The IFI & Lighthouse Cinemas

Telecaster58

I was always under the impression that these cinemas tried to cater to those people who wanted to see less well known films that often only received limited release. Invariably this meant foreign films or low budget independent films. Just looking at their schedules next week I'm beginning to wonder.
The IFI is showing Carol, Joy, Room, The Danish Girl, The Hateful 8, and The Revenant. Almost every one of these films is available at a multiplex which begs the question why anyone would be bothered to go into Dublin to watch a film on a small screen at all.
The Lighthouse cinema is a little better in that it is also showing A War and The Lobster but loses credibility by also screening Star Wars! Cineworld in Parnell Street has a more eclectic line-up next week that either of these two. What's going on?

megaten

The lighthouse is also great for seeing certain films with a different audience. Like watching a pixar movie with an audience made up entirely of adults. Screen 1 is also a good size.

LuckyLloyd

What's going on is that these cinemas have identified that they have a core of regular clientele who would be unlikely to visit multiplexes. This may be because of a love of independent or international cinema; but also because of a preference for the style and vibe of each establishment and the crowd that tends to be attracted to same. As such, at this time of year that core customer base may well be interested in seeing films due to garner a lot of attention during Awards season and / or see one of the biggest and most talked about block buster offerings in years.

I don't think the fact that they are scheduling non 'le film' offerings irregularly fundamentally hurts their USP.

Decuc500

Well first of all the screen sizes in these cinemas aren't really that small.

The Lighthouse only has 4 screens so it's kind of limited in what it can show. But it always shows the best in current cinema, whether it's arthouse, independent or mainstream (ish). Also the general vibe in the place is so much nicer than a multiplex.

A lot of current releases are the big awards season heavy hitters and there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of smaller films being released by studios in January anyway. Have a look at what the IFI show in the summer as an antidote to blockbuster cinema and you'll get a very good alternative to Cineworld.

e_e

This (the awards season) is the time of year when there's most of an overlap between arthouse and mainstream. They're always very good with playing foreign/independent stuff that's available, the issue right now is more that distributors are not gonna risk having an Iranian film open against the kind mid-budget American/British fare that draws in both audiences.

...and quite frankly, if there's a mainstream film out now I'd much rather take the extra effort to go out to Smithfield to see it when I'm guaranteed a fair price, comfy seats, respectful audience and perfect image/sound quality.

Ciaran_B

I often go and see big releases in the Lighthouse ot the IFI (Star Wars, Mad Max etc) because there are considerably fewer dickheads in the audience. A lot less phone use, chatter and general messing. I like the buildings as well, nice surroundings and cafes/bars.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Ciaran_B wrote: »

I often go and see big releases in the Lighthouse ot the IFI (Star Wars, Mad Max etc) because there are considerably fewer dickheads in the audience. A lot less phone use, chatter and general messing. I like the buildings as well, nice surroundings and cafes/bars.

The last little while (wet weather) I've been going to my local Odeon instead of The Lighthouse and for most screenings it was fine, although there were at most 10 other people in the screenings with me. I went last week to see The Danish Girl and it was reasonably busy for early Wednesday afternoon. There was talking, phone screens, someone trying to guess loudly what the characters were about to say, someone kept going out and leaving the door open so there was a big square of light across one part of the screen, sometimes it was a staff member coming in to check on the screening and they'd leave it open when they went out again.

I didn't mind so much because it wasn't a film I was that bothered about seeing but it did make me think I'd be heading back to The Lighthouse to see Room, Spotlight etc. etc. Even the busiest screenings I've been to at The Lighthouse are a much better experience than in the Multiplex.

Sad Professor

As e_e said, time of the year has a lot to with this. This is the best time for finding diverse films at the multiplex. January is when all the award films get released. The only big films that come out this time of year are the bad ones. Come back in the summer and tell us what you think then – it's despairing the amount of garbage taking up screens.

And Cineworld isn't a typical multiplex in fairness. It shows a lot of indie/arthouse stuff at the best of times. If I lived in the city and got an unlimited card, I reckon I could make do with Cineworld for just about everything with the occasional trip to the IFI.

The Lighthouse previously tried and failed as an arthouse cinema, which is why it now plays so much mainstream stuff. You'll find arthouse cinemas in the UK are pretty much the same now. The IFI is subsidised by the Irish government which is the only reason it's able to play so much non-mainstream stuff.

johnny_ultimate

January is indeed the worst time to make an assessment - art house and indie distributors would want to be brave to go up against the crossover fare on release for the next month or two. There's a few that get through as counter-programming - like The Assassin at the end of the month, or A War at the moment - but really it's the awards season, and that's most of what's out there.

That said, I think the Lighthouse can show whatever the hell they want. It's an independent commercial cinema, and it's no surprise they've adopted the model of big releases mixed with smaller one (they're still the only cinema in the country that shows some releases in line with the U.K.). They do a damn good job IMO - becoming the top choice for many viewers for mainstream releases, but offering a diverse enough lineup to not just become another multiplex (and they have quality control). They have no obligation to screen foreign fare like the IFI (rightly) does, but they do, as well as hosting a range of niche festivals and events every year - from Gaze to the Japanese Film Fest.

Dublin is not a market like London with space to cater for multiple dedicated art house cinemas (even there they struggle). That between these two cinemas there's still space for 95% of notable auteur, indie, international and local releases is IMO better then we probably should expect

AnonoBoy

Ciaran_B wrote: »

I often go and see big releases in the Lighthouse ot the IFI (Star Wars, Mad Max etc) because there are considerably fewer dickheads in the audience. A lot less phone use, chatter and general messing. I like the buildings as well, nice surroundings and cafes/bars.

I dunno about anyone else but my phone loses signal as soon as I go down into the Lighthouse. Try checking your Facebook during the film now d*ckheads!