Does anyone on OTF still go to the cinema?

[Stumpy Pepys]

I was going to start a thread on A Star is Born, but worried it would sink under the weight of apathy. Although it's going to win an award for something.

I didn't see any titles of contemporary films in the Film, TV and Radio page.

It's really good by the way.

[Guy Profumo]

I was going to start a thread on A Star is Born, but worried it would sink under the weight of apathy. Although it's going to win an award for something.

I didn't see any titles of contemporary films in the Film, TV and Radio page.

It's really good by the way.

Peterloo?

[Stumpy Pepys]

Peterloo?

And?

[Hot Pepsi]

I saw A Star is Bornin the theater. Very good. Heartbreaking.

I used to average about once a week, but increasingly I prefer to wait for things to come to Netflix or Prime unless I'm almost 100% sure I'll like it. It's just a lot cheaper and more comfortable to stay at home. I go to the theater if it seems like something that would be a lot better on the big screen, but I like to leave some good ones that I can "rent"* in a few months.

The most recent one I saw in the theater was First Man, which I recommend seeing in the theater. I'm waiting on the Fantastic Beasts one to see with my niece and nephew. I may see some of the other Oscar-bait ones in the theater. At Eternity's Gate, Green Book, Widows, and The Favourite all look promising. There are a few more coming in November plus some blockbuster garbage like Aquaman that I'll see in the theater out of a sense of obligation.


*I don't actually rent DVDs anymore. I just rent the right to stream them over a 48 to 72 hour period. Yeah, I know.

[adams house cat]

Mrs. House Cat and I used to go fairly often. I haven't been for over a year now. I should.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

I hadn't been for ages when I went to see Blade Runner (sequel) whenever that was - I went with my son and it cost £22 for the two of us.

Since then Vue have cut ticket prices to £4.99 for all films all times, and last week's pincer movement by girlfriend and daughter got me back into the cinema for Bohemian Rhapsody, and daughter reminded me it was a Wednesday and I had the meerkat thing so it cost £10 for the three of us.

I might go more often now, I'd like to see Widows, I've got the box set of the original TV series.

[San Bernardhinault]

I go to the cinema pretty often in the winter when the decent films are around, but almost never go in the summer when there's nothing but tiresome blockbusters that have the sound up too loud and spend too much time having people chase other people with no particular relevance to plot.

[Lang Spoon]

I’ve seen A Star is Born and First Man at the pictures recently. Cinema going often comes up in current watching thread.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Yep, love going to the pictures. The problem is that there's less and less I actually want to see.

[Hot Pepsi]

I go to the cinema pretty often in the winter when the decent films are around, but almost never go in the summer when there's nothing but tiresome blockbusters that have the sound up too loud and spend too much time having people chase other people with no particular relevance to plot.

There's usually a few decent non-blockbusters in the summer tossed in as counterprogramming.

[Hot Pepsi]

I hadn't been for ages when I went to see Blade Runner (sequel) whenever that was - I went with my son and it cost £22 for the two of us.

Since then Vue have cut ticket prices to £4.99 for all films all times, and last week's pincer movement by girlfriend and daughter got me back into the cinema for Bohemian Rhapsody, and daughter reminded me it was a Wednesday and I had the meerkat thing so it cost £10 for the three of us.

I might go more often now, I'd like to see Widows, I've got the box set of the original TV series.

I didn't know it was based on a TV series. Was that under the same title?

[Nefertiti2]

Yes Shown when Steve McQueen was a teenager.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widows_(TV_series)

Same name, it was the making of Lynda LaPlante, who later did Prime Suspect.

[Hot Pepsi]

Perhaps this will unleash a wave of films based on early 80s British shows. What else have you got?

[Bored Of Education]

Ray and my other brother constantly go on romantic dates to the cinema and lambast me for my lack of such activity. I went for years when I didn't go the cinema as you can't have a beer, pause it to go for a piss or put the subtitles on. I also thought that it was just too fucking expensive when you can so many films on TV now. It slightly changed when the boy came along as we then went to all the kids' films but what really changed it around was the new Star Wars films coming out. Indeed, last year, I went to a shitload of films in the cinema - both the Odeon and the smaller independent one where Haile Selassie used to watch Pathé news and where you can have a drink. Mind you, I have slowed down a bit now and I still think it is too expensive (even if you hold onto and reuse your 3D glasses). Also, now, Ray and other brother take the piss out of me for not watching box-sets at home.

[Hot Pepsi]

The cost is the biggest impediment. Not only the ticket, but the snacks. My understanding is that the theater only really makes money on the concessions.

I though beer was available in most UK cinemas. I may have been misinformed.

[San Bernardhinault]

My reading was that the issue wasn't the beer, but the inability to pause when you need to empty your bladder after drinking too much beer.

In (my part of?) the US, there's been a massive improvement in the quality of the cinema and the food (although it remains crazily overpriced). You can get a decent local IPA and a pretty good avocado toast in a lovely wide reclining chair with a little table, provided you go the right cinema.

But you still risk missing crucial dialogue when going for a piss.

[Hot Pepsi]

I just take that risk. Better to do that than rupture one's bladder.

[Amor de Cosmos]

The last time was in late August, I took the grandkids to see The Incredibles 2. There was a time when I went at least twice a week, but distance — the nearest multi-screen is half-hour drive — laziness — and La Signora's mobility issues make it a rare event these days.

[ursus arctos]

I am of the view that frequent cinema-going is a habit that one picks up in childhood.

And as the child of a family that didn't have it, I never picked it up. I go to MOMA and revival houses several times a year, but I'm not sure that I have ever seen a film in a real "multiplex" (the Moorish revival "palace" that we used to go to in San Francisco with a heavy sound-absorbing (but not sound proof) curtain down the former centre aisle doesn't count)

[Bored Of Education]

My reading was that the issue wasn't the beer, but the inability to pause when you need to empty your bladder after drinking too much beer.

Actually, it was the beer really. It passed my by until recently that you could now get beers in Odeons but, even though you now can, I am not paying the £60 for a bottle of Budweiser or whatever it is. That and the bladder issues.

[ursus arctos]

60 quid would be outrageous in New York . . .

[Fussbudget]

I am of the view that frequent cinema-going is a habit that one picks up in childhood.

Not sure I'd agree with that, my parents never took me to the cinema as a kid and I didn't go much as a teenager either (at least until I was 17 or 18), but I go about once a month these days and often on my own.

sw2boro and I have just seen Widows by the way, I really enjoyed it but haven't read the book or seen the TV show so can't say how it compares.

Also, and sorry to be that guy, but can people really not last a whole film without eating or drinking? The overpriced drinks and snacks are not compulsory.

[ursus arctos]

It isn’t a strongly held view, and such evidence as I have is very New York-centric.

[Patrick Thistle]

I go reasonably often. I've seen about 10 films in the cinema this year, including 3 in the Marvel series, the Han Solo film, some animations and the latest Jurassic World.