Odeon Point Village & iSense

MJohnston

I know it's not great for their business, but I'm happy enough with it being empty - makes for a better cinema experience.

e_e

MJohnston wrote: »

but I'm happy enough with it being empty - makes for a better cinema experience.

Going to The Avengers there later and it's looking like it'll be sold out.

DermoMIO

the screen is no where near as big as cineworlds sound is very good though, think the main lobby is too small could get messy if a few movies finishing around the same time as each other

maulikdesai1

just back from watching Avengers at iSense Odeon. Must say brilliant sound quality and huge screen. am no expert in comparing or measuring which is the best/biggest screen. but this one was huge.. Not to mention. super duper movie... now planning to go to cineworld tomorrow to watch the movie in 2D. ;-)

redt0m

I don't know what the big deal about isense is, saw Avengers 3D there on saturday and, sorry, but I won't be going back to that screen, not even for 2D show - heads blocking the bottom of the screen (couldn't read any of the subtitles), sound surprisingly poor (saw Battleship in Cineworld on sunday and the difference was crazy), screen felt very narrow (Savoy 1 is bigger) - not impressed at all

me-skywalker

There are 2 showings of Avengers there one at 8pm and one at 9pm which one will be in the big big screen?

Elmo

Over priced for what it is. IMO

14.50 for the nice seats, and 13.50 for the really uncomfortable ones.

Just not worth it.

ionapaul

Elmo wrote: »

Over priced for what it is. IMO

14.50 for the nice seats, and 13.50 for the really uncomfortable ones.

Just not worth it.

Yep - not to mention, the prices for popcorn / snacks are overpriced in an overpriced market. I always buy a large popcorn when at the cinema (no need to tell me to bring my own bag in, I prefer the warm stuff in the cinema!) and the Odeon's large popcorn is both more expensive and smaller than that at Cineworld. As are the ticket prices. Just can't see it being a success for this and other reasons.

Bullseye1

Ticket prices in London were £13.50 for regular and another £3.00 for 3D. Now that's a rip off.

Will there be an iMAX at this cinema?

BarackPyjama

ionapaul wrote: »

Yep - not to mention, the prices for popcorn / snacks are overpriced in an overpriced market. I always buy a large popcorn when at the cinema (no need to tell me to bring my own bag in, I prefer the warm stuff in the cinema!) and the Odeon's large popcorn is both more expensive and smaller than that at Cineworld. As are the ticket prices. Just can't see it being a success for this and other reasons.

Agreed. Way too expensive. I booked online a few times now. Normal seats, tickets start at €10.50 and then they add another €1 or so on top as a 'handling charge' or whatever they're calling it now. Absolute nonsense. Do they not save money by automating the process online and via the ticket machines they have? i.e. they pay less staff wages.

I really like the Odeon cinema but if it wants to survive a recession in what is essentially a ghost town part of the city, they're going to need to offer much better value. The fact that they don't even do proper loyalty cards a la Cineworld (~€20 pass for the month) in favour of their 'spend €1,000 and get a free ticket' card is another reason why I'll be going less often than I'd like to. Why not just make entry as cheap as possible? You'll still make your 1000% markup on popcorn and Coke from me!

The Odeon is pretty convenient for me. I'd probably go 3 or 4 times a month. However, until they offer much better value, I'll probably only go 4 or 5 times the rest of the year to see the movies I really want to see. Pity. For the Odeon and me.

me-skywalker

Does anybody know which screening of The Avengers is in the big screen, the 8pm one or the 9pm one?

rednik

me-skywalker wrote: »

Does anybody know which screening of The Avengers is in the big screen, the 8pm one or the 9pm one?

The 8pm show.

jaykhunter

rednik wrote: »

The 8pm show.

Far too late for it now but it was advertised as 8 (on the website) but it actually started at 8:30. We were far too early.

Back from seeing the Avengers 3D/iSense and just to add a few observations from my last visit :
The 8:30pm showing was almost sold out, it was great to see after last time on bank holiday Friday, it was a ghost-town.

Premium seats/3D/iSense/bring your own glasses/student discount is €12, which is not bad.

Premium seats are worth the extra euro, the regular ones are slightly narrower and are a lot stiffer.

The Yaw (?) is not steep enough, I had a hard time reading subtitles as people's heads were in the way. Even people 4 rows below me had their heads in the way. Definitely something potentially horrible and a cheap way to stick in more seats.

The screen isn't that impressive - sorry - but the clarity in sound is pretty cool. As another mentioned, the demo jingle before the film was more impressive/better use than the film lol.

Are other shops planning on opening in the complex? All that empty space, no real place to eat.

Anyway i'll go again for the big films but i wouldn't bother if it isn't iSense. I'd even think twice about just going to Savoy 1 if you want a big screen. Although I think the projector for iSense has higher quality/res than the Screen and regular Cineworld ones.

Bullseye1

Apologies for asking again but is there any news of an iMAX at this cinema? Wasn't it proposed?

Sad Professor

Bullseye1 wrote: »

Apologies for asking again but is there any news of an iMAX at this cinema? Wasn't it proposed?

I don't think there was ever plans for real IMAX, just fake IMAX, which is basically what iSense is except they were smart enough not to call it that. Real IMAX is a bad investment considering how few films are shot for it. Film is dying so there's not much of a future for IMAX.

Bullseye1

It does well elsewhere. London has 4-5 IMAX. It's a pity if it's not happening with TDKR having almost 1 hour shot in IMAX.

So how is iSense similar to IMAX? Steap seating?

Sad Professor

I haven't been in it yet, but I don't think it's similar to IMAX at all except that it's like the digital screens that get passed off as IMAX elsewhere.

And afaik there's only one true IMAX cinema in London: the BFI. The rest are fake IMAX.

Elmo

Bullseye1 wrote: »

So how is iSense similar to IMAX? Steap seating?

iSense is really about the sound quality. From what I can see. The seats are not steap, the cheap ones are on top of one another.

Is film dead?

London has 8million people, though I doubt that Ireland will see even 1 IMAX for the 6million or so people. (yes I included NI, just to make up the numbers :rolleyes: )

Bullseye1

You don't think an IMAX screen would make money in Dublin?

Sad Professor

There was an IMAX cinema in Dublin years ago. Why do you think it's gone? IMAX cinemas are very limited in what they can show. The screen is just too tall. Lets be honest, the only reason anyone cares about IMAX now is because of TDK and TDKR.

BTW can anyone confirm that iSense is screening widescreen films in their correct aspect ratio? A 2.35:1 film (like Hunger Games) should have had black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.

pawrick

jaykhunter wrote: »

The Yaw (?) is not steep enough, I had a hard time reading subtitles as people's heads were in the way. Even people 4 rows below me had their heads in the way. Definitely something potentially horrible and a cheap way to stick in more seats.

The screen isn't that impressive - sorry - but the clarity in sound is pretty cool. As another mentioned, the demo jingle before the film was more impressive/better use than the film lol.

Agree re the subtitles - I was sitting in the first row of the pricier seats in screen 1 (where there is even more leg room on account of the path through there) - I had a head blocking my view of the subtitles and didn't even notice them at first until I sat up high in my seat. I'm average height and never had to do this in other cinemas.

Also the screen was nothing special - no complaints against it but it wasn't worth the extra price for isense - I've been to two of the screens in there now screen 1 and screen 6 (i think it was 6) and no noticeable difference apart from size when comparing the isense and non isense. Sound was good however but still no huge difference.

Also the left the lights on near the screen on dim - that bugged me as there was no need and once i spotted them i was distracted.

johnny_ultimate

Sad Professor wrote: »

There was an IMAX cinema in Dublin years ago. Why do you think it's gone? IMAX cinemas are very limited in what they can show. The screen is just too tall. Lets be honest, the only reason anyone cares about IMAX now is because of TDK and TDKR.

Biggest problem back then was that the format really was just confined to documentaries about dinosaurs and James Cameron arsing around underwater. It'd be curious to see how it would do, now that IMAX has become a 'thing' so to speak, with increasing amounts of films being exhibited in the format.

Can't see it happening in Dublin, though, for the reasons you cited. It's a hell of a lot of space for relatively little reward at the end of the day. Even seeing TDK in IMAX didn't make a hell of a lot of difference: sure, those IMAX scenes were gorgeous, but otherwise it was just watching the film on a very oddly shaped screen.

Bullseye1

Sad Professor wrote: »

There was an IMAX cinema in Dublin years ago. Why do you think it's gone? IMAX cinemas are very limited in what they can show. The screen is just too tall. Lets be honest, the only reason anyone cares about IMAX now is because of TDK and TDKR.

BTW can anyone confirm that iSense is screening widescreen films in their correct aspect ratio? A 2.35:1 film (like Hunger Games) should have had black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.

The reason it's gone is because it was only showing IMAX documentaries. In recent years directors have been shooting movies in IMAX. Also it's also used to show regular movies with the 35mm movie projected onto the screen. If its making money elsewhere I cannot see any reason why one screen as part of an overall cinema complex would not succeed.

Sad Professor

List of full length features films that have been partially shot using the 70mm IMAX format:

The Dark Knight
Transformers 2
M:I:3
The Dark Knight Rises

Afaik that's it. Everything else you've heard about are conversions which are problematic due to aspect ratio and have the same questionable advantages as 70mm blow-ups.

Aside from Nolan, who in Hollywood that matters is supporting IMAX?

Spielberg? He's still edits by hand.
Cameron, Fincher? They've both gone digital and they ain't looking back.
Scott? He just went digital as well, although whether he sticks with it remains to be seen.
Bay? Digital.
Hell, even Scorsese has shot a 3D digital film.

The current IMAX rage is nothing more than film's last hurrah before mainstream filmmakers abandon it entirely. I admire Nolan and Bird, but they are fighting a losing battle.

johnny_ultimate

Digitally speaking, there's really no reason not to be shooting in a digital format these days aside from old-fashioned romanticism. The RED cameras are cool and all, but the ARRI ALEXA especially has pretty much made film redundant to all practical extents and purposes. Even Roger Deakins - a notoriously pro-film DoP - has been convinced to make the shift with the ALEXA. I was at a talk with Japanese director Toshiaki Toyoda recently, and he was saying that his latest Monster Club is likely going to be the last he'll be allowed shoot in 35mm. Or so the translator translated

So while 35mm and 70mm are wonderful and will always have a place, financially and creatively there are fewer and fewer reasons to shoot with them.

Sad Professor

Exactly, so what future does IMAX have? Nolan was late to party and doesn't seem to be winning anyone over. These 70mm IMAX blow-ups/conversions are only good as long as distributors are making them. Then those IMAX theatres will have to go back to screening nature documentaries, or projecting digital 3D films onto an ill-fitting screen.

Bullseye1

The seating is cool though.

johnny_ultimate

Well, there remains somewhat of a novelty factor to IMAX films. From reports I've heard The Avengers is still selling out the BFI and other 'fake' IMAX screenings London-wide, and I'd imagine the US is similar. There is a market for it, even if it's not 'true' IMAX to our critical eyes, and even if it is the pursuit of a redundant technology.

As long as a handful of 'event' movies exist in IMAX form, there'll be a market for it. It's likely unsustainable, that's for sure, but even if a tiny few directors push it it will remain a viable market in bigger cities. I doubt, however, it would survive in Dublin, unless one of the central cinema screens converted to it. And I can't see them losing their biggest screens for such a gamble.

Sad Professor

The thing is fake IMAX is digital, so all these theatres passing themselves off as IMAX are actually cannibalising the true 70mm IMAX brand. And unless they've been to true IMAX, most people don't know the difference. This is the reason why I think IMAX is as good as dead and buried. The name may still be around in 10 years time, but it won't bear any resemblance to the original 70mm format that Nolan is using.

The funny thing about this is that had Odeon paid to use the IMAX brand instead of creating its own we probably wouldn't be having this discussion right now, because most people would be happily going off to Odeon's iSense IMAX cinema under the mistaken impression that it was true IMAX. This is what's so insidious about this fake IMAX bs. IMAX are just selling their brand off to whoever will buy it.

Raekwon

I went to see The Avengers in the Odeon last night and I have to say that I was disappointing by this cinema and with the overall experience.

Firstly the area of the city that it's in is a major drawback. This could be helped with more businesses opening around The Point Village but as it stands it's a total ghost town and is way off the beaten track which would put most people off visiting it.

The cinema itself is up on the forth/fifth floor of a building that takes 5 minutes via a series of escalators to get too once your through the front door. I actually couldn't help but think that it was like walking upto an actual IMAX screen which is several stories high. Missed opportunity? Possibly.

Anyway I had pre-booked tickets and picked them up via a machine in the lobby but we didn't bother getting any snacks. A pair of tickets cost me €32.74 which included premier seats, 3D glasses & booking fee. For the record the same movie would have cost me €24 in the Savoy & €26.60 in Cineworld for 2 tickets with 3D glasses included and I wouldn't have had to get return tickets on the LUAS either to get there.

As for the screen & iSense sound system. Meh! The screen looked the same size as Screen 17 in Cineworld and the sound was good, but wasn't jaw dropping like I was expecting and certainly not worth the extra price of the tickets.

Also as mentioned before, the design of the cinema is poor and the seats are not laid out at a steep enough angle so peoples head will block the bottom of the screen even from the very back of the premier seats. There was also a narrow window on the door to the regular seats on the left hand side of the cinema that let light in and was very distracting.........especially when people came late or went to the toilet. I found this ridiculous as most cinemas have dark hallways into the cinema so that no light can get into the cinema from the bright lobbies.

IMO Screen 17 in Cineworld is miles better then the iSense screen and I wouldn't go out of my way to visit it again anytime soon. I'd even go as far to say that I'd be surprised if this was still open in a few years time.