cinema – Page 3 – Cubicgarden.com…

Prometheus, thoughts…

I finally saw Prometheus at the Odeon IMAX in 3D with my friend Dave and his girlfriend, a few weeks ago and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. No Spoilers!

I never thought I’d enjoy it because I’m not a fan of horror (I never jump or find them scary) but it worked because they removed all the long periods of tension with small amounts of action.

I did feel slightly uneasy about the amount of religious points within the film but the concept of our technology leading us to make our makers is certainly interesting but I’ve said no spoilers. If you really want to get down and dirty into spoiler zone… Have a good old read of this blog.

Busy social week ahead

Next week I’m involved in a lot of social events….

Sunday 25th March – Vivid lounge re-opens under new management as just Vivid for a private party (remember that blog post)
Monday 26th March – Vivid officially opens
Tuesday 27th March – Preston Social: A look at on-line dating…
Wednesday 28th March – Manchester Werewolf Chapter
Thursday 29th March – Geeky & Sexy: Social Etiquette and Politics of first time dating
Friday 30th March – TedXBradford: Life on-line (first time in Bradford)

Honestly trying not to over do things, but they’ve just creped up…

I’ll certainly make sure I take it easy on that weekend right before my Rollercoaster weekender (interested in coming give me a shout)

Also worth pointing out that Salford Cinema Club has started a Pledgebank to book the Odeon IMAX cinema (real IMAX) for the opening night of the Dark Knight Rises.

Pledge “darkknightimax”

“I will Hire the Odeon IMAX for The Dark Knight Rises on 20th July but only if 300 other dark knight film fans will commit to paying for a ticket (between £10 – £15).”

— Ian Forrester, Founder of the SalfordCinemaClub (contact)

Deadline to sign up by: 20^th May 2012

Introducing the Salford Cinema Club

Orange Wednesday

I’ve decided to kick off the Salford Cinema Club seeing how the Manchester Cinema Club seems to have gone quiet (last blog post was April 16th 2011).

One of the main reason is because now BBC North is based mainly in Salford Quays we’ve lost the BBC Club in the transition to Media City UK. So we need to make our own entertainment (as such). Orange Wednesday is a interesting concept and it just happens that the Lowry centre not only has one of the best theaters in the country but also a decent enough cinema and a Pizza Express right next door. Even if the film isn’t on there, the AMC 16 cinema is a short tram ride away at the Gmex/Castlefield stop (actually theres a nice short cut from the tram station to the cinema). So everything seems perfect for carrying out my idea of a cinema club. It may not work, but hey nothing tried, nothing gained…

The concept is simple…

Wednesday’s are Orange Wednesdays and a ecosystem has grown up around Wednesdays.

Every week, we’ll head to Pizza Express in Salford Quays to eat 2 for 1 pizza as part of the Orange Wednesday deal and discuss the range of films available at either the local Salford Quays Vue Cinema or the AMC 16 at the great northern (only a short tram ride away). After dinner, we’ll split up and head off to the films in question. Sometimes you’ll get a bunch of people going to one film and other times you may get a bunch of people going to many different films. The purpose of the meal is to capture peoples imagination and hopefully convince enough people that they should join you at the film of your choice.

The effect of the Orange Wednesday ecosystem

There is something really interesting going on in the movie industry… I can’t put my finger on it but something interesting is going on…

In America everyone is going nuts over Groupon to starting to offering movie tickets at a discount. I thought ok, so what, nothing new? We’ve had Orange Wednesday for years and thats has had a massive effect on the industry.

When I say massive I mean, Orange Wednesdays discount code has become the currency for discounts all over Wednesday. Pizza Express now have a 2 for 1 pizza Wednesday. And more locally theres quite a bit of discount on transport tickets and other restaurants for Orange Wednesday customers.

On top of this… The movie industry is coming around to this notion and have starting allowing films to be released on Wednesday. (remember the cinema week use to start Thursday with previews and Friday for the main day). For example Limitless

But the interesting part is that although the numbers through the doors are better on a Wednesday due to the discounts, the kind of people who are going are less of the serious film lovers and more of the general public (I would suggest). General public are great for sales but to be honest they tend not to be fanatical about films and therefor (I would once again suggest) are less likely to come back for another viewing or tell there friends. So overall the film industry will have to fight even harder to keep up the profits they have. They really think piracy is the problem but could it be the cinemas which are the silent killers or the last nail in there own coffins? Its a bit like Apple and Music industry with itunes.

The music industry was so hell bent on catching the music pirates and stopping computers from doing what there great at doing (copying), that Apple slipped in with pandora’s box which looked great to them all. What they didn’t know till later was that pandora’s box (or itunes as its better known), meant giving Apple a massive slice of the music industry… In the same way, the movie industry moving release dates to benefit the cinemas is not such a good move for themselves. (At least the groupon deal doesn’t include shifting the release dates, yet!)

Instead of fighting new technologies, they need to embrace it before someone else close by (like the cinema chains or a mobile phone operator) makes them irrelevant.

The irony is Orange’s cinema adverts are all about the deconstruction of films through humor and putting a mobile phone in where its not really wanted. Humor indeed but for whom?

Of course this is just my thoughts or suggestions and not the truth, you may disagree… But if you do please add a comment. I could be barking up the wrong tree but something is certainly going on…

Cinema’s Code of conduct

Generally the Wittertainment Code of Conduct is….

No Eating
No slurping
No rustling
No irresponsible parents
No hobbies
No talking
No mobile phone usage
No kicking of seats
No arriving late
No shoe removal

I’m in agreement with some of these, Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode have certainly put the cat out between the pigeons.

No Eating…. Well thats just simply stupid, popcorn and cinemas fit together like the internet and porn. Salt popcorn is nosier than sugar popcorn but cinemas still sell it by the bucket load. I do think its a pain when someone starts tucking into a bag of crisps but I’m not going to ban them from the cinema. However there are certain foods which should be banned, such as nuts with shells!
No Slurping… Come on if your sucking down on a drink and you can’t help but slurp, you must be under 10.
No Rustling… Ok agreed, no one wants to hear you undoing your bag in the middle of a film. The worst has to be someone cock undoing his velcro bag in the middle of inception.
No Irresponsible parents… Oh my goodness yes! No one wants to hear your kid screaming as the saw cuts through the actors hand in the latest saw movie.
No Hobbies… As a cinema usher this drives me nuts, I won’t even tell you what kind of stuff I’ve found after a showing. However I’m also guilty of updating my blog, make changes to a essay, etc while supervising a film as a usher. Of course I wouldn’t do it as viewer.
No Talking… This does wind me up, even now. I hate people who talk in the cinema, I don’t mind talking during the adverts, even during the trailers somewhat. But once the title comes up for the film, shut the heck up! No one wants to hear it. However I remember watching the Matrix Reloaded at Odeon Streatham, and someone shouted out something when Neo is about to take down Agent Smith after visiting the Oracle. It fit the mood perfectly, but then again I know other people who have done something similar and failed
No Mobile phone use… Yes please! I hate it when the person next to you is texting on there phone ruing the effect of darkness. I had this yesterday when I went to watch Harry Potter and the deadly hallows part one. The worst I ever had was when someone left there keypad sound on. On that one, I turned around and said "for f*** sake will you stop!"
No Kicking of seats… Never had this problem to be fair but I’ve told many people off for doing something like this to others.
No Arriving late… I almost don’t understand why cinemas are not like theatre’s which blocks people after a certain time. The nice thing about the IMAX showings in Manchester is that they do just that. Its simply not practical sometimes to have people trying to find there seats in the dark while the film is going. If seats are not allocated, then i’m sorry you lost your right to those seats as far as I’m concerned. Come in late, tuck in somewhere at the front or the far edges. Stay out of the way of the screen.
No Show removal… I’ve also had to tell a few people as a cinema usher to put there shoes back on. I’m not against slipping your shoes off so its still on your feet but I’ve stopped people who have taken off there shoes and even there socks! I mean for goodness sake, are you serious! Nasty public health type stuff!

There is loads more I could personally add but this list isn’t bad at all. Now which cinema chain’s going to adopt these rules? Don’t all rush at once…

And even more films you may have missed…

Inception – Everyone knows I love this film. Actually the clip above came to me via the inspirational which is imran ali. The reason why I love the film is because frankly its amazing to watch and enjoy, but also I got the idea for mydreamscape.org after watching inception. Some people have said its the matrix of this generation, I’m not so sure but I can certainly see why people would say that. Its breath taking from start to finish and theres a healthy amount of background mythology to keep us all guessing. I can’t wait to own a copy of my own, so I can watch it at home with my home cinema.

4, 3, 2, 1 – This is the Urban version of Sliding doors and although I wanted to not like this film, I actually enjoyed it. Theres pace and a clever storyline which overlaps its self when it makes sense. Noel Clarke has really worked hard on this one, once again staring in it and co-directing it. All the stars from the Adulthood and kidulthood are in this one and its slightly weird to see them play a different role from there other films. The woman are the centre stage in this film and they play there parts to the maximum, but the killer role for me has to be Kevin Smith’s role as a American courier. What I can’t work out is if it was before or after the no fly incident.

Donnie Darko: The Director’s Cut – When I first saw this version of Donnie Darko I turned my nose up at it. I felt it gave away too much. Now although I’m still glad I got the original version, I found this version in retrospect a interesting twist on the tail. It does spell out a lot more whats going on but then again, it brings a more informed discussion about the ethics of time travel.

Exit through the gift shop – This is a film very few people saw in the cinema but I did watch it with a friend. Its basically the story of Banksy and street art. I can’t really say much about the movie without giving away the plot but I will say its not about Banksy exactly, its more a story about street art which was never told. In actual fact its about a guy called Mr Brainwash or Thierry Guetta who started to film street artists doing there work and promised to make it into a documentary. He did but boy oh boy was it bad. He went on to do Madonna’s next album cover. Anyway, this must be watched specially because it seems so unreal but in actual fact its actually mainly true.

I love this quote at the end of the film by Banksy – I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don’t do that so much anymore.

The social network – Just watched this one in the cinema in Digital projection and to be honest I didn’t really want to like it but I found myself warming to some of the characters in the film. I know its not the exact story of how facebook started but the general story is all there. Zuckerbergs (played by Jesse Elsenberg) clever wit shows through but you can’t help but feel sorry for Eduardo Saverin (played by Andrew Garfield) who gets shafted on a share deal by Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) and Zuckerberg. To be fair he may have killed part of the idea with the advertising but hey we will never know. I guess at the end of the day, I do think the woman in the film are almost laughable and thats a big problem but Zuckerberg is a nerdy guy and the opposite sex is simply another lifeform for him.

If you liked these recommendations, theres even more dotted around my blog. [1][2][3]

Theatre – the original 3d experience

Seen in manchester, the theatre’s take on the craze for 3d films and 3d TV.

Theatre – the original 3d experience – 3d glasses not required

Orange Wednesdays saves Cinema?

I’ve been going to the cinema quite a lot recently, further proving that file sharers are truly film lovers an will pay for convenience and the film industry should consider this. So far I’ve been to the cinema 4 times in the last 2 weeks. I even bought Empire magazine while waiting in Manchester Hospital for my physical therapy session

Anyway, I went to the cinema today and it was packed. Compare this to Tuesday and even Thursday last week, where it was very quiet.

It got me thinking about the effect of Orange Wednesday.

It seems a lot of people are waiting to Wednesday to go to the cinema which makes sense with it being two for one.

Obviously it was setup with the major cinema chains because Wednesday is officially the last day of the cinema week, so anything to get people in on the last day makes a lot of sense. The weird thing is that a phone company would do this, specially with everything the cinema chains have tried to get people in. Everything they have tried from offering one pound tickets on cinema day to playing computer games on the massive screens.

Orange Wednesdays certainly nets the cinemas a huge amount of money and I wonder how they compare to Saturdays and even Sundays. There’s little secret that the cinemas make almost all there money on Food and drink, the money for films actually mainly go back to the distributor and studio depending on the popularity of the film. Something like 4,3,2,1 which I saw on Monday will typically take all the box office money in the first 2-3 weeks. Something like the dark knight or even avatar will have a longer period set on its return. Maybe even up to 8 or even 10 weeks for a high ranking blockbuster. Which means cinema usually try and hold a film as long as they can or have many theatres as possible (hence things like the 16 screen AMC multiplex in Manchester, my local cinema). Obviously on the flip side they also try and get rid of the films that don’t do so well for them too, quickly.

You could say Orange Wednesdays was a early Four Square or Gowall type system, its just a shame the cinemas are only just catching on to the potential of loyalty schemes. How good would it have been if you could have a home cinema and got points or even prizes if you visited others? Heck they could have bluetooth access points in the box office area where they could do a whole bunch of things.

Orange Wednesday is a very clever concept, and if you look beyond the silly ads you might find its the saver of modern cinema.

Sicko – the Universial Heath care question

So I just returned from watching Sicko in a Canadian Cinema (don't you know).

The experience was quite different. Although watching from the outside looking in on this massive problem the united states has with its self was the same, you certainly got the feeling that Canadians were shocked at how bad the problem really was.

Spoilers ahead

Micheal Moore this time around does a fantastic job not getting too muddled in the politics and conspiracy areas. Instead uses peoples stories to tell how bad things have got. Even if the stories stretch the truth, they were powerful enough to cast a couple of tears from peoples eyes. Micheal looks at the Canadian, British, French systems, but what really hammer the point home is the visit to Cuba with some 911 helpers. Micheal Moore is a genius for that one which looked to be a stunt too far turned into something very meaningful. The Cheque for the Anti Micheal Moore site owner was clever but could been seen as another stunt or a act of humanity. I thought humanity but I could see how others would think the opposite.

The movie is well worth watching even if you can't stand Micheal Moore. I went to the cinema because I want to support Micheal Moore's efforts in this one but you can also get the film online if you don't like the guy.

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So having just watched Spiderman 3

So I just saw Spider-man 3 in the cinema, and the general feeling is its certainly reached the end of the line. Please don't make anymore (unless its spider-man begins or something). It had its moments and I certainly saw glimmers of what made Spiderman 1 and somewhat 2 good. However people actually laughed at the corny scenes, the extra money spent on sandman were obviously taken from the story budget and like John Stewart said on the daily show a while ago. The symbiote thing from outer space which turned out to be venom was laughable at best. Don't get me started on how Sandman was created, geez suspend all believe or don't turn on your brain for the next 2 hours. What really killed it for me was the moment when spiderman jumps pass the american flag, long enough for me to grab my camera and snap a shot. Obviously I did't but I was thinking about it.

I can't believe they ruined Spiderman. Sarah went all out on it, and shes right, it was crap. We wasted 7.20 pounds on a film which sucked. I knew we should have seen something else but my mind was pretty much made up after seeing the first 3 shows were sold out. Watching the last hour of the film was something like pulling nails out or like the picture above.

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