A Growing indifference to Cinema Going

[Elckerlyc]

Prometheus pretty much killed my interest in the Alien franchise.

I liked the first 5 minutes. On hind sight, those were the best scenes of the entire movie. Unfortunately the opening was followed up by a series of ridiculous scenes and events. And nowhere came it even close to the authenticity and suspense of Alien.
But what was really fatal imho was the next movie: Alien: Covenant.

 

[BAYLOR]

I liked the first 5 minutes. On hind sight, those were the best scenes of the entire movie. Unfortunately the opening was followed up by a series of ridiculous scenes and events. And nowhere came it even close to the authenticity and suspense of Alien.
But what was really fatal imho was the next movie: Alien: Covenant.

Ridley Scott and the writers ruined it with this nonsense film and its even worse sequel.

 

[CupofJoe]

I've actually been thinking about this.
Cinema has become a destination event. You go to the cinema with your friends to have an evening out, add in a meal and/or a few drinks [depending on age] and have an evening out. The film is a secondary [may be tertiary] event.
Most of the cinemas I know are surrounded by restaurants and bars, and usually have a coffee shop inside their doors. One has a Burger King underneath it, another has a Harvester [low end Family restaurant last time I looked]. At least two more have 2 or more chain restaurants within sight of the cinema.
The one that isn't like this is the only "art" cinema I know of. It is an occasional thing in a town hall with no pubs or restaurants nearby and accessible by most over a small bridge. At least there, there is an in-house bar, so you can buy a glass of wine or a cup of tea to go with your film. The quality of projection is not great [I'll swear some of their films are shown from DVD or BluRay] but you do get to watch a film in relative silence.

 

[Foxbat]

After much thought, I've realised what is behind my growing indifference to cinema - theatres are normally full of other people.

Concession: A thing that is granted or a preferential allowance given by an organisation.
Question: why is the food served at such places known as concession? It's not as if it's bestowed upon a person for some philanthropic reason, it's simply there to squeeze bundles of extra cash out of the cinema-going punters.

 

[CupofJoe]

After much thought, I've realised what is behind my growing indifference to cinema - theatres are normally full of other people.

Other People are the worst And that is only half a joke.

Concession: A thing that is granted or a preferential allowance given by an organisation.
Question: why is the food served at such places known as concession? It's not as if it's bestowed upon a person for some philanthropic reason, it's simply there to squeeze bundles of extra cash out of the cinema-going punters.

Probably a historical linguistic hangover from when you would get a licence or concession to sell wares in a certain area. You get concessions in Department Stores and at Fairs/Markets as well...

 

[Foxbat]

Other People are the worst And that is only half a joke.

Probably a historical linguistic hangover from when you would get a licence or concession to sell wares in a certain area. You get concessions in Department Stores and at Fairs/Markets as well...

Ah right. I think I see what you mean. The concession is for the vendor rather than the customer. Makes a bit more sense now

 

[Matteo]

L'enfer c'est les autres.

That John Paul bloke knew what he was talking about...

 

[Allegra]

Since DVD era ended I developed a growing interest to cinema going, mainly because I have no time for Netflix sort of things and would only watch the films I think really worth the time. So once in a while when a good new film comes out I just go to the cinema. But I can see the growing indifference in cinema going. I usually go to Saturday early afternoon show, there are often only a couple of people - that includes us. How do they make a profit? Ad and popcorn?

 

[BAYLOR]

Since DVD era ended I developed a growing interest to cinema going, mainly because I have no time for Netflix sort of things and would only watch the films I think really worth the time. So once in a while when a good new film comes out I just go to the cinema. But I can see the growing indifference in cinema going. I usually go to Saturday early afternoon show, there are often only a couple of people - that includes us. How do they make a profit? Ad and popcorn?

It would be nice if they made the popcorn , just a little less expensive.

 

[tegeus-Cromis]

After much thought, I've realised what is behind my growing indifference to cinema - theatres are normally full of other people.

My kids -- teen and almost-teen, respectively -- actually prefer going to crowded theaters, or at least don't like it if the theater is too empty. Where have I gone wrong?

 

[tegeus-Cromis]

Since DVD era ended

Ugh. I hate the idea this might be true. MP3s and music streaming have completely sapped my enjoyment of music, which used to be partly about acquiring the *object* -- the vinyl or CD -- and the hunt for it (I used to be an obsessive frequenter of used record stores), and also about the artistic entity of the *album*, expressed in its physical existence, not just about an endless stream of songs that all blend into each other. This has also put an end to the great era of classical remasters and new period instrument recordings, which peaked in the late '90s. It's a desert out there.

 

[KiraAnn]

I haven’t been to a movie in quite some time. Can’t really remember the last time. I’m thinking it was Wonder Woman.

The expense is driving film making out of existence, I feel. Seems to be fewer and fewer that are intended for the theater and not streaming services.

This Disney structure I think will be several nails in that coffin.

 

[Parson]

Yea, what did I hear 28 MILLION subscribers by Feb. 4? Wow

 

[AlexH]

The expense is driving film making out of existence, I feel. Seems to be fewer and fewer that are intended for the theater and not streaming services.

Cinema is stronger than it has been for a good few years in my opinion, with interesting, unique and exciting films released regularly. I was wondering if the success of streaming services and recent TV series has led to film-makers upping their game.

I visited the cinema twice on Wednesday, Birds of Prey followed by Parasite. Tickets are only £5 (US$6.50) outside of the weekend in Manchester, which I know is cheaper than many places.

 

[HanaBi]

After spending the last few months in Berlin, Germany once again, I have to say the cinema experience over there was far more rewarding and satisfying compared to over here (although admittedly I had to visit cinemas that showed "English Language Only" performances, resulting in fairly spartan auditoriums).

There was far less noise from the audience, far less distractions (phones going off) and reasonable prices.

 

[BAYLOR]

The Coronavirus Pandemic has put a damper on Cinema going. I wonder how things are going to be for the cinema business in the aftermath of this?

 

[KGeo777]

People will have to wear hazmat suits. The bonus is they will have 3d glasses built in.
Although I hear James Cameron is working on glass-less 3d--I wonder how that will be.
I have a Tasmanian Devil mouse pad that has a neat 3d effect without glasses required.

If such a thing existed 100 years ago or more, people would think it was sorcery.

 

[Vince W]

The change has already started. Films are being released to streaming devices at the same time as the cinema. The cost to rent them seems to be a little less than the price of two tickets. I would think if the reception to this is good we'll see concurrent releasing of all films. Streaming services will then compete for exclusivity while the film is in the cinema driving revenues up for the studios and the streaming service.

Some films will still be best seen on the big screens, but your typical rom-com and such won't be a big draw in the cinema any more and may lead to relegation to streaming only.

 

[Overread]

I wonder how will it will all last. On the one hand direct to streaming is a good thing as it means films don't have to get filtered through a cinema group - no more random time duration targets as a stream hasn't got to fit into a specific time frame in the same way a film in the cinema does.

That said there's a few negatives:
1) The experience is less for most. Streaming on your PC is nothing like the cinema.

2) DVD/Blueray/whatever - physical ownership gets harder to justify if your customerbase is already streaming the product. Indeed it could turn out being a big negative for consumers if the big hollywood studios all get their own movie streaming service. On the one hand one would be cheap an get you a lot of free films; but on the other its another subscription service and you can bet there'd be multiple ones. So suddenly you'd have to either jump around or end up with a lot going out to different streaming services - and that's before adding TV streaming too.

3) If you buy DVD you have the film in its single format on that disk. If someone then releases an HD remaster you can buy that too, but it will never change the original you owned. Streaming services though are unlikely to want to have two or three versions of the same film. Classic cuts could be lost. Whilst in general directors cuts are better, there's a few out here (Starwars A New Hope being a fantastic example) where the changes are not always desired by teh community at large.

 

[Judderman]

The modern, golden age of TV is drawing to close as the number of streaming services expands. Yes, there is an expanding variety of quality viewing. But I think it is a struggle to find new series that are outstanding. Several years ago the variety was increasing, but I feel some of the shows were closer to unmissable. Now perhaps it has spread too much, and reboots of series are on the cards. This has already happened to cinema. But I feel the "magic" of cinema may keep people coming back, still wanting an event rather than a series binge at home.