Why cinemas can go to hell, and I will pirate [ MOD WARNING IN OP ]

ebbsy · 22-06-2012 08:46PM

I d'ont mind getting the popcorn and drinks when I head to the cinema, its not like they make a fortune on the actual film anyway. Its like going to the petrol station, they make most of their money from the shop products.

Thwip! · 22-06-2012 09:53PM

this is why i like carlow cinema, no problem with bringing in my own 3d glasses, tickets are max 9 euro i believe and attentive staff who arent afraid to kick out the gobshites

B.A._Baracus · 22-06-2012 10:13PM

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Just because you don't like the cinema is not a justification for piracy. You can just wait for the DVD/Blu Ray.

Of course the op will wait for the dvd/blu ray....

... Who downloads crappy cams anymore :pac:

Bullseye1 · 22-06-2012 11:09PM

Am I the only one who enjoys trailers before a movie?

littlejp · 22-06-2012 11:13PM

Bullseye1 wrote: »

Am I the only one who enjoys trailers before a movie?

Trailers, yes. Ads, no.

steveLFC24 · 23-06-2012 12:07AM

I go to the Savoy in Dublin about 2-3 times a month, wouldn't go anywhere else to be honest. Its cheap, I've never had a problem with noise during a movie and the cinema is never packed so you get a good choice of seats. I can't remember the prices exactly, I think its like 6.90 before 7 and maybe 8.60 after 7 (roughly, don't quote me on that). Maybe a little extra for 3D, again I'm not sure. But even at that I've never paid more than 20 for 2 people. Apart from the prices, I just like the place. My only gripe with the savoy is that it doesn't have as big a selection on at one time as say Cineworld does. Basically, sometimes movies I want to see aren't showing.

I agree with the OP about the 3D though, everywhere is the same. Any films that are released in 3D, the 2D showings are few and far between. I personally hate 3D, simply because, for some reason unknown to me, it hurts my eyes. Maybe its just the glasses, but I always leave with a banging headache. In saying that if I really want to see a film and its only available in 3D at said time, I will go see it. I'm no saint though, I have (and do) download movies, mainly films recommended to me that are hard to find on DVD or weren't in cinema. Not that I'm trying to justify my illegal activities...but I buy plenty of blu-rays, rent from xtravision and go to the cinema often. It makes me feel slightly better about it :pac:

johnny_ultimate · 23-06-2012 05:10PM

This is not a how to pirate thread. Careful now.

Cantona's Collars · 23-06-2012 07:20PM

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

This is not a how to pirate thread. Careful now.

Somalia is too far away anyhow:pac:

I've gotten a lot fussier about what I pay to watch these days,plus having my local cinema close down & the nearest is 20 minutes drive away in either Wexford or Gorey doesn't help.
Some movies have to be seen on the big screen ala TDKR or Avengers.Most other stuff simply gets downloaded and I watch it in peace at home.
Even when I do head to the cinema,I bring my own snacks,I don't want a crap tasting drink from a machine and I'm not too fond of rip-off popcorn.

jaykhunter · 23-06-2012 07:37PM

I got tired of the cinema experience so I generally only go before 5pm or wait a week or two after a film has been out to avoid the crowd. The poor quality projectors annoyed me too. Generally I prefer watching stuff on my big-ass HDTV at home so I'm willing to wait the 6 months in most cases. There must be a ton of movies on your 'yet to watch' list (as is on mine) and I'd suggest watching those on DVD/Blu/Netflix etc until new releases come out

It's a shame the cinema you visit forces this stuff on you, but you don't have to accept it, there are other cinemas and other ways to watch

grimm2005 · 24-06-2012 05:29PM

Sad Professor wrote: »

Ah crap, you're right. It's a 12 month minimum subscription.

Sorry, a little off topic but just a tip I remember from a couple of the old unlimited card threads: While officially there's a 12 month minimum sign up, apparently it's very easy to get out of this contract later on by using an excuse such as "I'm leaving the country" or "my wife is pregnant and i'll have no time to use it now" and they don't give any hassle over it (granted, probably best to do this after a few months rather than just the one).

Another tip to unlimited (or regular goers) who are disgruntled over the extra 3D charge even when you bring your own glasses: bring your own and then pay to see a 2D film that's on in a similar time frame to the film your going to but stroll into the 3D film instead. There's usually just the one ticket check at the bottom of the stairs and 90% of screenings are free seating. Yes, this is a little bit devious and dishonest but you're still paying for a ticket at the end of the day!

Also if you're thinking of joining and know a friend who has a card, they now have a refer a friend scheme where both parties are awarded a free month when a friend joins. (apologies if I sound like a cineworld promotor or something but i personally think it's a great service at only €20 a month when you see as many films as I do!)

don ramo · 25-06-2012 02:07AM

let be honest here no matter what way you skew figures cinemas aint operating so that they can make a living from popcorn, these are expensive building to build and maintain, someone somewhere is making money, ive no business training whatsoever, and even i know its crazy to invest a few million quid into something thats only gonna generate E3-4k a week,

the thing about costs in the cinema is that there driving people away with there expensive ticket prices, i actually thought the E8 i pay in my local was a lot, until someone said they paid E27 for 2 3D tickets, that's ****ing ridiculous, and totally unjustified, if my local cinema which only has 5 screens, that rarely sell-out, can operate by charging E8 a ticket then i really must ask how much these 10 screen plus cinemas in dublin city are making,

i was looking earlier 46 of the top 100 grossing films have been released in the last 4 years (thats nearly 1 every month), and there trying to tell us piracy is ruining the movie industry:rolleyes:, and some of these films they are making are just going insane on there budgets, they've reduced the amount of physical stunt work that needs to be done on films and increased the amount of work being done by CGI, it seems its more expensive to hire a graphic designer that a whole stunt crew these days, that new film Brave out at the moment cost $185M to make :eek:, how, just how do you do that, toy story cost $30m, inception which had a sizable amount of both CGI and stunt work costs $160m WTF happened there, no wonder they need to charge E10 for a ticket,

it would be great if it could be organized to have a global boycott of cinemas for just one saturday a year and send a message to these greedy scumbags in hollywood to get there act together, i dont think people are being tight arses by not going to the cinema but there is only so much people are willing to pay to be entertained, i personally would find it hard to part with E15 for a ticket and food every week to go see a film where there is always a good chance i could hate it,

johnny_ultimate · 25-06-2012 03:29AM

Again, if you don't want to watch over-expensive Hollywood tripe, then simply do not watch over-expensive Hollywood tripe. No-one is forcing you to do anything. If there's no independent or arthouse cinema nearby, well then you can probably get the films for next to nothing on amazon. Or simply support the increasingly rare mainstream films that actually justify their box office returns. And can you honestly blame Hollywood for their lack of ambition? They pump obscene money into any amount of inane crap, and people still flock to see it, each and every time. The audience demands 150-300 million dollar epics, and tend to ignore the alternatives. No, this is not wholly the fault of the Hollywood machine: it's just as much the fault of the audience who buy into Hollywood's manufactured consensus hook, line and sinker. You don't need to look far to see the evidence: The Avengers grosses a billion and people go to see it three or four times. Vastly superior films produced for a fraction of the budget struggle to hit six or seven figures. Even when they do break through to multiplexes, audiences ignore them. It's so easy to blame Hollywood and 'the industry', but the blame lies equally with the risk-adverse cinema-going public.

You'd be amazed how much money just disappears in film production and exhibition. Even an Irish film with a 700,000 budget would tend to have crazy complicated accounting attached to it, and none of them ever make money. One can only imagine the accountant who has to deal with a project like Brave or Inception. Technology gets more expensive as audiences demand more, more, more spectacle.

A cinema is a service provider: they have to charge something to patrons. Reading this thread, you'd swear people actually think films should be freely exhibited for all and sundry. And yes, in an artistic utopia free of capitalism, that would be wonderful. But a cinema is a place of business, and much like a pub will overcharge you for a pint to make ends meet and earn a profit, so will a cinema. The cinema is further complicated by the amount of people who need to get paid. The cinema itself likely has huge rent, staff to pay, distributors to pay, technological overheads (to update the 'old projectors' so many have bemoaned in this thread), electrical / heating charges etc... etc... This is all on top of the distributor fees. Running a cinema is not a cheap task (let alone the process of getting a film into a cinema in the first place), and to expect ticket prices at peak hour to be less than seven-ten euro is a little shortsighted.

A fifteen euro ticket is obscene given the much more generously priced competition in Dublin, and I wouldn't pay it either. But I'm also more than happy to pay twenty euro for a Blu-Ray if the film and transfer is excellent. But then to me film is so much more than a mere 'product', and with my slowly expanding understanding of 'the industry' in UK and Ireland, I will happily continue to support the filmmakers, exhibitors and distributors who provide the films I love. I know how much work is involved, how much of a struggle it is to fight against the Hollywood behemoth. And it's why people who pirate anything and everything struggle to convincingly justify their actions.

Cantona's Collars · 26-06-2012 11:40PM

I hope Sean Sherlock doesn't read this article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2165004/Illegal-downloading-Families-illegally-download-music-movies-online-face-court-action-copyright-theft.html

Families who illegally download free music, movies and eBooks face a new crackdown with warning letters and court action for copyright theft.

A controversial new regime designed to stamp out internet piracy will effectively treat individuals as ‘guilty until proven innocent’.

People who are wrongly accused of making illegal downloads will have to pay a £20 fee to appeal and prove their innocence in a move that has angered consumer groups.

If they stop producing rubbish that we feel doesn't warrant the cost of paying to see then maybe we'll change our piracy habits.

e_e · 26-06-2012 11:47PM

zerks wrote: »

If they stop producing rubbish that we feel doesn't warrant the cost of paying to see then maybe we'll change our piracy habits.

Another really poor excuse for illegally downloading. There's been crap movies for as long as cinema itself, it's simply your own fault for picking out the rubbish.

johnny_ultimate · 26-06-2012 11:47PM

zerks wrote: »

If they stop producing rubbish that we feel doesn't warrant the cost of paying to see then maybe we'll change our piracy habits.

So... Wait.... You download and watch rubbish anyway ??? Kind of solving the wrong problem, no?

I don't pay for trash, but nor do I illegally download it. I simply ignore it. Works for me.

samina · 27-06-2012 12:01AM

22 euro adult and child to see a 3d movie, I almost passed out. I remember not too long ago taking my whole family to the cinema for a couple of euro more than that. Gone are the days when going to the movies was a cheap day out for a family. It's pretty sad really.

don ramo · 27-06-2012 12:33AM

zerks wrote: »

If they stop producing rubbish that we feel doesn't warrant the cost of paying to see then maybe we'll change our piracy habits.

if its rubbish why get it in any scenario,

personally i think piracy it only so rampant due to lack of access to content, if i had access to a pay service where i pay a fair fee to gain access to any film or tv show i wish to watch as it becomes available anywhere in the world i would subscribe, but as we all know that it more less impossible anytime in the near and not so near future,

with the world being so interconnected these days its simply ridiculous that a very large portion of decent films are simply out of reach to us here in ireland and also in many other countries in the world,

i dont understand why theres not vending machines all over the country that you can simply plug in a USB stick and have any film you can think of downloaded onto it that has a 72 hour time limit to view it before it erases itself, the technology is available even to stream it right to your TV yet here we are waiting months if not over a year to be able to even get certain films,

don ramo · 08-07-2012 10:30PM

Bump, interesting few points here, about new ways the studios are making money, and a lot of it by the sounds of it,

http://www.thewrap.com/movies/blog-post/five-new-ways-hollywood-making-money-46881?page=0,0

i must say i do find it hard to believe that an actor/actress would sign a contract for 10million and then just allow 80% of it be taken away, but i suppose the actual amount they get is negotiated by themselves,

speedboatchase · 09-07-2012 01:05AM

Why doesn't the OP legally rent movies on iTunes or from Xtravision - why are they jumping right into pirating? As said above, the "they make so much rubbish" argument doesn't wash, especially when the OP should conceivably be ignoring that rubbish via downloads too, right?

To be honest, I don't really care what the OP does, but the idea that his actions are some sort of protest or that they've been forced into piracy is such nonsense.

Antar Bolaeisk · 09-07-2012 09:09AM

uncleoswald wrote: »

I'm not sure what it says though as I'm not fluent in bullsh*t.

It's quite simply an excuse to charge more. Fair enough the projectors are expensive but they're assets that are going to last for the next 15-20 years (Well, hopefully) so have quite a long payback period. With regards to showing both versions of the film, I think that's insane, they should show one or the other, not split the potential audience into two separate screens.

In saying that I think some cinemas rent them instead of own them so possibly have to do this.

don ramo wrote: »

let be honest here no matter what way you skew figures cinemas aint operating so that they can make a living from popcorn, these are expensive building to build and maintain, someone somewhere is making money, ive no business training whatsoever, and even i know its crazy to invest a few million quid into something thats only gonna generate E3-4k a week.

One of the major problems with tickets is that, unless the sales are there, you don't get the new films. In the cinema I was working in we could have turned around and set all our tickets at €5 (Now, short term something like this would have worked out but that's for a different post) but we wouldn't have been generating enough return on investment for the distributors to send us their latest and greatest. This in turn would affect customer levels which would further affect ROI and thus available films.

allanb49 · 09-07-2012 09:40AM

I swear next time i'm in the cinema and people start talking behind me i'm going to do this,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzxfivZF9Yk

I completely agree with you,

The whole 3d thing really does nothing for me, i saw spiderman last week and didn't see one bit of 3d stuff, maybe my eyes are broken,

But i still had to pay extra for it,

The cinemas people will say don't make money from the films themselves for a few weeks at least,

However they keep putting up the price of food and drink too,

A coke and malteasers cost me close to €10, I didn't realise that until after i'd paid as the till didn't show a price,

So 2 cinema tickets €30 + €10 for sweets...

Usually i'd get stuff in lidl/tesco prior to going in but was running late,

But if you do that they can refuse entry, not that they do,

It's the same with most irish things we don't complain to the right people, however the multiplexes over here don't really care,

Complain to a manager in Cineworld or VUE and you'll be told o it's set by head office in the UK,

Who could you complain to, is there collusion going on between the chains i wonder?

don ramo · 09-07-2012 09:49AM

speedboatchase wrote: »

Why doesn't the OP legally rent movies on iTunes or from Xtravision - why are they jumping right into pirating? As said above, the "they make so much rubbish" argument doesn't wash, especially when the OP should conceivably be ignoring that rubbish via downloads too, right?

To be honest, I don't really care what the OP does, but the idea that his actions are some sort of protest or that they've been forced into piracy is such nonsense.

one of the complaints was the amount of unnecessary content packed into some of them, if you fork out E20 to buy a DVD then you have to shuffle through trailers for other films, and in some cases cant skip them, which TBF is unacceptable, i have a big enough collection and very few of the older DVDs dont go directly to the main DVD menu, if i want to watch trailers ill go to you tube,

there are many alternatives ways of getting these film coming out now but not nearly fast enough, if people have the means to get the stuff illegally then it must be possible to obtain it some way legally, 10meg broadband is available to a decent proportion of the population of ireland,

yet there is still a lot of geoblocking going on, and its totally uncalled for, why have a WWW at the start of every address bar, all these .ie .co.uk .fr .it should just be put at the start cause it certainly isnt world wide access anymore,

don ramo · 09-07-2012 09:56AM

allanb49 wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzxfivZF9Yk

you gotta me more proactive than that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07koWDo7-P0

:D:D

gbee · 09-07-2012 10:00AM

don ramo wrote: »

one of the complaints was the amount of unnecessary content packed into some of them,

Absolutely.

I got the James Bond collection from my daughter for Christmas as example. Watched them all on my PC and I was able to skip a lot of the stuff so not too bad but a bother.

Recently, I wanted to view them on the 42" living room TV with surround sound and guess what, I gave up, I was treated to ads, actually for movies I've already bought, I was not able to skip them in most cases, the newer version were worse and I was also treated to you would not steal would you but you would steal a movie ~

I mentioned this in my earlier post. Total satisfaction deflation.

Fysh · 09-07-2012 10:42AM

don ramo wrote: »

one of the complaints was the amount of unnecessary content packed into some of them, if you fork out E20 to buy a DVD then you have to shuffle through trailers for other films, and in some cases cant skip them, which TBF is unacceptable, i have a big enough collection and very few of the older DVDs dont go directly to the main DVD menu, if i want to watch trailers ill go to you tube

I don't mind trailers being included with a DVD, but I want them to be optional - ie if I'm curious I can go and look for them, but I don't want to be forced to watch them.

Sleepy · 09-07-2012 10:50AM

I said it in my first post and it remains true: at present the illegal downloads are the better product. You can choose the quality you want, get anything as soon as it's available in your language, you're not forced to watch ads / trailers / lectures on piracy, the files can be easily moved between different media players in your home/phone/laptop etc.

Streaming doesn't work for me as I don't want to watch movies on my laptop and don't have a media player / console (I'd currently watch divx files via my DVD player) but if the service was good enough, I'd cancel the TV side of my NTL contract and subscribe to a legal download service instead. While that's not an option, the film industry are failing to compete against the pirates imp.

DrumSteve · 09-07-2012 11:21AM

Something I never discovered until recently was the Savoy in Dublin's daily rates, got 2 tickets for spiderman to other day for 13€ which was pretty good and it's easy enough to get to and from.

My only problem is again people talking in the cinema. When I am king, they will be first against the wall.

Rabidlamb · 09-07-2012 01:13PM

I pirate as my disposable income is shrinking due to kids & a mortgage.
A night at the cinema would involve paying a babysitter on top of the normal costs so it would need to be TDKR or The Hobbit before we'd even consider it.
What about Xtravision or Netflix ?.
Well Xtravision means driving into town & losing out on 30 minutes in the evening when I haven't seen the kids all day.
Netflix could be the solution if they offered a fuller library but they're never going to capture someone who's grown up on torrents, horse has bolted.

Ironman76 · 09-07-2012 01:42PM

My last four trips to the cinema

1 - A guy rustling a bag intentionally annoying me. When I would turn around the noise would stop. etc etc etc

2 - A little scumbag with his feet on the back of my chair shaking it. I asked him twice to stop (nicely). . then third time I snapped and threatened to throw a full cup of Coke over him. Funnily enough he stopped then.

3 - A gang of kids sitting behind us chatting and waffling for the whole movie. But at least they werent doing anything intentionally. (Still very annoying though)

4 - At Spiderman during the weekend a gang of lads hollering and heckling down the back. Thankfully they were thrown out (fair play to the staff I thought). But then as the end credits rolled the lights came on right away, and we missed the extra scene at the end credits.

I really cant wait for the Dark Knight Rises but now Im thinking shall I just wait for the Blu Ray. The cinema is NOT worth the money. No one is going to convince me otherwise.

d@rk l0rd · 09-07-2012 01:47PM

A bit off topic but going to the cinema has gotten so expensive and there's so much bad and selfish behaviour now - people being noisy, talking, using phones - and it's rarely addressed by the cinemas who don't seem to care, that it's often not really worth the stress or expense anymore!

Why cinemas can go to hell, and I will pirate [** MOD WARNING IN OP **]

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Why cinemas can go to hell, and I will pirate [ MOD WARNING IN OP ]