When was the last time you went to the Cinema?

[ch37]

Pommy said:

Have to agree. I really enjoy it.

Perhaps everyone's going peak Saturday night.

Its a popular thing to knock and make it appear the lesser people go...

Yeah it's a strange one. Always the same comments..."£20" a ticket (average price of a UK cinema ticket is £7) and acting like they are forced to buy popcorn and Coke. And all this against a picture of ever-increasing cinema admissions in the UK, so something doesn't add up!

My local is only an Odeon in a fairly unpleasant town, but it's absolutely fine 5 evenings a week and at any time during the day. Limitless is also a bargain if you go a lot, mine is £150 per year, a lot of years of that to pay for anything approaching an equivalent home cinema kit.

Sure I could go and watch the latest Saw movie at 9pm on a Friday or Saturday night and then moan about "the teens", but I'm not an idiot. Mainstream cinema is also significantly more diverse now due to the explosion of multiplexes. Just looking back at a few I've watched during the past few years that haven't required a trip to the nearest arthouse cinema... The Lighthouse, Parasite, Midsommar, Free Solo, Old Man with a Gun, Sorry to Bother You etc.

[Cold]

Last night to see Pulp Fiction. Obviously I had the place to myself, but that isn't a complaint.

[Welshbeef]

Cliftonite said:

2010 Alice in Wonderland (3D).

Prior to that: 1994 Shallow Grave.

Is the reason that you are not really a film fan and as such rarely watch films in the house?

[Pommy]

Well said.

I have a proper, dedicated Theatre room with a 2.5m screen, quality 7.1 surround, lazy boy recliners etc and I can't better the sound and immersion and sound of a cinema so fk knows how most people are getting a better audio visual experience at home in their lounge on a normal telly.

[anonymous-user]

Last December, to watch "It's a Wonderful Life"

[OMITN]

August that is year to a drive in. We watched Grease.

Prior to that it was Frozen 2.

On both occasions we took our daughter, but to be honest she is not an enthusiastic film watcher. If we put a movie on at home (age appropriate of course - she’s 10) she will just stay I her room.

Before she came along we used to be regular cinema goers. Parenthood and work has limited that, but we do both miss it.

As for irritating people in cinemas, I’m pretty certain they have always been that way. I’m sure I was when I was a teenager. The most amusing time was watching Hunger (Steve McQueen’s incredible film about Bobby Sands) at the old Cornerhouse cinema in Manchester - as the hunger strike was getting ever more serious the woman in front of us unwrapped the tin foil around her homemade sandwiches and started tucking in....

I’m lucky that, having lived near a town with a tired old 2 screen cinema (people queuing round the block to get in) and my parents not taking us as kids, the multiplex boom happened in my teenage years - saw loads of films from then on.

I have a big TV with AV amp and speakers, but it isn’t the same as the immersive experience. So, as much as we haven’t been much over the past few years, we really do want to be able to return to watching films on the big screen - though we’ll still avoid the block buster franchise films and rehashes of old movies....

Edited by OMITN on Monday 12th October 12:04

[normalbloke]

Pommy said:

Well said.

I have a proper, dedicated Theatre room with a 2.5m screen, quality 7.1 surround, lazy boy recliners etc and I can't better the sound and immersion and sound of a cinema so fk knows how most people are getting a better audio visual experience at home in their lounge on a normal telly.

Only 7.1? Meh!

[dxg]

Bladerunner 2049.

My GF and I were the only people in the whole place.

That film deserved better.

[Pommy]

normalbloke said:

Pommy said:

Well said.

I have a proper, dedicated Theatre room with a 2.5m screen, quality 7.1 surround, lazy boy recliners etc and I can't better the sound and immersion and sound of a cinema so fk knows how most people are getting a better audio visual experience at home in their lounge on a normal telly.

Only 7.1? Meh!

I know, I feel like such a cacker.

[Welshbeef]

Cinema visits

5 of us
So car parking £8
Tickets £24
Drinks snacks £15
Total £57.

Or if adults only go
Parking £8
Tickets £12
Drinks snacks £6
Babysitter £32
Total £58.

Last cinema was “Onward” late Feb/early March then we did a drive in for Lion King (the original) in June

So it’s not cheap and takes effort.
Instead we’ve been doing at least once a month since lockdown the Sky Live premier nights so pay £17.99 for a premier film we have homemade pizzas etc and wine kids love it and as soon as it’s finished we can get the kids to bed or likewise for us.
A fair chunk cheaper, easier and we will do it far more often. Covid 19 zero risk too at home.

[anonymous-user]

Welshbeef said:

Cinema visits

5 of us
So car parking £8
Tickets £24
Drinks snacks £15
Total £57.

Or if adults only go
Parking £8
Tickets £12
Drinks snacks £6
Babysitter £32
Total £58.

Last cinema was “Onward” late Feb/early March then we did a drive in for Lion King (the original) in June

So it’s not cheap and takes effort.
Instead we’ve been doing at least once a month since lockdown the Sky Live premier nights so pay £17.99 for a premier film we have homemade pizzas etc and wine kids love it and as soon as it’s finished we can get the kids to bed or likewise for us.
A fair chunk cheaper, easier and we will do it far more often. Covid 19 zero risk too at home.

Why is everyone so bothered about ‘effort’ these days. I read comments like that all the time.

Do you all just enjoy as little ‘effort’ as possible and simply like to vegetate at home constantly?

From my point of view:
It’s nice to get dressed up.
It’s nice to leave the house.
It’s nice to go somewhere.
It’s nice to have a change of scenery.
It’s nice to walk or drive somewhere.
It’s nice to eat, drink, shop, meet friends, and watch films in places that aren’t your own home all the time.

We have always welcomed any opportunity to get out and about, and especially so at the moment given that we are spending more time at home due to offices being closed.

For reasons I cannot begin understand, spending as much time at home within your 4 walls seems to be a dream come true for many of you.

This isn’t just aimed at Welshbeef but everyone else who has been seemingly pleased at the lack of reasons to go ‘out’ anywhere these days.

[whitesocks]

The amount of time that I have smuggled my own sweets/Cola in to a Cinema far outweigh the times that I have actually purchased Popcorn and drinks from the Cinema itself.

[Cold]

A ticket costs five quid at my local Vue. I don't feel the need to add on a trip to the bar/restaurant/boutique beforehand. Nor do I require an oversized box of popcorn, a 3 ltr drink or a bag of chocolates in order to watch a movie but I totally get why they are offered for sale.

Five quid. I've had more expensive evenings out.

[MB140]

A Star is Born (Gaga and Cooper). I have never seen so many women balling there eyes out. So what’s that 2/3 years.

Can’t stand the cinema but the wife wanted to go. Stupidly expensive snacks, drinks, seat prices. People talking through the movie. I always book an isle end seat as I struggle with knee pain so long can stretch my leg straight. You then get excuse me, excuse me every five minutes as everybody needs a piss or to fetch more snacks 10 mins in to the movie (why the fk you didn’t sort all this out before the start).

Nearly always stay home now. We have a nice 4K LG TV and whilst it’s hooked up to the Sonos system I will admit it’s not cinema quality sound. What I discover recently though was the ability to hook up multiple Bluetooth headsets so I use my my Sony MX4 and the wife her Bose headsets. The sound quality is actually superb and we can individually have the volume and EQ settings to our own choosing.

Now why would I ever go to the cinema again.

[bobbo89]

Avatar was the last time I went to the cinema so just over 10 years ago.

No desire whatsoever to go again, much rather wait until I can stream it at home and watch it in comfort with the ability to pause it whenever I want to have a piss or grab a beer.

[ch37]

bobbo89 said:

Avatar was the last time I went to the cinema so just over 10 years ago.

No desire whatsoever to go again, much rather wait until I can stream it at home and watch it in comfort with the ability to pause it whenever I want to have a piss or grab a beer.

The reason I like the cinema is because there are no distractions like being able to use your phone, pausing to get a drink etc. A Quiet Place, opening week, sold out yet could hear a pin drop and feel the tension in the room, amazing experience. It was interesting to see reviews from that film here were pretty solid during the theatrical run, but nose-dived for the home release.

Midsommar, not entirely sure I would have stayed focused at home, but with blazing white light on screens absolutely enveloping the entire cinema, amazing.

The Force Awakens at midnight with a screen packed full of Star Wars due hards? Not everyone's cup of tea, sure, but it was an amazing experience not unlike going to a sporting event and seeing your team win.

Loads and loads of examples of that. Find a decent-ish cinema and go on the right evenings and in my opinion, no home home viewing can come close. And as above and in contrast to the earlier 'cost of cinemas post, each of those costs me about a fiver a time in total.

[MC Bodge]

Lord Marylebone said:

Why is everyone so bothered about ‘effort’ these days. I read comments like that all the time.

Do you all just enjoy as little ‘effort’ as possible and simply like to vegetate at home constantly?

It does appear that way for many. It may be no coincidence that poor conditioning and obesity are now common.

My hobbies and interests often involve discomfort and effort. There is little satisfaction to be gained from easy. For me, it may be a bit of a counter-balance to my job that involves sitting in a chair and staring at a screen all day. If somebody has a hard, physical job they may have a different view of their free-time.

[vxr8mate]

Went to watch Tenet recently. Chose a single seat online and was treated to various sanitisers etc.

I have to admit I could not sit with the mask on and so pulled it down below my chin.

Not a bad experience but not exactly enjoyable either.

[MC Bodge]

vxr8mate said:

I have to admit I could not sit with the mask on and so pulled it down below my chin.

I went on return airline flights over the summer. 3.5 hrs with a mask over my nose and mouth each way . It wasn't a hardship.

[h0b0]

ch37 said:

Pommy said:

Have to agree. I really enjoy it.

Perhaps everyone's going peak Saturday night.

Its a popular thing to knock and make it appear the lesser people go...

Yeah it's a strange one. Always the same comments..."£20" a ticket (average price of a UK cinema ticket is £7) and acting like they are forced to buy popcorn and Coke. And all this against a picture of ever-increasing cinema admissions in the UK, so something doesn't add up!

The last 2 films I watched in the UK were Boogie Nights and Gladiator. Both totally ruined by unpleasant people who thought they were at a bar and not the cinema. Boogie nights I have never revisited and Gladiator I watched recently and discovered a great film. Both were watch in cinemas with minimal people but those that did turn up were responsible for me not returning.

It is a real shame because as a child I loved the cinema experience but now I have no desire to go back. Having said that, Gladiator was not the last film I saw, that was Avatar in the US. That place was packed and there was tooo much whooping and hollering. I still love going to comedy clubs were the audience is part of the experience. But, for me, having an audience while watching a film spoils the enjoyment.

Also, over the last few years there hasn't been any films that caught my attention and made me need to see it before I can stream. It has felt like endless Marvel movies which ceased being good 10 years ago and the final one was just shocking. And finally, I am one of those that has the cinema set up in the basement which I use every night.