Your last Cinema sell out experience

[Uncle Spielberg]

I don't know if its the harsh times we live in, all the other options available now or the quality of the films but the regular cinema sell out is a rare thing nowadays. Where you must pre book or stumble around the auditorium tripping over people searching for a spare seat or even worse the purgatory of the front row seats experience but the attendances this year have been poor, with a half sell out being a good result.

I like a full cinema for atmosphere as long as its with people who have the basic cinema etiquette and are not chavs fiddling around with their mobiles or feeling it is appropriate to scoff a giant hotdog and dustbin of popcorn whilst watching Schindler's List.

What was your last cinema sold out and what cinema activities really piss you off ?

This was prompted by my first cinema sell out experience in a few years on Tuesday 27/12, Brighton Marina Cinema, Screen 5, 3.00 pm - Sherlock Holmes - A game of shadows, it was pretty good with some stunning action sequences revealing Ritchie as a director of some flair in this genre which no one expected. 7.4

 

[Simster]

I agree that it is terribly sad, but this has been a trend going back to the 1980s. This country simply doesn't go to the cinema very often. The only sell outs are the real blockbusters that aren't necessarily even very good, unless you go to the smaller independent niche cinemas (which are miles better anyway).

Just remembered going to see Jonny English with the kids in October - sold out two performances running. We were in Exeter, it was half term and it was pissing down. Bizarrely enough, I bumped into some Albion fans whilst shopping in Exeter that day.

 

[Brovion]

We went to see 'Submarine' at the Duke of York's earlier this year and that was a complete sell out. People always automatically leave empty seats between themselves and the next couple/group and everybody had to keep shuffling along to fill these gaps. 'We need to talk about Kevin' (also at Doy) was damn near close to a sell-out as well.

EDIT: Having just read Simster's post my experience probably proves his point about indys selling out.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

The critics poo poo'ed JE 2 but I thought it was very funny and better than JE 1, saw it twice, less than half full both times.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

The last time I went to the cinema was 1991. Think it was Dances with Wolves - enough to put anyone off for life. The UK crowds were quite well behaved as I remember, but I went to several times in the states about that time as well and it was awful, with people talking all the way through and a general high volume level so you could barely hear the film - I imagine it's like that here now too.

 

[Chamberpot]

The inbetweeners movie this year was a sell out, I think I went to view the movie on its third day of release. Really good atmosphere because people were laughing all together at the right moments.

 

[dwayne]

Vue cinema in Westfield London is always sold out.... Missed so many films because of that. It's annoying you always have to book in advance, and it's one of the biggest complexes in the country

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Some teenage chav girl started listening to music on her i pod half way through Hugo which you could hear. I mean f*** OFF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Hollywood now only targets the 15-25 audience, insists on happy endings & has run out of new ideas..For those reasons etc etc

 

[Brovion]

If there has been a decline in cinema audiences recently it's still nothing like the 1960s. Then cinemas closed down right left and centre (often converted to bingo halls) and a commonly-held view was that television had killed the cinema and the whole concept of actually going out to see a film would soon be as archaic as going out to get water from a well.

 

[Hockley Blues]

The last sell out...probably Avatar. Before that, Jurassic Park

 

[Charles 'Charley' Charles]

I'm struggling to think of my last cinema experience full stop. Trouble is ust seems so expensive theses days. When I was younger used to go all the time, nowadays forget it. Having wife and children doesn't help financially or time wise, but money and time can be put towards better or more important things. For me to go to the cinema every other week with my wife is more expensive than my season ticket, how can that right? Also silly things like 3-D films having to pay extra for the film, then even more for the glasses. Which don't work if you have to wear normal glasses anyway, sooner Specsavers do prescription 3D glasses the better. Anyway after that tangent my last sell out was Harry Potter this year, although over past 5 years think it is only the HP films I have seen at cinema.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

In some ways I dread going to the cinema if it is a film I have been looking forward to. I have been counting the days for over a year to see War Horse and if someone does not behave near me I will literally punch them in the head.

 

[Tooting Gull]

Think it was one of the kids Sat AM showings for me, Toy Story 3 in a huge cinema at admittedly £1.50 a ticket. Angry mobs of parents turned away outside...

 

[Deleted member 18477]

I don't go to the cinema anymore because it's got rather expensive. I don't care enough about films to get one of those cards from cineworld where you can go as much as you like for 20ish quid a month, also don't have the time to make it a worthwhile investment.

These days it's rent on the ps3 or wait till the films out on sky movies (not box office though!). Sometimes I buy a DVD from amazon when it's cheaper or get given DVDs for birhday and Xmas.

It is a shame as I use to go to a local cinema for about £2.90-£3.50 when I was younger. If the cinema was only a fiver for adults I reckon they'd get a lot more 'sell outs'. It's much the same as football in that respect, some fans are being priced out/would rather and need to spend money on other things!

 

[Simster]

In some ways I dread going to the cinema if it is a film I have been looking forward to. I have been counting the days for over a year to see War Horse and if someone does not behave near me I will literally punch them in the head.

I am DREADING this version of War Horse and would imagine anyone who has read the book and seen the play is feeling similarly apprehensive.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

I am DREADING this version of War Horse and would imagine anyone who has read the book and seen the play is feeling similarly apprehensive.

Its a completely different experience to the stage show Simeon. Don't compare them as its impossible. The author saw the premier and said he captured the book perfectly and could not have made a better film himself so thats good enough for me. It will be classic Spielberg , in the mould of ET and war moments of Empire of the Sun, Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. Its war seen through the eyes of a Horse who has no choice but to be there in the hell of it all. Spielberg detractors will have decided they will hate it before even seeing it. Christopher Tookey the respected critic from the Daily Mail declared it the best film of 2011 and a cinematic masterpiece. If you are dreading going to see it, with respect don't go as your mindset will be that of, I am going to hate this film and will hate it because of this. People get out of a film what they go into the cinema with.

 

[Simster]

People pointing at the price of tickets for the demise of the cinema are at odds with my own point of view. You can get in to watch a multi million dollar production for seven or eight quid - doesn't seem all that pricey compared to alternative forms of entertainment - theatre/opera/live sport/musicals/eating out

I used to go a lot, but not since the kids arrived. And now when I get the chance to go out with my wife, we tend to want to go somewhere we can actually talk (without interruptions from the kids) so that kind of rules out the cinema. In any case, if I need a babysitter it is going to cost £20-30 for the evening. At that price, I feel I want to spend a lot of money to justify the babysitter price, which again rules out the cinema. So if anything, it's like the cinema is underpriced in that context!

 

[Charles 'Charley' Charles]

I don't go to the cinema anymore because it's got rather expensive. I don't care enough about films to get one of those cards from cineworld where you can go as much as you like for 20ish quid a month, also don't have the time to make it a worthwhile investment.

It is a shame as I use to go to a local cinema for about £2.90-£3.50 when I was younger. If the cinema was only a fiver for adults I reckon they'd get a lot more 'sell outs'. It's much the same as football in that respect, some fans are being priced out/would rather and need to spend money on other things!

Couldn't agree more. Remember used to love going to the midnight showing of whatever film it was at the marina on Saturdays years ago. One of us would finsh work at half nine at the dogs sneak out just to but the tickets before dashing back to work for the last hour. Think the prices then were about that.

 

[Simster]

Its a completely different experience to the stage show Simeon. Don't compare them as its impossible. The author saw the premier and said he captured the book perfectly and could not have made a better film himself so thats good enough for me. It will be classic Spielberg , in the mould of ET and war moments of Empire of the Sun, Schnilder;s List and Saving Private Ryan. Its war seen through the eyes of a Horse who has no choice but to be there in the hell of it all. Spielber detractors will have decided they will hate it before even seeing it. Christopher Tookey from the Daily Mail declated it the best film of 2011 and a cinematic masterpiece. If you are dreading going to see it, with respect don't go as your mindset will be that of, I am going to hate this film and will hate it because of this. People get out of a film what they go into the cinema with.

If Michael Morpurgo has decided this film has captured it perfectly, then I will probably give it a chance. But lets be honest, Spielberg's track record handling sensitive subject matters always leans towards pure mush, which is fine if you're catering for kids I suppose, much as ET did. Then again Morpurgo's books are written for kids (my daughter has about ten of his books) so I doubt there is an awful lot of complexity in the characters for Spielberg to whitewash.