New arthouse cinema (Pálás)

ratracer

After years of sitting in traffic looking at that joke of a building site, I really hope it manages to stay open now that it is open!! Good luck to them, any open business is great for the city.

Also, although beauty is in the eye of the beholder, IMO it is one of the ugliest building facades in the city. If that is ‘modern’ architecture, I fear for our built heritage.

stampydmonkey

ratracer wrote: »

If that is ‘modern’ architecture, I fear for our built heritage.

The architect is well renowned for architectural delights such as the stairwell inside the radission and the fire escape from roches stores car park 😂

Disgraceful design in my opinion

beardybrewer

stampydmonkey wrote: »

Disgraceful design in my opinion

I'm not really an architect guy but when you go someplace like Berlin where they had a huge canvas to let imaginations run wild after the war and see what inspirational works they came up with it's hard not to laugh at what we've here. Anything above a cow-shed is architecture by irish standards.

inisboffin

beardybrewer wrote: »

I'm not really an architect guy but when you go someplace like Berlin where they had a huge canvas to let imaginations run wild after the war and see what inspirational works they came up with it's hard not to laugh at what we've here. Anything above a cow-shed is architecture by irish standards.

There's an article out there about the concept of the building, and the way it uses air to ventilate and something to do with Morocco. I can't for the life of me find the blog post. It was interesting to read, and the building made more sense then, but if you have to explain a concept too much...

Mrs OBumble

beardybrewer wrote: »

Anything above a cow-shed is architecture by irish standards.

In fairness, we're never more than 1/2 an hour from a cow (credit Blindboy for that line): Cowsheds probably are some of the more sophisticated pieces of architecture in the country.

_Whimsical_

I agree the building looks dreadful, the inside didn't look fantastic on the news either but maybe it's nicer in reality. There's something about long exposed concrete staircases that just doesn't do it for me and that was the main shot shown.
It said there's a bar, restaurant and cafe in it though.
Anyone know if we're finally getting reclining chairs in a cinema?

jam83

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

I agree the building looks dreadful, the inside didn't look fantastic on the news either but maybe it's nicer in reality. There's something about long exposed concrete staircases that just doesn't do it for me and that was the main shot shown.
It said there's a bar, restaurant and cafe in it though.
Anyone know if we're finally getting reclining chairs in a cinema?

No reclining chairs. It's not fully finished and they said so themselves. No signs for toilets. Bit sloppy for opening night. Concrete stairs don't do it for me to be honest. When you come out of the theatre you can feel the chill because the wind can blow in through the ticket desk and up the stairs. That's the design. The building is exposed and open above the ticket desk, where popcorn etc sold. So wind is howling in around the box office. Madness! That's modern architecture though! Seems stupid. The pronunciation of the name Pawlawce doesn't roll off the tongue too..apart from that it's great!

fergiesfolly

So, it's ugly, expensive, no parking and cold.
Will I be going?
I will in me EYE.

Mrs OBumble

fergiesfolly wrote: »

So, it's ugly, expensive, no parking and cold.
Will I be going?
I will in me EYE.

Plenty of parking three minutes away in Hynes Yard. Hugely discounted with your movie ticket.

https://palas.ie/your-visit/parking/

irisheddie85

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Plenty of parking three minutes away in Hynes Yard. Hugely discounted with your movie ticket.

https://palas.ie/your-visit/parking/

10 til 6 in hynes yard for €6 is a great price. Into town early on a Saturday. Do a bit of shopping have lunch watch a movie. Sounds like a nice day out.

fergiesfolly

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Plenty of parking three minutes away in Hynes Yard. Hugely discounted with your movie ticket.

https://palas.ie/your-visit/parking/

It's definitely a good move to make the trip more affordable, buts it's still €4 minimum versus €0.
Might make a night of it sometime, if an interesting(not shown in EYE) movie comes up, just to give them a fair hearing.

TerrorFirmer

What's the story with the bar/restaurant, are they actually open?

Arghus

Went to one of the screenings last night. The cinema is up and running but it isn't totally finished; there was a feeling that the builders may have just left about four seconds before people started to arrive.

Everything was a little on the slapdash side: for instance, most of the toilets weren't open yet, the only mens was down in the basement, which was seven floors away if you were in screen three; the food situation reminded me of people selling hastily bulk purchased sweets and bottles of coke out of a car-boot at a garden fete, and, I dunno, but all that bare concrete really contributes to the general sense that you're walking around in a yet uncompleted building: hey, we're all fans of foreign films, but does the interior have to look so distinctly Eastern Bloc?

I don't want to be too harsh, it was the first day, but they still have a lot of work to do inside, in my view, before the place is really up and running. A "soft opening" is what it was called, which is a nice and polite way of saying "rush job" - but at least it exists, which is a major improvement over the fiasco for the last ten years.

One thing I do think is totally stupid though is having the box office as it is: it's at the base of another structure that's freestanding out in the open and isn't actually connected to the rest of the building. Architecturally marvellous, I'm sure, and I had loads of time to marvel at it last night as the glacial winds whipped in from the outside and made me shiver and wonder exactly what the spectacle is going to be like when people are qeueing in the pissing rain. I'm sure in time a solution will be found, some sort of canopy will probably improvised, but I'd be wary of that in one sense: the material will probably cost a million euro and getting someone to hang it up will probably shut the place down again for a further year.

I was in screen three last night and I can't fault it in terms of presentation. The picture and sound quality was top class, the seats were comfortable and the screen felt large in relation to the size of the room.

The bar seemed to be doing a roaring trade and it is pretty cool to have a place in the building to go to relax and have a drink either before or after - or both.

_Whimsical_

jam83 wrote: »

No reclining chairs.

Why can't we ever have nice things?

7 flights of stairs down to the toilets, wind whipping through the popcorn area, exposed concrete, no reclining seats, reminiscences of an Eastern Block.
Why couldn't we just keep the dystopia for the silver screen? It sounds like a hipster-ish nightmare.

It's making the Claddagh Palace of my childhood sound like it had a touch of luxury.

smurf492

_Whimsical_ wrote:

It's making the Claddagh Palace of my childhood sound like it had a touch of luxury.

An unfortunate casualty of the celtic tiger boom...

ronnie3585

smurf492 wrote: »

An unfortunate casualty of the celtic tiger boom...

Much like the Palas itself.

bbbbb

drove past it yesterday for the first time. Wasn't up close & I'm not a construction engineer, but on the exterior the poured concrete doesn't look smooth, as if there were air bubbles in some places?
Can't imagine it will weather very well if this is the case.

beardybrewer

As long as it weathers better than Baily Point. In fairness tho it's been standing a good 4-5 years already if that's any indication.

Smegging hell

I'd tend to agree with Arghus' post. It did seem rushed; the till went on the blink when I was collecting my ticket, popcorn was prepackaged, and finding the toilets was confusing given it's a bit of a maze. On the other hand, the screening went well and I had an enjoyable pint at the bar afterwards.

Thargor

Was there any sign of a popcorn machine there or space for one? Prepackaged is shocking...

westgolf

Who decided who the food n beverage operations would be let/leased out to ? Don't recall seeing it advertised ?

ben.schlomo

Thargor wrote: »

Was there any sign of a popcorn machine there or space for one? Prepackaged is shocking...

You wouldn't want to hear what most/many cinemas do if you think prepackaged is indeed 'shocking'.

ben.schlomo

ben.schlomo wrote: »

You wouldn't want to hear what most/many cinemas do if you think prepackaged is indeed 'shocking'.

A good rule of thumb if going to an early show, don't have the popcorn unless you enjoy it stale

Thargor

ben.schlomo wrote: »

You wouldn't want to hear what most/many cinemas do if you think prepackaged is indeed 'shocking'.

Make popcorn in a machine like every cinema ever instead of selling prepackaged crap at cinema prices?

ben.schlomo

Thargor wrote: »

Make popcorn in a machine like every cinema ever instead of selling prepackaged crap at cinema prices?

I won't ruin your popcorn for you.

Mrs OBumble

Thargor wrote: »

Make popcorn in a machine like every cinema ever instead of selling prepackaged crap at cinema prices?

'Cos the prepackaged stuff is made by hand???

death1234567

Thargor wrote: »

Make popcorn in a machine like every cinema ever instead of selling prepackaged crap at cinema prices?

You actually think they make popcorn in cinema's?

TerrorFirmer

death1234567 wrote: »

You actually think they make popcorn in cinema's?

They do but they make tons of it at a time and package it in quite literally, bin bags. They then top up as needed from these bags, which could be lying around for a while.

It's the reason why sometimes you get great popcorn at the cinema and other times it tastes like crap.

If by pre-packaged at the Palas you mean 'here's one we made earlier' - could live with that.

Thargor

death1234567 wrote: »

You actually think they make popcorn in cinema's?

Jesus Christ

What cinemas are you going to that you dont see the giant popcorn machine working away behind the server? Is there actually any cinema in the country besides the Palas that doesnt have one? I always ask for mine straight from the machine thus avoiding anything thats been lying around in the bins for too long or reheated from last night, its not difficult.

ben.schlomo wrote: »

I won't ruin your popcorn for you.

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

'Cos the prepackaged stuff is made by hand???

You cant tell the difference between prepackaged factory popcorn and cinema stuff straight from a popcorn machine? I feel sorry for you if thats the case but I think you're just being deliberately thick.

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