Going to the Cinema during Covid

murpho999

There's plenty of smaller films shown in the cinemas and there's always The Lighthouse and IFI in Dublin.

dublinman1990

We have one of the highest cinema attendances in the EU to date. That is a big achievement for us as we are living in a creative country.

I don't know if that milestone is going to drop off in the official rankings when Covid-19 is officially over. I think cinemas will still have a purpose in showing big blockbuster movies in Ireland. The people here love going to the cinema to see films on the big screen.

Also the government's NBP is trying to cover access to people that live in Rural Ireland as they cannot get any sufficient access to fibre broadband services from commercial operators into their homes. A small number of homes around the country cannot go to online services if they have no broadband access available in their houses. So I do think having a cinema in your local area in that respect is a big contributor to getting rid of social isolation in this country. Having a local cinema even in today's time is a big community driver of gaining big crowds in rural Ireland. But it is very tough to try & maintain that role even when you may have risks big of obtaining a major infection if people don't keep their wits about them even in times of a dangerous pandemic.

Banjaxed82

murpho999 wrote: »

People have been saying that since the 80s when VHS and Betamax came out but cinemas when on to be come even more popular.

Cinema will always be popular, big screen sound, atmosphere and reaction of an audience.

It's just something you can't get at home in the same way and I think it will be around for a long time yet.

Completely agree. As someone who would watch anything at the cinema, and would see at least a film a week before COVID, I have watched 3 films at home since the cinemas have been closed. I don't like the home "cinema" experience of watching a film. Long live the darkened theatre.

cdgalwegian

pixelburp wrote: »

What I think might happen, and the way Blockbusters have been going it has arguably already begun, is that "cinema" becomes a glorified theme park ride. In that one doesn't go because that's the only place to enjoy a modestly budgeted feature film - clearly Amazon and Netflix are hoovering up that space - rather it's where you go for a brain-off cavalcade of outsized superficial stimuli.

That's me. Popcorn-munching actioners for the cinemas, thoughtful ones for the couch. Anything else I don't really bother with, unless it's an actor or director I want to check out (so couch, not cinema).
Perfectly content to wait for the guinea pigs to go back and test out attendance/infection rates for me; I'll wait for the data on transmission to come back before I go back in.

ixoy

Cineworld is re-opening on July the 31st (they're keeping the Irish date in line with the UK) assuming nothing else changes. They're promising they'll have a proper cleaning regime, etc so that'll be a nice change from normal!

gmisk

ixoy wrote: »

Cineworld is re-opening on July the 31st (they're keeping the Irish date in line with the UK) assuming nothing else changes. They're promising they'll have a proper cleaning regime, etc so that'll be a nice change from normal!

So true lol....that one in Parnell street is a kip!!!

gmisk

I will be heading to cinema this Sunday a fancy one with lots of spacing in cork.
Cannot wait tbh.
Also my first time outside county Dublin since February I think!

silverharp

The Point Cinema wont have to do much , they can only dream of social distance audiences lol

pixelburp

I'd say the opposite: commercial rents in Dublin are insane as it stands; with something ostensibly high profile and marquee like the Docks redevelopment, I'd not be surprised if Point Cinema is paying a lot. And also locked into a long lease (which I believe Dunnes took Point SC to court over as they were obliged to occupy the SC).

silverharp

Mr.S wrote: »

I always imagine the managers of that cinema are like "this will be our year, I know it" every January.

To be fair, I'd say they got an insanely cheap lease in the empty shopping centre.


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Glad to see cinemas open, if they follow social distancing with seating, I see no more risk then going to the shops or something. But as there is **** all out, Tenant will probably be the first film I go see.

Im open to correction but I think it opened late celtic tiger era, which means they paid top money and are just stuck with a lease they cant break

but yeah I doubt there is much in the way of bonuses :pac:

pixelburp

silverharp wrote: »

Im open to correction but I think it opened late celtic tiger era, which means they paid top money and are just stuck with a lease they cant break

but yeah I doubt there is much in the way of bonuses :pac:

Three years old but this article confirms it: the 2008 crash happened and the whole Point development collapsed. The SC had just opened, and Dunnes dodged moving in, apparently taking 20 tenants with it. The cinema opened in 2012 though, which seems odd. 4 years after the crash they must have been told some story to move in

https://fora.ie/point-village-shopping-centre-dublin-3183808-Jan2017/

daveblinkbass

sheepsh4gger wrote: »

I'm surprised there's no uproar about masks like with AMC. Are these cinemas requiring face coverings or not? Can you sue them if you get sick?

I haven’t read their procedures but I’m sure they wouldn’t open without complying with Government procedures in place. Would you try sue them if you got sick? If worried, why consider attending?

ronano

I think the point will be my go to for a good while, as everyone says it's half empty to begin with. I'll be going to see allot less films. Gonna let people be guinea pigs to see the measures put in place. I would love to visit the lighthouse but again wait and see

correction

Was in an Omniplex Friday night. Was very good. Doors are locked so a member of staff comes to open up when you arrive, hand sanitizing station inside the door. Everything booked online including food and drinks so just scan your QR code at the checkout and they'll hand everything out to you. Plexi glass covering everywhere a staff member might be. No one allowed to the front, back or side of you in the screen.

All in all it felt very safe, there was a fair few people at the cinema too but we still never ended up being anywhere near within 2m of people.

Dodge

correction wrote: »

Was in an Omniplex Friday night. Was very good. Doors are locked so a member of staff comes to open up when you arrive, hand sanitizing station inside the door. Everything booked online including food and drinks so just scan your QR code at the checkout and they'll hand everything out to you. Plexi glass covering everywhere a staff member might be. No one allowed to the front, back or side of you in the screen.

All in all it felt very safe, there was a fair few people at the cinema too but we still never ended up being anywhere near within 2m of people.

That genuinely sounds great

The biggest problem I have with going to the cinema normally is people being around me (kicking seats, looking at fans etc).

Was it assigned seats on booking or just spaced out and sit where you like?

correction

Dodge wrote: »

That genuinely sounds great

The biggest problem I have with going to the cinema normally is people being around me (kicking seats, looking at fans etc).

Was it assigned seats on booking or just spaced out and sit where you like?

The omniplex in Wexford is assigned seating. What happens is when you select your seats, it greys out the seats in the immediate area so they cannot be booked by anyone. For normal screens it is two seats grayed out all around you

Arghus

pixelburp wrote: »

What I think might happen, and the way Blockbusters have been going it has arguably already begun, is that "cinema" becomes a glorified theme park ride. In that one doesn't go because that's the only place to enjoy a modestly budgeted feature film - clearly Amazon and Netflix are hoovering up that space - rather it's where you go for a brain-off cavalcade of outsized superficial stimuli. And because of the sway studios already hold over cinema chains, smaller movies are being squeezed out anyway - witness Disney effectively strong-arming chains by demanding a larger cut of screenings, forcing cinemas to put on more showings.

The modern blockbuster is loud, bombastic and best enjoyed on a large canvas, and often you'll struggle to find anything "smaller" at the movies. To use a tenuous analogy: the car didn't cause the extinction of the horse; rather the animal became a niche hobby with a small, but profitable industry behind it.

I don't disagree with your point in total, I think your points about the shifting economics of cinema is, broadly speaking, correct but at the same time I'm not fully convinced that the future role of the cinema is to increasingly feature as a themepark ride, of sorts, and that it's harder and harder for smaller films to find their way to the screen.

I'm from Galway, for most of my childhood and teenage years there was one cinema around here. It showed all the usual big releases and the odd left-field choice that had made it through the cracks. It wasn't small, it had 11 screens - it probably did as well as any regional cinema in the country in terms of trying to offer a wide variety of films. But, when it came to seeing 80-90% of the indie titles I read about, it was a case of wait for the video/dvd, if you were lucky.

These days Galway has four cinemas, one is particularly art-house focused and all the others offer a variety of choice that would have been simply beyond comprehension twenty years ago. I know it's all anecdotal, but, for me, as a cinema goer there's never been more choice and a greater variety of films to see - or at least there was! - than right now.

tunguska

Went to Omniplex yesterday to see The greatest showman with a couple of friends. Not many people at this but honestly it was great experience. Its all films that have had a run already, no new releases, which makes sense, I mean a studio would be crazy to release a film when theatres are at half capacity all over the world. Wonder when a new film will be shown though?

mikhail

Arghus wrote: »

I know it's all anecdotal, but, for me, as a cinema goer there's never been more choice and a greater variety of films to see - or at least there was! - than right now.

Likewise; growing up, my local cinema had 3 screens. Granted, there was a lot more accessible once I was old enough to cycle into Dublin, but the same cinema has about a dozen screens now. For all the empty noise the tent-poles make, choice is better than ever. Some of the smallest screens are hardly worth a trip out though, and that's without the threat of the virus. I'll be monitoring how things are going, but I can't see anything but Tenet tempting me to a cinema for now.

SteM

Looks like the IMC in Tallaght won't be reopening. Bad news for the Square.

Telecaster58

SteM wrote: »

Looks like the IMC in Tallaght won't be reopening. Bad news for the Square.

Sorry to hear that, but not surprised. On any of my visits it was invariably poorly attended.
To be fair it showed a few non-mainstream films. A couple of my last visits were to see Seberg, The Laundromat and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

mikhail

Where did you see that? I just checked the imc site, and while I don't see any notice, Tallaght isn't on their list of cinemas!?

SteM

mikhail wrote: »

Where did you see that? I just checked the imc site, and while I don't see any notice, Tallaght isn't on their list of cinemas!?

The front page of this week's Tallaght Echo.

SteM

CinemaGuy45 wrote: »

What does it say?

https://echo.ie/show/article/this-week-s-front-pages-9th-of-july-2020?utm_content=bufferc64e0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

You should be able to see the front page here.

CinemaGuy45

SteM wrote: »

https://echo.ie/show/article/this-week-s-front-pages-9th-of-july-2020?utm_content=bufferc64e0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

You should be able to see the front page here.

Hardly a surprise.

Conall Cernach

I'm not long in from seeing The Empire Strikes Back at my local Omniplex. There was maybe 2 dozen in the cinema and there was plenty of social distancing in place.

TESB looks so much better on the big screen than on tv.

pixelburp

The surreal thought occured, what remains the biggest global box office hit of 2020? And looking into it, the answer is ... ...

Bad Boys for Life, at $419 million. Sonic at #2 and perversely, Dolittle at number 3 despite ostensibly being a total flop. For comparison, last year $419 million would have placed you 20th worldwide, with 9 of the top 10 breaking the billion barrier.

I mean it's easy to understand the why but those are crazy figures really.

gmisk

I was listening to the mark kermode podcast (Robbie Collins in for him this week)...apparently UK box office is about 1 percent of what it was this time last year.
Not surprising.

I went to a small cinema in cork last week, only two people in the whole cinema (Bohemian Rhapsody) it was a lovely experience, lots of spacing and hand sanitizer etc.

Nigel Fairservice

gmisk wrote: »

I was listening to the mark kermode podcast (Robbie Collins in for him this week)...apparently UK box office is about 1 percent of what it was this time last year.
Not surprising.

I went to a small cinema in cork last week, only two people in the whole cinema (Bohemian Rhapsody) it was a lovely experience, lots of spacing and hand sanitizer etc.

I love when it's like that. I would have normally gone at odd times mid week to get the cinema like that.

santana75

Conall Cernach wrote: »

I'm not long in from seeing The Empire Strikes Back at my local Omniplex. There was maybe 2 dozen in the cinema and there was plenty of social distancing in place.

TESB looks so much better on the big screen than on tv.

Went to see it myself tonight in omniplex and it just made it so clear to me what the new films(force awakens, last jedi etc)are missing: a sense of magic. TESB holds up so well. Even some of the ropey dialogue doesn't detract from a great popcorn movie. There was about a dozen people at the screening I was at and it was perfect.