To think cinemas will soon become obsolete?

[Keyansier]

Reasons why:

1. Home media systems are getting bigger and better as each year passes.
2. Society is getting more inconsiderate as each year passes and people think nothing of yakking all the way through a film or playing on their phone/kids playing on their ipads.
3. Films are available through home streaming 1 or 2 months after a cinema release these days, not like before when it would take over a year until a video/DVD release.
4. The cost, which isn't worth points 2 and 3.
5. The after effects of covid and lockdown and films being released on home media only - people realising they don't actually miss the cinema at all.

I don’t go to the cinema to see films aimed at adults, but we take the DC a few times a year, when there’s a big film out. We have weekly film nights at home and the cinema is a very different experience. We are probably unusual in that we still have a small TV though. Luckily we’ve never had a film spoilt by other people.

I HATE the cinema.
I'm very wriggly & I can stretch out at home, obvs can't at a cinema!
Can't smoke, no coffee, & they just aren't the same as they were when I was young. It was a proper 'going OUT' then, not a small room with kinda office chairs like it is now.
The damn sound is too loud & I can't see the time to work out when I can escape.

Having said all that.. they may have improved, as the last film I went to see was Saving Private Ryan, whenever that was! ;-)

I do like the look of the new Irish film though, title forgotten, hang on while I google..
The Banshees of Inisherin. :-)

One thing I forgot to mention - does anyone else find cinemas incredibly cold!?

@mamabear715 I suspect cinemas might have changed a bit in the 24 years since you last went 😄

Ours is quite old-fashioned, a multiplex but about 18 years old and it's still ok. Newer ones have all sorts of new-fangled reclining seats and what have you, sofas even at Everyman.

Yep I often use my coat as a blanket (but then I'm always under a blanket at home too, no matter the temperature).

We've stopped going to Cineworld since the pandemic but love the little independent cinemas. The little one in our town is always packed.

@Keyansier
Yes I am in the UK - on the south coast

I was talking to a cinema manager a couple of days ago, he thinks they'll be gone within 5 years, because of the things op said!

I love the cinema! Watching at home is not the same at all. I'd go every day if I could!

The cinema is dead and frankly good riddance. It has been on its way out for years, the extortionate pricing is the prime cause but also the unpleasant atmosphere that some customers create doesn't help.

Last time I went to the cinema it was £8 or something crazy like that for an afternoon showing. More than it would cost to rent it on Amazon, more than the blu-ray would cost after it's been out a few months. It's madness charging that sort of money, maybe if it were a quid or so they'd pack the place out but charging the best part of a tenner to sit behind someone with massive hair on their phone and talking during the film, and on an uncomfortable seat, is horrendous.

For the price of one ticket you can subscribe to Amazon Prime for a month or one of the add-on channels like the BFI, Lionsgate or Studio Canal. You can watch as much as you like without having to worry about someone throwing popcorn or spitting at you. You don't have to queue up in the rain, you don't have to sit through tedious adverts.

I compare it to the death of the ice cream van. Sure, there are some stuck up people who claim "nuffin' beatz a mister whippy lolz" - but for the vast majority of normal people, paying a fraction of the price and having the extra convenience of just getting one from the freezer when you feel like it, is a no brainer.

A quid per ticket? What planet do you live on? You’re suggesting that cinema tickets should cost less than two bags of crisps. Saying it’s more expensive than the DVD is like saying ‘it costs way more to eat spaghetti at an Italian restaurant than to make it at my house!’ You pay for the experience. If you don’t like it obviously just don’t go but suggesting that £8 is ‘madness’ for a cinema ticket and they should cost a pound just makes you sound out of touch with the world.

Personally unless with g,f I prefer the film in private as can enjoy it more

If throwing popcorn and spitting at people (or even talking on the phone) during films in the cinema was commonplace here I lived, I'd move somewhere that was less of a shithole, not extrapolate it to decide that because my experience of something is poor that it would be better if it was taken away from everybody.

I saw Jaws at the BFI IMAX a few weeks ago. Do you have a 20x26m TV in your house, @Dotjones ?

Me and DH used to love going to the cinema but other inconsiderate people put us off.

People on their phones, talking non stop, making a racket eating, up and down going to the toilet etc.

Why on earth can people not just sit and watch a film in silence? If you know you can't even sit through a 2 hour film without needing the toilet then at least sit at the end of a row (preferably fairly close to the exit).

Watching a film at home in no way compares with a cinema. I guess one of the massive tv's with surround sound may be good but they look so awful no way would we have one.

I’ve got Meerkat Movies so could do the 2 for 1 thing on Tuesday and Wednesday but I very rarely bother as there aren’t that many decent films at the moment - I think that’s a big issue tbh, there are so many great quality multi million dollar telly programmes to choose from, why the heck would I pay £17 to go and see a very mediocre movie?

Soon? Haven't been to a cinema since 2003 for anything for me to watch. Been with my nieces but even they gre out of wanting the cinema pretty quickly when they realised we could have a movie night with a takeaway before the film and if they must have food whilst the film is on then fine.
The moment the price went above £5 i thought it was too expensive.

I used to love the cinema too.
Before covid I went and sat next to a stranger that was itching himself he whole way through. Put me right off!

Not sure, but I wouldn’t miss the cinema if it did disappear.

I love the cinema but recently I’ve noticed that a) family films are a nightmare due to kids running up and down/ screaming etc. This could be because my tolerance is lower as my kids are older (funnily enough I never noticed this when I had a pack of screechy toddlers myself!). Or it could be because I’m resentful of the disturbance when it’s so bloody expensive for a cinema trip these days.
And b) adult screenings are nearly empty , and it feels kind of cold and uncomfortable . The popcorn is teeny and barely lasts the trailers.
I spend the whole movie wondering why I didn’t just stay home, with my fire and endless (cheap) snacks.
I do find though that I find myself craving the cinema if I’m dieting. It’s some sort of self sabotage where I binge on endless minstrels and pringles in the dark.

DH and I got unlimited membership to Cineworld which ran out a couple of months ago.

There just weren't that many films that were aimed at people of our demographic (early50s) and I mean we're not fussy, even saw Spencer.

It's rare to find a film that everyone wants to see , the new Top Gun seemed to bridge that gap quite well.

Love the continuous saying of ,,, nothing on worth watching,,, how do you know if you never go? 1£ a ticket the renters would love that

Love the continuous saying of ,,, nothing on worth watching,,, how do you know if you never go?

You must have heard of the Internet by now, you are using it?

Heard the same arguments in the 80's yet once the novelty of videos wore off cinema going rebounded. It's a different experience!

Yes I usually have to sit with my coat on in our local cinema. Even before Covid they always see m Ed to have the air conditioning blasting.
On the plus side they don't sell nachos, hot dogs etc

No but it's bloody annoying having to sit near someone slurping and chewing and crunching throughout the film. Years ago people ate a few sweets or a bar of chocolate now it's stinking nachos followed by a bucket of popcorn and a huge coke where even the ice cubes have to be slurped to the final drop.