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

e_e · 13-07-2012 07:14PM

Am I the only one who really can't be bothered about food & drink in the cinema?

I like bringing in a soft drink and some sweets from time to time. But it'd be no great loss to me if I couldn't, either from them banning outside food or the prices being too high in the cinema. Besides the people who scoff like pigs can be an annoyance in itself.

13-07-2012 08:07PM

If cinemas arent getting a big enough cut from the ticket sales that's not my problem. It wasn't me who made the deal to give distributors 90% of ticket price.

At the end of the day their fates are tied, if cinemas go out of business then the distributor will too. So if there's a problem with the revenue divvy then it's up to the cinema and the distributor to sit down and work out a better deal. Overpriced food and 30 minutes of ads arent the solution.

Fysh · 13-07-2012 08:59PM

Deleted User wrote: »

If cinemas arent getting a big enough cut from the ticket sales that's not my problem. It wasn't me who made the deal to give distributors 90% of ticket price.

At the end of the day their fates are tied, if cinemas go out of business then the distributor will too. So if there's a problem with the revenue divvy then it's up to the cinema and the distributor to sit down and work out a better deal. Overpriced food and 30 minutes of ads arent the solution.

Actually, if you want to go to a cinema screening of a film, it is your problem. If you're happy not going to the cinema that's one thing, but if you enjoy seeing films at the cinema and want to talk about what they are doing wrong it helps to understand the basis of their business rather than just trying to rely on the "I am consumer, hear me roar!" approach.

13-07-2012 09:38PM

Uh no, it isn't my problem.

Its like a shopkeeper doubling his prices because he lost ten grand last night on the horses. Boo hoo, sell your sob story somewhere else. Not my problem. Work it out yourself.

If im paying a tenner for a ticket and the cinema is only getting 1 or 2 quid out of it, that's not my problem. That's his problem for agreeing to such a bad deal. Sit down with the distributor and work out a better deal.

gbee · 13-07-2012 10:47PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Uh no, it isn't for agreeing to such a bad deal. Sit down with the distributor and work out a better deal.

That may be so, but not too many people like a severed horse's head at the foot of their bed, and of course we have to support Scientology, whether we like it or not.

Sad Professor · 13-07-2012 11:40PM

e_e wrote: »

Am I the only one who really can't be bothered about food & drink in the cinema?

I like bringing in a soft drink and some sweets from time to time. But it'd be no great loss to me if I couldn't, either from them banning outside food or the prices being too high in the cinema. Besides the people who scoff like pigs can be an annoyance in itself.

I don't understand eating during a film, especially the kinds of food that cinemas sell. Popcorn is salty and makes you thirsty, so you need a litre's worth of coke to make it through the screening, making you to piss like racehorse. It annoys me when I see the same people running up and down the aisle during a film, disturbing everyone because they can't sit and watch a film for 2 hours without stuffing their face.

Buying food also adds enormously to the cost of cinemagoing. I mean I went to see three films this week, costing me about a little over 15 euro in total. If I was buying food as well I'd easily have spent twice as much. The only thing I bring in is a bottle water usually filled from the tap at home.

I understand that popcorn is how cinemas make their money, but it's also contributed to making the cinemagoing experience into this big, expensive drama for many people.

coolisin · 14-07-2012 12:19AM

Lately my cinema experience is being ruined by the annoying people attending screenings whom always seem to be sitting behind me.

Come in late, disturb everyone making loads of noise and then chat for the next 90mins 2 hours swap seats because they need to be closer to chat to their other friend.
Thus kicking and shaking the seats of the people in front of them!

Careful if you turn around and say anything!

Fysh · 14-07-2012 12:42AM

Deleted User wrote: »

Uh no, it isn't my problem.

Its like a shopkeeper doubling his prices because he lost ten grand last night on the horses. Boo hoo, sell your sob story somewhere else. Not my problem. Work it out yourself.

If im paying a tenner for a ticket and the cinema is only getting 1 or 2 quid out of it, that's not my problem. That's his problem for agreeing to such a bad deal. Sit down with the distributor and work out a better deal.

If you want cinemas to continue to exist, it is your problem that their business model depends on bringing in money from ancillary services like advertising before films and selling (crap) food at the concession stand - because if your contention is that most people don't want those things, then by extension the cinema has limited days left, meaning you don't get to watch films at the big screen.

I don't mean it in a "it's your problem and you must spend money on popcorn even if you don't want it", I mean it in a "as a part of the target audience for this service, a problem that threatens the viability of the service as a profit-making endeavour affects you"

I do agree that cinemas should probably be looking for a better deal from distributors, though I have no idea whether that's feasible at a time when VOD is more popular than ever.

Kinski · 14-07-2012 02:06PM

In my experience, suburban cinemas are just terrible these days. Despite having better equipment than those of yesteryear, they're just horrible places to watch films, often full of knackery teenagers intent on disrupting the screening - the local cinema I grew up with was crap, but at least I could actually watch the film in peace.

Cinemas in town are fine, and we're fortunate to have such good independent cinemas like the IFI and The Lighthouse.

As for food/drink, I think the multiplex popcorn and cola experience is totally unnecessary, but I do like how you can bring a beer with you into some screenings in the IFI (though, the service in CafeBar in there has gone downhill in the past couple of years.)

GAAman · 14-07-2012 04:29PM

jpcarlow wrote: »

"This cinema is afraid of me. I have seen its true face (through the light from the screen) . The aisles are extended gutters and the gutters are full of Coca-Cola and when the butter finally pours over, all the popcorn will drown. The accumulated filth of all their texts and murmurs will foam up about their waists and all the tweens and scumbags will look up and shout "ANTO!"... and I'll whisper "Quiet, this is a cinema".

That is a thing of beauty

My own additions to the topic, and I was going to start a thread on at the time. I went to The Avengers having purposely waited a few weeks after release so as to avoid any tossers. I did not take into account that a scummer family might also go to the cinema bringing their seven hundred kids, one of whom was a NINE MONTH OLD BABY!

Yep, that's right, a nine month old baby to The Avengers, that 7,546,982 decibel movie!

The second is Prometheus, the cinema was packed we were lucky to get seats when I noticed the seat was kind of warm. Then I heard the two tossers behind me talking and put 2+2 together. Obviously people had sat here and moved when they copped the lads behind. After what seemed like an age of their waffling on and Ringo Starr playing the drums with his feet on the back of my chair I snapped. "KEEP FúCKIN KICKING MY CHAIR AND MAKING NOISE AND I WILL DRAG YOU OUT OF THIS CINEMA MY FúCKIN SELF"

Not a peep from them the rest of the movie and they were the first to leave :pac:

Lastly given how expensive the cinema is and how conniving they are I have no time for them. One cinema here in derry had the run of it for years as they were the only one in town. I am sure it probably happened elsewhere but they used to give you alcohol wipes to wipe 3d glasses that numerous other people would have used which was disgusting and I only went to one 3d screening there as a result of it.

So yeah, I will go to the cinema the very odd time now for a big movie but would not bother generally

d@rk l0rd · 14-07-2012 04:54PM

It all comes down to a complete breakdown in society really, kids not being brought up to respect others and authority, a complete mollycoddling of kids instead of disciplining them. So whether it's scumbags bringing babies into the cinema, kids shoving seats with their feet, talking and using phones and just being a nuisance it all comes down to the same thing. They can do whatever they want at home so why should it be any different to them at the cinema or on the street or anywhere else?

I just want to go to the cinema to watch a movie in peace, not to have to leave and miss part of the movie to complain (to staff who really don't care) and then feel stressed. I wouldn't approach these scumbags myself, you can't reason with them and a lot of the time you just get a mouthful of abuse. A lot of them are completely feral.

Headshot · 14-07-2012 11:24PM

I see where OP is coming from

My local cinema sometimes has only 3D films so therefor I have to pay extra which is absolute rubbish in my view. I dont want to see 3D films, I hate paying for it. Top of range tvs have all 3D these days hiking the price. I watched Wimbledon in 3D there recently since it was my first 3D sports viewing and I just couldnt believe how bad it was.

What put me of torrents is the long delay in getting some decent quality, I watched Men in black 3 there recently via some ones cam and it was awful.

What is the typical wait time in getting a proper quality of the latest movies out in the cinema, few weeks, few months? Is it really worth it?
im not so sure

Sad Professor · 14-07-2012 11:56PM

I don't think there's anything worse than having your seat kicked. It's not something I've experienced much as an adult, but as a child I remember having many a film ruined by it. The culprit in most cases was usually a kid not much older than myself. I always used to think they did it deliberately. My mother would get up and give out to their parents and the kicking would stop for a few minutes before starting again, eventually forcing us to move. We could never understand why the parents of these little sh*ts didn't seem to care.

Now days I usually have a problem with guys pressing their foot or knee against the back of my seat. They probably don't realise that I can feel it, but it's very annoying. My most recent experience of this was in the IFI of all places, which isn't entirely surprising given how cramped some of the cinemas are in there are. I just moved to another seat after a minute. I totally agree that films should start with some sort of code of conduct or something.

Anyway, I think the big problem with modern cinemagoing is that it has lost its sacredness. In the past going to the cinema was something special since that was often the only way to really see a film. I'm reminded of Terence Davies's The Long Day Closes where he juxtaposes cinemagoers with churchgoers, implying that there was something spiritual about the cinematic experience. That seems utterly laughable today, but in the 1950s it probably had an element of truth to it. Going to the cinema back then was more of an entertainment activity than a social activity. Where as today I think cinemagoing is a purely social activity for many people. It's just something to do with their mates, girlfriend, family, etc. I don't think they care too much about the film itself.

gbee · 15-07-2012 09:24AM

It's sad to read the litany of issues with modern cinemas, as a boy in the 60's I used to collect and sell jam jars, glass bottles and cardboard to get the cinema ticket price and the popcorn and especially the ice lollies would be unique to each cinema.

It was always a hassle though, massive queues, and we were not always a meek and gentle as some project in this thread as to modern lack of [cinema] Etiquette ~ we'd see mass evictions with several youths being manhandled out and there was one time the movie was so boring we rioted until they changed it.

e_e · 15-07-2012 01:49PM

Personally I feel this whole thread has been blowing an issue out of proportion. If anything is sad to read it's that so many are writing off a potentially amazing experience just because their local cinema doesn't give a crap. I think laziness and apathy is the real issue here.

Sad Professor · 15-07-2012 02:49PM

Agreed. Minor annoyances aside, I can't remember the last time I had a bad experience in a cinema. And I go to the cinema several times a month, sometimes a week. Choice of film, cinema and time obviously has a lot to do with it though.

marienbad · 15-07-2012 03:49PM

I suppose give people a forum to complain and they will, I have been going to the cinema for over fifty years in this country and what I am reading here as regards people's behaviour is just ridiculous . Sure you will get the occassional loutish carry-on but nothing on the levels indicated here.

The type of movie will also dictate the type of audience behaviour, I am bringing the grandkids to the cinema now and it is madness but hilarious , just go with the flo and don't watch the movie , just watch the faces and the transition from horror- amazement- relief to laughter is a movie in itself . You remember you were once as innocent and selfcentered and out there as that and why we loved the cinema in the first place.

On the pirating issue , - it is theft without question - and there is no point in calling it otherwise .

But I am completely in favour of it and I fully understand why people do it. Personally I could'nt be bothered as I have a massive music and movie collection aquired legitimately over a life time ,plus I still love going to the 'pictures'. But if I was in my twenties with limited resources - who knows ?

Bobby Baccala · 15-07-2012 04:59PM

Somebody said something about the decline in quality of cinemas being down to the degradation of society. No. Murder and robbery and vandalism is caused by a degradation in society, decline in quality of cinemas is down to the employees not doing their fúcking job properly, not maintaining the area, cleaning properly, kicking out people who are acting the bollocks etc.

But personally i love the cinema, i usually go to the one in pavillions in swords or the UCI in coolock, i think they're both brilliant cinemas.

CL7 · 15-07-2012 04:59PM

One thing I've learned from this thread is never ever go to a cinema in Dublin. Actually I might stop going to Dublin altogether with it's unruly bad mannered kids and the total breakdown in society up there. I've wanted to move there from Limerick for years. The grass is always greener folks.

Bobby Baccala · 15-07-2012 05:21PM

CL7 wrote: »

Actually I might stop going to Dublin altogether with it's unruly bad mannered kids and the total breakdown in society up there. I've wanted to move there from Limerick for years. The grass is always greener folks.

With an attitude like that i'd stay out in the sticks if i was you, never read more bollocks talk in one post on this before. The only thing that comes out of poxy limerick is bad news lol.

CL7 · 15-07-2012 05:28PM

P4DDY2K11 wrote: »

With an attitude like that i'd stay out in the sticks if i was you, never read more bollocks talk in one post on this before. The only thing that comes out of poxy limerick is bad news lol.

LOL. Have a read of my post again. Do you think I was serious?

Bobby Baccala · 15-07-2012 05:37PM

CL7 wrote: »

LOL. Have a read of my post again. Do you think I was serious?

it looked completely serious, hard to pick up sarcasm from a piece of typing. Apologies.

the_syco · 15-07-2012 05:41PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Uh no, it isn't my problem.

Actually, it is.

You want to see a film. The film is produced with a loan. The loan is paid off by ticket sales. Less money from ticket sales equals less money for future films, and less money would mean that the film industry would not get a whole lot better.

End product; sh|te B-grade movies.

GAAman wrote: »

I snapped. "KEEP FúCKIN KICKING MY CHAIR AND MAKING NOISE AND I WILL DRAG YOU OUT OF THIS CINEMA MY FúCKIN SELF"

This works well, but you don't need to wait until you snap; just do it after a few kicks.

P4DDY2K11 wrote: »

kicking out people who are acting the bollocks etc

Cinema staff can't touch them, and they know it.

CL7 · 15-07-2012 05:41PM

P4DDY2K11 wrote: »

it looked completely serious, hard to pick up sarcasm from a piece of typing. Apologies.

Nah I was just poking fun at some of the doom merchants on this thread.

qvsr46ofgc792k · 15-07-2012 05:51PM

So basically what you are saying is that if you have problem with a service in any way you are going to steal because you feel justified?

There's a place filled with people like you my friend.....Prison.

Delightfully Pessimistic · 16-07-2012 11:20PM

I regularly go to the Cinema in Mullingar, not a bad place. They usually have a 2D option for all the films and the ad's aren't that ridiculous.

Vue in Liffey Valley on the other hand is a royal pain in the arse.
I was seeing a film with my gf and a couple of mates and we were amazed by how much ads there were, about 30 mins worth of them!
And their classification rules are ridiculous. They asked for proof of age for a 15A film once!

Anyway I still love the experience of going to the cinema.:)

Kinski · 17-07-2012 11:55AM

marienbad wrote: »

On the pirating issue , - it is theft without question - and there is no point in calling it otherwise.

Actually, it's not theft - it's copyright infringement. Still wrong, but not theft (it's a civil offence, not a criminal one.) Calling it theft is just as hyperbolic as saying cinemas are so bad you just can't ever go to one, and therefore illegally downloading is justified.

speedboatchase · 17-07-2012 12:22PM

Delightfully Pessimistic wrote: »

I regularly go to the Cinema in Mullingar, not a bad place. They usually have a 2D option for all the films and the ad's aren't that ridiculous.

Vue in Liffey Valley on the other hand is a royal pain in the arse.
I was seeing a film with my gf and a couple of mates and we were amazed by how much ads there were, about 30 mins worth of them!
And their classification rules are ridiculous. They asked for proof of age for a 15A film once!

Anyway I still love the experience of going to the cinema.:)

Yeah Vue is outrageous. Around 12-15 mins of regular ads, then five trailers and then when you think the film is about to start, some Jennifer Lopez Venus shaver ad shows up!

Plus, Ted trailers at every single bloody movie.

phasers · 17-07-2012 02:43PM

Vue have an ad for themselves before every film, which confuses me. We're already in the cinema, why do we need to see an ad for the place we're in?

Also in the ad the lady says that Batman is from New York. That annoys me the most.

krudler · 17-07-2012 07:22PM

CL7 wrote: »

One thing I've learned from this thread is never ever go to a cinema in Dublin. Actually I might stop going to Dublin altogether with it's unruly bad mannered kids and the total breakdown in society up there. I've wanted to move there from Limerick for years. The grass is always greener folks.

But we have Showtime, its one of the best cinemas around at the mo

loads of trailers before movies doesnt bother me, I like seeing them, you just get sick of the same ones all the time if you go on a regular basis. some places take the piss with their ads though, often playing the same ad twice, that bloody lotto ad with the rainbow, its a nice ad but christ, sick of seeing it now.

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 ]