Saturday afternoon, Bikes to Stafford station, train to Birmingham New St. Couple of pints in the Victoria, film in the Electric, plenty of good food nearby afterwards, train back to Stafford, into the Railway Inn for a couple more, wobble home.
Yes, once a month . Local vue is only a fiver and we take out own sweets and juice.
Used to go a lot, but with work shifts these days it makes it difficult to fit a visi in. Did see Akita Battle Angel in the local cinema, which has had a lot of money spent doing it up, with an additional three screen, making it much, much better, and hopefully I’ll get to see the new Terminator film, which looks like it needs the big screen.
I go loads. Still can’t beat seeing a film on the big screen. Haven’t had much problem with morons talking through films lately- seems most people who do go to the cinema these days like the experience too. You do get the odd twonk getting their phone out, but not many.
Markup on drinks and sweets is ridiculous, so we’ll pop in to Tesco on the way. Do occasionally fancy an ice cream at Vue though 😋
I used to go a lot
Almost exclusively in 'empty cinema' slots
Mostly lost me when projectors went digital and CGI became intrusive
Now we have a snug at home with biggish TV/Sonos/Prime/Netflix so I can get most of the perceived spectacle closing the blinds and raising the volume
The test for me was when I could play se7en on blue ray and get the same experience that I had when I first saw it in the cinema (except I know then ending)
I just run 6 months behind and watch at home, 4k screen, surround sound, sofa 2 big bags of pop corn for £1. No talkers, no mobile phones, no smellies, no fidgets in polyester rain jackets, no peering round other peoples heads and a fast forward (useful during Godzilla)
Yes, helps that it’s a short walk to my local independent cinema, it’s got three screens and its £4 a ticket regardless. I love the place.
Pretty much word for word here too.
We live in a fairly rough town, but we never have idiots in the audience...
Great place.
I have a good set up at home with a dedicated room and projector but still go to the cinema a fair bit.
I go a reasonable amount, and my eldest (15) is a big fan. Food and drink is pricey but we tend to take our own sweets and I’ll just buy a coffee..
Definitely - but I’m lucky enough to have a rather high end cinema with a good quality restaurant near me. It’s a good night out: decent noms followed by a film....but it’s not exactly cheap!
decent noms
/banned
Not very often, but I enjoy it.
We've got a couple of out-of-town jobs, loads of parking and plus Busses/Train/Uber if you fancy a drink.
I don't know how to write this without sounds a bit dickish, but I wouldn't dream of buying any of their food, I sometimes buy a drink, but I see people with armloads of stuff. Do they worry if they go 2 hours without feeding they'll go hungry?
I love going to the cinema (2 or 3 times a month) and we are lucky to have the choice of multi screens or arthouse venues. IMO ,there is nothing beats watching a big screen movie with an appreciative (and well behaved) audience, it adds to the whole experience, so I tend to leave the Odeons and Cineworlds for the big noisy blockbusters, where it's easier to ignore/block out the other users and their jetsam.
I went back last week on my own to see another showing of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, not just because I really liked the film but because it was the last chance to see it being shown on projectors (one of the only two places in Scotland).
I don't have a mahoosive telly or home cinema room so I really hope these wee arthouse cinemas and the big multis can tough it out under the wave of streaming. Unsurprisingly you can guess that I also like record stores, bookshops and reading newspapers.Apologies for being old 😉
working away from from home i usually go about once a week - certainly in winter anyway. i also take the kids to see all the big releases on a weekend. i have vitality health plan that awards me a free ticket per week which is useful in London, then the local Vue to home is £4.99 for any film at any time. being such a regular means i cannot abode a poorly behaved audience! you kindda expect it at Toy Story or something but went to see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood at an Odeon in Kingston recently and it was diabolical. people openly conversing - not even whispers, cracking of beer cans, late arrivals, early darters, crisp packets, glaring phones... absolutely spoiled it for me.
Also never buy any of their wares!
yes - the light cinema at Addlestone - nice big reclining seats and you can take your bar drinks and pizza in with you. About £10 but good discount if a member.
Does anyone still say they "go to the pictures". I do 🙂
Yup,but then I still say "mix tapes" 🙂
Avoid the multiplex places because they are expensive, soul-less, and full of annoying people more interested in their phone and tipping popcorn on the floor.
However, my local cinema is great - independent, cheap, full of people actually interested in watching films, nice bar upstairs and a good range of films from the latest blockbusters to one-off live screenings, oldies and niche films.
Yup,but then I still say “mix tapes
I use my Sky box to tape things off the telly.
If you want an authentic cinema experience than go to the Lonsdale Cinema in Annan.
It only seats about 70 people on red velvet seats and if you order food then the lady brings it in for you. It's oldskool brilliant.
Do you still go to the cinema?
No, haven't been to cinema for at least 20 years now. 😅
Went to see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in Suva, Fiji recently. Awesome La-z-boy type seats with a table between each pair. The barrista brought my coffee to my seat. Very enjoyable.
However, I don't go much at home. Too expensive, noisy and crap. We still take the kids to big movies like TS4 and I'll sometimes go to something I really want to see but on a quiet afternoon/night.
We're spoiled a bit because I built a cinema room at the house - La-z-boy chairs, 12ft screen, darkest purple paint, huge Yamaha/Kef Reference/REL sound system etc. On Blu-Ray/4k it's as good/better than all the cinemas near us.
The main exception is the newest Bond film. I've seen every Bond movie at the flicks since The Spy Who Loved Me in 1977 (IIRC) so I kinda like keeping that streak going.....
Many years ago when I worked shifts, I used to go all the time. First showing - early afternoon on a weekday; there'd be me and maybe 4 other people (all on their own) and it was super cheap.
Now on the rare occasions I go it's either the films that really need a big screen (Mission Impossible: Fallout was amazing on Imax) or the slightly more arty films where generally you don't get kids throwing food around. Can't belive how expensive it is now though.
Maybe I'm fondly remembering back to my student days where it was £1.50 with student discount!
Yes.
We still go to the 'pictures to watch a film' (not movie, I'm British you see).
Our lovely local cinema (The Regent in Marple) is a 6 minute walk away.
£6 for the stalls, £6.50 for the circle, these are big plush seats. Ice creams at intermission, still reasonably priced.
Also the cinema goers are polite, rarely have I seen the use of phones, or much crackling of sweetie wrappers. However the average age here is about 65.
The cinema is run by 2 brothers who are respected.
Can’t belive how expensive it is now though
Odeon: £5; Vue: £4.99-£5.50 depending on film/time. Pretty good if you ask me.
When I was a student there were three cinemas on the main street in Cardiff. We used to walk between them to check listings on a sign outside... The fancy high tech one was an Odeon in the shopping centre at one end. They closed in I think 2000 and simply closed the doors and boarded it up. They reopened it recently under another name, it's now £3/4 a ticket so we go there.
First time in was an intense blast from the past. The local paper did a thing about it, when they opened it back up all the 2000 movie posters were still up, there was still ground in popcorn on the floor etc.
Probably go twice a year. Went on Wednesday for the tarantino film - the Odeon with the reclining seats and acres of legroom. £20 for two tickets and toom a couple of cans of beer in with us. Afternoon show so almoat empty. No problems with other customers.
It's spoiled me for standard cinemas with no legroom and narrow poorly paded seats. Doubt I'll be back in them.
Took the lad to see Toy Story 4 recently, which was his first ever cinema experience that he can remember. Went when he was in a carry-cot to see Deadpool which might have been the most recent time before!
Odeon: £5; Vue: £4.99-£5.50 depending on film/time. Pretty good if you ask me.
not down here - the local is £9.50 peak, £8 off-peak and £2 extra for 3D!
£8.95 at the addlestone cinema which is much nicer. £16.95 a month for all films though with 25% on food and their pizza, which you can take in to the screen, is excellent.
and they have a problem with rats running around !
Not for a long time... IIRC there was no sound just a woman playing the piano in sync with the images.