Hobbit - cinemas can't show it

thayes

Cinemas in ireland can't show it as they haven't been given the digital key.

Went to the Odoen at the point to see it at 11:20, only to be told they can't show it as they still haven't received the unlock key.
Gutted.

They said no cinema in ireland had received it yet and that they don't know when they will receive it.

Don't know what will happen to people who pre booked.

Very bad customer experience.

Phone and check before you go to the cinema today (couldn't get a phone number for cinewold to try and get to the 11:10 showing).

:-(

Mitch Connor

thayes wrote: »

Cinemas in ireland can't show it as they haven't been given the digital key.

Went to the Odoen at the point to see it at 11:20, only to be told they can't show it as they still haven't received the unlock key.
Gutted.

They said no cinema in ireland had received it yet and that they don't know when they will receive it.

Don't know what will happen to people who pre booked.

Very bad customer experience.

Phone and check before you go to the cinema today (couldn't get a phone number for cinewold to try and get to the 11:10 showing).

:-(

Unfortunate for yourself and others who wanted to go to the early shows, but nothing the cinema can do about, it is out of their hands. Massive f-up by the people who distribute the keys.

I imagine they have the keys now though, I just confirm with management of some cinemas that they just got their keys, so their shows are going ahead as scheduled. unlock is instant once you have the key, so from now there shouldn't be an issue with any of the shows.

Frank Black

The digital key has been stolen by the Dark Lord Sauron. A perilous journey awaits anyone who would dare retrieve it.

Handsome Bob

Same problem at coolock, but I'm getting to see it for free now so happy days! Once again I'm impressed by the customer service here.

Mitch Connor

black francis wrote: »

The digital key has been stolen by the Dark Lord Sauron. A perilous journey awaits anyone who would dare retrieve it.

man, that is unexpected.

Turtyturd

black francis wrote: »

The digital key has been stolen by the Dark Lord Sauron. A perilous journey awaits anyone who would dare retrieve it.

Can't you just use the Eagles?....I thought this wasn't released until the 14th?

aN.Droid

Meant to be going at 1 to see it! Hopefully its sorted.

Mitch Connor

Limericks wrote: »

Meant to be going at 1 to see it! Hopefully its sorted.

I reckon it should be. I know Movies@ have their key, was told they had just got it. I would imagine keys are sent out in batch, so if Movies@ have theirs, I would think everyone else does to. Unlocking is instant as well, so there shouldn't really be a delay from here on in.

Thwip!

If you try and share this thread on FB, De Sousa's Avatar shows up as the preview image....highly appropriate

Mitch Connor

Official confirmation that Movies@ is good to go: https://twitter.com/moviesatcinemas/status/279197389653413889

The Hobbit 2D is ready to go for a 1pm start! We also have a 3D showing at 2pm, tickets still available!! Ready, set....

Frank Black

Turtyturd wrote: »

Can't you just use the Eagles?....I thought this wasn't released until the 14th?

No, you can't use the eagles.
i'm not going to explain why, you'll just have to accept that you can't use them to get the digital key.
I would be prepared to let you get the digital key back to the cinema with the eagles once you've retrieved it.

thayes

Wow, that was good customer service, which you would expect at coolock.

I did expect the manager (I have her name) at the odeon to offer something (there were3 of us), but she offered nothing except sorry hope to have the key later. It's not like the odeon at the point is ever that busy, so if customers are inconvenienced, youd think they would have the cop on to make them want to come back.

Well I'll stick to the Savoy (at least it's Irish owned) and cinewold in the future.

e_e

What a cock up. I kinda feel bad for the cinema staff who are held responsible for such incompetence. Another check against digital projection too.

Turtyturd

black francis wrote: »

No, you can't use the eagles.
i'm not going to explain why, you'll just have to accept that you can't use them to get the digital key.
I would be prepared to let you get the digital key back to the cinema with the eagles once you've retrieved it.

Fine I am in on the condition I don't have to take a gay sidekick.

Frank Black

Turtyturd wrote: »

Fine I am in on the condition I don't have to take a gay sidekick.

I'm afraid that's non-negotiable my friend.

Meet 'Jenkins'.

doubledown

Cineworld in Dublin not having any issues.

Gotham

FFS, I'm going to see it later today in an Odeon, it better be sorted.

gandalf

Just back from IMC in Tallaght and they had to cancel the 1.45 48fps 3d showing and the 2d 2.15 showing.

Very annoyed over this, what a monumental cock up.

Roar

Complete disaster, drove from cork to Limerick for the HFR version to be told there was a problem! Got a refund and drove back to cork, waiting for the 3pm showing. Ugh.

On the plus side just won a smurfette toy from the claw machine and it had ten European dollars attached. Bonus!

Bing_IRL

EYE Galway running their 3D HFR without any issues. Running with 7.1 sound also!

Handsome Bob

Gotham wrote: »

FFS, I'm going to see it later today in an Odeon, it better be sorted.

No problem with the 3D showings, it's the 2D that's fecked, not sure if they got it fixed.

ScrubsfanChris

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Official confirmation that Movies@ is good to go: https://twitter.com/moviesatcinemas/status/279197389653413889

I just came back from a 12:30 2D showing, first I'm hearing of this problem.....

Antar Bolaeisk

S. De Sousa wrote: »

No problem with the 3D showings, it's the 2D that's fecked, not sure if they got it fixed.

Oooooo well that's convenient (although I still maintain it's daft cinemas showing two different versions of a film, they should just choose 3D and then hand out 3D or 2D glasses depending on preference. There should be no surcharge).

Gotham

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

they should just choose 3D and then hand out 3D or 2D glasses depending on preference

LOL, 2D glasses!

403 Forbidden

Gotham wrote: »

LOL, 2D glasses!

Should have went to Specsavers

gandalf

S. De Sousa wrote: »

No problem with the 3D showings, it's the 2D that's fecked, not sure if they got it fixed.

Nope not true, the show I was going to see was the 1.45 48fps 3d version and it was effected.

e_e

Gotham wrote: »

LOL, 2D glasses!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJHX5ip68p4

Gotham

e_e wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJHX5ip68p4

Imagine watching a movie from the perspective of the a Gears of War player,
Now you're thinking with 2D Glasses.

Technocentral

How apt, a computer generated problem for a computer generated film! Bring back 35mm and real actors playing opposite other real actors instead of this tedious nonsense I say.

Victor

Technocentral wrote: »

Bring back 35mm

Well, when the first LOTR film came out, lots of cinemas had been delivered the non-entity that was "Change at Midnight" instead of "The Fellowship of the Ring".

Then they werre told to look at what was actually in the Change at Midnight package.

johnny_ultimate

At this point, it's an exercise in futility wishing the widespread return of 35mm - the cost is too prohibitive compared to digital. There is likely to be a niche (and welcome) resurgence of analogue projection - similar to vinyl's current popularity - but digital ain't going anywhere.

While good digital projection can be a more than servicable substitute for traditional projection - Laurence of Arabia in the IFI recently proved that, to pick just one of many examples - the tech is still undeniably rough, which leads to problems like this. I've heard it happening a lot at festivals particularly. But like the way 35mm projectors were likely to catch fire back in the early days, consider the current flaws growing pains, although we obviously can't forgive a ludicrous misstep such as this.

Technocentral

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

At this point, it's an exercise in futility wishing the widespread return of 35mm - the cost is too prohibitive compared to digital. There is likely to be a niche (and welcome) resurgence of analogue projection - similar to vinyl's current popularity - but digital ain't going anywhere.

While good digital projection can be a more than servicable substitute for traditional projection - Laurence of Arabia in the IFI recently proved that, to pick just one of many examples - the tech is still undeniably rough, which leads to problems like this. I've heard it happening a lot at festivals particularly. But like the way 35mm projectors were likely to catch fire back in the early days, consider the current flaws growing pains, although we obviously can't forgive a ludicrous misstep such as this.

I only jokingly say that about 35, it's all about economics of course and video projection is so much cheaper than real film projection, but for me going to the cinema was always about doing something that was impossible at home ie seeing celluloid projected, now I look at cinemas as giant tv sets ie a bigger, but essentially the same, version of my blu ray and big screen tv the magic isn't there anymore

aN.Droid

Omniplex in Limerick didnt have it for the 1pm showing or 4:30 showing. Said it would almost certainly have the 8:30 showing.

krudler

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

At this point, it's an exercise in futility wishing the widespread return of 35mm - the cost is too prohibitive compared to digital. There is likely to be a niche (and welcome) resurgence of analogue projection - similar to vinyl's current popularity - but digital ain't going anywhere.

While good digital projection can be a more than servicable substitute for traditional projection - Laurence of Arabia in the IFI recently proved that, to pick just one of many examples - the tech is still undeniably rough, which leads to problems like this. I've heard it happening a lot at festivals particularly. But like the way 35mm projectors were likely to catch fire back in the early days, consider the current flaws growing pains, although we obviously can't forgive a ludicrous misstep such as this.

I miss 35mm tbh, I used to work in a cinemas yonks ago and spent far more time than I should have had hanging around in the projection room watching how the films were spliced together, seeing a new film arrive in cans was cool. Yeah prints deteriorated after a few weeks and the pops and burns in the print were there but dammit it had soul.

Kiith

Can i ask what is so good about 35mm? I keep hearing people mention it, but i don't get it. The LotR marathon last weekend was in 35mm apparently, and it wasn't the best quality. Definitely not as good as digital screenings i've seen.

Antar Bolaeisk

Kiith wrote: »

Can i ask what is so good about 35mm? I keep hearing people mention it, but i don't get it. The LotR marathon last weekend was in 35mm apparently, and it wasn't the best quality. Definitely not as good as digital screenings i've seen.

I was helping out with a digital installation in the local cinema and I was surprised at just how much of an improvement in picture quality there was and that was from the trailers alone.

e_e

Kiith wrote: »

Can i ask what is so good about 35mm? I keep hearing people mention it, but i don't get it. The LotR marathon last weekend was in 35mm apparently, and it wasn't the best quality. Definitely not as good as digital screenings i've seen.

There's a crispness, clarity and warmth to it that beats out digital, which happens to be a lot sharper on the eyes and often less immersive for me. 35MM makes for a more tactile experience too, there's something inexplicably cool to me about how individual pieces of film are cut, spliced together and fed through a projector at a certain frame rate (other than simple pressing an "on" button). It is something of an art form and is more pure cinema to me, as opposed to y'know just watching a giant television.

It's not too dissimilar to the CD vs Vinyl debate in that there is grain in the latter but that can be part of the charm as opposed to the hardness and "perfection" of the former.

johnny_ultimate

Clarity isn't the be all and all. There is indeed a 'look' to 35mm (and, even better, 70mm) projection - something, for lack of a better word, cinematic. It's the film grain, the way it projects colour and light (Looper was a film recently whose moody, noir-influenced visuals really benefited from 35mm)... yeah, many audience members won't notice or even care, but there's undoubtedly something about traditional film rolling through a projector that continues to woo many audiences. Again, this only really matters if the film in question was shot by a crew that can take advantage of the distinctive look of film. In the hands of talented artists, digital can look absolutely wonderful too.

Another problem is that many digital projectors just aren't calibrated properly due to the fact they're basically run by computers. I was in Odeon Stillorgan recently, and the the digital image looked really awful - too bright and even not fully utilising the correct screen space. If there's one thing to mourn more than anything, its the death of the projectionist. Cineworld, for example, let all their projectionists go a year or two ago, and the human touch is undeniably lost as multiplexes become more clinical and removed. They now only have a 'technician'. There's something to be said for the fact that you know the film you are watching was painstakingly cut together by someone, and there's someone in the projection booth keeping an eye on the screen to make sure it looks as good as it possibly can. Digital also undeniably leads to more cock-ups like this Hobbit one.

An increasing majority of films shot these days are made digitally - even vocally anti-digital cinematographer Roger Deakins (Skyfall most recently) has conceded the battle as a result of the much liked Arri Alexa camera (which is able to ape the look of analogue film remarkably well). But again film fans and niche theatres are likely going to continue supporting anlogue film. I'd be a defender of digital filming & projection, but seeing Baraka and The Master in 70mm (an ultra high resolution film stock, that is of course prohibitively expensive but absolutely gorgeous to look at) there is something about the way the image looks that digital, for all its benefits, is simply unable to replicate at the moment. While many have been calling The Master the last hurrah for film stock, we can only hope that there continues to be enough support that it doesn't die out completely.

RaoulDukeHST

Went to see it in IMC yesterday. They could not get 48FPS working. Great customer service as got refund and comp tickets. Anyone seen this in 48FPS in Dublin yet?

johnny_ultimate

Yeah Cineworld definitely have it in 48 FPS. Saw it there earlier in the week.

Going by some of the comments on the main Hobbit thread, Dundrum are advertising screenings in HFR but people aren't noticing any difference. There must be a problem there too at least for some screenings, even if Dundrum haven't noticed or acknowledged it. I think the cinemas themselves might be getting a bit confused about what HFR actually is!

mewso

I suppose the good news then is that with digital being cheaper than 35mm that cinema ticket prices will of course come down in line with that....:pac:

RaoulDukeHST

I would think the difference would be immediately apparent. Then again most don't seem to notice when they have all that awful sped up motion on their panels at home...

johnny_ultimate

RaoulDukeHST wrote: »

I would think the difference would be immediately apparent. Then again most don't seem to notice when they have all that awful sped up motion on their panels at home...

Yeah, I couldn't get over it for a good hour it was so weird. And even after that I never fully acclimatised to it. Pretty much everyone I've heard from has experienced the same level of disorientation (to varying degrees anyway), so I have to admit I'm a little suspicious about Dundrum cinema's claims considering how many people in Dundrum specifically didn't notice it!

Son0vagun

The odeon in blanch has it in HPF, does anyone know if its working there?

RaoulDukeHST

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Yeah, I couldn't get over it for a good hour it was so weird. And even after that I never fully acclimatised to it. Pretty much everyone I've heard from has experienced the same level of disorientation (to varying degrees anyway), so I have to admit I'm a little suspicious about Dundrum cinema's claims considering how many people in Dundrum specifically didn't notice it!

I would be suspicious also, given that I imagine its as jarring as a badly setup plasma\LCD\LED.. I am looking forward to trying HFR though, Trumbull pioneered this with Showscan at 60FPS, and has evangelized it since, must be something to that. Not sure I am convinced myself with what I have seen, I still like the motion\beauty of 24FPS.. I wonder what way it will be released on 2D Blu-Ray..

Sad Professor

Blu-ray doesn't support 48p, though they might release a 50 or 60p version. It would mean showing frames twice or speed-up which would kind of defeat the point.