Eating at the cinema

My parents never bought us food or drink when we went to a film or the theatre when we were children, so it never occurs to us to even think about eating when watching a film now. I am too enthralled by whats on screen to think of eating - but it is nice having an icecream if there is an interval.

Other people eating is literally the reason I don't go to the cinema any more.

Is it really impossible to sit for a couple of hours without eating

I agree the noise from eating is so annoying, we were also at the cinema recently and 2 separate groups were constantly checking their phones, one man in particular was checking his Facebook every (I kid you not) 10-15 minutes, although annoyed I also felt sorry for him that he couldn't switch off for a couple of hours

DH and I have given up going to any of the multiplex cinemas due to the nacho stink, crunching, slurping, phone nuisance etc. Luckily we have an Arts Centre nearby with a small but comfortable cinema . The seats can be pre booked, and ,best of all, NO food and only bottled water allowed . We are both retired so can go to afternoon showings; we don’t have to worry about parking/ getting home late in the evenings.

My partner and I stopped going to the cinema about 12 years ago because we couldn’t stand the eating, drinking, feet on seats, mobile phone use etc etc. We got hit by popcorn being thrown one night and that was it! Food and drink should be banned and phones should be turned off!

Just move if you are anywhere near a loud eater or talker.

By the way my daughter put me off seeing 1917. She said it was horrible and I would have nightmares. What do you think?

Enjoyment at the cinema is a hit or miss nowadays. Constant munching, the smells, phone screens, talking. I very rarely go. Cinemas make a lit of money from the food and drink sold on site so no hope of it stopping. Worst experience was a matinee pantomime and the amount of alcohol being brought into the theatre shocked me. Billed as a "child friendly" performance yet looked like a pub. And, all the food, drink and alcohol sold in these places isn't cheap. So much for all the poverty in the land.

Last time I went to cinema with DGC there was a family in front of us eating burgers, chips, sweets, coke, coffee & beer etc. all through the film & getting more brought in all the time. They do a delivery service from the front desk where they sell the food. The smell was awful & the mess they left on the floor was a disgrace. We could hear them chomping over the film too.
We had a bottle of water!
It was an afternoon showing.

I never eat at the cinema. I bring a bottle of water, that's it. My daughter regrets buying stuff to eat for her children as now they expect it as part of the experience.

We go in the afternoon weekdays usually very quite and you can spread out, much better.

Apologises, that should be Curzon above not Curizon cinema

You are not fully allowed to bring your own food into my local cinema Maxblanc.

And in the days of usherettes a torch would be shone double quick on anyone disturbing or annoying other members of the audience.

Our local cinema is a traditional one large screen type. It is over one hundred years old, very historic inside, and kept going by many volunteers and grants from the National lottery etc.

It is named as the Curizon, but to many of the towns locals is known affectionately as the "Laugh & Scratch." It is however a great place to see a film, in a unique setting giving a wonderful experience providing you do not mind all the munching. ?

I am so fed up, up to the hind teeth with these totally dispicable people and their crunching and slurping, yes they splop, schmatz and slurp, I now wait for all films to arrive on TV where I watch in total peace and quiet.

My gripe is the time my friend and I have to wait to buy our tickets, while those in front of us purchase their food and drinks ( our local Vue cinema is obviously not busy enough to have separate queues ?). And the mess left around the seats at the end of the film is disgusting.

I agree that going to the pictures as an adult back in the day was a much quieter affair. Probably more to do with being watched by the usherette than anything else.

But do others remember going to children’s Saturday matinees? We’d walk a mile or so there with all the other village children, carrying pop bottles we used in part-payment (). Then us littlies would sit in the middle rows with the older girls and the boys would sit front and back and spend the whole film hurling missiles at each other from one end of the cinema to the other over our heads and whooping and hollering. I remember watching cowboys and Indians galloping across the screen, and their mouths opening and shutting later, but never heard a word.

The usherettes must just have given up and gone for a cuppa!

That made me chuckle Maxblank however,as one or two others pointed out,sometimes its the oldies doing all the chatting thats annoying as well

Thing is,they need the staff to say something,not other film-goers,as in this day& age you never know how people are going to react to you 'saying something' do you? Id be wary of asking someone to keep it down these days to get a punch or worse in return for it,especially as they have alcohol served in cinemas now too.!

I think it would be a good idea for anyone who is being annoyed by people nearby to say something to the person, as mentioned in some of these posts. Recently went to the cinema with DD and a man nearby had his phone on silent, but it kept lighting up, so in the end I asked him to turn it off, and he complied without a murmur. I think sometimes people don't realise how annoying their behaviour is!

I never understand why people need to eat a big bucket of popcorn because they are at the cinema

Don't be such boring old farts.

Remember in the 60s when you were doing EXACTLY the same.

Remember when you got shouted at by your parents for listening to THAT noise (music)

Not everyone is on a nice day final salary civil servant pension, and getting discounts at the cinema. Stuff costs a lot in the foyers, and believe it or not (it is true tho) you are fully allowed to bring your own food.

Want to avoid the HORRIBLE young people? Go to the oap sessions, or mornings in the week, when most would be working.

The way some of you go on, it's easy to forget what you lot got up to in the 60s!

I think they have the sound so loud because of the noise- makers! But really,couldnt they just keep it at a reasonable level,& put more warnings on the trailers about keeping noise down,all they usually do is mention turning phones off but why not tell them theyl be ejected too if they talk,etc? Theres a difference between surrepticiously trying to eat something or not giving a fig how loud you are being. BRING BACK USHERS/USHERETTES!

My local cinema is big and modern - 12 screens, and vibrant. However, as you walk in there is an overpowering smell of popcorn. Once seated you are probably surrounded by people with popcorn buckets, dipping in and munching all the time. Horrible.

Oh, the memories! You took me back to when I won tickets to the cinema... for my essay "A Visit to the Cinema" - in which I spoke about what was happening anywhere but on the screen. Food, quarrels, snogging, gossip... and a stray cat that walked in while, presumably, the usher was in the loo...

I was at a concert in Memphis Tennessee at a concert by Elvis' remaining band members (a little one - not those stadium affairs) and hugely irritated by the woman next to me who worked for the city council, had a free ticket and was doing her emails on her phone which lit up the place. In the end I told her I'd come thousands of miles for the concert and her phone was spoiling the experience. She couldn't have been nicer, was horrified by her thoughtlessness and in the interval went out of her way to introduce me to local people and make me feel welcome. I've always remembered her.

However most people behaving like that couldn't care less about others even when you ask them nicely. Same with public transport, with their feet on the seats, eating MacDonalds, leaving litter everywhere, loud endless phone calls etc. etc. When I was a child it was drummed into me to think of others first. I sometimes wonder how much worse can it get and I'm glad I can remember that other, more civilised time. I wouldn't want to be young now!