Now with home cinema systems does anybody actually go ? I went last week to watch Hobbs and Shaw for the first time in like 6 years and enjoyed it, however the pricing was a bit steep at £12 per ticket
Love going to the cinema to see blockbusters and get the full effect but for many other films the benefits are minor.
I find that if you do your research and use offers you can generally get a ticket for around £6 to £8.
I’ve got a membership for Picturehouse in Norwich (Cinema City) so I get money off tickets and free never tickets too. Makes sure I get out of the house occasionally.
My local cinema tickets are only £3.50
Tree fiddy aint bad lol.
Cheapest I can get is one free ticket to accompany me with a " CEA " card
Sounds like you’re being short-changed! Cinema tickets in Cardiff are just £2.90
Absolutely love my CEA card!
I’d got bored of cinemas for quite a while. High prices, too many people making noise etc. and I only really went for the big films, usually on IMAX. But lately, the cinemas I go to have moved towards the experience more than just cramming people in. I went to see Toy Story 4 in the Lowry cinema in Salford and loved it! Every seat was a recliner, an electric recliner at that, and they all had a little fold away table as well. Couple that with a pint of Brewdog and I was a happy lad.
Also went to one in Stockport, and that was similar. It was a good place to meet, with unique beers and coffees available and every seat was massive. Before the film started, a lad stood up at the front, introduced himself as the usher, laid out the rules and told us he would help in any way he could. So now, I’m at the cinema more and more!
Yeah, but buy the time I travel to Cardiff I may as well pay the extra Unless it’s a work day, in which case it’s around the corner once every 2 weeks! (I’m based near St Fagans, but get the joys of Charles Street every other Friday if I’ve been good )
Every few years I get a cineworld card for the year but always end up cancelling as I dont use it enough after the first few months. There’s rarely anything I rush out to see anymore - I’m not a fan of superhero blockbuster movies. I really like smaller indie movies these days, and platforms like Curzon Home Cinema release stuff VOD at the same time as their cinema screenings so I can watch it at home really easily. I do go if I’ve got friends eager to see something but it’s a rarity.
Absolutely hate having people talking and making noise while watching. Still don’t understand the lack of headphone ports on seats, suuuuurely it makes sense. You’d still get the vibrations from the big speakers, and be able to block out the idiots who dont know how to sit quietly through a movie.
Only option then really is go for an early viewing, ours was about 1030 and had about 10 people at the most watching, no distractions whatsoever as it was so loud ( dolby atmos ) you couldn’t hear anyone
Was the showcase cinema delux with the upgraded version called " x plus " which had lovely electric reclining seats
We’ve got one of those new fancy Odeons with the reclining leather chairs and the new screens.
I would go there just to sit and pay to be honest.
Just managed to accidentally delete my own post. That’s quite the skill…
Anyway…
I stopped going to the cinema years ago. Once films were readily available at home I just couldn’t justify the price. There was nothing worth paying for.
Then, Vue renovated their cinemas. And for the past year or two, I’ve been a regular visitor again. I go an average of once a month. It’s all about the experience, for me. The comfortable reclining seats with fold-out tables and the whole cinema screen environment. Now I’ll pay to go even if I’m not completely excited about the films that are available, if I haven’t been in a while, just because I love the experience.
I recently decided to ‘slum it’ at our local Odeon because the film I wanted to see wasn’t showing at Vue during the time I had available. I was immediately reminded why I stopped going to the cinema in the first place. Small screen, standard old-style cinema seating, really nothing special - and it changed the whole experience, too. At Vue, people are engaged in what they’re watching. The Odeon cinema has phone screens everywhere and people chatting all through the film.
If I’m paying for cinema tickets, they need to provide me with an experience significantly better than sitting at home. Vue does that with big screens, great sound, comfortable reclining seats.
Honestly, if they broaden their live music options then they could have me visiting at least once a week I imagine. I love live music but struggle a lot with gigs, so their live concert screenings could be absolutely amazing for me, but at the moment they’re so limited and infrequent. Still, it’s a start.
So yes, I’ll pay for the experience. I also enjoy a local independent cinema that has plush velvet two-seater sofas in small rooms with mood lighting. We seem to be the only people to visit that cinema, and it’s also a lovely comfortable experience.
But you will never get me in an Odeon again.
I usually see between 10-25 films a month at the cinema (including re-watches). My local Cineworld are £12 a ticket, but I have an Unlimited card which works out at £12.50 a month after discounts through my work
I would love to go more but it’s just so expensive I can’t justify it
I don’t know how many there are but here in Birmingham, one of the Odeons got upgraded recently to Odeon Luxe, with properly reclining chairs, and it’s awesome. Perhaps their method of competing with the Vue renovations you mentioned.
I go to one a few miles away down the motorway, it’s usually quiet especially the later viewings , as long as it isn’t a new release blockbuster there’s max 10 people there and has been a few times only us.
I tend to go maybe once a month, and it’s only £5 a film over here.
Sadly it’s nigh on impossible to see a decent non-braindead Hollywood blockbuster even in London these days. Still I do make the effort when something good is on. End up seeing more live soundtracks than anything else some years. Having said that, Animals is out now and is great.
Vue is the only option here, although you can get £4 tickets on mondays by just setting up an account on their website, so that makes it more reasonable to go there relatively frequently.
Reviving a bit of an old thread
“The firm will blame the lack of summer blockbusters as a reason behind its sharp downfall but in reality its aggressive acquisition plan has taken on too much debt and this was always a huge risk as interest rates rise,” said Walid Koudmani, chief market analyst at the financial brokerage XTB.
“Moreover, the move to stay-at-home entertainment and streaming providers has created a pivotal shift in the way consumers enjoy films, and Cineworld simply has not adapted fast enough. It’s all quite sad as the UK’s high street will now likely lose a popular and familiar brand name.”