A Growing indifference to Cinema Going

[bedlamite]

When I first went to the cinema, all you could get were very small vanilla ice cream tubs with a wooden stick and packets of boiled sweets, but tell that to kids today and they'd never believe you.

I remember those days.

 

[Vladd67]

And a Kiora carton with a straw. A paper straw that went soggy and unusable before you finished your drink.

 

[Cathbad]

View attachment 35305

I remember those days.

Lucky dog... he had a stick to play with...

 

[Dave]

And a Kiora carton with a straw. A paper straw that went soggy and unusable before you finished your drink.

I remember that too. Why?

 

[BAYLOR]

View attachment 35305

I remember those days.

I have a cap exactly like that. Im not kidding I really do.

 

[HanaBi]

I remember that too. Why?

..and you must also remember those Pearl & Dean ads? Especially the "pa par pa par pa par" jingle bit!

 

[BAYLOR]

Perhaps the age of Cinema has passed ?

 

[RX-79G]

I don't think so.

 

[Vladd67]

..and you must also remember those Pearl & Dean ads? Especially the "pa par pa par pa par" jingle bit!

Back when you had special ads for the cinema not just tv ads on the big screen.

 

[Dave]

..and you must also remember those Pearl & Dean ads? Especially the "pa par pa par pa par" jingle bit!

Yes, with the almost "home made" adverts for the local curry house and hairdresser.

 

[Mouse]

I remember when there used to be an 'interval' where you'd buy ice cream and go for a wee. They should bring that back instead of people getting up and wandering about during the films and kids getting fidgety and kicking seats. I still like going to the cinema (as long as I can sit at the back so there's nobody behind me) but it's expensive and I only go when there's a film on I really, really want to see. Last film I saw was Lego Batman.

 

[SilentRoamer]

I remember when there used to be an 'interval' where you'd buy ice cream and go for a wee. They should bring that back instead of people getting up and wandering about during the films and kids getting fidgety and kicking seats. I still like going to the cinema (as long as I can sit at the back so there's nobody behind me) but it's expensive and I only go when there's a film on I really, really want to see. Last film I saw was Lego Batman.

I know the Dome Cinema in West Worthing was still doing this as recently as the last round of Harry Potter films. The interval is normally called the interlude (at least in the UK) and I like them for the following reasons:

Firstly I can stretch my legs and take a toilet break if necessary without missing the film.
Secondly I can get more to eat after most likely finishing my first round of snacks.
Thirdly and most importantly, I can discuss the film with whoever I am watching it with. (That's assuming I haven't gone alone which I do often).

 

[BAYLOR]

I remember when there used to be an 'interval' where you'd buy ice cream and go for a wee. They should bring that back instead of people getting up and wandering about during the films and kids getting fidgety and kicking seats. I still like going to the cinema (as long as I can sit at the back so there's nobody behind me) but it's expensive and I only go when there's a film on I really, really want to see. Last film I saw was Lego Batman.

The movie intermission . Might not be a bad idea to bring that back.

 

[Vince W]

Films would have to get much better than they are now for people to put up with an intermission.

My wife and I went to the cinema regularly for many years, but recently we've pretty much given up on it. The overall quality of the film is not what it used to be. The reliance on effects over story is boring.

Also, when I was a kid going to the cinema was a big event for us. For most people really and most people knew enough not to talk over the dialogue. Now many people spend half the film on the phone and only look up for big noises.

But the worst has to be when a parent marches in a load of kids, sets them down with sugar snacks and then buggers off to leave them for the duration. Mayhem is virtually ensured.

 

[CAKnight]

I used to have a Cineworld Unlimited card but with the drop in any original films (seems to be only remakes and superhero movies), plus anti-social behaviour, I've given it up and only go for major releases now.

 

[BAYLOR]

Then again , a film comes along that restores you interest in cinema going, jut a bit.

Skull Island.

 

[Curt Chiarelli]

Speaking as an ardent, life-long movie fan, my own cinema-going habits have also tapered off to practically nothing in the last ten years. The reasons are threefold: 1) The unchecked rudeness of my fellow cinema patrons and the theatre management's unwillingness to uphold any kind of standard of conduct that allows other people to enjoy a film in peace; 2) The quality and range of subject matter of many major studio releases has narrowed considerably in the last thirty years. Thanks mostly to the greed and play-it-safe conservatism that results from it in Hollywood, every film that doesn't become a massive, record-shattering blockbuster on its opening weekend is considered a dismal failure. Thus, fewer films are being released and those that do get made often pander to the lowest common denominator; and 3) The ticket cost has skyrocketed. And considering the foregoing two points, I think my time is better spent drawing, painting, sculpting, writing essays and listening to classical music.

 

[Brian G Turner]

One thing I really don't like about the cinema, but don't hear anyone talk about, is the flicker.

I see it whenever there's movement, but it's especially obviously on wide landscape shots, when the camera then starts to pan. It's like the frame rate drops to something like 10 frames a second.

The effect is still there on DVD, but it's far less pronounced for being on a smaller screen.

Does anyone else get that? I presume it can't just be me??

 

[Foxbat]

One thing I really don't like about the cinema, but don't hear anyone talk about, is the flicker.

I see it whenever there's movement, but it's especially obviously on wide landscape shots, when the camera then starts to pan. It's like the frame rate drops to something like 10 frames a second.

The effect is still there on DVD, but it's far less pronounced for being on a smaller screen.

Does anyone else get that? I presume it can't just be me??

Yes. I've noticed flicker. I've also noticed an increase in grain depending on the shot.

You can also see if a movie has been poorly transferred from film to digital for DVD release. The tell-tale sign is normally a very slightly visible layer of dust particles that is static even when the shot is not (as if you're looking through a dirty window). This is caused by a transfer box using mirrors - film projected into box, bounced from mirrors that are not perfectly clean and recorded by a digital camera. The best quality transfers use automated scanners but they are very expensive and out of the reach of many small companies

I've never really seen these as an annoyances as such - but then again, I mostly spend my movie watching time on oldies on DVD and they are usually full of flicker, grain and 'dirty windows'

I almost never go to the cinema any more. The last time I thought about going was when an Edinburgh cinema was showing The Good, The Bad And The Ugly on the big screen a couple of years ago. In the end, I couldn't be bothered and watched it on DVD instead.

 

[Curt Chiarelli]

One thing I really don't like about the cinema, but don't hear anyone talk about, is the flicker.

I see it whenever there's movement, but it's especially obviously on wide landscape shots, when the camera then starts to pan. It's like the frame rate drops to something like 10 frames a second.

The effect is still there on DVD, but it's far less pronounced for being on a smaller screen.

Does anyone else get that? I presume it can't just be me??

Yes, I've noticed that stroboscopic effect (often referred to as "judder"), in particular when the camera is panning too quickly on a moving foreground object in the frame, with the worst results occurring when there is some kind of patterned background in the shot, like a brick wall. It's recommended by the American Cinematographer Manual that the frame width should not be covered in more than seven seconds during a pan or else artifacts will occur onscreen. Also, the camera's shutter angle can be adjusted to mitigate this problem. Over the years this problem has become less frequent to the point where the only time I see it nowadays is when I watch older films from the 1970s and 1980's.