Make cinemas less like air travel, and I'll go back.
Everyone I speak to on a daily basis has been raving about Avatar. In some cases they've seen it two or three times. And they all tell me I MUST go and see it.
Well I'd like to, but there's a reason we spent money putting a decent home theatre setup in. Cinemas are as appealing to me as air travel right now.
We stopped going to the cinema years ago - not because we were pirating movies or any of the other evils the MPAA would have you believe - but but because of the sheer unpleasantness of the cinema experience. Sure the picture and sound were great, but the incessant texting, cellphone calls and talking just made it unbearable. On top of that, here in Utah, the cinemas allow anyone in to see NC17, 18 and R-rated movies as long as they're with an adult. So we'd be beset by families with 4 or 5 young kids and babies in baskets crying, screaming, shouting and running around. Didn't matter what time of the day we went or which cinema we went to.
So I'm sure Avatar is very clever, and it might be worth all the hype it's getting but the cinemas need to do something to make the cinema experience worth going to again before I'll go back. Put in cellphone blockers. Ban families with obviously underage kids. Have members of staff haul those who insist on talking out of the cinema. Then, and only then, will the cinema be worth going back to.
It's a shame, because we really used to enjoy going to the movies. Now we just wait 6 months and watch movies when Netflix sends them to us. No kids screaming. No cellphones. No talking. Just us, some friends, a six pack and a pizza. Lovely.
Well I'd like to, but there's a reason we spent money putting a decent home theatre setup in. Cinemas are as appealing to me as air travel right now.
We stopped going to the cinema years ago - not because we were pirating movies or any of the other evils the MPAA would have you believe - but but because of the sheer unpleasantness of the cinema experience. Sure the picture and sound were great, but the incessant texting, cellphone calls and talking just made it unbearable. On top of that, here in Utah, the cinemas allow anyone in to see NC17, 18 and R-rated movies as long as they're with an adult. So we'd be beset by families with 4 or 5 young kids and babies in baskets crying, screaming, shouting and running around. Didn't matter what time of the day we went or which cinema we went to.
So I'm sure Avatar is very clever, and it might be worth all the hype it's getting but the cinemas need to do something to make the cinema experience worth going to again before I'll go back. Put in cellphone blockers. Ban families with obviously underage kids. Have members of staff haul those who insist on talking out of the cinema. Then, and only then, will the cinema be worth going back to.
It's a shame, because we really used to enjoy going to the movies. Now we just wait 6 months and watch movies when Netflix sends them to us. No kids screaming. No cellphones. No talking. Just us, some friends, a six pack and a pizza. Lovely.
Comments
The one thing that does bug me is that there are no assigned seats. If the movie is popular you have to get there an hour early or be faced with struggling to find a seat with the family (no texting or talking!).
So, we mostly go early Sunday morning. Not as many people and the prices are cheaper.
Here in the dreadful UK you usually have to put up with an hour of ads and trailers before the movie is shown. Its a guessing game when to actually arrive to avoid all that and still get a seat and/or avoid missing the start of the film. Additionally, they seem to have increased the sound level in cinemas to a ridiculous level too - my ears always rang for some time after leaving when I used to visit. Being the UK too, there's usually litter strewn all over the aisles and some incredibly irritating bloke eating a bucket of popcorn behind you throughout the movie.
I find the whole experience torture and will probably never go again unless there is a radical makeover!