A Growing indifference to Cinema Going

[BAYLOR]

How many have you stopped going to the cinema regularly ?

I used to be a very avid movie goer, but for the past few years my trips to the theater have dropped off rather dramatically. The last film I saw in the theaters was Star Wars Rogue One. Other then maybe , the prior Star Wars The Force Awakens , Star Trek Beyond film and Independence Day Resurgence , I can't recall seeing anything else. Ive felt no real desire to resuming movie going like previously did . Reasons ? There are a few I'm can think of but I put under the heading of finding films unappealing and in event they be on cable and dvd soon enough .


Thoughts?

 

[RX-79G]

I used to live near a second run theater - $3 movies a month or two past prime. Never too crowded, so it wasn't a big deal to go.

 

[J Riff]

I got dragged to The Martian, hated the whole experience. Before that, hmm... maybe Ghostbusters when it came out around 84. Movies and TV are largely such blatant mindcontrol dumbdown rubbish now, the idea of paying, even for a movie that cost millyums to make, is offensive. But that's just me.
Where I'm sitting, there are about 175 bigscreen TVs in the adjoining twenty blocks, in coffeeshops, 'sportbars' and etc. ONLY TV sets and pool tables. You can't escape TV here, except by staring at a cellphone. Nor can you evade the enforced popmusic playlist, taking most of the fun out of all of it.
Movies went from an interesting night out to a drab excuse to sit inside the house one more time, watching Idiocracy for the tenth time.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I go very rarely, and mostly only for things that I feel are essential to experience on the big screen. But a lot of that has been caused by having children, which makes it difficult to go to a movie. Unless it's a children's movie, in which case it's just expensive.

 

[Vladd67]

I haven't been in ages, like Dusty it's partly because I have kids, but also it just irritates me that some people can't shut up and sit still for an hour or so. I don't mind people talking about the film, it's the constant chattering about their life, realty tv, and celebrity crap that annoys me. You are at a cinema, people have paid a lot of money to enjoy the film, you are not in you living room watching a DVD. I now tend to wait for the DVD or some online solution to see a film these days.

 

[svalbard]

Once a month. We go for a meal and then catch a movie aftetwards. I still love the cinema experiance. The last two movies I went to were T2;Trainspottng and The Great Wall. Going to see the new King Kong movie this weekend.

 

[Allegra]

My last time in cinema was for The Imitation Game, excellent film, still better to watch on a couch. The worst thing in cinema is that you can't fast forward or turn down the volume, or shut the noisy people up.

 

[Theophania Elliott]

I hardly ever go to the cinema; the last time was several years ago. They didn't sell Butterkist popcorn - just the stuff that looks and tastes like polystyrene packing material - so there didn't seem to be much point going back.

We don't have a TV at home, so if I want to watch a film, I do it on iPad.

 

[Paul_C]

The last film I recall seeing at the cinema was Gosford Park, and that was in 2001

 

[HanaBi]

In my youth up to my 20s I would be a regular cinema-goer: perhaps 3 or 4 times a week

But these days, far too much noise from patrons who have the courtesy and attention-span of a crusty old leather boot! The constant jingle of ringtones, people holding up their smartphones to "record" the film; people chatting out loud during "boring" bits in the film; people running up and down the aisles etc etc.

Sad really.

 

[Susan Boulton]

It is not wanting to go, it is the cost puts me off. With the cost of admission, petrol to get there and paying for parking the car, it is cheaper to wait a few months and buy the Blu Ray, then six months down the line sell it on Music Magpie.

 

[Toby Frost]

Part of the problem is that many films are rubbish - or, more accurately, highly polished, deeply mediocre and completely forgettable. The other part is that, unless you're careful, going to the cinema isn't an especially pleasant experience.

I remember coming out of the first Captain America film in 2011 and being surprised that I genuinely enjoyed and liked it: not that I put up with it or thought it was reasonable, but that it was really, properly good fun.

I saw Mad Max: Fury Road three times at the cinema.

1) Multiplex out of town, in holidays, at about 1pm. Extremely quiet and very pleasant. About 20 people in the screening and I had a gin and tonic whilst watching it.
2) Multiplex out of town, in the evening, about 8pm. Busy, but not unpleasantly so. Not much noise from the audience.
3) Multiplex in London, in 3D. Outrageously expensive and the 3D glasses wouldn't fit properly over my own (small) glasses. Audience slightly noisier but not obnoxiously so.

Basically, the better the experience you want, go to a nice cinema, at an awkward time of day and watch something rated 15 so small children can't get in.

 

[Montero]

I've not been in years, lots of years, seats doing my back in, tall people in front of me, no pause button......
But I've only once experienced people yacking and that was a bunch of foreign students behind me who weren't able to follow the film. So sounds like going to the cinema has gone down hill a lot since I last went.
However I did really, really enjoy seeing Lawrence of Arabia re-release in the Odeon at Marble Arch. Massive screen and I sat in the front row. The scene where they ride into Petra with cliffs towering over them is something when they do actually tower over you.

 

[Vladd67]

I miss the Easy Cinema in Milton Keynes, they showed just old films and you paid what ever you felt. Unfortunately it closed down and The Point then became another big brand cinema again. Then that closed and now the building faces demolition, this piece of cinema history deserved better.
A look back at a Milton Keynes landmark: The story of The Point

 

[SilentRoamer]

Only one film this year but i usually go 5-6 times a year. For me it just depends on the films that are on.

As long as there are good films then I'm going - the price is awful where I live (Vue Cinema have taken over and the other cinema has closed so they charge whatever they want.)

I never pay for sweets though, I smuggle them in via pockets and the wife's handbag. I'm not paying £4.05 for a bag of M&M's.

 

[Phyrebrat]

A voice of dissent here...

I saw R1 six times and TFA 4 times. I usually go once a month to catch any horror or sci fi. I don't do superheroes or fantasy movies, but other than that I love the experience of sitting in the dark with a huge screen.

I'm very impatient with people talking, but I must be very lucky here in London because it's never been a problem. in fact, I recall seeing the first Paranormal Activity film and the teens in the front row were hilarious as they asked questions of rach other such as 'Ohmygod, did you see the door?', 'Where's she going?', 'Oh no, oh no, oh no, can I look yet?' and it was really cute.

There've been a few stinkers but largely I've enjoyed the experience even if the film is forgettable.

The other thing is the cinemas near me are brand new with special screens and sound so it is much more of an experience than in the provinces

pH

 

[Dan Jones]

I love the cinema, and particularly like the spate of indie cinemas that are popping up across the UK. Everyman have just opened a branch in Chelmsford, and I love their approach to it. The price is premium, yes, but you get a good experience and hopefully that price everyone there is there to watch the film, not mindlessly chatter about other stuff.

Don't get to go half as much as I'd like, but I do enjoy it when I do.

in fact, I recall seeing the first Paranormal Activity film and the teens in the front row were hilarious as they asked questions of rach other such as 'Ohmygod, did you see the door?', 'Where's she going?', 'Oh no, oh no, oh no, can I look yet?' and it was really cute.

Oh the kids in East London were great for that sort of thing. I remember watching Blair Witch in the cinema yonks ago, and the way it became almost a communal experience for those kids, grasping each other, and really screaming, and then laughing at each other, really encapsulated what the cinema could be at times. Was a lot cheaper back then, though. We would go as it was a cheap night out.

 

[Toby Frost]

I love the cinema, and particularly like the spate of indie cinemas that are popping up across the UK.

If you get the chance, go to the Odeon in Berkhamsted or the Odyssey in St Albans, both of which have been done up in a 1940s style. I think you have to book, as if gets very popular.

 

[Boneman]

I have a season ticket to Cineworld, which makes me go regularly to get more than my money's worth... annoyingly, they dropped the international films they used to run (when they were french-owned), but I like going to see the good films 2-3 times.

 

[Dave]

Another voice of dissent here:

When I was a teenager I used to go weekly and see whatever was on that week. I don't do that anymore and it's true that I go much less frequently, but that is not because of the quality of the films. There are several reasons why I go less:-

1. The cost is much higher in comparison to when I was younger, but probably not if I was still young, as there are all kinds of concessions.
2. This is still a big problem for me: Audience Behaviour at the Cinema However, if you go midweek - a Wednesday or Tuesday afternoon, or if you go to one of these "community" cinemas Brixton Ritzy or Phoenix Cinema or Tyneside Cinema then it is more like visiting the theatre and behaviour is very much more formal. The "eating" and "drinking" thing has now unfortunately spread into theatres too. I'd actually rather that they banned food and drink and put up the ticket price, but I think they make too much money from it.

(I also have a friend in Denmark who runs the oldest continuously open cinema in the world. It is in the Guinness Book of Records. They are all volunteers but it is a proper cinema and that has a real community cinema atmosphere. I wish we had something similar here. There is a local school near me that shows films.)

Anyhow, it is not because the quality of the films on offer are poor. I don't only see SFF though. I do think there is a surfeit of Superhero movies but there have been some intelligent SF films recently and the latest Star Wars offerings were very good. Star Trek unfortunately has lost its way. However, in the last few years I have also seen some very good non-SFF films such as Room, The Lady in the Van, La La Land, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Suffragettes. Then there are also Jason Bourne and James Bond and Mission Impossible franchises.

Yes, they do come to online TV and DVD/Blu Ray very quickly, but it is a far superior experience watching on the big screen. That might be different if I had a home cinema set up.