has ireland gone completely crazy!?

snorlax

paid 8euro for the screen cinema, d'olier street and 3.50eur for a "small popcorn"(tiny!) on a sunday afternoon at4pm. no student discounts no nothing.

never paid so much in my entire life to go to the cinema , i think its extortion. aside from anything the screen is a dump, it's overpriced even compared to UGC parnell street which would have been 6.00eur or even 5.50eur in Stillorgan, the ormonde.

does anyone else think these prices were greedy and excessive?! how can anyone, even on a semi decent wage afford these prices?! there's no way i can afford to live in dublin when im older if prices stay this way. when did d'olier street become beverley hills?!

joePC

Dublin = Rip off, The country is a joke..... The sooner I get out the better.

jesus_thats_gre

Don't go to the bloody cinema then.. Its a pain in the arse but will you bloody live with it. Its not as if it just started happening last week.

Chevano Riley

snorlax wrote:

has ireland gone completely crazy!?

short answer, yes.

cheap cinema = ugc unlimited.
seeing as your so suddenly shocked by €8 tickets probably means you dont go enough to justify 15.99 per month. but man, infinite cinema for that is such a bargain.

MrNuked

I reckon it's the effect of the property prices. So many people suddenly became rich just because they have a house- or even could rent one. everyone else has to pay them money. It's a two-tiered society, and most of the people with the houses did nothing to deserve having so much.
So these prices are in the middle. For people on the top they're cheap, for people on the bottom, like me, they are not affordable.

ixoy

Yup, I'll second the cheap option --> UGC Unlimited. They get the vast majority of the Screen's films as well, so you're not limiting what you can see. If you can make it to 3 or movies a month, you've made your money back and start getting real value. I'm a UGC slut, like others here, and get real good value by taking in 2-3 movies a week.

As to the price of popcorn, y'know that's where the cinemas make most of their profit right? Vastly inflated prices. What I do is to buy my popcorn elsewhere... where it's cheaper ... and take it into the movie with me. It may not be as tasty and fresh as the cinema stuff but it's damn cheaper because the prices cinemas do charge for their own stuff is mind-boggingly insane or, as you put it, completely crazy.

MrNuked

can you get the ugc unlimited on a month-to-month basis, or do you have to do it for a year/

impr0v

The laws of capitalism state that Mr. Cinema Owner, the service provider, prices the service he provides as high as the market can sustain, i.e. until customers are no longer willing to pay the price.

Now you say you think it's extortion, yet you paid it, the ticket price, plus the cream on the cake for him, you bought some 400% or more mark-up popcorn.

Next time you go back they might both be up a few extra cents, just to see if he has found your limit yet.

Cinema isn't necessary for biological life.

I appreciate it's not exactly practical to arrange to go to the cinema with somebody, meet up, queue a bit and then decide not to go because of the prices, but Mr. Cinema Owner appreciates this too.

Mr. Cinema Owner suddenly has a lot of money in his bank pocket, because people are still lining up to give it to him, despite the fact that he has doubled his margin in the past few years, so he loosens the purse strings a bit, buys Mrs. Cinema Owner a CLK. Mr. Garage Owner can't get CLK's in fast enough for the nouveau riche, so he throws a bit of his cash about, buys a 5 bed, double fronted Redbrick in D6 for 2.5m plus at auction. Mr. Estate Agent gets his percentage of this, has some more disposable income and.....etc. etc.

It filters the whole way down until Mr. Lawn Cutter has a some extra cash in his pocket, and because of this is prepared to pay 3 and 4 euro for a handful of pic'n'mix at ster century, and the next revolution of the cycle starts.

Lip service is cheap and plentiful, as is the apathy on which the cycle thrives. There are two options. Either stop the cycle by refusing to pay, if enough people do it it can make a real difference, especially since service providers are now so used to the extra money that they have adjusted their business practices and personal lives to take account of it. Or, option two, get a foothold in that cycle somewhere and increase your own income in line with the rising prices, which is obviously harder to do.

Tusky

ixoy wrote:

Yup, I'll second the cheap option --> UGC Unlimited. They get the vast majority of the Screen's films as well, so you're not limiting what you can see. If you can make it to 3 or movies a month, you've made your money back and start getting real value. I'm a UGC slut, like others here, and get real good value by taking in 2-3 movies a week.

As to the price of popcorn, y'know that's where the cinemas make most of their profit right? Vastly inflated prices. What I do is to buy my popcorn elsewhere... where it's cheaper ... and take it into the movie with me. It may not be as tasty and fresh as the cinema stuff but it's damn cheaper because the prices cinemas do charge for their own stuff is mind-boggingly insane or, as you put it, completely crazy.

Got my UGC card at start of summer and have nay looked back tis fantastic... I need to go more though.

ixoy

MrNuked wrote:

can you get the ugc unlimited on a month-to-month basis, or do you have to do it for a year/

A year minimum. You can pay it all upfront or in monthly installments.

luckat

€8 is only £6.30 in old money. Dear, but Sundays are always dearer than weekday afternoons. The popcorn is a ripoff - next time bring your own in, bought in a shop.

koneko

I wish UCI did a pass like that. Stupid UCI, I HATE YOU

gnu

UGC are a bit evil tho. My bf joined up in Feb this year and was allowed to get tickets for a few movies in the same evening, he checked that he could do this before signing up. A few months ago they stopped letting him. Now he has to wait till a film is over before getting a ticket for another. It's mainly ok but when there are loads of good new releases he ends up not being able to get tickets for later shows cos they're sold out.

Chevano Riley

hmmm, dunno about that. as i member i was a daytime user.
ugc has gone downhill tho. before they moved into their new bigger place the food was very reasonable. and for the first few months the coin-op bottle machines were just 1.60 (if my memory serves me) for a 500ml bottle. not much dearer than spar across the road. now 2.10 or something.

their range of films is as good as ever. id say the IFI has suffered massively since it got so big. most of the same foreign flicks get a run in ugc, and you dont have to sell your kidney for the ticket price.

sceptre

impr0v wrote:

It filters the whole way down until Mr. Lawn Cutter has a some extra cash in his pocket, and because of this is prepared to pay 3 and 4 euro for a handful of pic'n'mix at ster century, and the next revolution of the cycle starts.

Ah, Reagan's trickle-down principle and voodoo economics. That worked really well and no-one's poor now.

User45701

The best is UGC unlimited card its worth every cent

impr0v

sceptre wrote:

Ah, Reagan's trickle-down principle and voodoo economics. That worked really well and no-one's poor now.

I stated that badly. I am not saying that Mr. Lawn Cutter benefits from the rising prices, far from it, by the time it filters down to him the extra money is less than the price increases and he edges closer to the poverty line. My point was that the little cash that does make it into his pocket is enough to fuel his apathy for a little bit longer.

DEmeant0r

Galway's cinema is just as bad, €8 at peak hours, and about €6 for non peak hours, AFAIR there's student discounts though.

Chevano Riley

galways cinema only offers student discounts mon-thurs. and theyre not playing 'the punisher'.

Mossy Monk

OMG the cinema, its a rip off!!!!!!!!!

short answer to that is dont go

Musashi

Got BroadBand?
Some people flaunt the International Copyright Laws and DownLoad new Movies!
Make your front room your cinema, all those tickets must eventually add up to a projection System, so it pays for itself in the long run,as will the surround sound system!

Ivan

Musashi wrote:

Got BroadBand?
Some people flaunt the International Copyright Laws and DownLoad new Movies!
Make your front room your cinema, all those tickets must eventually add up to a projection System, so it pays for itself in the long run,as will the surround sound system!

Tbh I havent been to the cinema in ages. I'd like to say its due to rising cinema prices, extortionist prices of popcorn etc. but when it comes down to it, Apathy comes in many forms.

yossarin

In london, the Odeon costs ~£ 9. Thats pounds .

All cinemas seem to be a rip off curently - its not just confined to ireland.

Third_Echelon

yeah the UGC unlimited is great value... and its got even better now.. From next week i think it is, you can pre-book your tickets for any film and get your ticket printed at the machines on the wall.... no queues

There is a charge though of 40c, which isnt bad i think. You can also book tickets for other unlimited card holders when you are booking your ticket and book tickets for non-unlimited card holders... its charged to your credit card..

It would be nice though if they added these costs every month to your direct debit payment...

Even so, the most annoying part of the unlimited, i.e. non-prebooking is now gone.... but it was never really that annoying anyway...

Victor

snorlax wrote:

paid 8euro for the screen cinema, d'olier street and 3.50eur for a "small popcorn"(tiny!) on a sunday afternoon at4pm. no student discounts no nothing.

Hang on, you expect a discount at peak demand? Go Mon-Thur and get in for about €5.

ferdi

consider this.

the tax on a pint has not gone up since 1994....so why are we paying so much more for it now?

because the publicans are ****ing criminals.

Deadwing

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Don't go to the bloody cinema then.. Its a pain in the arse but will you bloody live with it. Its not as if it just started happening last week.

And thats the attitude that lets them get away with it.
Why should we live with it?? Other countries dont pay these extortionate prices.
Ireland is one of the most expensive countries int he EU (if not THE most expensive) And for what? Its an absolute dump!

skywalker

yossarin wrote:

In london, the Odeon costs ~£ 9. Thats pounds .

All cinemas seem to be a rip off curently - its not just confined to ireland.

thats the one with all the premiers isnt it? its a dump from what i remember but thats the reason why that particular cinema is so expensive.

ferdi wrote:

consider this.

the tax on a pint has not gone up since 1994....so why are we paying so much more for it now?

because the publicans are ****ing criminals.

this is a thread about cinemas.

fozzle

Most cinemas around the country cost about this much, tbh it's not too bad when you consider you'd spend more in the pub in the same amount of time.

Just don't buy food or drinks in there, that's where they make huge mark-ups and profits. I don't always buy junk food for the cinema, but when I do I get it in a shop beforehand.

gazzer

Was in the Point Depot last week and (not that i bought any) it cost a whopping 7 euro for a large popcorn.... and there was a queue of people to buy it...... flupping madness

Dr. Loon

MrNuked wrote:

I, and most of the people with the houses did nothing to deserve having so much.
.

I don't understand this statement. Can you please explain what you mean? I'm not sure if I'm insulted or not.

Bard

Cinema going in Ireland is relatively cheap compared with many countries to be honest.

And ferdi, irrelevant as it is to this CINEMAS thread, the price of the pint has gone up in recent times mainly due to the price increases imposed on publicans by Guinness UDV/Diageo themselves. By all accounts, it actually seems it's possible it will go down in the near future.

ferdi

sorry guys i forgot to put my little "off topic/" before my post, sorry for ruining your day.


thanks for the info bard.

SteM

gnu wrote:

UGC are a bit evil tho. My bf joined up in Feb this year and was allowed to get tickets for a few movies in the same evening, he checked that he could do this before signing up. A few months ago they stopped letting him. Now he has to wait till a film is over before getting a ticket for another.

This is not quite true. The rule was always in place, certainly in UGCs in England where I used to use my card a lot, but the Dublin branch only started enforcing it recently. I think they were concerned at the amount of people who would just get tickets for the sake of it and then not bother to go, I know a lot of people who used to do this with their unlimited card.

I'd agree with everyone else here. If you live in the city centre and go to the movies more than 3 times a month an unlimited card is the only way to go, I don't understand why UCI haven't done something similar. If I lived outside the city centre I wouldn't bother getting one and to be honest there aren't many movies I would really consider paying €8 to see. I'd probably wait until they come out on DVD and rent them. Xtra Vision have a great deal with Pigsback, €2.50 per night on new releases from Monday-Thursday.