We at BMAF love going to the cinema, you can’t beat seeing a film on the big screen!
Granted TV’s are getting bigger so you can see more articles of sheds being turned into home cinemas etc but films normally grace cinemas first so we’ll always go there
Our cinema chain of choice (and we don’t have a lot of choice where we live) is Cineworld thanks to there amazing unlimited card which makes going to cinema as frequently as possible doable for a monthly fee. I think it works out that provided I see a minimum of 3 films a month I save money
Cineworld also brought in D-box which are chairs that vibrate along with car chases etc in an action film and even 4DX adding smoke, water etc to the film. They also brought in IMAX screens to let you see films on biggest screen possible
Sadly the truth is they need to do this, look for a tweet about a film and you can probably find a link to illegally downloading it! Piracy is something I would never do as it kills future production and quite frankly it doesn’t excite me in same way as seeing it on big screen does
But I understand why it’s done, take John Wick, the day it came out in UK cinemas it was out in the US on home video, chipping your DVD machine means you could have brought it from US for keeps at probably less than cost of seeing film in cinema, on TV take Game of Thrones, when it is shown in US, Sky pretty much show it in UK same day and that needs to follow
Yes, entrance cost is getting higher & higher, a family buying food with the 2 adults 2 children tickets to see a film on the big screen could be looking at over £50 to see a film compared to renting or even buying at around 4 months later at home for considerably less, the days are gone of waiting year for home rental release, in fact some films now get dual online/DVD/Cinema release
New ideas are done to get people to return to cinemas and ticket prices unlikely to go down as profits need to be made, when I first started going, it was half the price if went before 5 now it’s about a £1 saving
But cinemas are not making it easy for themselves, you see cineworld and I’m sure your local multiplex has too have brought in Allocated seating
I get on a weekend evening this can be a great idea as popular films fill up, but I had to select a seat seeing Vacation during day when only 5 people in screen, quite frankly that’s embarrassing but more concerning I have seen people no longer go as want to select where they sit in Cinema & be able to move if person next to them is noisy eater, uses phone, talks etc in fact there are Facebook and Twitter pages urging the boycott of ‘No Allocated Seats’
It clearly appears to be here to stay and sole purpose seems to get people to book online so they need less kiosk staff but oddly it may cost them money, when booking online I collect ticket from machine not kiosk so temptation to buy sweets passed me by
What do you think cinemas should do to improve experience & get more movie goers into screens, do you like allocated seating?
When used to go, free posters & postcards where about but not anymore, I did like that Odeon gave away a collectible Jurassic World entrance ticket, that seems like a great idea! Displays for future films of late have been great for encouraging the selfie generations, what would you love to see more of?
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