Going to the Cinema during Covid

gmisk

sheepsh4gger wrote: »

Go somewhere, sit with unruly teenagers, drink coke based on tap water, have my shoes tick to the floor, catch a virus in the toilets. No thanks, not a bug chaser.

I think also 20% of the image is always cut off.

Today you can get TVs that have higher resolution an you will see the entire image.

Also the cinema 4k is garbage - yes it is 4k but it comes at cost of pixel fill so you get a screen door effect like in VR. If you have greater pixel fill it feels like higher resolution than more actual pixels but spaces in-between them.

You might have been going to the wrong cinemas. If going to one of the bit chains it can be grand if you go early and pretty cheap. You don't have to buy drinks snacks there either.
I would always recommend somewhere like the lighthouse,they are doing a great job with spacing etc at the minute

genius200iq

Read that hollywood is hurting big time with covid, the age of $200M event movies are over, we will be seeing a lot more $50 -100M movies that can be put on streaming services, to be honest im all for it, have a nice big 4k Tv at home, fridge full of food and drink , can pause to go to toilet and won't have to listen to idiots talking.
Also read that Disney are getting fully behind CGI actors, no need to shut down shooting during a Plague , can all be shot remotely on a PC, without millions in actor wages and dealing with their problems.
I think the future of film is bright, we could see more risk taking, currently Hollywood if afraid to take chances with the $200+M budgets, hence the glut of sequels and superheroes movies, might take a few risks on lower budgets if it the norm.

ixoy

genius200iq wrote: »

Also read that Disney are getting fully behind CGI actors, no need to shut down shooting during a Plague , can all be shot remotely on a PC, without millions in actor wages and dealing with their problems.

CGI actors? Do you mean the CGI sets that they used in 'The Mandalorian'? It's a wrap around screen that you can project images against in real time, making it much easier for the actors to interact with and reducing the cost of location shooting.
We're a long way from CGI actors still.

pixelburp

Yeah, the uncanny valley has something to say about the current sophistication of CGI actors. Budgets taking a dive back towards sanity would be nice all right and might allow more creativity but we ain't at the CGI singularity just yet.

genius200iq

ixoy wrote: »

CGI actors? Do you mean the CGI sets that they used in 'The Mandalorian'? It's a wrap around screen that you can project images against in real time, making it much easier for the actors to interact with and reducing the cost of location shooting.
We're a long way from CGI actors still.

No full on CGI actors, if memory serves 2023-4 release, no need to deal with human actors and their demands, we can see with our own eyes the tech is coming on leaps and bounds year on year, i would imagine it will be a huge leap from the Nvidea CGI faces photos, but any way check it out, quality is unreal.
thispersondoesnotexist.com/
Just check out the site , all computer generated faces, 100% real looking, if they show us this , what is locked away behind closed doors?

Nigel Fairservice

I went to see Unhinged this afternoon. Went to see it because it had been in a while and had a mid afternoon show (and I liked the trailer for it). It was great to be back in a cinema! It had been nearly 6 months since I last went to one. There was only me and 1 other person in the screen and I bought my ticket and popcorn online before I went in. I could probably count the number of people I saw or interacted with on one hand.

Lefty2Guns

Second visit to the cinema yesterday since reopening, this time to see TENET in Dundrum. Possibly about 20 people max in the screen/room.

Had tickets booked for IMC Dun Laoghaire and got an email to say TENET was cancelled on all screens due to technical issues. I'd say IMC are up **** creek and couldn't afford to let the movie from the production company. Doesn't sound good for IMC at all.

Parsnips

Lefty2Guns wrote: »

Second visit to the cinema yesterday since reopening, this time to see TENET in Dundrum. Possibly about 20 people max in the screen/room.

Had tickets booked for IMC Dun Laoghaire and got an email to say TENET was cancelled on all screens due to technical issues. I'd say IMC are up **** creek and couldn't afford to let the movie from the production company. Doesn't sound good for IMC at all.

No... Ide say IMC are drowning.
The Square IMC shutup shop fairly quickly and believe me ... It had gone to the dogs well before that. I am guessing from the attitude and faces of the staff that they are absolutley horrible to work for. Either that or a serious management problem.

alzer100

Parsnips wrote: »

No... Ide say IMC are drowning.
The Square IMC shutup shop fairly quickly and believe me ... It had gone to the dogs well before that. I am guessing from the attitude and faces of the staff that they are absolutley horrible to work for. Either that or a serious management problem.

IMC are an aggressive company who really don't care about the customer.

They will keep their branches closed, particularly the ones that are non profitable and the ones that won't make a decent return for them under the current seating layout conditions.

I would think the viability of cinemas like the Savoy on O'Connell Street which is under their umbrella of companies are in trouble. I could be proven wrong but...

Irish Aris

alzer100 wrote: »

IMC are an aggressive company who really don't care about the customer.

They will keep their branches closed, particularly the ones that are non profitable and the ones that won't make a decent return for them under the current seating layout conditions.

I would think the viability of cinemas like the Savoy on O'Connell Street which is under their umbrella of companies are in trouble. I could be proven wrong but...

Yeah, good point. I think Savoy is still closed, right?

I reckon cinemas will struggle, in the short term at least. I'm going to Cineworld (have a membership) and even with the reduced capacity there weren't many people. Even for Tenet, the IMAX screen had around 20-25 people (granted on a Thursday evening, but second day of opening), I thought even with Social distancing you could fit more people in.
Hopefully things will pick up soon and more people will start going as more films will be released in the coming weeks and months.

batteriess

I've been to The Lighthouse a few times since it's opened back up. Would highly recommend it, very safe. They've staggered film times so there's not many people around the cinema and they've limited seating capacity a lot. Even in "sold out" screens I've felt more than adequately distanced from everyone.

You definitely have to book your tickets in advance to secure them (they are selling much less seats after all).

Now if only they'd get a few more new films in...

Penfailed

I went to see The New Mutants on Tuesday night. Had to wear a mask on the way in and out with a one way system in place. Grand.

Ohmeha

Very likely tomorrow will be your last opportunity to go to the cinema in Dublin for at least 3 weeks

dublinman1990

Wonder Woman 84 is now delayed until Christmas Day.

Penfailed

dublinman1990 wrote: »

Wonder Woman 84 is now delayed until Christmas Day.

Christmas Day?! Are cinemas even open then?

Calculator123

Penfailed wrote: »

Christmas Day?! Are cinemas even open then?

They are in the US. Big cinema day there. Not open in Ireland.

santana75

Ohmeha wrote: »

Very likely tomorrow will be your last opportunity to go to the cinema in Dublin for at least 3 weeks

You really think this will happen?

SimonTemplar

Dublin is moving to level 3 from midnight which means that indoor events, including cinemas, will not take place.

dublinman1990

SimonTemplar wrote: »

Dublin is moving to level 3 from midnight which means that indoor events, including cinemas, will not take place.

Yep. Our own Taoiseach confirmed it on the news this evening.

AMKC

SimonTemplar wrote: »

Dublin is moving to level 3 from midnight which means that indoor events, including cinemas, will not take place.

Only right. Delighted for ye. If us culchies can not go to the cinema then city people should not be either.

Mr Crispy

Yeah, sure. Let's make this a "us vs them" thing. That will help.

santana75

santana75 wrote: »

You really think this will happen?

Gonna reply to my own comment.....yes its happened, which I think is very heavy handed. But I suppose this is not the forum to discuss such matters. Went to see a movie this evening though, just to get one in before the closure. It was "The eight Hundred" and I knew nothing about it before going in. It just happened to be playing at a convenient time so I went along with zero expectations........I was listening to a talk given by william friedkin at the New York film academy where he said most films he sees are complete sh1t, but occasionally he'll see something that will blow him away and this is what everyone who loves cinema lives for. And so it was tonight for me with this movie. It is an absolute belter, honestly it blew my head off. Not only one of the best foreign language films I've seen but one of the best films period. The cinematography is incredible, it reminded me of the Dolong bridge scene in apocalypse Now. The battle scenes are really well done and even though its 2hrs 30 mins long it flies by, not for a second does it drag.
When the cinemas do open again please go see this, it's the kind of movie that reaffirms your belief in cinema.

Penfailed

AMKC wrote: »

Only right. Delighted for ye. If us culchies can not go to the cinema then city people should not be either.

Erm...am I missing something? What's stopping culchies going to the cinema?

Outlaw Pete

Went to see The Roads Not Taken in the Lighthouse (Screen 4) on Wednesday night and enjoyed it mostly but a little disappointed with how some elements of the story weren't resolved maybe.

Was sold out but only a dozen or so of us there but there was a couple and the female would not stop laughing. She was in hysterics at some of the most difficult to watch scenes. The bloke went to the toilet and she was in bits laughing even on her own.

As we were all walking out I heard her say that ending was very disappointing. Which I suppose it was if you felt you were watching a comedy.

Sad Professor

Closing Dublin cinemas is absurd. They have been empty and there’s no reason to believe they are a source of outbreaks.

The govt’s handling of this is very frustrating.

Regis779

Here the number of increases has been growing and some measures already are being put, but I go to the office and travel by bus in public spaces with many others, so in the end, all the same if I go to the cinema on top of it all. So long as you are being cautious

pixelburp

I'm sure there's already a billion threads about the Dublin lockdown, but it must be very frustrating for all those compliant cafes and restaurants who went to great effort and expense to make dining safe and enjoyable, only to have to close down again - primarily because only a part of the city is (apparently) spiking in cases. MYself and the wife have been to a couple of cafes and restaurants and it has been impressive the lengths they've gone to. Can't say I ever felt uncomfortable while other patrons were also playing ball. Equally I was in the National Gallery a few weeks ago and again, very sensible, serious adherence to the guidelines.

This feels like a reactive decision, which would be par for the course so far with the FF government. Dither, dissemble then finally make a decision after everyone has pushed Martin around. Lord help me for saying but I miss Leo in charge: maybe it's all about the projection of leadership as it is the actions taken, but Varadkar at least gave the impression of being where the buck stopped.

As to the cinemas, well they're clearly not anywhere near capacity and probably already on death's door as it is. This is likely the bump that's going to kill off a lot of businesses in Dublin, the cinemas included. Dublin feels way too large to apply a "city" wide lockdown but here we are. Smoke and mirrors while Martin fiddles.

johnny_ultimate

I don’t disagree with the measures - I genuinely believe things would be looking very bleak for the capital otherwise - but based on my experiences cultural institutions would be safer to keep open than restaurants and pubs. There were a lot of busy spots in Dublin last night, and that just sounds alarm bells about the potential impact. Social distancing is pretty darn limited in a lot of spots. Whatever about the economic impact, I don’t think the option of stopping indoor dining is disproportionate in the current circumstances.

Closing galleries and museums, in contrast, seems disproportionate to me given the nature of those spaces. Cinemas... I’ve been a lot since they reopened, and never once felt unsafe. But definitely I see the logic in not having a dozen or two strangers sitting in the same room for two hours or more at the moment - driving down casual socialising is the main goal for now. It’s a shame, as I’ve no doubt the consequences of closing them are major. But I’d feel even more comfortable going back in a few weeks if the cases per 100,000 were quite a bit lower again.

I’d even suggest a temporary closure may be a partial relief for a few bigger cinemas (not the indie ones, who’ve had a steady stream of on-brand releases - the Light House seems to be doing pretty well numbers-wise given the massively reduced capacity). With Tenet dying down, there’s nothing really big to drive casual audiences in. If they get government wage support for a few more weeks, then they potentially get a little bit closer to Bond’s release without the outlays of staying open. That the likes of the Savoy have stayed close anyway suggests to me a very financially precarious position even when the possibility of opening is there.

alzer100

The Savoy Cinema is in trouble anyway. It's been kept viable by IMC which as a parent company makes a healthy profit.
DCG (Dublin Cinema Group), a subsidiary of IMC which operates the Savoy Cinema and the former Screen Cinema has been operating at a loss for a considerable time now. They have already sold the off the site of the Screen Cinema and carved up what was the Savoy's greatest asset.
The auditoriums within the Savoy are too small now to adhere to social distancing measures and produce a steady financial return.
It's probably making better business sense to keep the Savoy closed but IMC are very aggressive, I can't see that cinema being around for too much longer.

Psychiatric Patrick

Penfailed wrote: »

Erm...am I missing something? What's stopping culchies going to the cinema?

I'm culchie myself who is not going to the cinema because of Covid and I cannot figure out the meaning of that post either.

Is there a website that is keeping up to date with national release dates and news of war movies are being delayed by studios.

Tenet has done very poorly so I wonder if Bond, Black Widow, Wonder Woman and Death on the Nile will all all be cancelled?

gmisk

Psychiatric Patrick wrote: »

I'm culchie myself who is not going to the cinema because of Covid and I cannot figure out the meaning of that post either.

Is there a website that is keeping up to date with national release dates and news of war movies are being delayed by studios.

Tenet has done very poorly so I wonder if Bond, Black Widow, Wonder Woman and Death on the Nile will all all be cancelled?

I think Tenet did rather well (especially outside the US all things considered).
Wonder woman has already been pushed back to Christmas.

I'd say a lot of studios might look at the money mulan and trolls world tour brought in and go down that route...

pixelburp

Trolls: World Tour 2 pulled in fine money - but entirely contextual for what it was; a low to mid-tier animated distraction. I can't imagine the internal projections were exactly stellar back when the cinemas were open. However I wouldn't imagine those projections come close to those previously lined for up the various tentpole blockbusters now sitting in limbo. Tenet did well "all things considered" but I daresay a studio can absorb what amounts to a once-off blockbuster arthouse flick from Nolan, but not the kind of mega-behemoth, rolling franchises that are currently MIA. You'd imagine those are part of the long term corporate strategies.

As a reminder, Spider-Man: Homecoming made $880 million worldwide and with the best will in the world you can't replicate that kind of performance with digital releases alone. Now, a lot of that was probably the post - Avengers EndGame blush, but that's some take for what amounted to "just another" MCU film.

To be fair, all you can do as schedulers is keeping pushing back these blockbuster releases and see how things end up at the time. Christmas? Yikes I dunno, even just typing the words "flu season" - within the context of this horrow show of a year - makes me shiver. It doesn't seem impossible, but certainly optimistic.

dublinman1990

If the WB movies including WW84 are not able to go out to the cinemas during the Winter period incl. Christmas; the only option for them to be released to a wide audience would be to release them on HBO Max/any pay tv provider that have contracts to show HBO Max content outside of the U.S. What I mean is that if WW 84 is not able to be released in cinemas at all for this Christmas heading into the new year. It could be released on Sky Store/Sky Cinema here & in the UK as a last resort and for any country that has Sky TV. That would mean if you would want to see this film. You would need to have a Sky subscription to watch it when they get released for the 1st time. Normal cinema releases of this film & other WB films will then apply to countries who don't have the HBO Max streaming service.

That's a problem for us because if any new WB or Disney+ film have to go on this route while you live in Ireland. It means the amount of demand needed to see this content only becomes restricted to a large enough segment of the population who only have Sky TV or VM subscriptions in their homes. But, alike HBO Max/Disney+, this doesn't apply to anyone else who don't have these subscriptions. The HBO Max & Disney+ content may only become available to you if you have Sky & VM subscriptions here very soon.

If you use other TV providers here in Ireland. You are allowed to pay for Disney+ as a separate subscription. For HBO Max; you only get that content via Sky.

To talk about Disney for a moment. Sky & VM could not make any formal agreement over the summer to extend their distribution deals for the linear Disney channels to remain on their EPGs in the UK & Ireland. It means that if you see the Disney TV channels closing down soon; you won't able to get them on the SKY/VM EPG's any more. They are closing down here in the UK & Ireland later this month which suggests you now have to get this content from a Sky/Disney+ subscription as the only option to see it. The people who lose out who won't be able to see these new WB or Disney films in the cinema will have to wait until they get the DVD/Blu-ray, Digital Download via Google Play/iTunes or via streaming services to go & see them.

The first part of my part about WW84 only going as an exclusive on Sky Store is only a suggestion.

WB or any studio in fact are taking up these options now because they primarily depend on how the Covid numbers are progressing in each country across the world. The impact of Covid-19 does count as a big decision maker for them to either approve or stop the release of these films to see if they are able to make money from the Box office or not. The cinema releases are by far the biggest drivers worldwide of potentially making big BO returns for these films. If they cannot be able to release the films in the cinemas at any time because of Covid hampering their release schedules, a big portion of their fanbase or demographics are lost instantly. The studios would then have to use other options to make their money from the releases instead like what we are seeing right now on VOD being applied across the world.

OU812

It's my gut feeling that we're going to see the release dates pulled again. They won't be going direct to VOD either. They're going to sit on them until audiences can return.

Don't forget there's very little content being produced right now. There's going to be a huge hole in the release schedule nine to eighteen months down the line. The content that we're supposed to be getting around the end of the year will plug that gap.

They've trialled a blockbuster on both VOD & theatres and the results were less then satisfactory in both cases. They'll return to the old strategy of cinema first, then VOD, but that will depend on audiences returning.

Psychiatric Patrick

OU812 wrote: »

It's my gut feeling that we're going to see the release dates pulled again. They won't be going direct to VOD either. They're going to sit on them until audiences can return.

Don't forget there's very little content being produced right now. There's going to be a huge hole in the release schedule nine to eighteen months down the line. The content that we're supposed to be getting around the end of the year will plug that gap.

They've trialled a blockbuster on both VOD & theatres and the results were less then satisfactory in both cases. They'll return to the old strategy of cinema first, then VOD, but that will depend on audiences returning.

I am very surprised that Disney released Mulan on Disney+.

Just sit on all those blockbusters that are ready and wait.

titan18

OU812 wrote: »

It's my gut feeling that we're going to see the release dates pulled again. They won't be going direct to VOD either. They're going to sit on them until audiences can return.

Don't forget there's very little content being produced right now. There's going to be a huge hole in the release schedule nine to eighteen months down the line. The content that we're supposed to be getting around the end of the year will plug that gap.

They've trialled a blockbuster on both VOD & theatres and the results were less then satisfactory in both cases. They'll return to the old strategy of cinema first, then VOD, but that will depend on audiences returning.

Latest round of pushes today.

Black Widow, Death on the Nile and West Side Story all pushed out. Death on the Nile is pushed to December so still might release.

Think the major release now is No Time to Die in November, and I won't be surprised when that, Dune and Wonder Woman are also pushed out. Too much money in them to take a chance

kerplun k

I don’t see any other major releases this year. Personally I’m fine with this as it actually suits my current situation. Hopefully things will change in the new year with a vaccine, or some other breakthrough.

The amount of big films being pushed back is going to lead to lot of consecutive weekends at the cinema when we eventually do get back to safety, and I can’t wait.

kerplun k

Bond pushed to 2021. Makes total sense. Just a matter of time before Dune is pushed.

1o059k7ewrqj3n

Just saw Dirty Dancing at the cinema. Really enjoyed it. I wish they would show more classic movies but I get that they need a reason - this was the 30th anniversary.

OU812

With 007 now cancelled, that's me out of the cinema for the rest of the year (possibly until April when it's supposed to be out).

johnny_ultimate

Cineworld apparently going to shut all its UK cinemas til next year (which you’d assume would extend to Dublin as well) after Bond delay. Bleak times.

https://twitter.com/thesundaytimes/status/1312506100365680640?s=21

Sad Professor

I'd say all new releases will just be shelved until late summer/early autumn of next year. Virus will have either run its course by then or govts will have given up trying to suppress it. Of course at that point the pandemic will probably have been superseded by another crisis. Economic depression, large scale unemployment, non-covid health crisis, societal breakdown... Who knows really, but whatever it is it hopefully won't stop the cinemas reopening.

mikhail

Sad Professor wrote: »

I'd say all new releases will just be shelved until late summer/early autumn of next year. Virus will have either run its course by then or govts will have given up trying to suppress it. Of course at that point the pandemic will probably have been superseded by another crisis. Economic depression, large scale unemployment, non-covid health crisis, societal breakdown... Who knows really, but whatever it is it hopefully won't stop the cinemas reopening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA1SxZoFmOU

silverharp

on the positive side Hollywood needed a good kick in the hole, its currently being administered

1o059k7ewrqj3n

Odeon Cinemas email just now - temporarily closed until further notice.

sheepsh4gger

AMC will go bankrupt and Amazon is going to buy them up. That's the word on CNBC since April.

Imagine what this would do.

pixelburp

sheepsh4gger wrote: »

AMC will go bankrupt and Amazon is going to buy them up. That's the word on CNBC since April.

Imagine what this would do.

My immediate scepticism about this is that it might go against the Paramount Decree in America; which states that movie studios can't own cinema chains. Now, Amazon already have TV, movie and publishing platforms that house various 3rd party material but specific to cinema chains, the purchase of the AMC chain might hit some blockers. "Amazon" is itself not a studio, but that distinction may not be appreciated by some, especially those pursuing an anti-trust strategy.

silverharp

pixelburp wrote: »

My immediate scepticism about this is that it might go against the Paramount Decree in America; which states that movie studios can't own cinema chains. Now, Amazon already have TV, movie and publishing platforms that house various 3rd party material but specific to cinema chains, the purchase of the AMC chain might hit some blockers. "Amazon" is itself not a studio, but that distinction may not be appreciated by some, especially those pursuing an anti-trust strategy.

I believe the DOJ were looking at that last year with the intention of getting rid of it. it dates from the 1930's so its a totally different landscape now

ixoy

silverharp wrote: »

I believe the DOJ were looking at that last year with the intention of getting rid of it. it dates from the 1930's so its a totally different landscape now

Yep, it's gone - there's a 2-year "sunset period" that began on Aug 7th 2020. So in 2022 they can buy up chains. House of Mouse I'm sure will be particularly interested.

pixelburp

silverharp wrote: »

I believe the DOJ were looking at that last year with the intention of getting rid of it. it dates from the 1930's so its a totally different landscape now

Last I saw an update was in March IIRC, and since then don't believe there's any movement for all sorts of obvious reasons; and given the makeup of the senior echelons of the DoJ may be about to change in the next few months, unless it's a huge priority for GOP downers and lobbyists, it may get scuttled.

Cinema might have changed, but I don't believe cinemas should be driven or lead by the very studios producing films; that's ripe for abuse and market manipulation. Disney already screw chains with higher percentages on their Big Ticket films (IIRC Rise of Skywalker saw a particularly high jump in the states).

I suppose it depends on where you stand generally on the issue of Free Market vs. Some degree of regulatory control, but I don't particularly want Disney Brand Cinemas further squashing the institution into a niche, restricted product.

Edit: just saw ixoy's comments. Shoot. Well that's Cinema in the STates dead as we know it. Disney Brand Cinemas here we come.