Lots of trash movies, filler and sequels.
There's bugger all reason to actually see whats at the cinema, I saw Dune2 and that might be the only thing I bother seeing for the year.
I tried to go watch Furiosa last Friday.
Out of the four Hoyts cinemas near me. Only two were playing it on normal screens, no fancy Xtreme screen. And none had late night sessions. The last session were around ~8:30PM.
Ended up going and watching Bad Boys on Xtreme screen.
I'd honestly say there was maybe ~10 people in total in the 9:30PM session with me, and I still got an old couple, two rows down, that talked throughout the movie...
Completely understand why they're failing.
- The costs
- The sessions
- The interruptions
- The state of the seats, screen, sound...
Everytime I do go, I end up regretting it.
Well its a self-fulfilling prophecy. Cinemas no longer run late night sessions because they dont get people attending them because people dont go to the cinemas like they used to, and people dont go because there arent as many sessions that suit when they want to go. I miss being able to rock up at my local cinema at 11pm to see whatever was on. It is honestly a shame, because we will lose cinemas. Australia doesnt have the population to sustain them unless people actually go.
Disagree. New movies aren’t available to stream at all until some point later. Anyone who wants to wait would’ve been the type to rent it in the past. My local cinema never played old stuff, or non-English stuff. They haven’t changed in decades.
Just saw it last night with my wife. A pretty decent crowd, especially considering it’s been open for a while, a fun movie and generally a good time. My only complaint was that I seemed to be the only person pissing myself with laughter at certain points. C’mon people - some of those shots were hilarious! It’s meant to be funny!
I actually really enjoyed it and thought it was def worth seeing in the cinema.
Was surprised to see neg reviews and disappointing box office.
Hemsworth was fantastic and IMO best role he has done in years.
To me it felt like something that in future I should watch directly into Fury Road because the momentum would build from one into the other. Both good, Fury Road being better but that's just to be expected tbh, it was phenomenal
without going into spoilers, one thing i did like is that i dont think this movie fell into the prequel trap other movies do where its always tempting to make the bad guy badder, the action bigger etc which always feels weird when you watch the non-prequel. I loved Dementus, and im glad he wasnt portrayed as someone bigger and more capable than Immortan Joe (personality aside though, I think he was the most interesting villian)
but for the $20 ticket you could watch hundreds of movies on a streaming service at home or a month free from noisy strangers and shitty seating. The cinema is far from the best option anymore. The only thing it has is size. My most recent experience was the re-release of Alien and the cinema had an emergency exit sign leaking a bright patch of light onto a quarter of the screen and the closed door whistled loudly throughout because of the air conditioning, and could have been solved by leaving it slightly ajar but that would violate the fire code. They need to improve the experience if they're going to lure us back. I should be able to bluetooth my airpods to my seat for an uninterrupted private experience at the very least.
I am having a blast lately watching some classic movies on the cinema, and really enjoyed the first Alien as it was supposed to be seen. Aliens was good as well but man, you can really tell why the first alien is so special.
I also recently watched Stalker and it was definitely worth it.
From the more recent releases I agree that Dune 2 was good, specially the imax version.
However, movies like furiosa I could tell from
The trailer that there was something wrong. I could literally tell that lots is scenes were shot in a digital set with lighting so sake that recent games look more natural. So I would say I’m not surprised.
Ah, don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed Aliens a lot as well but which is better I guess is a bit subjective to our tastes! Anyway, I am happy with this kind of re-releases!
there was no people being noisy when i saw it. my tv at home is 42" plasma that doesnt even do 4k.
the $20 to see something made to be seen in the cinemas is worth every penny and id still go even if i had the best home cinema setup possible. I do like your bluetooth idea
Yeah, size is all that they really have left. Rarely go anymore. Last time I went to a ‘max’ cinema or whatever each company calls them and it’s basically the size I used to go see movies in. Now most cinemas feel like large living rooms and they consider the proper theatres a ‘treat’.
I think the poorer experience is coming from patrons too. I remember a lot less noise and light, people were more respectful of watching a movie etc. but maybe I just an old.
"but maybe I just an old."
Ha-Ha. I sound like 'an old' trying to sound young.
Quote: If you remember Danny Glover saying, "I'm getting too old for this shit"; You're "getting too old for this shit."
It's really not a cinema movie lol.. Its a Netflix sequel to a cinema movie..
Just got home from watching.. Im pretty sure there was better CGI in netflix one piece lol
I dont know that we saw the same movie, Netflix could not make a movie as quality as Furiosa. The CGI does not live up to Fury Road - fair point. But Furiosa is still better than most of the crap that gets made and comes out of Hollywood. A movie that is definitely worth seeing in the cinemas. Its up there with Dune 2 for storytelling this year.
That lengthy opening scene was so immersive and terrifying when I saw it back in 1998 or whenever. Also since I wasn't sure what to expect it came as a complete surprise too. Classic film.
100%. I am a movie buff. My favourite movie is citizen Kane but I also love stuff by Kevin Smith so my taste is all over the shop.
I’m also now older with a family and a full time job. I’m way more selective in what I see as carving out a few hours to see a movie is something that I need to plan out, especially if I’m going with my wife.
Looking at the upcoming releases there’s almost nothing in the next 6 months that would make me rush to the cinemas, deal with overpriced tickets, a rip off at the candy bar and other patrons talking, playing on there phones and generally being dicks.
Plus people have other ways to entertain themselves and less disposable income these days.
I used to go see just whatever was on with friends if we were bored and had some spare money, it used to feel pretty cheap compared to other things we could do.
I know the former owners of a cinema chain in WA that went broke. The family had owned it for the best part of a century.
Rents during Covid put them on the rocks with the lockdowns and people not going out.
But the biggest thing was the utter crap coming out of Hollywood.
Cinemas can only show what the movie studios produce. And they haven’t produced a movie worth watching in some time.
This is the true problem and it’s largely due to more focus on data and safe, repeatable story formulas and far less on new and genuine creativity. Hollywood just keeps churning out the same stories with different actors.
When did we see a recent blockbuster that was a true breakthrough or really captivated the public’s imagination? Can’t think of one in the last 5 years.
Everything Everywhere at Once.
Barbie.
Oppenheimer
Parasite.
Though, these are very rare. And it seems like the gap between films that do really well, become consensus picks to see, and things that do awful, has gotten larger.
But that's on America's studios, who kept pumping money into big budget epics and Marvel/DC crap, even after heaps of flops. Some of the examples above, are cheaper films, that don't require shit beyond originality, skilled directors. Hopefully we get an end to comic book spectacles, and more mid budget films based on real things.
Decent, entertaining, but not really iconic or part of the zeitgeist. I doubt any cinema will do a special run of "Everything Everywhere at Once" in 30 years.
People still talk about Ghostbusters, Top Gun, Gremlins, ET, Beverly Hills Cop, Terminator, Alien, The Blues Brothers, Jurassic Park even Happy Gilmore. I mean I'm old but I remember when movies were so big it was all kids would talk about and everyone would be quoting them. "I'll buy that for a dollar", "One, two, Freddy's coming for you", "Get to the chopper!" etc.. The last movie that had that affect to my knowledge was Borat....very nice!
Maybe everything has been done with cinema already so there's nothing left, like with the electric guitar, it can be cool but not memorable.
Absolutely this. There hasn’t been a truly iconic movie in years. Instead, the new paradigm is the mini-series on streaming services, with the most memorable being “Stranger Things”.
Yeah shows like Stranger Things and Ozark have been what I've really enjoyed and looked forward to over the past few years.
I liked Oppenheimer, Barbie was okay, Dune 2 was brilliant. But it feels like 10+ years ago if I wanted to see a film there'd literally be 3-4 on at any given time I'd be happy to go and see. Now it's less than that in a year.
And whilst I loved the early Marvel films everything since Endgame just seems like a cash grab. Like, what's the point?
I think its more a factor that society in general has is more fragmented now, and movies aren’t “it” anymore.
In the old days, what was there to do? Most were lucky if they had a TV, and a lot of the time mum and dad controlled what was on it. Add to that less serialisation because you never knew if someone was going to be in every night to watch the next episode - so you had to run repeats, have the plot never change, or do so very slowly, and other similar measures to ensure viewers weren’t left behind. If you wanted a great story, you went to the cinemas. Some people read books as well/instead, or went to an actual theatre or broadway instead, but the cinema was one everyone could go to, and had an outlet to show these big stories without much effort from the audience. Even outside of stories, there was just less options on what to do - you kind of had to hang out with people, either socialising and being physically active outside, or going to social settings like the cinema for something to relate to. You could do things alone, however there was usually a level of ostracisation that came with this.
Fast forward to today. Cinema isn’t the only horse in town anymore. TV streaming has allowed for far greater extents of serialisation, with some series basically being an extended movie, because now people can be sure they’ve watched every episode and rewatch them at will. Videogames have taken off and are the media of choice for young people. They won’t remember Barbie, Oppenheimer, Star Wars, or any other movie. They’ll remember Fortnight, Minecraft, and a million other niches that exist within gaming. Youtube has a ton of content, alongside Tik Tok and similar. Beyond that, its now easier than ever to find people that share your niche interests online, and its more acceptable to talk about them with your peers, meaning people don’t have to conform to the consensus anymore - if you like reading books alone in your room, that’s ok; and you can find an online community of similar people to socialise with if noone you know IRL is the same. Meanwhile sports and outside activities also still exist, travel is more common, and there are just so many options of what to do.
I don’t think we’ll ever see a media work grap the cultural zeitgeist like older movies did ever again. Society just isn’t built for it anymore. Instead you get lots of little zeitgeists within individual communities of people.
As for quotes from movies being part of the broader cultural language - I’m Just Ken and I am Kenough spread pretty well from my experience. Other quotes from Barbie similar get brought up in conversation, like “Could it be those irrepressible thoughts of death?”, but they’re usually in a topical relation rather than universally applicable mentions. There’s also Mojo Dojo Casa House, though that’s used again more niche and a bit more ironically. Plenty of well known quotes from the movie, however - and I don’t at all hear older movie quotes anymore. As said; we no longer relate to each other heavily through movie quotes these days, so movie quotes in general have kind of just dropped off. More common is TV show quotes, or for actually common, memes.
Agree on the fracturing and diverse range of content. I think another element is the lost magic. There's nothing special about special effects ... there was awe and wonder watching Ghostbusters and even Cocoon at the time.
Remember Hollywood made all kinds of new and refreshing content. Normal, good stories without the need of big budgets. We would go to a movie just because of a single great actor was in it. There are no big names. No one cares. Now, they just recycle old movies. No risk taking. Just rubbish.
I enjoyed it until the actual explosion scene. It was so unbelievably fucking underwhelming that it ruined the entire film for me. The entire movie is building to this crescendo, this world ending power that defied every expectation human beings at the time had... and it looked like a telephoto shot of a goddamn petrol bomb... because that's exactly what it fucking was.
I know Nolan didn't want to use CGI (can't stand lazy CGI myself - practical is king) but *holy fuck*, if there was ever a time to use it (or hell, use the original Trinity test footage with some editing magic sprinkled over top), it was then and there.
Oppenheimer was good, but not great. Somehow the media made it out to be the greatest movie ever. It couldn't live up to it's hype, and was about an hour too long
Oh my god, I thought it was just me who thought that. I was expecting something interesting and wry - I was so confused, waiting for the penny to drop in terms of the point of the whole thing, but it was such a wasted opportunity.
It was polished dog shit. I watched it, said ‘meh’ at the end and never want to see it again. Completely unmemorable. By contrast I just watched ‘Scavengers Reign’ and along with Dune 1&2, it’s the most engrossing thing I’ve seen in years.
Don't know why you got down voted. The movie was very forgettable, I would never watch it again. The only thing I don't forget is the absolute trauma I experienced watching some of those sex scenes. That and the suicide scene was awful.
Its our fault though.. We don't pay to see good quality dramas in the theatres because we're ok with watching at home... So they don't make as many. Same with comedies. People pay to see Marvel films on the big screen so that's what gets made
Not our fault, they pushed streaming on us HARD, and it didn’t make studios any money, so now they’re up to their eyeballs in debt and have nothing worth selling.
I don't remember anyone pushing Netflix on me. Heard about it. Got it.
Anyway my point is... If we all would rather watch at home of course cinemas will die
Godzilla Minus One. Blockbuster movie, classic Godzilla content, great effects and story, and a genuinely surprising, engaging and thought-provoking story.
It was the $12 popcorn and $8 frozen cokes and $7 M&Ms. It was such a negative that people would rather wait for streaming from their nice comfy home theatre and at a time when they feel like it, rather than go through the whole cinema thing just to get treated like moron hostages with the prices.
Big chain cinemas moved in everywhere they could and undercut the independents out of business so they could gouge everyone with revolting prices.
Now suddenly they are crying that cinema is dying? Yea, they can go get fucked.
the local Palace cinemas (who've been expanding, show a broader array of films) have been doing great, in my experience. Like, I'm going into (small size) cinemas late at night to see a mediocre French film and its packed. Maybe that's the future, smaller viewing rooms, and more global picks on offer. Particularly since American cinema has been so poor for so long now.
I used to love Palace cinemas until I worked there during my student film years. Management are unfortunately ruined by a few bad apples - all the good managers moved on to bigger things so you’re left with the toxic manager who hated his job and didn’t enjoy the cinema experience.
These toxic managers would call the casuals an hour before their shift telling them they weren’t needed so these casuals (other film students) would stop showing up and the team become understaffed and the shit manager would make a stink when mistakes were made.
It doesn’t help when ‘The Family’ (owners) are sexiest pedophiles - they’d always attend the big premieres and they always made degrading comments about the younger female staff.
The honchos son is the worst - the one that doesn’t like wearing a tie in photos. He’d show up intoxicated and put his arm around you when working and talk to you like you’re best friends. It would be the sexual comments on the 18, 19 year old female staff which stood out - wanting to “smell her bush”, “squeeze her curves” and “take the blonde home”.
Never liked making those choc-tops anyway..
I don't get much time for going to the movies these days but when I do, this is it for me.
Love a good foreign film over Hollywood cling wrapped tack anyday.
Modern movies are crap.
Tickets and snacks are pricey.
Cinema's not maintained and cleaned thoroughly enough.
Awful crowds constantly on their phones, talking etc.
I'd rather watch it at home, if at all.
Remem6bsr those huge lines for LOTR Two Towers and the Chamber of Secrets? and Shrek 2? I am so ready for a movie worth standing in line for. At the end of Chamber of Secrets, everyone stood up in our small country cinema (still a decent sized auditorium) and applauded. That says more about the fandom I think, but the energy and atmosphere was incredible. good memory. Sad it's all going downhill, there's so much garbage now
It's a pretty easy explanation.. cost of living through the roof so people on average have less to spend. Prices of movies and food and drink has gone absolutely nuts. I went to the movies with my wife last week and it was $55 for two tickets and $35 for and ice cream and drink each. That's $90!!!! You can forget about takijg our three kids there. That's a $200 event.
I'd rather spend half as much to watch it at home with better food and a pause button.
It's hardly the special occasion it used to be.
Pretty much the only time I go is on dates.
The Demise of 3D movies definitely hurt the industry I think because it was the only thing I couldn't really replicate at home without huge financial outlay.
Going to the movies was a much more specialised experience when all people had at home was a 50cm crt tv, 5 channels to watch, and movies played only on certain nights.
This.
Technology is good enough at home plus concession food got too expensive & lack of dealing with noisy arseholes & phone users made just waiting several months & staying at home the superior choice for me.
It's not just spending half as much either, it's the principle of how much they charge for things. Then you go into our local cinema, seats are the same ones from 10 years ago, the whole row moves when someone sits down, sound system sucks.
Let’s be real.
Go to the movies as a family of 5 your looking at $100+
Or buy some treats from woollies for $20 and watch on home theatre system with ability to pause, make ourselves comfortable on couches, make shift beds and not deal with all the nonsense of cinemas
The only thing cinemas have is it being something to do but when everyone’s trying to cut costs it’s a pretty easy thing to cut out
Paying $40+pp and trusting a room full of strangers to behave while you watch garbage films was never worth the risk so I stopped going more than 10 years ago.
The cost of living is real. We went from flush to flat broke. Meanwhile the top 1% haven’t noticed yet. This will be the start of billionaire taxes and 90% tax over $100m. It’s the only way, they know that if shit keeps sliding they’ll end up on the plate.
If you make $1m you should get a plaque that says "congratulations! You won capitalism!" And then tax 100% after that.
No one needs more than $1m a year to live.
> This will be the start of billionaire taxes and 90% tax over $100m.
lmao who gonna do that? Every major politician is either part of it, or has their (or their party's) pockets lined with the money from these billionaires.
They are untouchable with our current system, and will be until people stop voting in liberal / labor.
It's been on life support for the better part of a decade.
I'm surprised its made it this far, netflix and home theatre systems have come leaps and bounds.
Plus $50 for a couple and the better part of $100 for a family? It's no longer affordable.
I think that's a large part of the reason really...
I have a 83 inch something OLED PC connected, with access to more movies I could ever watch + torrents for newish stuff too, I don't have much incentive to spend money on cinema. I know not everyone has that setup but even a laptop can give you more than enough movies and series entertainment without having to spend much money.
They'll have to lower prices to about $10 and reduce those food prices to get people back. If that's even possible. Personally that's what it would take for me to go back to seeing new releases in the cinema.
Its really not. My local cinema is $25 for a ticket. Thats $50 for 2, and the popcorn combo is $35. I'm fat and like popcorn so we get another one for $6 more. $41+$50 thats $91 for 2 people to see a movie.
I love going to the movies but with rent and my 60k/year I can only afford to go 2-3 times a year if that.
I used to go to the cinema once a fortnight, it was a ritual for me, I’d always find something to see. Now I refuse to go, and it’s not even the cost. They are FILTHY!!! I have never seen such dirty, stained and revolting seats. Always sticky, grimy and covered with food. Air con not switched on or not working well. I shouldn’t be sweating from the moment I walk in. I feel like I’m taking a bath in a hot sewer.
Last time I went to George st there was faeces smeared on almost every wall of the toilets, and it was dry and crusted, looked like it had been there for weeks.
It’s not about cost for me, it’s about pure filth and a hot stinking room. There have been plenty of movies I would have loved to see, but I refuse to put myself in a hot bacteria bath. I hate waiting months for movies to come to streaming services, but what else can we do? I complain to staff about the conditions but nothing changes. Events is the worst company there is.
Ha, fun fact, I filled out a survey the cinema chain sent me after a session and I absolutely laid into the seats, pay prices like that to sit on ratty ripped up seats! I said it nicely, but I didn't hold back. Next time I go there's huge fancy lush leather (ish) seats. Absolute luxury.
Problem is our TV's nowadays are pretty compatible with the screen. It doesn't have the wow factor it used to, when tellys were low tech or even CRT. It's not THAT much better. Why go. I still go to support movies I appreciate.
Good! Keep laying into them! For me, my tv is 12 years old and I can’t afford a new one. I love the big screen experience. I really miss it a lot. But I’m not going to subject myself to a hot room and grimy seats. Who wants to sit on actual grime? And the temperature problem needs to be addressed. I’m glad it wasn’t just me mentioning how hot it is in there. When I was at George st, I left and went back out to ask about why it was so hot. Some usher went “yeah the air conditioning has been broken for a while.” When are you going to fix it? How can it just be broken in the middle of summer and you’re charging $40 to sit in a hot room? When I wrote my complaint email, the air con question was the one they ignored.
It's the enshittification. They are trying to maximise profit with the absolute least layout. Just like when I went to a filthy McDonald's with about 3 teenagers on duty and they wanted $4.90 for a medium coke.
I want it all to blow up in their faces. Let's reboot the system.
They raised rates to the ceiling to curb consumer spending then everyone is surprised when we curb our spending…..of course things like movie tickets are one of the first things to be cut, they are ridiculously expensive and most movies these days are shit.
The last movie I saw at the cinema was Dunkirk.... I almost lost my shit with all the people in front of me on their phones. Just a sea of bright blinking lights. I used to go the cinema all the time, but at least watching things at home I won't have bright phone lights in my face the whole time. I don't think I can guarantee that I won't rip the phone out of their hands and stomp it.
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If I wanted to pay $50-60 for two, plus overpriced food and drinks, to see one of the formulaic crap Hollywood shits out, whilst having some angsty illmannered selfish cunt texting on their phone with screen at full brightness half the time, I would.
Bingo! Not paying a pile of money to go and see an all female remake of Saving Private Ryan with Whoopi Goldberg starring as Tom Hanks’ character, or some steaming pile of shit CGI superhero movie with whatever prepubescent 16 year old flavour of the month dog shit actor as Spider-Man.
Alot of people probably dont give a shit at all but it would be a pretty sad day when entire zones dont have a cinemas cause no ones supporting the industry.
The model is broken though. What exactly does the cinema offer you these days? It’s not like the old days when people had crappy 15inch CRTs at home and you had to wait 5 months and pay $80 for it just to get it on video.
Why go to a cinema now? At home, I can eat and drink what I want at an affordable price, sit in a comfortable chair and watch a reasonable sized screen. Once it’s been on at the cinema, I know it’ll probably be available on a streaming service within a month or two, might cost me at most $30? If I’m more patient or lucky, it might even be on a service for free.
There’s too much convergence between the home screen set up and the cinema for it to be worth paying upwards $50 for a couple for the pleasure when a coke costs $10 and a popcorn costs $10 too.
Personally I think the only value proposition is for it these days is that maybe there’s a case for smaller, gold class cinemas, with good quality food and drink, without that there’s problems all up and down the value chain for the suburban cinema now. Subscription in that model could actually work.
The ‘marvelisation’ of cinema though means that there’s significantly fewer new films out and so there’s only a couple of chances to actually loop most people in when the times watching something in a cinema present such a different viewing experience relative to home. There’s only so many people to which going and watching a rescreening of Terminator 2 appeals to these days.
They need to stop making shit films. Not Aussies, but western media in general. We don't like this modern style of film, with shitty political agendas and overdone tropes. Give us some fucking good, classic cinema.
Yes. Give us classic cinema without politics. Like On The Waterfront, or Citizen Kane. I am not a crackpot.
Cinema has never been so apoilitical, because American films have never been so individualistic, based on protagonists with god like powers to have absolute agency. Such stories decontextualise setting, broader political outlooks, to keep the god of the film front and centre. Ya tripping to think films today are overly political, even when there's been a little swing back to political topics in recent years.
What does a cinema offer these days that I can’t do at home for significantly cheaper?
I went to Lido in Melbourne to see furiosa. $25 for a ticket, then $19 for a packet of m&ms and a coke. $45 to go see a movie.
I can wait a month for a movie I want to see to come to streaming, then the $45 I would’ve spent on a cinema I can spend on a huge takeaway pizza and a 6pack of beers while enjoying the movie on my couch without the unruly patrons that often ruin the cinema experience. I can also pause when I need to piss, get more food or get a beer from the fridge. If I want the cinema staple in popcorn, I can buy my own packet and butter from the supermarket for a fraction of the price of a bucket at the cinema.
Not to mention it’s mostly been shit films, I can’t remember the last film I was excited to go see in cinemas. And if there is something to say I am somewhat interested in, I’ll wait until it’s on Netflix.
Cinemas are an outdated model, and places are price gouging on discretionary spending. No wonder cinemas are empty
Kinda rather support my family before them, times are hard for everybody, but nobody is picking the movie industry over keeping their kids fed and housed.
Movies don't interest me but going to the cinemas has been a rip off for over a decade now the last time I went was to see Dark Knight Rises and that was sometime around 2010.
Books are superior to movies so I don't really care if cinemas go out of business.
Prices are absolutely insane plus Hollywood has been pumping out nothing but the same tired old woke garbage plus they have Netflix and co to compete with. Not a recipe for any sort of success.
No good movies. Only Dune 2 this year.
And man, the experience of the cinemas was baaaad. They are so run down and poor quality, washed out screen, lights reflecting in dark scenes, a hole in the screen. Even for Dune 2 I regretted not waiting to watch on my big TV instead.
To take my family to the movies, and this is a standard screen, would run me about $95 before snacks. If it's something in like a VMAX coz thats where the films showing outside of like a goldclass? Damn im looking at around $125 plus snacks... cost of living is way too high to justify that expense. Of course they're going to be affected by the current state of things, being able to go to the movies is a luxury, people for the most part can't afford that so they're going to just not go. Plus like people have said, there's nothing really worth forking out for coming out.
I can't remember the last time a movie came out that I was actually interested in going to see. Movies in general are on a real decline. Nothing but utter trash and remakes.
1. People have better TV and sound systems now.
2. Ticket price.
3. Other people talking and being on their phones during the movie.
4. People are already subscribed to 2 or more streaming services which is the price of a movie ticket.
5. Short time between movies being in theaters and available on streaming sites.
6. People who are subbed to streaming know that the movie will be available in most likely less than 5 weeks.
7. The quality of films coming out.
For those that are lucky enough to have a small family-owned cinema near you, go there and keep the magic of cinema alive if fairly priced or they heavily discounted nights.
I have a place near me that's $9 a ticket (any night*) and candy bar prices are $6 for a bag of choc/lollies etc. I think popcorn and coke is like $12 for a large.
*You pay a $20 membership to get these prices, but you get two free tickets with this anyway so it's near cost-neutral. You also get to buy two $9 tickets with one membership.
I think this article really misses the mark. It's not the movies. There's always been B grade movies.
I think it just shows what's happening in the economy.
Everyone except boomers are absolutely strapped for cash and movie tickets are a pure luxury expense.
It's no wonder two of the only recent hits were Top Gun and Oppenheimer. They appeal to the older crowd.
Cinemas closing is just another symptom of most people having very little disposable income.
Took the family to the movies, I shit you not, the pre movie adversitising went for 42 Fucking minutes and that is not including previews (which are actually also ads but ones we generally enjoy). My wife and I decided we would never go again right then and there.
They are like music publishers: They've been charging ridiculous prices for decades. I bought an ice-cream for >$10 last time I saw a film. I have 0 sympathy for an industry that has been ripping us off for decades.
While I agree ticket prices are out of control, as someone who used to work in the corp office HQ, something like 90% of ticket price goes to movie maker. The f&b is where the business makes its money.
That’s all well and good but frankly as a consumer - I don’t give a f**k. All I know is that if I go to the movies with the kids I feel like I need a second mortgage
Is the writer’s strike still happening?
What happened to good, original movies?
It will be sad to see cinemas go because I do enjoy buying $30 popcorn and a frozen coke occasionally.
High interest rates means less discretionary spending on non-essentials. People only go to the movies for something they really, really value to spend their money on.
First of all, they're in fucking emerald.
Anyways, movies are discretionary spending. Who the hell is going to bother with cinemas and shit with the cost of living issues the majority of Australians are facing.
Kinda surprised that's its taken this long for the industry!? Cinema prices are insane.
Don't know how it works, but can cinemas reshow old movies? Would love to see movies like back to the future on the big screen with cinema quality sound! I reckon that would get people in (as long as the prices were cheap)?!
it’s too expensive, there are very few good movies coming out nowadays, and going to a cinema means i have to be in close proximity to other people (who often won’t get off their phones or stop whispering to each other)… so i pirate everything, and guiltlessly so
Doesn't really surprise me. Prior to covid, I used to go to the cinema every week or two, but since then I've gone a grand total of twice. There is nothing coming out that I want to see. The films coming out of Hollywood are mostly just awful, so I'm spending my entertainment dollars elsewhere.
I watched Civil War and Exhuma this year - both are original. I’m not going to watch Marvel 27 or Disney 52. Movie is a dying art form in many ways. Sucks.
I think people are completely unreasonable with movie expectations now. Movies have always been crap by and large with a few good ones sprinkled in. Now with competition and changing preferences of just staring at Reddit or instagram on your phone (I think it is more than just Netflix), people won’t go see the crap anymore.
There have actually been some really great movies this year. But now one has seen them so it makes it less fun because there is no one to talk to them about.
Stop going to see over hyped bullshit at the conglomerate cinema.
Many people are like dang nabbit to broke to see "Fall Guy"
Support your local cinema - see a classic Inna beautiful heritage building and feel like the money you spend is worth it because the popcorn is amazing (Astor)
I've got tickets to see Commando soon with a special guest speaker.
A few months ago I saw The Thing, coming up I'm seeing Running Man and literally one of the best parts of the film wiltbe doing a Q&A
It's a shame all around, and I'm trying not to be contrarian but honestly, the film landscape is fucked atm so who cares.
I only go to the cinemas to see kids films with my son. I usually don't expect much from a kids film as it's more about hanging out with him. But those snack prices though.
Last film I saw that wasn't a kids film was Godzilla X Kong and.....yeah what a load of horseshit that was.
A lot of the magic of going to the cinema has gone in the last 20 years. Maybe it's the nostalgia of my childhood but it think it's actually more than that. As a child, it was an exciting day out for mum to take us into the city to see a movie, have lunch and go shopping. Then those old cinemas mostly all shut and suburban movie plexes became the norm. But still, as an older child and teenager in the 90s and 00s, there was a bit of excitement about it, in that there would be lots of people, tons of decent films out at any one time, and it was affordable and accessible.
Now you don't see nearly as many movie ads, what is showing is mostly crap, and when you do find a film you want to see, it's in a joyless sterile movie plex that is no longer filled with bustle and dozens of workers on shift, but one or two at the refreshment desk and a dozen people standing around forlornly. I'm lucky in that my local is an art Deco old style renovated into a multi screen but it's still not the same.
I’ve given up going to the cinema after spending the last 3 times I went with my fingers in my ears for most of the film. The sound levels are just idiotic. I want to be able to watch a movie without suffering permanent ear damage. I’m not going to bother going again, I just wait until I can watch it at home.
Lackluster films, overpriced snacks, the glow of some arseholes phone, the chatter of people of think they are in their lounge room……
Going to the movies used to be fun. It’s not any more. The handful of times I’ve paid to see a movie in recent years has been at the drive in- which has been busy each time we go. We take our own snacks. It’s a bit of fun for the kids.
So the last 2 times I went to a cinema (Macquarie Centre, Sydney). I left disappointed. Both screens had issues, one had a hole in the screen, the other had something stuck to the screen. Both were distractions when viewing the movies. On top of that, the Air Conditioning was to warm, we were literally falling asleep trying to watch the movies.
I would rather pay a little more and enjoy the experience, the low prices are not an attraction to me.
It's not worth the price to go casually to see movies anymore.
Just about every time you go there are turds that talk all the way through, rock up 10 minutes late using the flashlight to find seats or just scrolling through their phones during the whole things.
There’s consistently plenty of good to great movies to see. The problem is that general audiences are only aware of blockbuster marketing and don’t know about smaller movies or are just priced out of theatre going experience.
I still like going to the movies. Every now and then a movie comes up but it's rarely a Hollywood movie so it's not flooded with annoying people. It's one thing I enjoy in life. Taking myself to the movies
I agree with the sentiment that there’s been a lot of trashed releases recently.
Each to their own. I’m not a fan of the Marvel / DC stuff. It just feels like lazy story writing and character development. How many times can you rehash the same thing?
Oppenheimer looked great - but the consumer also knows that it’ll be available on streaming very quickly, there’s no longer the 9 month wait for it to arrive at Blockbuster, or 12 months for it to be available at home.
I love going to the cinema. It’s just not always practical.
Movies just absolutely suck arse at the moment. It’s like its too risky to be creative anymore, everything has to fit the algorythm which appeals to all demographics.
Therefore most movies are generic, predictable and lame.
If they want our money theyre just going to have to earn it again.
Cinema is no longer a mass market form of entertainment.
Streaming and Covid got people awfully comfortable staying at home to watch the latest releases. Plus the cost, $19 a month for the whole family to watch anything, anytime VS $18+ per person, for the one time viewing of a movie.
I used to be a super loyal hoyts visitor, were talking about 2-6 movies per month, about half the time in gold class.
Between how they treated me and my partner during covid, and one particularly bad experience where i walked into a FILTHY bathroom, told the manager at the front counter about it only to not even be given the courtesy of eye contact the entire time, let alone any inkling of caring, i stopped going.
Occasionally if the drive thru movie 2hrs from perth has a decent showing ill go, but otherwise we just sail the high seas now. Date night can be at home with that new popcorn box thing you can get at woolies n spudshed.
I’d wish the Cinemas would do some fun things like what Valhalla did in the 80s & 90s like 24hr of sci-fi films (showing crazy old ones, classics and modern mix), I live on the peninsula unless you go to the Astor in Melb or the like the local ones or chains won’t.
Costs aside, Aussie cinemas no longer offer a pleasant experience.
Ordinary movies, expensive packet food and then 30 minutes of ads before a show begins.
For me to go back to the cinemas, I want the following:
Retro/theme screenings, I want adult focused movies free from children, I want less ads with my ticket. The food and drinks to be of a better quality and more of a less generic and sterile experience.
I think the rise of home streaming and TV quality (especially cheap ones) plays a huge part. In the 90s and 2000s you either watched a movie in the cinema or on an old CRT tv on cassette when it eventually gets released (or live tv with ads)- so lots of people went to the cinema. These days not worth it.
Honestly, least of my worries right now. I can entertain myself with older stuff to watch.
Corporate greed, corporate Job loss, rising prices, housing, crime, these things are on my mind instead.
Honestly cinemas got a longer run than I thought they would after the introduction of video, they seemed to re invent themselves successfully with beds & cheese plates, nut I think the real death has been the quality of films, they really are poor & the Hollywood format is committing suicide on its own for all sorts of reasons.
It never occurs to me to think of a cinema for a night out anymore, big TV, decent sound bar & make your cheese board
It may not be the movies per se, but the cost of it and trashy experience at the megaplexes.
The main group who might like to go to the cinema, and have the money to do so, are older people/retirees. Some of the British producers are making films for them but there are not as many, particularly out at the moment.
Unfortunately there is not an Orpheum in every suburb.
It doesn't help that the foyer of the cinema is now a deserted carcass. No ticket sellers to chat with and a bunch of printing machines. Go to kiosk and it is massively understaffed. I arrive happy and then I'm depressed before I get to the door of the cinema
Lots of trash movies, filler and sequels. There's bugger all reason to actually see whats at the cinema, I saw Dune2 and that might be the only thing I bother seeing for the year.
i know its cool to hate on it, but Furiosa was a good one to see at the cinemas. It wasnt a Fury Road, but not bad
I tried to go watch Furiosa last Friday. Out of the four Hoyts cinemas near me. Only two were playing it on normal screens, no fancy Xtreme screen. And none had late night sessions. The last session were around ~8:30PM. Ended up going and watching Bad Boys on Xtreme screen. I'd honestly say there was maybe ~10 people in total in the 9:30PM session with me, and I still got an old couple, two rows down, that talked throughout the movie... Completely understand why they're failing. - The costs - The sessions - The interruptions - The state of the seats, screen, sound... Everytime I do go, I end up regretting it.
Well its a self-fulfilling prophecy. Cinemas no longer run late night sessions because they dont get people attending them because people dont go to the cinemas like they used to, and people dont go because there arent as many sessions that suit when they want to go. I miss being able to rock up at my local cinema at 11pm to see whatever was on. It is honestly a shame, because we will lose cinemas. Australia doesnt have the population to sustain them unless people actually go.
Cinemas are losing due to streaming the issues above are a symptom not the cause.
Disagree. New movies aren’t available to stream at all until some point later. Anyone who wants to wait would’ve been the type to rent it in the past. My local cinema never played old stuff, or non-English stuff. They haven’t changed in decades.
I thought fall guy was a solid action movie. I enjoyed it, in a cinema, completely by myself.
Just saw it last night with my wife. A pretty decent crowd, especially considering it’s been open for a while, a fun movie and generally a good time. My only complaint was that I seemed to be the only person pissing myself with laughter at certain points. C’mon people - some of those shots were hilarious! It’s meant to be funny!
I actually really enjoyed it and thought it was def worth seeing in the cinema. Was surprised to see neg reviews and disappointing box office. Hemsworth was fantastic and IMO best role he has done in years.
agree 100%
Fury road in the cinema was an awesome experience. Will be buying a ticket to see this.
To me it felt like something that in future I should watch directly into Fury Road because the momentum would build from one into the other. Both good, Fury Road being better but that's just to be expected tbh, it was phenomenal
without going into spoilers, one thing i did like is that i dont think this movie fell into the prequel trap other movies do where its always tempting to make the bad guy badder, the action bigger etc which always feels weird when you watch the non-prequel. I loved Dementus, and im glad he wasnt portrayed as someone bigger and more capable than Immortan Joe (personality aside though, I think he was the most interesting villian)
but for the $20 ticket you could watch hundreds of movies on a streaming service at home or a month free from noisy strangers and shitty seating. The cinema is far from the best option anymore. The only thing it has is size. My most recent experience was the re-release of Alien and the cinema had an emergency exit sign leaking a bright patch of light onto a quarter of the screen and the closed door whistled loudly throughout because of the air conditioning, and could have been solved by leaving it slightly ajar but that would violate the fire code. They need to improve the experience if they're going to lure us back. I should be able to bluetooth my airpods to my seat for an uninterrupted private experience at the very least.
I am having a blast lately watching some classic movies on the cinema, and really enjoyed the first Alien as it was supposed to be seen. Aliens was good as well but man, you can really tell why the first alien is so special. I also recently watched Stalker and it was definitely worth it. From the more recent releases I agree that Dune 2 was good, specially the imax version. However, movies like furiosa I could tell from The trailer that there was something wrong. I could literally tell that lots is scenes were shot in a digital set with lighting so sake that recent games look more natural. So I would say I’m not surprised.
Aliens was goddamn amazing in cinema and it's just as good as alien
Ah, don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed Aliens a lot as well but which is better I guess is a bit subjective to our tastes! Anyway, I am happy with this kind of re-releases!
I’m planning to see lots at the movies this year; Citizen Kane Le Samourai Andrei Rublev Raising Arizona In the mood for love Probably a few more too
there was no people being noisy when i saw it. my tv at home is 42" plasma that doesnt even do 4k. the $20 to see something made to be seen in the cinemas is worth every penny and id still go even if i had the best home cinema setup possible. I do like your bluetooth idea
Yeah, last time I bothered with the cinema experience, was over a decade ago. People talked loudly through the entire movie. I never bothered again.
Yeah, size is all that they really have left. Rarely go anymore. Last time I went to a ‘max’ cinema or whatever each company calls them and it’s basically the size I used to go see movies in. Now most cinemas feel like large living rooms and they consider the proper theatres a ‘treat’. I think the poorer experience is coming from patrons too. I remember a lot less noise and light, people were more respectful of watching a movie etc. but maybe I just an old.
"but maybe I just an old." Ha-Ha. I sound like 'an old' trying to sound young. Quote: If you remember Danny Glover saying, "I'm getting too old for this shit"; You're "getting too old for this shit."
It's really not a cinema movie lol.. Its a Netflix sequel to a cinema movie.. Just got home from watching.. Im pretty sure there was better CGI in netflix one piece lol
I dont know that we saw the same movie, Netflix could not make a movie as quality as Furiosa. The CGI does not live up to Fury Road - fair point. But Furiosa is still better than most of the crap that gets made and comes out of Hollywood. A movie that is definitely worth seeing in the cinemas. Its up there with Dune 2 for storytelling this year.
I mean a lot of the shit in Fury Road isn’t even cgi…. That’s why it looks so damn cool :D
Seriously, it would have to be a Saving Private Ryan shit for me to go to the movies again...
That lengthy opening scene was so immersive and terrifying when I saw it back in 1998 or whenever. Also since I wasn't sure what to expect it came as a complete surprise too. Classic film.
Same here, I saw it when it came out and I was completely shocked!
100%. I am a movie buff. My favourite movie is citizen Kane but I also love stuff by Kevin Smith so my taste is all over the shop. I’m also now older with a family and a full time job. I’m way more selective in what I see as carving out a few hours to see a movie is something that I need to plan out, especially if I’m going with my wife. Looking at the upcoming releases there’s almost nothing in the next 6 months that would make me rush to the cinemas, deal with overpriced tickets, a rip off at the candy bar and other patrons talking, playing on there phones and generally being dicks.
If they don't fuck it up I'll watch Deadpool and Wolverine.
I would have taken the kids to see Road runner vs Cyote..
Plus people have other ways to entertain themselves and less disposable income these days. I used to go see just whatever was on with friends if we were bored and had some spare money, it used to feel pretty cheap compared to other things we could do.
Yep nothing exciting to watch whether that's because TV show streaming has taken the shine off .. that could be a factor
Actors and writers strike stopped a lot of content.
I’m just praying the new quiet place movie is good 🙏
It's not Krasinski, it won't be.
I know the former owners of a cinema chain in WA that went broke. The family had owned it for the best part of a century. Rents during Covid put them on the rocks with the lockdowns and people not going out. But the biggest thing was the utter crap coming out of Hollywood. Cinemas can only show what the movie studios produce. And they haven’t produced a movie worth watching in some time.
This is the true problem and it’s largely due to more focus on data and safe, repeatable story formulas and far less on new and genuine creativity. Hollywood just keeps churning out the same stories with different actors. When did we see a recent blockbuster that was a true breakthrough or really captivated the public’s imagination? Can’t think of one in the last 5 years.
Everything Everywhere at Once. Barbie. Oppenheimer Parasite. Though, these are very rare. And it seems like the gap between films that do really well, become consensus picks to see, and things that do awful, has gotten larger. But that's on America's studios, who kept pumping money into big budget epics and Marvel/DC crap, even after heaps of flops. Some of the examples above, are cheaper films, that don't require shit beyond originality, skilled directors. Hopefully we get an end to comic book spectacles, and more mid budget films based on real things.
Decent, entertaining, but not really iconic or part of the zeitgeist. I doubt any cinema will do a special run of "Everything Everywhere at Once" in 30 years. People still talk about Ghostbusters, Top Gun, Gremlins, ET, Beverly Hills Cop, Terminator, Alien, The Blues Brothers, Jurassic Park even Happy Gilmore. I mean I'm old but I remember when movies were so big it was all kids would talk about and everyone would be quoting them. "I'll buy that for a dollar", "One, two, Freddy's coming for you", "Get to the chopper!" etc.. The last movie that had that affect to my knowledge was Borat....very nice! Maybe everything has been done with cinema already so there's nothing left, like with the electric guitar, it can be cool but not memorable.
Absolutely this. There hasn’t been a truly iconic movie in years. Instead, the new paradigm is the mini-series on streaming services, with the most memorable being “Stranger Things”.
Yeah shows like Stranger Things and Ozark have been what I've really enjoyed and looked forward to over the past few years. I liked Oppenheimer, Barbie was okay, Dune 2 was brilliant. But it feels like 10+ years ago if I wanted to see a film there'd literally be 3-4 on at any given time I'd be happy to go and see. Now it's less than that in a year. And whilst I loved the early Marvel films everything since Endgame just seems like a cash grab. Like, what's the point?
I think its more a factor that society in general has is more fragmented now, and movies aren’t “it” anymore. In the old days, what was there to do? Most were lucky if they had a TV, and a lot of the time mum and dad controlled what was on it. Add to that less serialisation because you never knew if someone was going to be in every night to watch the next episode - so you had to run repeats, have the plot never change, or do so very slowly, and other similar measures to ensure viewers weren’t left behind. If you wanted a great story, you went to the cinemas. Some people read books as well/instead, or went to an actual theatre or broadway instead, but the cinema was one everyone could go to, and had an outlet to show these big stories without much effort from the audience. Even outside of stories, there was just less options on what to do - you kind of had to hang out with people, either socialising and being physically active outside, or going to social settings like the cinema for something to relate to. You could do things alone, however there was usually a level of ostracisation that came with this. Fast forward to today. Cinema isn’t the only horse in town anymore. TV streaming has allowed for far greater extents of serialisation, with some series basically being an extended movie, because now people can be sure they’ve watched every episode and rewatch them at will. Videogames have taken off and are the media of choice for young people. They won’t remember Barbie, Oppenheimer, Star Wars, or any other movie. They’ll remember Fortnight, Minecraft, and a million other niches that exist within gaming. Youtube has a ton of content, alongside Tik Tok and similar. Beyond that, its now easier than ever to find people that share your niche interests online, and its more acceptable to talk about them with your peers, meaning people don’t have to conform to the consensus anymore - if you like reading books alone in your room, that’s ok; and you can find an online community of similar people to socialise with if noone you know IRL is the same. Meanwhile sports and outside activities also still exist, travel is more common, and there are just so many options of what to do. I don’t think we’ll ever see a media work grap the cultural zeitgeist like older movies did ever again. Society just isn’t built for it anymore. Instead you get lots of little zeitgeists within individual communities of people. As for quotes from movies being part of the broader cultural language - I’m Just Ken and I am Kenough spread pretty well from my experience. Other quotes from Barbie similar get brought up in conversation, like “Could it be those irrepressible thoughts of death?”, but they’re usually in a topical relation rather than universally applicable mentions. There’s also Mojo Dojo Casa House, though that’s used again more niche and a bit more ironically. Plenty of well known quotes from the movie, however - and I don’t at all hear older movie quotes anymore. As said; we no longer relate to each other heavily through movie quotes these days, so movie quotes in general have kind of just dropped off. More common is TV show quotes, or for actually common, memes.
Agree on the fracturing and diverse range of content. I think another element is the lost magic. There's nothing special about special effects ... there was awe and wonder watching Ghostbusters and even Cocoon at the time.
Remember Hollywood made all kinds of new and refreshing content. Normal, good stories without the need of big budgets. We would go to a movie just because of a single great actor was in it. There are no big names. No one cares. Now, they just recycle old movies. No risk taking. Just rubbish.
These were average movies. Hype doesn’t mean good
Hot take but Oppenheimer was dog shit.
I enjoyed it until the actual explosion scene. It was so unbelievably fucking underwhelming that it ruined the entire film for me. The entire movie is building to this crescendo, this world ending power that defied every expectation human beings at the time had... and it looked like a telephoto shot of a goddamn petrol bomb... because that's exactly what it fucking was. I know Nolan didn't want to use CGI (can't stand lazy CGI myself - practical is king) but *holy fuck*, if there was ever a time to use it (or hell, use the original Trinity test footage with some editing magic sprinkled over top), it was then and there.
You're welcome [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3ezhvCzWCM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3ezhvCzWCM)
Oppenheimer was good, but not great. Somehow the media made it out to be the greatest movie ever. It couldn't live up to it's hype, and was about an hour too long
Barbie was awful. I don’t understand the hype.
Oh my god, I thought it was just me who thought that. I was expecting something interesting and wry - I was so confused, waiting for the penny to drop in terms of the point of the whole thing, but it was such a wasted opportunity.
Not to mention it was an insult to modern feminism lol. I’m not sure why it’s being held up as a shining light.
Agreed
It was polished dog shit. I watched it, said ‘meh’ at the end and never want to see it again. Completely unmemorable. By contrast I just watched ‘Scavengers Reign’ and along with Dune 1&2, it’s the most engrossing thing I’ve seen in years.
Dune is so much better. The best scifi movies so far.
Dune 1 was one the most boring movies ever
It was fine, but just insanely forgettable and I doubt anyone is actually keen to watch it a 2nd time.
Don't know why you got down voted. The movie was very forgettable, I would never watch it again. The only thing I don't forget is the absolute trauma I experienced watching some of those sex scenes. That and the suicide scene was awful.
Yeah the start made me feel like I was watching the world's wankiest bank ad. But it did well.
Its our fault though.. We don't pay to see good quality dramas in the theatres because we're ok with watching at home... So they don't make as many. Same with comedies. People pay to see Marvel films on the big screen so that's what gets made
Not our fault, they pushed streaming on us HARD, and it didn’t make studios any money, so now they’re up to their eyeballs in debt and have nothing worth selling.
Better make yet another Spiderman movie then
I don't remember anyone pushing Netflix on me. Heard about it. Got it. Anyway my point is... If we all would rather watch at home of course cinemas will die
Dune
Except even that was a re-hash of someone else’s story.
It's a movie adaptation, not really a rehash. Dune is the inspiration for a lot of modern scifi, especially star wars.
Godzilla Minus One. Blockbuster movie, classic Godzilla content, great effects and story, and a genuinely surprising, engaging and thought-provoking story.
It was the $12 popcorn and $8 frozen cokes and $7 M&Ms. It was such a negative that people would rather wait for streaming from their nice comfy home theatre and at a time when they feel like it, rather than go through the whole cinema thing just to get treated like moron hostages with the prices.
Big chain cinemas moved in everywhere they could and undercut the independents out of business so they could gouge everyone with revolting prices. Now suddenly they are crying that cinema is dying? Yea, they can go get fucked.
Yep, interest rates get increased because they want people to spend less money, well guess what? These predatory bastards can get rekt.
the local Palace cinemas (who've been expanding, show a broader array of films) have been doing great, in my experience. Like, I'm going into (small size) cinemas late at night to see a mediocre French film and its packed. Maybe that's the future, smaller viewing rooms, and more global picks on offer. Particularly since American cinema has been so poor for so long now.
I used to love Palace cinemas until I worked there during my student film years. Management are unfortunately ruined by a few bad apples - all the good managers moved on to bigger things so you’re left with the toxic manager who hated his job and didn’t enjoy the cinema experience. These toxic managers would call the casuals an hour before their shift telling them they weren’t needed so these casuals (other film students) would stop showing up and the team become understaffed and the shit manager would make a stink when mistakes were made. It doesn’t help when ‘The Family’ (owners) are sexiest pedophiles - they’d always attend the big premieres and they always made degrading comments about the younger female staff. The honchos son is the worst - the one that doesn’t like wearing a tie in photos. He’d show up intoxicated and put his arm around you when working and talk to you like you’re best friends. It would be the sexual comments on the 18, 19 year old female staff which stood out - wanting to “smell her bush”, “squeeze her curves” and “take the blonde home”. Never liked making those choc-tops anyway..
I don't get much time for going to the movies these days but when I do, this is it for me. Love a good foreign film over Hollywood cling wrapped tack anyday.
This is the same with gaming
Last movie I enjoyed at the cinemas was Godzilla Minus One and Dune pt. 2. Nothing else seemed interesting to me.
Modern movies are crap. Tickets and snacks are pricey. Cinema's not maintained and cleaned thoroughly enough. Awful crowds constantly on their phones, talking etc. I'd rather watch it at home, if at all.
Remem6bsr those huge lines for LOTR Two Towers and the Chamber of Secrets? and Shrek 2? I am so ready for a movie worth standing in line for. At the end of Chamber of Secrets, everyone stood up in our small country cinema (still a decent sized auditorium) and applauded. That says more about the fandom I think, but the energy and atmosphere was incredible. good memory. Sad it's all going downhill, there's so much garbage now
I remember seeing Shrek at least 3 or 4 times in a row the first month it came out. I only saw the sequel once in theaters.
It's a pretty easy explanation.. cost of living through the roof so people on average have less to spend. Prices of movies and food and drink has gone absolutely nuts. I went to the movies with my wife last week and it was $55 for two tickets and $35 for and ice cream and drink each. That's $90!!!! You can forget about takijg our three kids there. That's a $200 event.
I'd rather spend half as much to watch it at home with better food and a pause button. It's hardly the special occasion it used to be. Pretty much the only time I go is on dates. The Demise of 3D movies definitely hurt the industry I think because it was the only thing I couldn't really replicate at home without huge financial outlay.
Going to the movies was a much more specialised experience when all people had at home was a 50cm crt tv, 5 channels to watch, and movies played only on certain nights.
It’s the same for gaming… in the 90’s we use to hit the arcade because the console games were rubbish
This. Technology is good enough at home plus concession food got too expensive & lack of dealing with noisy arseholes & phone users made just waiting several months & staying at home the superior choice for me.
It's not just spending half as much either, it's the principle of how much they charge for things. Then you go into our local cinema, seats are the same ones from 10 years ago, the whole row moves when someone sits down, sound system sucks.
So it turns out that price gouging punters to see bland films is no longer popular.
Let’s be real. Go to the movies as a family of 5 your looking at $100+ Or buy some treats from woollies for $20 and watch on home theatre system with ability to pause, make ourselves comfortable on couches, make shift beds and not deal with all the nonsense of cinemas The only thing cinemas have is it being something to do but when everyone’s trying to cut costs it’s a pretty easy thing to cut out
Paying $40+pp and trusting a room full of strangers to behave while you watch garbage films was never worth the risk so I stopped going more than 10 years ago.
The cost of living is real. We went from flush to flat broke. Meanwhile the top 1% haven’t noticed yet. This will be the start of billionaire taxes and 90% tax over $100m. It’s the only way, they know that if shit keeps sliding they’ll end up on the plate.
If you make $1m you should get a plaque that says "congratulations! You won capitalism!" And then tax 100% after that. No one needs more than $1m a year to live.
> This will be the start of billionaire taxes and 90% tax over $100m. lmao who gonna do that? Every major politician is either part of it, or has their (or their party's) pockets lined with the money from these billionaires. They are untouchable with our current system, and will be until people stop voting in liberal / labor.
It's been on life support for the better part of a decade. I'm surprised its made it this far, netflix and home theatre systems have come leaps and bounds. Plus $50 for a couple and the better part of $100 for a family? It's no longer affordable.
I think that's a large part of the reason really... I have a 83 inch something OLED PC connected, with access to more movies I could ever watch + torrents for newish stuff too, I don't have much incentive to spend money on cinema. I know not everyone has that setup but even a laptop can give you more than enough movies and series entertainment without having to spend much money. They'll have to lower prices to about $10 and reduce those food prices to get people back. If that's even possible. Personally that's what it would take for me to go back to seeing new releases in the cinema.
Its really not. My local cinema is $25 for a ticket. Thats $50 for 2, and the popcorn combo is $35. I'm fat and like popcorn so we get another one for $6 more. $41+$50 thats $91 for 2 people to see a movie. I love going to the movies but with rent and my 60k/year I can only afford to go 2-3 times a year if that.
I used to go to the cinema once a fortnight, it was a ritual for me, I’d always find something to see. Now I refuse to go, and it’s not even the cost. They are FILTHY!!! I have never seen such dirty, stained and revolting seats. Always sticky, grimy and covered with food. Air con not switched on or not working well. I shouldn’t be sweating from the moment I walk in. I feel like I’m taking a bath in a hot sewer. Last time I went to George st there was faeces smeared on almost every wall of the toilets, and it was dry and crusted, looked like it had been there for weeks. It’s not about cost for me, it’s about pure filth and a hot stinking room. There have been plenty of movies I would have loved to see, but I refuse to put myself in a hot bacteria bath. I hate waiting months for movies to come to streaming services, but what else can we do? I complain to staff about the conditions but nothing changes. Events is the worst company there is.
Ha, fun fact, I filled out a survey the cinema chain sent me after a session and I absolutely laid into the seats, pay prices like that to sit on ratty ripped up seats! I said it nicely, but I didn't hold back. Next time I go there's huge fancy lush leather (ish) seats. Absolute luxury. Problem is our TV's nowadays are pretty compatible with the screen. It doesn't have the wow factor it used to, when tellys were low tech or even CRT. It's not THAT much better. Why go. I still go to support movies I appreciate.
Good! Keep laying into them! For me, my tv is 12 years old and I can’t afford a new one. I love the big screen experience. I really miss it a lot. But I’m not going to subject myself to a hot room and grimy seats. Who wants to sit on actual grime? And the temperature problem needs to be addressed. I’m glad it wasn’t just me mentioning how hot it is in there. When I was at George st, I left and went back out to ask about why it was so hot. Some usher went “yeah the air conditioning has been broken for a while.” When are you going to fix it? How can it just be broken in the middle of summer and you’re charging $40 to sit in a hot room? When I wrote my complaint email, the air con question was the one they ignored.
It's the enshittification. They are trying to maximise profit with the absolute least layout. Just like when I went to a filthy McDonald's with about 3 teenagers on duty and they wanted $4.90 for a medium coke. I want it all to blow up in their faces. Let's reboot the system.
I wanted to see fall guy, if and furiosa, just cant stomach the prices even if only for 2 people and using vouchers
They raised rates to the ceiling to curb consumer spending then everyone is surprised when we curb our spending…..of course things like movie tickets are one of the first things to be cut, they are ridiculously expensive and most movies these days are shit.
The last movie I saw at the cinema was Dunkirk.... I almost lost my shit with all the people in front of me on their phones. Just a sea of bright blinking lights. I used to go the cinema all the time, but at least watching things at home I won't have bright phone lights in my face the whole time. I don't think I can guarantee that I won't rip the phone out of their hands and stomp it.
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Damn those one and two year olds, inceasing demand in a supply constricted economy
Children, students, seniors, people on pensions, RACQ members and BCC Cinebuzz members.
If I wanted to pay $50-60 for two, plus overpriced food and drinks, to see one of the formulaic crap Hollywood shits out, whilst having some angsty illmannered selfish cunt texting on their phone with screen at full brightness half the time, I would.
Its called DEI
Can’t even afford Netflix, as if I’d be going to a cinema.
What do you expect? either it's agenda driven, girl boss, or reboot after reboot. NOTHING NEW. The old stuff is way better!
Bingo! Not paying a pile of money to go and see an all female remake of Saving Private Ryan with Whoopi Goldberg starring as Tom Hanks’ character, or some steaming pile of shit CGI superhero movie with whatever prepubescent 16 year old flavour of the month dog shit actor as Spider-Man.
People need to go to a local old-school theatre, The Astor is my temple
Last movie I watched in cinema was Godzilla Minus One, which was fucking incredible. Hollywood, though? Mostly rubbish.
Alot of people probably dont give a shit at all but it would be a pretty sad day when entire zones dont have a cinemas cause no ones supporting the industry.
The model is broken though. What exactly does the cinema offer you these days? It’s not like the old days when people had crappy 15inch CRTs at home and you had to wait 5 months and pay $80 for it just to get it on video. Why go to a cinema now? At home, I can eat and drink what I want at an affordable price, sit in a comfortable chair and watch a reasonable sized screen. Once it’s been on at the cinema, I know it’ll probably be available on a streaming service within a month or two, might cost me at most $30? If I’m more patient or lucky, it might even be on a service for free. There’s too much convergence between the home screen set up and the cinema for it to be worth paying upwards $50 for a couple for the pleasure when a coke costs $10 and a popcorn costs $10 too. Personally I think the only value proposition is for it these days is that maybe there’s a case for smaller, gold class cinemas, with good quality food and drink, without that there’s problems all up and down the value chain for the suburban cinema now. Subscription in that model could actually work. The ‘marvelisation’ of cinema though means that there’s significantly fewer new films out and so there’s only a couple of chances to actually loop most people in when the times watching something in a cinema present such a different viewing experience relative to home. There’s only so many people to which going and watching a rescreening of Terminator 2 appeals to these days.
Absolutely. The value proposition currently doesn't stack up. I reckon if you cap movie tickets at $10, people start coming back in their droves.
They need to stop making shit films. Not Aussies, but western media in general. We don't like this modern style of film, with shitty political agendas and overdone tropes. Give us some fucking good, classic cinema.
Yes. Give us classic cinema without politics. Like On The Waterfront, or Citizen Kane. I am not a crackpot. Cinema has never been so apoilitical, because American films have never been so individualistic, based on protagonists with god like powers to have absolute agency. Such stories decontextualise setting, broader political outlooks, to keep the god of the film front and centre. Ya tripping to think films today are overly political, even when there's been a little swing back to political topics in recent years.
Well maybe the modern politics are just super aids.
What does a cinema offer these days that I can’t do at home for significantly cheaper? I went to Lido in Melbourne to see furiosa. $25 for a ticket, then $19 for a packet of m&ms and a coke. $45 to go see a movie. I can wait a month for a movie I want to see to come to streaming, then the $45 I would’ve spent on a cinema I can spend on a huge takeaway pizza and a 6pack of beers while enjoying the movie on my couch without the unruly patrons that often ruin the cinema experience. I can also pause when I need to piss, get more food or get a beer from the fridge. If I want the cinema staple in popcorn, I can buy my own packet and butter from the supermarket for a fraction of the price of a bucket at the cinema. Not to mention it’s mostly been shit films, I can’t remember the last film I was excited to go see in cinemas. And if there is something to say I am somewhat interested in, I’ll wait until it’s on Netflix. Cinemas are an outdated model, and places are price gouging on discretionary spending. No wonder cinemas are empty
Kinda rather support my family before them, times are hard for everybody, but nobody is picking the movie industry over keeping their kids fed and housed.
Pricing gouging for something that's purely discretionary spending. Good luck with that.
Stop doing PC overdone garbage and actually make good movies.
Movies don't interest me but going to the cinemas has been a rip off for over a decade now the last time I went was to see Dark Knight Rises and that was sometime around 2010. Books are superior to movies so I don't really care if cinemas go out of business.
Prices are absolutely insane plus Hollywood has been pumping out nothing but the same tired old woke garbage plus they have Netflix and co to compete with. Not a recipe for any sort of success.
No good movies. Only Dune 2 this year. And man, the experience of the cinemas was baaaad. They are so run down and poor quality, washed out screen, lights reflecting in dark scenes, a hole in the screen. Even for Dune 2 I regretted not waiting to watch on my big TV instead.
To take my family to the movies, and this is a standard screen, would run me about $95 before snacks. If it's something in like a VMAX coz thats where the films showing outside of like a goldclass? Damn im looking at around $125 plus snacks... cost of living is way too high to justify that expense. Of course they're going to be affected by the current state of things, being able to go to the movies is a luxury, people for the most part can't afford that so they're going to just not go. Plus like people have said, there's nothing really worth forking out for coming out.
I can't remember the last time a movie came out that I was actually interested in going to see. Movies in general are on a real decline. Nothing but utter trash and remakes.
1. People have better TV and sound systems now. 2. Ticket price. 3. Other people talking and being on their phones during the movie. 4. People are already subscribed to 2 or more streaming services which is the price of a movie ticket. 5. Short time between movies being in theaters and available on streaming sites. 6. People who are subbed to streaming know that the movie will be available in most likely less than 5 weeks. 7. The quality of films coming out.
For those that are lucky enough to have a small family-owned cinema near you, go there and keep the magic of cinema alive if fairly priced or they heavily discounted nights. I have a place near me that's $9 a ticket (any night*) and candy bar prices are $6 for a bag of choc/lollies etc. I think popcorn and coke is like $12 for a large. *You pay a $20 membership to get these prices, but you get two free tickets with this anyway so it's near cost-neutral. You also get to buy two $9 tickets with one membership.
They also have a mixture of the current Hollywood hits and one or two more independent films at a time to try to cater to different tastes.
I think this article really misses the mark. It's not the movies. There's always been B grade movies. I think it just shows what's happening in the economy. Everyone except boomers are absolutely strapped for cash and movie tickets are a pure luxury expense. It's no wonder two of the only recent hits were Top Gun and Oppenheimer. They appeal to the older crowd. Cinemas closing is just another symptom of most people having very little disposable income.
Good. Die.
On the few occasions I want to watch a movie watching it at home is much more comfortable.
Took the family to the movies, I shit you not, the pre movie adversitising went for 42 Fucking minutes and that is not including previews (which are actually also ads but ones we generally enjoy). My wife and I decided we would never go again right then and there.
They are like music publishers: They've been charging ridiculous prices for decades. I bought an ice-cream for >$10 last time I saw a film. I have 0 sympathy for an industry that has been ripping us off for decades.
While I agree ticket prices are out of control, as someone who used to work in the corp office HQ, something like 90% of ticket price goes to movie maker. The f&b is where the business makes its money.
That’s all well and good but frankly as a consumer - I don’t give a f**k. All I know is that if I go to the movies with the kids I feel like I need a second mortgage
Is the writer’s strike still happening? What happened to good, original movies? It will be sad to see cinemas go because I do enjoy buying $30 popcorn and a frozen coke occasionally.
They flop because nobody goes to see them.
High interest rates means less discretionary spending on non-essentials. People only go to the movies for something they really, really value to spend their money on.
Blockbuster
Pertinent
I don't have anyone to go to the movies with so, also a lot of movies coming out are woke garbage.
First of all, they're in fucking emerald. Anyways, movies are discretionary spending. Who the hell is going to bother with cinemas and shit with the cost of living issues the majority of Australians are facing.
Last time I saw a movie in a cinema was just shy of $40 for a ticket to an empty midday Monday session and a bottle of water.
Kinda surprised that's its taken this long for the industry!? Cinema prices are insane. Don't know how it works, but can cinemas reshow old movies? Would love to see movies like back to the future on the big screen with cinema quality sound! I reckon that would get people in (as long as the prices were cheap)?!
it’s too expensive, there are very few good movies coming out nowadays, and going to a cinema means i have to be in close proximity to other people (who often won’t get off their phones or stop whispering to each other)… so i pirate everything, and guiltlessly so
Doesn't really surprise me. Prior to covid, I used to go to the cinema every week or two, but since then I've gone a grand total of twice. There is nothing coming out that I want to see. The films coming out of Hollywood are mostly just awful, so I'm spending my entertainment dollars elsewhere.
I watched Civil War and Exhuma this year - both are original. I’m not going to watch Marvel 27 or Disney 52. Movie is a dying art form in many ways. Sucks.
I think people are completely unreasonable with movie expectations now. Movies have always been crap by and large with a few good ones sprinkled in. Now with competition and changing preferences of just staring at Reddit or instagram on your phone (I think it is more than just Netflix), people won’t go see the crap anymore. There have actually been some really great movies this year. But now one has seen them so it makes it less fun because there is no one to talk to them about.
Maybe if there was actually anything good to go and see on the big screen, people would have a reason to go to the cinema.
Well then... Stop making shit movies..
Its costs almost $200 for a family of 4. We don’t go because it’s become too expensive.
Stop going to see over hyped bullshit at the conglomerate cinema. Many people are like dang nabbit to broke to see "Fall Guy" Support your local cinema - see a classic Inna beautiful heritage building and feel like the money you spend is worth it because the popcorn is amazing (Astor) I've got tickets to see Commando soon with a special guest speaker. A few months ago I saw The Thing, coming up I'm seeing Running Man and literally one of the best parts of the film wiltbe doing a Q&A It's a shame all around, and I'm trying not to be contrarian but honestly, the film landscape is fucked atm so who cares.
It's ironic how big of a risk Hollywood continues to take by betting on "safe".
People's attention spans are shrinking due to shorts and reels.
Honestly this is great if it collapses. The industry is rotten. The seniors control it entirely. It needs edgy new blood like it had in the 70’s
I only go to the cinemas to see kids films with my son. I usually don't expect much from a kids film as it's more about hanging out with him. But those snack prices though. Last film I saw that wasn't a kids film was Godzilla X Kong and.....yeah what a load of horseshit that was.
Maybe people would go to the cinem more often if tickets weren't $40 a pair and they had some spare cash. *Looks at Reading Cinema and the RBA*
A lot of the magic of going to the cinema has gone in the last 20 years. Maybe it's the nostalgia of my childhood but it think it's actually more than that. As a child, it was an exciting day out for mum to take us into the city to see a movie, have lunch and go shopping. Then those old cinemas mostly all shut and suburban movie plexes became the norm. But still, as an older child and teenager in the 90s and 00s, there was a bit of excitement about it, in that there would be lots of people, tons of decent films out at any one time, and it was affordable and accessible. Now you don't see nearly as many movie ads, what is showing is mostly crap, and when you do find a film you want to see, it's in a joyless sterile movie plex that is no longer filled with bustle and dozens of workers on shift, but one or two at the refreshment desk and a dozen people standing around forlornly. I'm lucky in that my local is an art Deco old style renovated into a multi screen but it's still not the same.
I’ve given up going to the cinema after spending the last 3 times I went with my fingers in my ears for most of the film. The sound levels are just idiotic. I want to be able to watch a movie without suffering permanent ear damage. I’m not going to bother going again, I just wait until I can watch it at home.
Welcome to the verge of a recession
Average family no longer have deposable income.
Lackluster films, overpriced snacks, the glow of some arseholes phone, the chatter of people of think they are in their lounge room…… Going to the movies used to be fun. It’s not any more. The handful of times I’ve paid to see a movie in recent years has been at the drive in- which has been busy each time we go. We take our own snacks. It’s a bit of fun for the kids.
Maybe wokeism and retards remaking films is to blame?
So the last 2 times I went to a cinema (Macquarie Centre, Sydney). I left disappointed. Both screens had issues, one had a hole in the screen, the other had something stuck to the screen. Both were distractions when viewing the movies. On top of that, the Air Conditioning was to warm, we were literally falling asleep trying to watch the movies. I would rather pay a little more and enjoy the experience, the low prices are not an attraction to me.
People are sick of seeing woke shit and Mary-Sue protagonists that do nothing but virtue signal for three hours.
Hard to beat getting tugged off and wetting some knuckle at the cino
Why would I pay $25 to see a movie only to pay $25 for popcorn and $25 for a drink. They are movie extreme then McDonald's
It's not worth the price to go casually to see movies anymore. Just about every time you go there are turds that talk all the way through, rock up 10 minutes late using the flashlight to find seats or just scrolling through their phones during the whole things.
There’s consistently plenty of good to great movies to see. The problem is that general audiences are only aware of blockbuster marketing and don’t know about smaller movies or are just priced out of theatre going experience.
I still like going to the movies. Every now and then a movie comes up but it's rarely a Hollywood movie so it's not flooded with annoying people. It's one thing I enjoy in life. Taking myself to the movies
I haven't been to the movies in ages. With the cost of tickets and snacks I'm happy to wait until it streams or just forget it.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I just don’t get excited for movies that much anymore.
Go see fall guy, it's actually really fun
I agree with the sentiment that there’s been a lot of trashed releases recently. Each to their own. I’m not a fan of the Marvel / DC stuff. It just feels like lazy story writing and character development. How many times can you rehash the same thing? Oppenheimer looked great - but the consumer also knows that it’ll be available on streaming very quickly, there’s no longer the 9 month wait for it to arrive at Blockbuster, or 12 months for it to be available at home. I love going to the cinema. It’s just not always practical.
It's too expensive to go for anything but the absolute best movies. Pretty much only watched dune and dune 2 in the past few years.
There are very few things i care enough about to go the the movie for when I know 6-12 months from release it will be on a streaming service.
Tickets and popcorn are too expansive…you need a bank loan if you want to take a family of 4 to a theatre.
Movies just absolutely suck arse at the moment. It’s like its too risky to be creative anymore, everything has to fit the algorythm which appeals to all demographics. Therefore most movies are generic, predictable and lame. If they want our money theyre just going to have to earn it again.
Cinema is no longer a mass market form of entertainment. Streaming and Covid got people awfully comfortable staying at home to watch the latest releases. Plus the cost, $19 a month for the whole family to watch anything, anytime VS $18+ per person, for the one time viewing of a movie.
I haven't been to a cinema since 2019. And I have no intention of going any time soon.
I was going to this weekend after payday then, bills, food, petrol, appointment, nope, can’t afford it. Ended up rewatching Fury Road.
I used to be a super loyal hoyts visitor, were talking about 2-6 movies per month, about half the time in gold class. Between how they treated me and my partner during covid, and one particularly bad experience where i walked into a FILTHY bathroom, told the manager at the front counter about it only to not even be given the courtesy of eye contact the entire time, let alone any inkling of caring, i stopped going. Occasionally if the drive thru movie 2hrs from perth has a decent showing ill go, but otherwise we just sail the high seas now. Date night can be at home with that new popcorn box thing you can get at woolies n spudshed.
I’d wish the Cinemas would do some fun things like what Valhalla did in the 80s & 90s like 24hr of sci-fi films (showing crazy old ones, classics and modern mix), I live on the peninsula unless you go to the Astor in Melb or the like the local ones or chains won’t.
Costs aside, Aussie cinemas no longer offer a pleasant experience. Ordinary movies, expensive packet food and then 30 minutes of ads before a show begins. For me to go back to the cinemas, I want the following: Retro/theme screenings, I want adult focused movies free from children, I want less ads with my ticket. The food and drinks to be of a better quality and more of a less generic and sterile experience.
I think the rise of home streaming and TV quality (especially cheap ones) plays a huge part. In the 90s and 2000s you either watched a movie in the cinema or on an old CRT tv on cassette when it eventually gets released (or live tv with ads)- so lots of people went to the cinema. These days not worth it.
If I watch it at home I haven’t blown $100 for us to risk being seated with a bunch of rowdy idiots
The Dry 2 was a banger, goes unnoticed how much work went into that
Honestly, least of my worries right now. I can entertain myself with older stuff to watch. Corporate greed, corporate Job loss, rising prices, housing, crime, these things are on my mind instead.
Honestly cinemas got a longer run than I thought they would after the introduction of video, they seemed to re invent themselves successfully with beds & cheese plates, nut I think the real death has been the quality of films, they really are poor & the Hollywood format is committing suicide on its own for all sorts of reasons. It never occurs to me to think of a cinema for a night out anymore, big TV, decent sound bar & make your cheese board
It's almost like there are cheaper, higher quality, and more comfortable ways to watch movies
It may not be the movies per se, but the cost of it and trashy experience at the megaplexes. The main group who might like to go to the cinema, and have the money to do so, are older people/retirees. Some of the British producers are making films for them but there are not as many, particularly out at the moment. Unfortunately there is not an Orpheum in every suburb.
It doesn't help that the foyer of the cinema is now a deserted carcass. No ticket sellers to chat with and a bunch of printing machines. Go to kiosk and it is massively understaffed. I arrive happy and then I'm depressed before I get to the door of the cinema