We at Barking Mad About Films love our trips to the cinema, we just don’t think you can beat a trip to the big screen.
Sadly, we seem to be looking more and more like we are in the minority. Increased prices of tickets and the concessions stands and the even faster turn around of movies to DVD/BluRay/Streaming or Piracy means more people are happier to wait.
Of course, this obviously means cinemas have to see if it’s commercially viable to open all day, for most customers who are in a 9 to 5 job that means in the evening or the weekend and this has had a knock-on effect on our local cinema.
Something I understand having gone to afternoon screenings with only 2 -10 other customers watching the film of my choice!
However, huge blockbuster The Girl on the Train has just opened, based on the huge bestseller (our book review is here) yet Monday to Friday the earliest screening they have is at 15:30 so with the film being 2 hours and
Yet Monday to Friday, the earliest screening they have is at 15:30 so with the film being 2 hours and let’s say at the minimum the 30 minutes of adverts and trailers, you are not getting out till 6pm
I can recall as early as the 90’s booking time off work, desperate to see a new film at its first 10am screening, then the earliest moved to 12 but now it’s even later, as less and less want the cinema experience, due to price or even because modern technology allows a good as experience from your sofa!
It should be noted that when I first started to go the cinema, tickets were cheaper before 12, then a bit more until 5pm before the full rate was charged for the evening so day viewers saved money too.
WithThe girl on the trainat my cinema, once it starts showing at 15:30 it then continues on various screens every hour of the day till 9pm (so a late finish around 11:30pm)
Which sums it up really, clearly this film is expected to be popular to justify its 7 screenings a day from 3pm? So surely they could open one screen and show it at 1pm even if don’t open all its 8 screens.
They could even do it on 2 selected days a week so that day movie viewers could see it, say on a Friday and a Tuesday maybe?
I know this is very much a ‘first world problem’ and we are already looking at another film which starts at 3 and is half an hour shorter, so not as we are going to miss a trip to the cinema, but not everyone has a 9-5 job, so are they being excluded?
They obviously have earlier day screenings at the weekend, when they open for kids clubs, showing recent family films at a much reduced price at the end of their run so being open of course they cna show other films too!
But let’s say someone who has maybe retired and read the Girl on the train book and wanted to see the film, they go as a treat, they may want to go during the day with the darker nights coming in, but not the weekends when they maybe see family.
The option of seeing the film is then taken away, so they may wait the approx 4 months for the DVD release and decide it’s much better to watch at home with a tea and a biscuit, that’s a potential lost customer surely?
We’re not saying cinemas should open 24 hours a day but there surely has a better way to make films accessible for all peoples work lifestyles!
With companies like Netflix and Amazon creating their own content, cinemas should do more to encourage us in, I personally feel. I am lucky to have my unlimited cinema card, but sometimes you do feel that because you’ve paid that, they don’t need to make the effort!
Of course, things such as IMAX; 3-D and vibrating chairs are some options but they will increase that ticket price, which maybe puts some customers off!
We’ve blogged before about maybe getting the characters from films to tour screenings, but even studios think all we care about is online, long gone are the days of going to the cinema and finding a free postcard of a movies character poster or other promotional bits and pieces!
We did like Odeon who did a collectors ticket for Jurassic World (which looked like an admission ticket for the park but doubled up as your film ticket).
Sadly we do not have an Odeon near us so never got one, although we did get their collectors case for our Ghostbusters ticket!
It’s a shame that we may miss Girl on the Train but we are indeed lucky that it’s not as we’ll never see it, just our train trip may be a little delayed! We can always read the book again until then =)
Are you frustrated by film times or do you think the Drifters were right, you only care about Saturday Night at the Movies and you don’t even care what picture they are showing? We, as always, would love to hear from you
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