Wednesday, June 10, 2015

The end of the cinema is nigh (is it?)


I am a fan of watching films at the cinema, on the big screen, giving my whole attention (which is no mean feat in this day and age let me assure you!). I went to the Odeon in Liverpool city centre last night, and I don't frequent this establishment for a number of reasons... all of which I worry is going to see the demise of the cinema! *cue melodramatic stab from the orchestra pit* haha 

The film I went to see was an ace little romcom (one of my fav genres when done properly) called ManUp and Simon Pegg tells you all about it here. I arrived on time, like I say I enjoy the cinema experience and that includes the trailers, and being a former copywriter, even some of the adverts! It's a really special medium for advertising is cinema, the chances of people missing the message is minute! Just think of the possibilities (and why we all know the Pearl & dean theme) haha 

As we (me and my romcom girlfriend plus one) entered the screen we were the first to arrive, I don't expect a Tuesday night to be packed but as the trailers kicked in we had a total of 13 of us ready to see the movie. Is that enough? At £10 a pop I'm not surprised more people are choosing to watch movies streamed online etc, there's no justification for the cost in these giant multi-screen picture houses. Imagine, then, if they had a 2 for 1 ticket offer for all off-peak times, would they be packed? sell more refreshments? Do they really need to hike up the soda & popcorn costs to survive? £7.50, Odeon, is NOT a 'deal' for a drink and a snack - it's daylight robbery! haha It feels to the everyday punter like just another rip off corporation trying to make a living from the peasants who wanna see the talkies >_< 

Then there were the trailers... oh dear! The trailers are matched I would assume, to the movie/ age rating of the movie about to show... sadly the 15 rating of the romcom meant I saw a handful of JUST AWFUL teasers for movies I would rather stick pins in my eyes before sitting down to watch - who is making these terrible movies? I know they cost MILLIONS to make! Who gives the green light? who is it they think will watch this lazy storytelling? Goodness knows, as a writer, I understand your target audience is everything & I'm definitely not the preferred demographic for the films I was being 'teasted' by... but WHERE was my 007 trailer??? (that's what this is all about it, isn't Jodes, you just wanted to see some Daniel Craig-crumpet teaser? No, well, maybe, no! ;) haha) 

My question is, will cinema survive? I love it dearly, and I support my local art house/ community cinemas much as I can... I even set up a little cinema society to seek out other movie-lovers in my district... but when the new stuff being churned out is so depressing, I can't GO to the cinema & when I DO find a movie worth forking out for there is little in the way of 'experience' left and just warehouses where they want to charge you a fiver for a cola! *sigh* 

Please explain to me why I am wrong to fret, that everything will be ok, that more movies like ManUp will out (especially with digital tech helping lower budgets get thru), that old people like me who love movies won't let the cinema disappear & someone in a big corporate cinema chain will REALISE the way fwd isn't ripping off their customers on popcorn... anyone? hello? ;) 

Some movie related stats 

First film I recall seeing on a big screen: Flash Gordon

First movie related crush: Possibly Elvis Presley, I didn't realise in my innocence I was watching really old repeats haha #devoed

Favourite movie quote: Really there are too many, to be fair, but one of them would be 'We came. We saw. We kicked its ass' from Ghostbusters ^_^ 

Favourite movie date: Had much fun seeing the Alpha Papa movie couple of summers ago with my then new squeeze, now proper partner in crime - we laughed so much we went to see it again the following week, then bought it on DVD too ^_^ #cuddlytoy 

Favourite director: I'm gonna say QT, but I do like me some Hitchcock, and they both use the offscreen so cleverly in delivering their plotlines!