Going to the cinema- have you cut back?

We have a two screen independent here in Northampton, of which I am a member (I get 6 free tickets every year), and it is very well patronised.
I go frequently, sometimes every week, always matinees, and love it.
Spacious reclining leather seats, a bar in each cinema and little tables between each pair of seats.
Just booked to go and see 'Black Bag', a new spy film, Will sit with my glass of wine 🍷 and enjoy it!

J52

We have quite a few cinemas with several screens, a short car trip nearby.
My favourite is an independent one in the nearest city, an easy free bus ride away. It is a modern Arts centre with a fabulous cafe, and gets all the new releases. If you become a member then the tickets are discounted.
I often go with a friend, we have lunch there before seeing the film.

Is the food OK, J52?

Churchview

Our local independent cinema is an old art deco marvel run by volunteers. You can take a drink in and a man plays one of those old fashioned organs before the film - lovely old 'Oh I do like to be beside the seaside' type tunes.

They do live links to theatre productions, documentary evenings with guest speakers and all kinds of interesting themed days.

The last time I went I saw Wicked Little Letters. I've seen it since on TV and it really demonstrated to me how much better things are on the big screen. If the local cinema closed I definitely would make the trip to a multiplex.

I have a feeling you probably live near me!!

The last film I saw at the cinema was one of the Harry Potter films when DD2 was still a child. I’m not a fan as I hate the smell of popcorn and other food and the constant rustling from other people. Don’t miss it but we do have a (vulgar) 55” TV and a great sound system at home. DH wants an even bigger one as ours is 10 years old but the current one is quite large enough.

We really need to go more often. We only go around once a month. I enjoy a film so much more on the big screen, actually like the previews, and haven’t experienced all this chomping of popcorn and slurping of drinks so many of you complain about. Before 2020 we made a point of going to the Senior Vue screening every week (cheap tickets and free coffee/tea and biscuits), and we enjoyed a lot of films that we wouldn’t normally have been drawn to. The Senior Vue scheme sadly died a death during Covid, and the last time we went we paid over £18 for our bog standard seats and a coffee each, so we’re more selective now.

Can’t remember when I last went, the price, the noise, the smell of hotdogs being slurped😖
Also I work evenings sometimes.

I would rather wait for it to be put on prime.

Or Netflix😃

Used to go regularly before covid, only been once since and that was to take the grandsons to see Garfield.

I rarely go. The last time I went I was the only person watching that film. It was the last showing. I can’t even remember which film!

I can't remember the last time I was at a cinema, the nearest one is 15 miles away, and I'd probaly fall asleep in the middle of the film..

I belong to two Cine-Clubs- amazing films and brilliant value. Very rarely go to cinema otherwise, so so expensive, too noisy and horrible smell of popcorn, etc.

We only go to see live transmissions of operas and plays.

I go about once a month and thoroughly enjoy a Matinee.
We have a cinema and theatre complex so sometimes it’s to watch a film,
sometimes it’s a live streaming from the West End,
and this week it will be to see an Alan Ayckbourn play.

Pre pandemic we used to go to our wonderful indie cinema twice a week. Then we got a bit of a lockdown dog that can’t be left in the way our last dog was. I could go on my own in the afternoon but it would mean using public transport and I still don’t want to catch covid. I feel really bad about not supporting them. It was a huge part of our life and I miss it terribly. I’ve got a huge tv in the bedroom to watch DVD’s on but it isn’t the same.

The last time I went to the Cinema was last year to see the last James Bond movie , or was it the year before last, and that’s only because my friends wanted to see it.
There’s enough to watch on TV, in the comfort of my armchair, at home .

I don't go very often at all, and my DH even less. Maybe once a year for me, if there is a popular film out that isn't too long! It seems like Hollywood has a contest to make the longest films lately.

Our local cinema has not been updated in ages; the seats are old and stained, and they tend to play the volume extraordinarily loudly. So I usually only go if there is a film that would benefit from watching with a crowd (like a musical), or on a large screen.

In our pandemic they shut all the cinemas down because they were so neurotic. I am told our lockdown was the harshest in the world and I am sure that was the case. Who else had helicopters overhead checking to make sure no one went out at night ? Pretty disgusting, felt and was a police state then.

I go once a month with a U3a cinema group. Last week it was Maria (Callas) which I enjoyed. I also loved A Complete Unknown.

I get the bus rather than take my car as it’s free and the bus stops opposite the cinema. There’s also a special offer of your cinema ticket and coffee for £4.20 and no ads!!

Bargain!

DD and I went to see David Tennant's Macbeth with the grandsons. It was superb and there were only about ten of us in the cinema so it was lovely and quiet. I have agreed to go to the cinema with a friend this week. Looked at the films that are showing and they all looked dire. Realised why I can't remember the last film I saw.

We went to see Bridget Jones mad about the boy and thoroughly enjoyed it. Our local cinema is £4 and we really need to use it more, as they say use it or lose it. It makes a nice change to do something slightly different and watch the big screen.

The last time I went to a cinema, the seating was good but the audience were terrible, Eating, drinking, using their phones. Never again to that.!

However, I was able to go to a local place which had several screens, and it had the opera on direct from Verona. What a marvellous evening. Only other opera lovers were there, we all sat very quietly and politely. No phones or slurping etc and even better, where latest technology put to good use, they obviously used a drone at the beginning, so that you felt that you were flying into the auditorium and close to the stage. A great evening, so will be watching out for other opera occasions which I would like to see , but the general cinema is an absolute no no to me now. When did people begin to think they could not exist without food , drink, and their endless flipping phonecalls., for more than 10 minutes?

Certainly the cinema gives you some wonderful scenes and very good quality pictres, but on the whole I am happier listening to the radio and reading my book for most of the time.

No.

What do you need to sign up to , to get two free tickets?

A small cinema is about to open very close to where we live and I think that we will probably start to go when it opens. We never bother now, it's a bit of a bus ride to get to our nearest cinemas and we rarely go far at night.