[Closed] Am I now officially old and tight?? (cinema content)

It has got rather expensive. We booked tickets for toy story online and got charged £1.50 for the privilege! And the standard price is £8 odd for a ticket not. Explains why orange wednesdays are so popular although I just cant bring myself to queue for an hour in the hope that I get into the film that I want!

our local chain offers a membership scheme where you can pay £7.99 per person per year & then you pay £3.99 for any film.

The same card gives you 10% off snacks & booze.

I think we made the money back within a month...

And they wonder why people download movies!!!

No you're not tight. I don't know how old you are.

I refuse to buy popcorn at the concession stand, all I can see is 10p worth of ingredients for a large bag. I'd rather not be dry-bummed immediately before sitting down for a couple of hours, thank you!

We recently bought a popcorn pan, it'll pay for itself in 3 or 4 cinema visits if we can get organised enough to make a batch before heading out.

I think the issue with illegal downloads isn't related to the price of popcorn, it's more to do with folks who don't want to pay for something they enjoy. Personally I enjoy the cinema, it's an event. I support my local, independent cinema and the people who make the films that they show.

I'm 35 and thought I was starting to get a touch of the victor meldrews!! When my doey eyed 8 yr old asked for popcorn tho I couldn't refuse. Thankfully the mrs was prepped with drinks an sweets in her bag or it would have been no holiday at the end of the month!!!! Oh and talking of booking charges, it was a pound a ticket, on the bloody interweb so you do all the work yourself!!!!!
Thieves!!

Don't mind paying for the cinema tickets but the optional extras are just bloody ridiculous. The cinemas have improved loads over the years with large comfortable seats, surround sound and air con that actually works.

Sweets, popcorn etc... have just got more and more expensive. No wonder people sneak in bags of sweets and drinks with them.

We used to buy pick n mix from Wollies in readiness for cinema visits. It really is obscene how much they charge.

A default status of Tightwad is a good thing, as long as you can be persuaded by those around you to occasionally bend. I've been actively living the life of Victor since my twenties. I have no problem buying nice things and spending money but popcorn prices are guaranteed to be met with extreme rant!

Orange Wednesdays + Snax from Lidl/Aldi on the way in = Night out for 2 for £10. 8)

Hey, you can get Woolies pick'n'mix online now, I know this as I helped build the website! BTW the website is pants ...oh the shame!

I always take in supplies - the prices they ask for food and drink is just ridiculous. I'm aware and accept that I'll be paying way over supermarket prices, but not THAT much!

Film prices are getting bad too - I'm renting DVDs more and more these days.

Yeah the drinks etc are ridiculously priced and I never buy them. I don't mind paying for the films though since it's much better quality than anything I'll download at home (cba to wait for hd stuff to download either), bigger screen, better atmosphere (apart from the rustling as mentioned below) and much better sound quality.

Anyone else get annoyed when there's a quiet bit and all you can hear is rustling of sweet packets and munching of popcorn? I bloody hate it, there's not really any need to eat in a cinema..

Things don't seem to stay on long at the cinema these days. Films have normally been and gone by the time we think about going, luckily they come out on dvd shortly after and buying that is cheaper than the cinema anyway

Cinema seats might be comfy but they've always got the air con cranked on full so it's freezing and plays havoc with my eyes (contact lenses), it's a far nicer experience watching stuff at home.

if you're near a cineworld, the unlimited cards (£12/month for unlimited films) make sense if you go more than once a month. They've started charging extra for 3d films now, which is a bit of a pain, however if you go on wednesday the orange 2 for 1 still works, meaning you get 2 folk in for free

And they wonder why people download movies!!!

Thank god for the Bay eh? I only ever go on Orange Wednesdays anymore. My partner is a student, so you pay for one student ticket which works out as a few quid each then another few quid for some nibbles from the supermarket. Sorted.

Irritates the **** out of me too. Orange Wednesdays FTW.

3 quid Monday to Friday at Bognor Picturdrome. A whole pound more at the weekend. Stuck in the fifties but in a nice way..
http://www.picturedromebognor.com/

The combination of orange Wednesdays and my out-of-date student card get me and the missus into the canary wharf cinema for 3.75 each. Wednesday is also the day we have an overnight babysitter (gfs mum) and the cinema is next to my gym so i can grab the tickets at lunchtime while there's no queue.

There is almost always a 2for1 voucher for one of the restaurants here as well, and there is a Lloyds bar near the cinema too. We can do a meal, cinema, and get drunk all for about 30 quid between the two of us.

Tight? Moi?

£6.90 each by us, doesn't seem that long ago it was £2 something.

Doubt I'll bother again!

£4 for stalls and £4.50 for circle @ the Regent, Marple. Ice creams £1 each in the intermission too. Yum

http://www.regent-marple.co.uk/

Back when I was a canny lad about town, a night at the cinema was the cheap option - £2.50 a go. Popcorn wasn't much more expensive either (at 1992 prices).

I think the cinema chains have exploited a captive audience to some extent, but then my interest in blockbusters has waned.

Only go once or twice a year now. It's not that I can't afford it; I just hate paying that sort of money. Have a blu-ray player and big TV at home instead. As others have said, it's no bloody wonder that people pirate movies.

Also... NACHOS! Why would you want to sit in a f***** cinema and eat something so obnoxious it overpowers a 2000W IMAX soundtrack and simultaneously has everyone within 20 feet of you trying not to throw up.

we usually go to the supermarket down the road and buy our junkfood there. Cinemas can't stop you taking your own sweeties in.

I've never seen the point of the cinema. Especially in a date type secenario, no talking, can't look at each other, sitting next to each other in silence for hours at a time. I've got years of married life ahead of me for that!!

£5/£6/£7/£8 a head to watch a big telly wedged into a seat, no elbow room and a sticky carpet and some dick talking through it or dropping popcorn down your neck.

Do me a favour...

I have always maintained that the cinema is the one thing that you do if there is abouluotley positivly NOTHING else worth doing.
I'd rather be outside or doing something more positive, riding my bike perhpas to take an example entirly at random.

Yeah people who come to the cimena for a bloody picnic instead of watching the film wind me up a little bit. I very rarely eat anything at the cinema, I'm there to watch a film not eat crappy fast food

Is there a relationship between piracy and cinema prices?

£34 would get you 1 ticket for a premier league game with entertainment last the same period of time.
£38 would get you a ticket to Alton Towers for a day's worth of entertainment

It's all relative.

I'm off work today. About to head out and watch Inception for £3. Special price on a Tuesday. The 3D screenings are the same price as standard, £3 on a tuesday and £5 rest of the week. Nice cinema as well.

I can't abide big cinemas - aside from the fact that blockbuster films hold no appeal for me, the whole experience looks miserable.

Standing in an endless queue of delinquent tracksuit-wearers with no manners before being charged an exorbitant ticket price then herded through a gaudy, sticky-carpeted buffet for the morbidly obese to then sit for the duration of the film amongst people who find it perfectly acceptable to use mobile phones, endlessly eat and [b]talk[/b] during a film with no consideration for anyone else.

Pass me the Social Cleanser.

Naranjada - Member

I refuse to buy popcorn at the concession stand, all I can see is 10p worth of ingredients for a large bag.

I support [s]my local, independent cinema and[/s] the people who make the films that they show.

I think that's what you meant to say. The cost of cinema tickets covers distribution of the reel (or digital copy if the cinema has a digital projector) and basically goes straight back to the distributor and the film makers. Which is good. But doesn't pay for the existence of the cinema, which makes its money through the sale of food and drink.

I work in a cinema and it gets my goat when middle aged grumps moan about the cost of food or the tickets. You're not being forced to go! And please don't moan or make a sarcastic/withering comment to whoever serves you - we're all on minimum wage and frankly the last thing we need on a 10hr shift is to bear the brunt of some miserable c**t's whinging!

Ahem.

And as mentioned, there are cheap options e.g. our cinema has a kids screening on Saturday and Sunday mornings so tickets are 95p each for parent and child, there's a cheap Tuesday where you can get tickets as cheap as £2.60, and of course Orange Wednesdays. There's little enforcement these days of people bringing their own food with them - our customers happily bring Starbucks, M&S and Boots meal deals etc with them. One good example where I work is packets of Minstrels/Maltesers/etc, where we sell them for £3.50. You can get them from Asda down the street for £1 or in the newagents in the centre for £2. Same with Oasis at £2.15 a bottle, or buy from the vending machines that most folk walk past on the way from the carpark for £1.

I went to the flicks recently and there weren't any of those problems, the rustling of wrappers stopped at the end of the adverts, no talking in the film, and for a moment at the end of the film I thought there'd be a round of applause.

(Inception on the second day after release)

I just cant
bring myself to queue for an hour in the hope that I get into the film that I want!

I went to see Inception last Wed. The ticket queue was right out the door and through the car park.

Whipped out my phone, booked tickets on interweb, went inside and collected them from the machine which had no queue at all. Job done. 😀

For all those who can't stand the rustling of sweet packets, may I suggest you never attend a cinema in India.

And, unless it's the first time you've been (in which case you'll have been too awestruck at the size of the screen), then surely you know that there is bound to be more in the way of distraction than you'd get at home with the telephone unplugged?

I'm sorry kit but I'm neither middle aged nor grumpy, but I haven't got thus far in life by being bent over, and as someone else up there said "dry humped"!!! No matter what£ 6.40 for a drink and pop corn is eyewateringly expensive, and the fact you say "we're all on minimum wage" would make me even angrier because I reckon there's probably £5.50's worth of mark up there!!!

Kit - Member
[snip] There's little enforcement these days of people bringing their own food with them...[/snip]

In life before kids, MrsG and I used to take a bottle of wine and a pie (pie for me) to the cinema. Many disapproving looks. 8)

Am I now officially old and tight??

I had to use the toilet at "The Plough" on Coldharbour at the top of Wolven's Lane recently and had to buy something that would make me a "customr" and give me access.

They charged me £1 for a packet of peanuts and I immediately got grumpy about it. "£1? Are you sure?" etc..

On reflection, I realised that I had acheived that state of grumpy grace that comes to all who reach "a certain age" so in answer to your question:

Yes.

But doesn't pay for the existence of the cinema, which makes its money through the sale of food and drink.

There's little enforcement these days of people bringing their own food with them

projector screen and popcorn maker at home now - paid for itself very quickly.

(plus I don't have to cough up for a babysitter - at £5 an hour to watch tv and eat my food..... oh yeah and look after the safety of my children, but still...)

[i]Orange Wednesdays + Snax from Lidl/Aldi on the way in = Night out for 2 for £10.[/i]

[shirley bassey]The minute you walked in the joint, I could tell you were a man of distinction, a real big spendaaaaaar![/shirley bassey]

🙂

@ mr woppitt!! 😉 I'm with you then!!

It's true, cinemas can only make money from the popcorn etc because the film companies are doing them over in turn. The only people who are not being done over are those at the top of the chain - the studios, and the big stars.

$20m for six months work - do me a favour.

That's where your money is going.

No matter what£ 6.40 for a drink and pop corn is eyewateringly expensive, and the fact you say "we're all on minimum wage" would make me even angrier because I reckon there's probably £5.50's worth of mark up there!!!

So are you saying that cinemas are not a business and shouldn't be allowed to make money? Cinemas aren't charities! It's actually very difficult for a cinema to make money - try setting one up yourself and see how you get on, without charging high prices for either tickets or food (or both) AND provide comfy seats, pleasant air conditioning for everyone, clean toilets, quality sound and projection, and friendly, enthusiastic customer service.

I'm sure the vast majority of people know that food at cinemas is expensive and always has been (for me anyway, and I'm 30) so why do people still insist on buying it then moaning about the price!

Re: chicken and egg - its accepted that people bring their own food and cinemas would probably lose a significant number of customers if they weren't allowed to. The high prices reflect the only way that a large cinema can make money to pay their staff, cover overheads etc as your ticket price covers largely distribution only.

Oh, and I'm not saying that I don't like the high prices either, but that's how it is and always will be, so you either accept it and enjoy the cinema experience, or don't go! Just don't complain to the cinema staff about it...

There is definitely a 'no bring your own' policy at Reel Cinemas.

When challenged (which I was) I asked if they could guarantee their concessions were nut free? They backed off.

I only asked 🙂

100% sure neither myself or my sprogs have any kind of allergy..

That said, I don't mind ticket prices too much - only go maybe 3 times a year, and it's not bad value really for the experience. I know several people with very high end TVs and BluRay and Surround, and whilst it's very very very good, it still isn't the same as a monster screen.

Old and tight? No, just sensible in my opinion.

I haven't bothered with going to the cinema for years. If a film looks like it is going to be any good I just wait until the DVD comes out and then wait another couple of months until it is reduced to half price. That way I can watch the film for less than the price of a cinema ticket in a comfy seat with a few beers and not have to worry about some chav in the row behind chewing with his mouth open whilst talking into a mobile phone.