter-connections between PTA, the cast and the characters.

It's difficult to discuss the central theme without getting into spoilers however.

[Janik]

I don't appear to have said I went to see The French Dispatch shortly before Christmas. It was OK.

I think I may have a chance to go again on Wednesday. The films around the right time on that day appear to be Belfast, Nightmare Alley, and Licorice Pizza. I tend to like PT Anderson's stuff so the latter is looking the choice, but then I've never heard of the former two. If I'm about to miss something really good on account of ignorance, can someone shout?

[Ray de Galles]

I don't appear to have said I went to see The French Dispatch shortly before Christmas. It was OK.

I think I may have a chance to go again on Wednesday. The films around the right time on that day appear to be Belfast, Nightmare Alley, and Licorice Pizza. I tend to like PT Anderson's stuff so the latter is looking the choice, but then I've never heard of the former two. If I'm about to miss something really good on account of ignorance, can someone shout?

I loved Belfast and have started a thread on it. I really want to see Nightmare Alley too as a Guillermo del Toro noir sounds well worth seeing and the trailers and reviews are promising.

[Janik]

I loved Belfast and have started a thread on it. I really want to see Nightmare Alley too as a Guillermo del Toro noir sounds well worth seeing and the trailers and reviews are promising.

Oh, right, so that actually is quite a promising three way choice, then. A del Toro noir does indeed sound intriguing.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

If your tastes align with Mark Kermode's, it's worth saying that for possibly the first time this week he gave a three-way tie for his film of the week, between Belfast, Nightmare Alley and Mass. Not that that helps you choose I suppose (though I think Mass has a narrow release, whereas Belfast seems to be everywhere, all the time).

[Ray de Galles]

'Mass' seems to be primarily, if not exclusively, a streaming release. It's on Sky Cinema now.

[RobW]

Off to see Belfast tonight, going to see West Side Story and Nightmare Alley this week too.

[The Mighty Trin]

I loved Belfast and have started a thread on it. I really want to see Nightmare Alley too as a Guillermo del Toro noir sounds well worth seeing and the trailers and reviews are promising.

Me and My Good Lady TMT are off to watch Belfast and then Nightmare Alley next Monday. We watched all the Oscar nominated films, documentaries and shorts last year and will try do the same again this year, although MGLTMT won't watch Candyman and I have no desire to watch Spencer any time soon, if they are ultimately nominated.

Last year we stayed up until Daft o'clock to watch the Oscars and whilst chatting on Zoom to a number of friends in the States we discovered that their feed was about 10 seconds ahead of ours, so we knew who´d won before it was announced on the UK feed. I was also made to decorate the lounge and wear a dinner jacket for the occasion (which also involved me having a boozy party for one until 5am or whatever). Still, it means that I get the green light to disappear to places like York on a Tuesday night, so swings and roundabouts!

[Felicity, I guess so]

May not get to Nightmare Alley as it's only in the small screen which doesn't yet feel covid safe .
Looking at Almodóvar times for Saturday or Belfast if not.