Going to the Cinema during Covid

Sad Professor wrote: »

I'd say all new releases will just be shelved until late summer/early autumn of next year. Virus will have either run its course by then or govts will have given up trying to suppress it. Of course at that point the pandemic will probably have been superseded by another crisis. Economic depression, large scale unemployment, non-covid health crisis, societal breakdown... Who knows really, but whatever it is it hopefully won't stop the cinemas reopening.

pixelburp wrote: »

Last I saw an update was in March IIRC, and since then don't believe there's any movement for all sorts of obvious reasons; and given the makeup of the senior echelons of the DoJ may be about to change in the next few months, unless it's a huge priority for GOP downers and lobbyists, it may get scuttled.

Cinema might have changed, but I don't believe cinemas should be driven or lead by the very studios producing films; that's ripe for abuse and market manipulation. Disney already screw chains with higher percentages on their Big Ticket films (IIRC Rise of Skywalker saw a particularly high jump in the states).

I suppose it depends on where you stand generally on the issue of Free Market vs. Some degree of regulatory control, but I don't particularly want Disney Brand Cinemas further squashing the institution into a niche, restricted product.

Edit: just saw ixoy's comments. Shoot. Well that's Cinema in the STates dead as we know it. Disney Brand Cinemas here we come.

it might be an acknowledgement that at least for now its a loss leader industry. Given the sheer wealth on the movie making side of the fence it wouldn't be right that cinema chains themselves get government handouts.

One thing I cant understand is how cinemas are closed and schools are open? Surely a crowded school is less socially distanced than a cinema were every other seat is unoccupied.

santana75 wrote: »

One thing I cant understand is how cinemas are closed and schools are open? Surely a crowded school is less socially distanced than a cinema were every other seat is unoccupied.

Lower cost (risk of spreading), but lower benefit too (entertainment vs education). They're trying to reduce the total spreading, so they're cutting out as much 'low benefit' activity as possible. How you weigh these things up is not obvious, and economics and mental health are all relevant benefits of businesses like cinema too, but that's a complex discussion.

H8GHOTI wrote: »

I wouldn’t be arguing that cinemas should remain open by comparing them to schools.
But I would like to see the number of cases attributed to cinemas. It must be tiny & I wouldn’t be surprised if it was zero, with all the measures in place. On that basis, I think the risk of keeping them open would be minuscule.

I was under the assumption that the reason some places were closed and others werent was just because of the risk of infection. But if thats not the case then why close cinemas at all, if there hasnt been even one case attributed to the movie theatres. Some might argue that the cinema is a luxury but what about the people who work in them, like the people in cineworld for example.

Cinemas are bad because droplets travel far, the air isn't fresh and there is no sunlight to kill viruses and bacteria. It's bad for health in general to be in a room that never sees sunlight.

I think they just need to open up. Personally I won’t be going myself until I’m vaccinated. I’m a big boy, I can make my own decisions, but they need to just open it and let people decide for themselves. From what I hear cinemas went above and beyond to make things safe. The industry is crumbling, it’s very depressing.

Banjaxed82 wrote: »

With all the talk about the death of cinema, does anybody here actually rent videos on demand? As in new releases?

I have rented one I'd say in the last 5 years.

For example, I like the James Bond series of films, I'd go to see it in the cinema, but would I pay even 5 quid to watch it at home. No. it's definitely a film I'd wait until it came on streaming service. There are very few films that I would pay to watch at home. I don't doubt they're a good few people who rent new releases but is it on a par with the same people who would actually see the film in the cinema. Not sure.

It would be an interesting case study that obviously no rational thinking studio with do, but if you put tenet or the new James Bond film exclusively on video on demand.... How much are they actually going to make compared to a cinema release..?

Long story short, financially, I just don't see how the film industry would let cinemas die.

Normally I didn’t. I’d just wait for them to show up on Sky if I wasn’t too bothered to go the cinema. But since the pandemic, I started renting films at home. The invisible man, A beautiful day in the neighbourhood, the hunt and the king of staten island.

I won’t be renting anything now, purely because I have no time to set aside, and give something a decent watch. But I hope when I do, the cinema will be an option.

Banjaxed82 wrote: »

With all the talk about the death of cinema, does anybody here actually rent videos on demand? As in new releases?

I have rented one I'd say in the last 5 years.

For example, I like the James Bond series of films, I'd go to see it in the cinema, but would I pay even 5 quid to watch it at home. No. it's definitely a film I'd wait until it came on streaming service. There are very few films that I would pay to watch at home. I don't doubt they're a good few people who rent new releases but is it on a par with the same people who would actually see the film in the cinema. Not sure.

It would be an interesting case study that obviously no rational thinking studio with do, but if you put tenet or the new James Bond film exclusively on video on demand.... How much are they actually going to make compared to a cinema release..?

Long story short, financially, I just don't see how the film industry would let cinemas die.

I'm not renting, but I am buying. A lot. I buy them on the Google Play US store, then watch them on the Youtube app on my telly. I also got a US-based friend to sort me out with a Movies Anywhere account, to which I connected Google Play, iTunes, and Microsoft Movies.

The benefit of Movies Anywhere is I can keep my eye out for digital sales (Microsoft has them most often in my experience), buy them on whatever service I want, and then they'll be available on all the other services too (Paramount movies aside). A recent example is there was a sale on the Mission Impossible series (in 4K) so I snapped them all up for less than €30.

My digital library is over 100 movies at this stage, most of those bought in the last year.

As for why — well I haven't really been able to go to the cinema for a few years thanks to having a child. He's 4 now, and in those 4 years the only time I've been to the cinema was for Little Women (while he was at creche!) and Gemini Man (while I was on a business trip in the US, because I wanted to experience the HFR thing).

Combine that with the unpleasant parts of cinema-going (even at the best of times) and I've completely lost the appetite for it. I'm used to waiting until VOD releases before seeing most films, and I've learned not to care too much about spoilers. Plus we have an excellent 4K TV at home which largely negates the visual advantage of going to a cinema (although I was heavily contemplating going out to see Tenet in IMAX).

The films I most enjoy are low-budget indies which don't have a large cinema window, so I generally don't have to wait long. And a large number of things I enjoy are going straight to streaming these days too. There's so little to draw me to the cinema.