I recently questioned why theatre was so expensive, this was before I saw Billy Elliot on Broadway and witnessed the spectacle of a three hour show encompassing dozens of performers intricately dancing in perfectly choreographed routines whilst singing and acting. The stage design and the lighting, the orchestra, the upkeep of the glorious theatre that glowers with history and a proud sense of individuality. As many as twelve performances a week live on Broadway, in Toronto and London all year round. It is phenomenal, suddenly the steep ticket price seems rather fair, how many times can you visit the cinema and watch a three hour motion picture? And I am talking about a proper three hour picture, not Michael Bay's ludicrously long Transformers films.
I can think of a few examples; Magnolia, Once Upon A Time In The West or America for that matter and for sheer spectacle Avatar in 3D. Some may say Titanic. I would not. After frequenting the marvellous multiplexes in Sofia, Bulgaria this summer for no more than £6 I have begun to wonder how cinemas in London can charge such ludicrous prices.
Now I know London is obviously going to cost more than Bulgaria but to be almost double the ticket prices in Hong Kong, Auckland, New York and Stockholm? I could go on but my main question is: Why should we accept such poor standard screens and service when we pay more?
Lets start off with Odeon. I went to see Friends With Benefits on Sunday at Odeon Tottenham Court Road (central London) and stood for twenty minutes as the cinema failed to open until 1pm for the 1.15pm showing. I accept that cinemas earn most of their revenues from concessions such as popcorn, snacks and soft drinks but at least have a separate counter for it, instead all multiplexes cut staff and sell tickets jointly with food and drink thus a long hold up in the queues. It's a recession so cuts are necessary I hear you say. Ok. I would argue that better management would mean two members of staff dealing with tickets and one member with snacks. That was how many staff there were at Odeon on the Sunday anyway. The prices are as following.
Adult ticket - £9.15 (Monday to Thursday before 5pm) otherwise £12.30.
Child (12 or Under) - £7.50 (Monday to Thursday before 5pm) otherwise £9.60
Family (1 adult and 3 children or 2 adults 2 children) - £30 (M to Th before 5pm) otherwise £38.
I'm going to be brutally honest here; Tottenham Crt Road Odeon is average. It is not an attractive building neither is it in the vicinity of the West End. It has four screens, one large, one medium and two small. If there is someone in front of you then you are going to have problems seeing the screen but perhaps worst of all is the soundproofing; in all the screens you can hear the movie next door! Unacceptable. So during FWB (a very cool comedy) I could hear The Inbetweeners next door - Jay was busy getting bullied by a kid.
Lets move onto pricing, in particular the issue of child pricing. Apparently you stop being a kid at 12 at Odeon. Consequently they have brought in the Teen Ticket for 13 to 17 year olds. My sister who is 15 came to see FWB and was refused a Teen ticket because she had no ID (in England you do not have ID before you're 15 unless you bring your passport). After some haggling and a look at the queue the manager gave in, she would have been fine giving her an adult ticket but not a Teen. In the end things worked out but why not increase the child ticket to 14 and put teen 15 to 17 then you save the problem of under 15's seeing 15 cert pictures. Money of course. But it makes no sense, if you are 13 or 14 you can't by law see a 15 film so why should you have to pay extra to see 12 cert or under movies? But then that is nonsense too as the Teen ticket is only 20p more! To save all the hassle just let kids be kids until they are fifteen. Like they do at Cineworld Cinemas.
Ah Cineworld. The worst chain in Britain. Cineworld take self advertising to another level, buy a Coke, get the membership card (between each trailer) and then an advert on Cineworld itself talking of the experience. Wow. I want to draw attention to Shaftesbury Avenue branch of Cineworld. What is cool about Cineworld are their Earlybird prices. These used to be £6.00, sadly they have risen to £8.
Adult - £8.00 (before 5pm Monday to Friday) otherwise £12.00
Child (up to 14 years of age) - £6.90
This appears fair. The absence of a family ticket is odd as is the assertion that a 15 year old is an adult. No Teen ticket at Cineworld. So apparently my brother is an adult as he has no ID to show he is a student (£6.90 before 5pm Monday to Friday...no student tickets on weekends...). So what is he? Twice I have haggled with the obnoxious staff there eventually asking for the manager ( a weak man befitting of his pathetic staff) and managed to get my brother a child ticket. The film in question was Arrietty the Studio Ghibli animation rated U. Yes, they were trying to charge a 15 year old an adult ticket for a U cert picture! The most prominent issue with Cineworld Shaftesbury Avenue is there scheduling and pricing. They play movies before 12pm, some as early 11.15am to empty auditoriums (Arrietty for example was just us, if we had not gone the movie would have played to no-one) which raises the question, do cinemas care about film? A couple of years ago Cineworld used to charge as little as £5.50 for a film before 12pm and numbers were healthy, since the price increase to £8 this has dramatically changed. If the cinema was any good I could understand it but it makes Odeon look like the plush Empire West End. Finding a member of staff as you climb the escalator to the three floors above the ticket office is nigh on impossible making it completely possible to go and see another film for free, I know plenty who do it. And the mishaps! Oh yes lets list 'em -
Definitely Maybe - Upside down credits and out of focus picture, projectionist clearly has fallen asleep.
27 Dresses (it's not that bad...honest!) - Film stops, then continues without sound for a couple of minutes. I don't know how this is possible...
The A-Team - Movie doesn't start. Wait for ten minutes until projectionist is called, movie starts 30 minutes late. Add that to the bloated running time of the frankly dreadful movie and you really are taking the proverbial...
I can truthfully say that I have never gone to Cineworld and not had some problem. Watchdog (BBC investigative consumer programme) recently found that Cineworld charge the most for popcorn and other concessions in a survey carried out on all multiplexes. Popcorn is nearly £5. A kid of six made her own popcorn to take in but got it confiscated before going into the cinema! I always take food and drink in, ever since paying £3.50 for a medium sized Fanta at Cineworld I have steered clear of the eye watering prices.
The system in which cinemas work of course is to pay the distributor for the film for a set amount of time whilst the majority of receipts go directly to the studios thus meaning the film itself is simply a product to get people to spend money on concessions at the cinema. Managers and staff at the multiplexes are not interested in the movies they show, just the amount of popcorn they sell. None more so than Vue cinemas.
Vue is a mixed bag. Great screens, sound and picture on the one hand. Understaffed, expensive and unfriendly on the other. Vue do offer a Teen ticket for 13 -18 year olds and at the Islington Vue (North London) prices are fair with Adults paying a maximum of £11.25 and with Saver tickets throughout the week a family can go for under £20. Finchley Road in North-West London thinks it is acceptable to charge the same price as well as charging more for the family ticket despite its location and inept management.
But lets move to the West End and the hilarious Vue situated within metres of Leicester Square tube station.
Adult £13.25
Child £8.10
Student £10.70
I don't have a problem with Empire West End or Odeon Leicester Square charging similar prices as they boast the two best screens in London. What irks me with Vue is there dark and dingy cinema that boasts average screens with hard seats and budget sound. Of course tourists pay it as do many others who enjoy being fleeced.
During the recession cinema has boomed. In 2010 an MPAA report showed that in the States a family day out to the cinema was the cheapest option at $30. Compared to a NFL match that costs in the region of $300 or an NBA game at $180 it does appear to be good value. In my opinion there is no comparison to a sporting event and the thrill of seeing your team but cinema can be truly awe inspiring and for the relatively cheap price very good value.
Cinema around the rest of the UK is fairly priced, Odeon cinemas in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff ticket prices do not exceed £9 even at peak times. The same is true for multiplexes on the outskirts of London which are generally higher quality screens and sound.
I expect to pay more if I am in central London but is it too much to ask for proper service and quality? The Curzon and Phoenix chains that are directed to the art house market show that it is possible to care for the customer and film itself, something most definitely lacking in multiplexes such as Cineworld and Vue. Curzon Soho and Mayfair boast superior sound, picture and service yet remain cheaper than Cineworld Haymarket and Shaftesbury Avenue at off-peak times, make sense of that one.
A complete overhaul is needed. For those who have spare time around midday and early afternoon prices must be dropped otherwise you lose the potential customer to enjoy another activity instead such as the gym, shopping or an extra long lunch. The industry complains of losses, piracy and dwindling box office (2011 has been a bit of a downer at the US box office) yet if they continue to rip customers off with average product and service from the exhibitors then what do they expect? We all know 3-D was simply a ploy to stop piracy and I really don't mind if the quality of the third dimension is like Avatar but to blatantly laugh in peoples faces with the pitiful excuse for 3-D that is 95% of movies out this year (Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern, Pirates 4 etc) then you really have gone too far. The current system will only make piracy worse, what needs to happen is more power has to be given to each manager of each cinema within the chain. Those managers must have enthusiasm for film as must the staff (Oxford Odeon's benefit greatly from employing students) and each manager should be able to have some freedom to change the scheduling, pricing and the general running of the cinema thereby making each branch within the large multiplex tree feel personal and dedicated to that area. Wishful thinking....?
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