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Last year, box office takings continued to flourish, a trend ignited in the last decade by the arrival of the Multiplex. A night out at the cinema was made all the more appealing by giving customers more choice in pleasant surroundings. Gone were the days of the local flea pit. Restaurants, bars, amusement arcades, even ten pin bowling alleys were introduced, providing a host of entertainment under one roof. Arguably, the quality of films being produced now has further added to the appeal of a night at the flicks.
However, cinema now faces a stern test of it's resilience in the shape of fast emerging DVD. Although DVD has already been around for a few years, it has established itself first and foremost as a successor to video. Indeed, many retailers now stock as many, if not more, DVD's than videos.
Video, like the old black vinyl records, will soon be no more than collectible memorabilia.
The question now arrises, after defeating video, can DVD put paid to the trip to the cinema?
Probably so, since the biggest advantage cinema had over video was that people were not prepared to wait twelve months to see a film. This isn't a problem for DVD since most machines are now multi-region, allowing Region 1 or Region 3 imports to bought and viewed almost simutaneously with the U.K release at the cinema. A major blow to the Big Screen, since it doesn't measure up too well on other points.
Cost wise, you can buy a disc, have as many friends round to watch it as you like and as many times as you like for around the same price as two tickets for the pictures. At home you don't have to suffer someone kicking the back of your chair for the entirety of the film or someone asking you to stand up every five minutes whist they go to the toilet, change seats or vist the foyer to buy the noisiest/smelliest food available to man. Add to this the option of stopping the film for tea/toilet breaks or just to re-watch a key scene. All this, not to mention the fact that at home you don't need to have the volume set to four million decibels and things don't look too promising for the future of cinema.
At the end of the day, cinema will always be there. People will always enjoy the trip to the picture house, pop-corn in hand, mobile phone going of at the most embarrassing moment and half the audience suffering a coughing fit half way through the film. Maybe this is the appeal for most. Cinema will never rest in peace but in the world of entertainment, it's days as top dog are well and truly numbered.
However, cinema now faces a stern test of it's resilience in the shape of fast emerging DVD. Although DVD has already been around for a few years, it has established itself first and foremost as a successor to video. Indeed, many retailers now stock as many, if not more, DVD's than videos.
Video, like the old black vinyl records, will soon be no more than collectible memorabilia.
The question now arrises, after defeating video, can DVD put paid to the trip to the cinema?
Probably so, since the biggest advantage cinema had over video was that people were not prepared to wait twelve months to see a film. This isn't a problem for DVD since most machines are now multi-region, allowing Region 1 or Region 3 imports to bought and viewed almost simutaneously with the U.K release at the cinema. A major blow to the Big Screen, since it doesn't measure up too well on other points.
Cost wise, you can buy a disc, have as many friends round to watch it as you like and as many times as you like for around the same price as two tickets for the pictures. At home you don't have to suffer someone kicking the back of your chair for the entirety of the film or someone asking you to stand up every five minutes whist they go to the toilet, change seats or vist the foyer to buy the noisiest/smelliest food available to man. Add to this the option of stopping the film for tea/toilet breaks or just to re-watch a key scene. All this, not to mention the fact that at home you don't need to have the volume set to four million decibels and things don't look too promising for the future of cinema.
At the end of the day, cinema will always be there. People will always enjoy the trip to the picture house, pop-corn in hand, mobile phone going of at the most embarrassing moment and half the audience suffering a coughing fit half way through the film. Maybe this is the appeal for most. Cinema will never rest in peace but in the world of entertainment, it's days as top dog are well and truly numbered.
Funny you should mention the quite amusing coughing fits and mobile phones of the cinema. That's what makes it good though - all part of that atmosphere you just don't get at home.
Last time I went to one was to see The Gift. We had 2 young lads shouting and talking loudly all the way through the first half of the film. The ushers were telling them to be quiet, other cinema goers were walking up to them and saying "SHUT THE F*** UP!" and a general reign of chaos was happening.
The manager couldn't shut them up or get them to leave. They got worse and worse till two big heavy looking police guys walked in and everyone had forgotten all about the film and concentrated on what was happening on the back row.
They wouldn't get up and they took ages. One of them resisted arrest on the stairs and ended up fighting with one of the police. His shoes somehow fell off and he started shouting at everyone. He was pushed down and cuffed and they both got taken out to rapturous applause from everyone in there.
It was the most entertaining film I've seen for ages!
Last time I went to one was to see The Gift. We had 2 young lads shouting and talking loudly all the way through the first half of the film. The ushers were telling them to be quiet, other cinema goers were walking up to them and saying "SHUT THE F*** UP!" and a general reign of chaos was happening.
The manager couldn't shut them up or get them to leave. They got worse and worse till two big heavy looking police guys walked in and everyone had forgotten all about the film and concentrated on what was happening on the back row.
They wouldn't get up and they took ages. One of them resisted arrest on the stairs and ended up fighting with one of the police. His shoes somehow fell off and he started shouting at everyone. He was pushed down and cuffed and they both got taken out to rapturous applause from everyone in there.
It was the most entertaining film I've seen for ages!
Last year, box office takings continued to flourish, a trend ignited in the last decade by the arrival of the Multiplex. A night out at the cinema was made all the more appealing by giving customers more choice in pleasant surroundings. Gone were the days of the local flea pit. Restaurants, bars, amusement arcades, even ten pin bowling alleys were introduced, providing a host of entertainment under one roof. Arguably, the quality of films being produced now has further added to the appeal of a night at the flicks.
However, cinema now faces a stern test of it's resilience in the shape of fast emerging DVD. Although DVD has already been around for a few years, it has established itself first and foremost as a successor to video. Indeed, many retailers now stock as many, if not more, DVD's than videos.
Video, like the old black vinyl records, will soon be no more than collectible memorabilia.
The question now arrises, after defeating video, can DVD put paid to the trip to the cinema?
Probably so, since the biggest advantage cinema had over video was that people were not prepared to wait twelve months to see a film. This isn't a problem for DVD since most machines are now multi-region, allowing Region 1 or Region 3 imports to bought and viewed almost simutaneously with the U.K release at the cinema. A major blow to the Big Screen, since it doesn't measure up too well on other points.
Cost wise, you can buy a disc, have as many friends round to watch it as you like and as many times as you like for around the same price as two tickets for the pictures. At home you don't have to suffer someone kicking the back of your chair for the entirety of the film or someone asking you to stand up every five minutes whist they go to the toilet, change seats or vist the foyer to buy the noisiest/smelliest food available to man. Add to this the option of stopping the film for tea/toilet breaks or just to re-watch a key scene. All this, not to mention the fact that at home you don't need to have the volume set to four million decibels and things don't look too promising for the future of cinema.
At the end of the day, cinema will always be there. People will always enjoy the trip to the picture house, pop-corn in hand, mobile phone going of at the most embarrassing moment and half the audience suffering a coughing fit half way through the film. Maybe this is the appeal for most. Cinema will never rest in peace but in the world of entertainment, it's days as top dog are well and truly numbered.
However, cinema now faces a stern test of it's resilience in the shape of fast emerging DVD. Although DVD has already been around for a few years, it has established itself first and foremost as a successor to video. Indeed, many retailers now stock as many, if not more, DVD's than videos.
Video, like the old black vinyl records, will soon be no more than collectible memorabilia.
The question now arrises, after defeating video, can DVD put paid to the trip to the cinema?
Probably so, since the biggest advantage cinema had over video was that people were not prepared to wait twelve months to see a film. This isn't a problem for DVD since most machines are now multi-region, allowing Region 1 or Region 3 imports to bought and viewed almost simutaneously with the U.K release at the cinema. A major blow to the Big Screen, since it doesn't measure up too well on other points.
Cost wise, you can buy a disc, have as many friends round to watch it as you like and as many times as you like for around the same price as two tickets for the pictures. At home you don't have to suffer someone kicking the back of your chair for the entirety of the film or someone asking you to stand up every five minutes whist they go to the toilet, change seats or vist the foyer to buy the noisiest/smelliest food available to man. Add to this the option of stopping the film for tea/toilet breaks or just to re-watch a key scene. All this, not to mention the fact that at home you don't need to have the volume set to four million decibels and things don't look too promising for the future of cinema.
At the end of the day, cinema will always be there. People will always enjoy the trip to the picture house, pop-corn in hand, mobile phone going of at the most embarrassing moment and half the audience suffering a coughing fit half way through the film. Maybe this is the appeal for most. Cinema will never rest in peace but in the world of entertainment, it's days as top dog are well and truly numbered.