Just for a change, this isn’t a rant about the arseholes who talk during a film (I’m sure I’ve had a go about them before and anyone who’d been in the cinema with me knows I’m not averse to taking action). It’s about the cinemas themselves and their scheduling in particular.
Like most people, if I’m office-based then I’ll finish work at around 5:00 – 5:30 of an evening. Sometimes I’ll want to catch a film on the way home. Check your local cinema. See what time the films start in the evening. I’ll put money on the fact that the vast majority start so close to 5:00 you’d not make it there, or well after 7:00 so you may as well head home first… and then turn right round to head out. Too long to grab a quick meal, too short to allow you to relax. Also, once I’m home I usually can’t be bothered getting back in the car again.
Why aren’t there any performances centred at 6:00? Anyone finishing between 5:00 and 5:30 would have enough time to be delayed leaving work, travel there, grab a quick burger if required (and if not, it’s not that long to wait for the film) and enjoy it.
Is it just me or is that just so obvious? Or am I centering too much on my own daily schedules?
I was lucky yesterday as a very local site visit cropped up at lunchtime which I grabbed at. I was done by mid-afternoon so I had time to get home, wolf some lunch, get changed and leisurely drive out for the 5:15 performance of Blade Trinity.
Very enjoyable it was, too. Blade is the best thing in leather since… well, some porn flick I downloaded a while back. Probably the coolest character in cinema, and he makes Batman look like am amateur with gadgets made from plastic Meccano and PlayDoh. The film’s still not as good as the first one, but it takes a rare action movie to reach those heights. Great effects and a cracking “comic relief” character who was genuinely funny. Recommended.
Oh, but take ear plugs especially if you go to the Vue in Leeds. Probably the loudest film I’ve seen all year.
“A start time of around 6pm would give people a chance to…”
I take it you just mean people who finish their work at 5.30-ish?
Is it agreeable to everyone else to delay start times just to suit you? Or maybe start later, just to suit you? We need a straw-poll! (Anyway, I’m sure these big companies have done their market research already…)
In this case, I reckon you’ll have to fit in with the rest of the world.
Inconsiderate ********, aren’t we?
😉
Am hopefully going to see this on Sunday. Glad you liked it, I’ve heard a couple of people say that its crap, and was worried, cos I liked the other two.
The cinema near us is a little Odeon, and hardly has any late night showings, the last films are often about 8pm, whereas if we drive 40 miles to the big Vue in Bolton, they have proper late night showings…
aye the best things in life do tend to come out at next to nothing…… 😉
Because if a film starts at 6pm, that leaves no time for you to dawdle by the concession stand to buy drinks. Which is where cinemas actually make their money.
Dawn – the one time I had black vomit it was from lager… this freaked my mother out. I was too pissed to care.
Does one need to take out a mortgage over there to afford popcorn?? Cuz ya do here, it’s a crime I tell ya.
flex-time = yayyyyy, can tweak my workday leave times (within reason) but usually go on a Saturday or Sunday morning, nice & early to the first showing which is nearly always virtually deserted and cheaper to get into – next on my list, Merchant of Venice
I have popcorn going quite cheap………
Would just like to say I have only just caught up on your postings.. and when you say already mentally scared… YEAH lol
Nob joke? a few years old now..
And just for the record.. being old kinda puts limits on how much you drink, and can hold till morning…… that is if you actually get home before your black vomit from coke and barcardi, sambucca and whatever else they filled my glass with last night reaches your upper throat.. then is projected like a good spray job at a tacky garage…. Thought I would just share the little weekend events… xx
I have to agree because we probably missed the first 5 minutes of the showing. Bloody traffic didnt help. As for the best thing in leather i have to disagree, underworld has a much better example.
Cineworld in bradford has the right idea about showing times but its full of annoying *****!
I’m glad its not just me – We go to the multiplex in Swindon and by ‘eck its loud – Saving Private Ryan couldn’t have been louder if you were sitting in the foxhole with Tom Hanks ! and Yah Boo I work 4 days on 4 days off so I can go any old time
It is possible to get an entire KFC meal (large drink included) into the cinema if you know how to pack a briefcase properly. And no, the briefcase doesn’t leak or get soggy.
MBTB – No, you have it all wrong. The world is supposed to revolve around me! Me! ME!
The best time I find to go is first performance on a weekday if you can manage it. The number of times I’ve had the whole screen to myself. Fantastic. No chatter, no fights to get a decent seat, great stuff. And they charge you less for the privilege of having a better experience. How strange.
Totally agree about show times at cinemas… they’re never at the times I want. Thanks for the mini-review of Blade Trinity though. Can’t wait to see it.
With Mosh on this one… I work until 5.15, and the local cinemas start either just before or just after 5, so you miss the beginning, or you travel to a multiplex, and have to kill time until the 7 starts… although going for a nice meal is a decent use of the time!
And take a bag, hide your minstrels/ can of pop inside, lights go down and hey presto, munchies at half the price!
Yes, popcorn’s ridiculous (as are all the other concessions) and virtually every cinema has a “no food from outside” policy.
Andy, if the film starts much earlier than 6 you (well at least I) can’t get to the cinema in time so won’t buy a ticket so won’t even be *near* the concession stand. If it’s on much later, then I tend to head home and settle down, therefore don’t go to the cinema… and don’t attend the concession stand.
A start time of around 6pm would give people a chance to get there but perhaps not enough time for dinner… ideal overpriced concession fodder.
“A start time of around 6pm would give people a chance to…”
I take it you just mean people who finish their work at 5.30-ish?
Is it agreeable to everyone else to delay start times just to suit you? Or maybe start later, just to suit you? We need a straw-poll! (Anyway, I’m sure these big companies have done their market research already…)
In this case, I reckon you’ll have to fit in with the rest of the world.
Inconsiderate ********, aren’t we?
😉
Am hopefully going to see this on Sunday. Glad you liked it, I’ve heard a couple of people say that its crap, and was worried, cos I liked the other two.
The cinema near us is a little Odeon, and hardly has any late night showings, the last films are often about 8pm, whereas if we drive 40 miles to the big Vue in Bolton, they have proper late night showings…
aye the best things in life do tend to come out at next to nothing…… 😉
Because if a film starts at 6pm, that leaves no time for you to dawdle by the concession stand to buy drinks. Which is where cinemas actually make their money.
Dawn – the one time I had black vomit it was from lager… this freaked my mother out. I was too pissed to care.
Does one need to take out a mortgage over there to afford popcorn?? Cuz ya do here, it’s a crime I tell ya.
flex-time = yayyyyy, can tweak my workday leave times (within reason) but usually go on a Saturday or Sunday morning, nice & early to the first showing which is nearly always virtually deserted and cheaper to get into – next on my list, Merchant of Venice
I have popcorn going quite cheap………
Would just like to say I have only just caught up on your postings.. and when you say already mentally scared… YEAH lol
Nob joke? a few years old now..
And just for the record.. being old kinda puts limits on how much you drink, and can hold till morning…… that is if you actually get home before your black vomit from coke and barcardi, sambucca and whatever else they filled my glass with last night reaches your upper throat.. then is projected like a good spray job at a tacky garage…. Thought I would just share the little weekend events… xx
I have to agree because we probably missed the first 5 minutes of the showing. Bloody traffic didnt help. As for the best thing in leather i have to disagree, underworld has a much better example.
Cineworld in bradford has the right idea about showing times but its full of annoying *****!
I’m glad its not just me – We go to the multiplex in Swindon and by ‘eck its loud – Saving Private Ryan couldn’t have been louder if you were sitting in the foxhole with Tom Hanks ! and Yah Boo I work 4 days on 4 days off so I can go any old time
It is possible to get an entire KFC meal (large drink included) into the cinema if you know how to pack a briefcase properly. And no, the briefcase doesn’t leak or get soggy.
MBTB – No, you have it all wrong. The world is supposed to revolve around me! Me! ME!
The best time I find to go is first performance on a weekday if you can manage it. The number of times I’ve had the whole screen to myself. Fantastic. No chatter, no fights to get a decent seat, great stuff. And they charge you less for the privilege of having a better experience. How strange.
Totally agree about show times at cinemas… they’re never at the times I want. Thanks for the mini-review of Blade Trinity though. Can’t wait to see it.
With Mosh on this one… I work until 5.15, and the local cinemas start either just before or just after 5, so you miss the beginning, or you travel to a multiplex, and have to kill time until the 7 starts… although going for a nice meal is a decent use of the time!
And take a bag, hide your minstrels/ can of pop inside, lights go down and hey presto, munchies at half the price!
Yes, popcorn’s ridiculous (as are all the other concessions) and virtually every cinema has a “no food from outside” policy.
Andy, if the film starts much earlier than 6 you (well at least I) can’t get to the cinema in time so won’t buy a ticket so won’t even be *near* the concession stand. If it’s on much later, then I tend to head home and settle down, therefore don’t go to the cinema… and don’t attend the concession stand.
A start time of around 6pm would give people a chance to get there but perhaps not enough time for dinner… ideal overpriced concession fodder.