Cinema Vs Stay at home

If I turned my home cinema up to the same levels as the cinema my neighbours would phone the police! Also my living room is laid out as a living room not a cinema so if more than three or four poeple come round they get to sit at an arkward angle well out of the surround sound sweet spot and even the best seat isn't anything like as nice as those prized centre seat at the cinema!

I've never had a problem with chavs at the cinema and we go quite a lot, mainly on orange wednesday and even in the school holidays it is quiet and relaxed. I don't often by food there I pick up a bag of popcorn from Asda on the way. I've only once had a bad picture and I wrote to the cinema manager who sent me a pair of free tickets to watch any film.

I've sat in some pretty decent home cinema setups and have to say that anything short of a projector just doesn't compare for me and I would have to toally re-arrange my living room to accomodate one properly.
 
Still have my Notts NUS card with no expiry date.

I undertook a 5yr sandwich Masters course and am now in my 2nd year of my PHD ;);)
 
JudgeC said:
I went to see Clash of the Titans last night and composed and sent this facebook message on the way home to some freinds, it is keeping in the spirit of this thread.

Let me recount a tale of woe......

After a long, delayed tube trip to Leicester Square to see Clash of the Titans at the Empire for Orange Wednesday and braving the queue for tickets, we were informed that you don't get 3D films on Orange Wednesdays, great.
"OK" I said in defiance, "I'll see it in 2D, I have heard that it was shot in 2D anyway and that the 3D was a shody and hastilly tacked on gimmick to cash in on the craze".
"We're only showing it in 3D" came the triumphant reply and I bowed to the inevitable and asked for two tickets, "Would you like £14.95 or £15.95 tickets" was the next dread inducing sentence.
"Do I get a fekking Making of DVD with that" I exclaimed, "or at least half a hundred weight of Popcorn and a Hogshead of fizzy pop", apparently I didn't.
So after shelling out half a weeks wages on dinner, comprising two portions of Nacho's and a small pop, we took to our seats to watch this 3D extraveganza. "What no bloody cup holder, does the horror never end".

Well the film was about as good as I expected it to be, lacking any of the charm or spectacle of the original and turning out to be mediocre at best.
The so called 3D effects were so subtle (****), it actually made no difference when I took off the glasses half way through. I should have asked for a refund of the extra £2 they demand for 3D films on top of the already ambitious £13 they stipe you anyway.
So the moral of this story, if you are thinking of some cinematic entertainment on a Wednesday evening, stay at home and get a Blu-Ray, it will be cheaper, more comfortable and at least you'll have somewhere to park your drink.
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In fairness you picked a rather crap film to see in 3D so I wouldn't judge them all based on that. The 3D effects were added in post production simply to keep up with all the other films.

I believe the studios want an increase in the cost of 3D films as well this summer as they obviously feel they can screw the cinema going public for more money for what is already a con as I mentioned in an earlier post.

I still don't get all the people dragging their own crap into the cinema, do you bring your own drink into pubs? Also when leaving the cinema do you take out all your rubbish with you or do you leave it there for the staff to clean up?
 
I still like the odd trip to the cinema, but only Orange Weds, and only for films that benefit from the overall experience (ie. special effect/cgi driven ones).

So action, sci-fi and cgi films get a look in, but I don't bother watching comedies or dramas, prefer to wait for those on dvd.

Trying to decide on either seeing Kick Ass or How To Train Your Dragon next :D
 
Antar Bolaeisk said:
I still don't get all the people dragging their own crap into the cinema, do you bring your own drink into pubs? Also when leaving the cinema do you take out all your rubbish with you or do you leave it there for the staff to clean up?
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But food and drink at cinemas is so expensive! If it was a reasonable price I might begin to see your point. Also, You go to a cinema to see a film, and you go to a pub to drink, so a more accurate analogy would be going to watch a film on a portable DVD player at the pub with headphones on (as you aren't disturbing anyone else by watching it), which doesn't seem so bad, does it? As for clearing up afterwards, yes I think people should take rubbish away, but at my nearest one the only bins are small ones with the flippy lids on springs which makes it hard to dispose of large drinks containers, especially when the bins are already full. I'm not going to carry my overpriced paper bag and plastic container home with me because the cinema can't be bothered supplying adequate bins. With the price of cinema food/drink, I think a clean-up service should be expected! (although not if it's your 'own' stuff).
 
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Antar Bolaeisk said:
I still don't get all the people dragging their own crap into the cinema, do you bring your own drink into pubs? Also when leaving the cinema do you take out all your rubbish with you or do you leave it there for the staff to clean up?
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So you think it is reasonable to pay £3 for popcorn when the cinema buy it in at approx. 50p for a binbag of the stuff?
It's fair to pay £2 for a drink, when 500ml bottles can be bought for around 80p?

Taking your own drink into a pub is not the same thing at all.
A pub is a drinking establishment.
A cinema is an establishment to watch films.

If you aren't taking your own food in then you've probably got money to burn.
 
Not if you're heading down to the pub to see a band, there'll be a cover charge at the door and then it'll be expensive drink and noisy, smelly people inside.

In fairness I am shocked by some of the prices being bandied about in here, we certainly try to keep our prices nearly in line with those in the shops. The bags of sweets for example tend to be about 10% more than in the super market across the road. Cinemas just can't afford to give the same prices as shops no more than a pub can offer the same prices as an off-license.
 
Cinema isn't even a cheap date anymore :( Nor is it a good date, since everyone has their own viewing booth chair, with cupholders and armrests wide enough for 2 arms, you can't get your arm over (not in the cheesey way :rolleyes:) and she can't snuggle up next to you. Cinemas should have double seats for this very purpose. :mad:

As the OP stated, an alternative is my decent setup at home, HD, comfy sofa, and all for nil cost. Protip: This doesn't work well as a first date. :D
 
stoofa said:
So you think it is reasonable to pay £3 for popcorn when the cinema buy it in at approx. 50p for a binbag of the stuff?
It's fair to pay £2 for a drink, when 500ml bottles can be bought for around 80p?

Taking your own drink into a pub is not the same thing at all.
A pub is a drinking establishment.
A cinema is an establishment to watch films.

If you aren't taking your own food in then you've probably got money to burn.
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Popcorn and drinks do tend to be higher markup items, popcorn has approximately 600% markup for us and drinks are higher again, can't remember off the top of my head. They're really what keeps the cinema moving though. If I buy a 7up down in the pub it costs me around the same amount as in the cinema.

The_Sophisticate said:
Cinema isn't even a cheap date anymore :( Nor is it a good date, since everyone has their own viewing booth chair, with cupholders and armrests wide enough for 2 arms, you can't get your arm over (not in the cheesey way :rolleyes:) and she can't snuggle up next to you. Cinemas should have double seats for this very purpose. :mad:

As the OP stated, an alternative is my decent setup at home, HD, comfy sofa, and all for nil cost. Protip: This doesn't work well as a first date. :D
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We have armrests which can lift up allowing for either the larger bummed clientèle or getting that little bit closer to the hot date :D
 
On the other hand, peopl who have been put off the cinema experience by the likes of odeon and others should try out a picture house, The Duke of York's in brighton is immense!

Sofa > crap-o seat.
 
That sounds like an improvement. My local cinema has them fixed in place, attached to the cup holders :(

The seats are too upright for me, so much as you have to hold yourself up. You can shift your bum forward of course, but that leaves no lumbar support in your back which gets uncomfortable quickly, and the lack of legroom (me being 6'4"), means my legs have nowhere to go (or rest on top of the seat infront leaving me in a position like I'm about to give birth :D).

I've never been one for dates at the cinema, or at least not first dates. You talk en route to the flicks, sit in silence for 90 mins, then chat about the film as you take her home. Defeats the purpose of a date really, all for £50 lol. :rolleyes:
 
JudgeC said:
After a long, delayed tube trip to Leicester Square to see Clash of the Titans at the Empire for Orange Wednesday and braving the queue for tickets, we were informed that you don't get 3D films on Orange Wednesdays, great.
"OK" I said in defiance, "I'll see it in 2D, I have heard that it was shot in 2D anyway and that the 3D was a shody and hastilly tacked on gimmick to cash in on the craze".
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Whoever served you was talking rubbish. I've used Orange Wednesdays on 4 occasions to see 3D films, at different cinema chains with no hassle.
 
I go to the cinema occasionally, mainly with friends. As I (and most of my friends) still live at home, it's difficult to watch things together etc. We only go on Orange Wednesdays though, otherwise it ends up quite pricy for 2 hours of film.
 
I only ever go on Wednesdays. £5 for a student ticket at Cineworld and with Orange Wednesdays its even cheaper at £2.50. Plus I either go early afternoon or late at night so there's no annoying kids. Pretty good :p
 
I rarely go to the cinema, me and me dad went to see Avatar and it cost him £40 :O

I wasn't impressed with 3D and would rather watch it at home for free or £10 if you actually buy the DVD :p
 
Odeon Metro Centre IMAX 3D - How to train a dragon
Tickets: 2 for 1 - £12.25.
Parking: Free
Drinks: £1.20 for a 500ml bottle
Sweets: 89p per 100g (Reasonable)

Sounds like you need a better cinema ;)
 
5) Having chavs kick the back of my seat and munch nachos and popcorn throughout the film whilst talking loudly and mucking about with their phones = free
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Sit in premium, it's like £2 more or something.

Anyway, the answer is obvious really, if you're desperate to watch the latest film, cinema, otherwise, home.
 
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