UKC

Mulling over going to see A Quiet Place II but worried about sitting in an enclosed space for so long.

Has anyone been to an Odeon or a Cineworld in the last month? If so, were they keep empty eats bwteen parties etc. What measures were in place?

Ta

In reply to Flinticus:

I went to the Vue Cinema last Bank Holiday Monday (to see A Quiet Place II - which is brilliant just FYI) and they have a seating capacity that automatically socially distance our seats for you. However, the machine doesn't stop humans from doing as they please. 

To be fair all staff were great and the experience was fine all in all.

In reply to Flinticus:

I'd suggest the danger is mostly perceived rather than actual. I'd be more worried about whether A Quiet Place II is worth the entry fee over covid related safety.

In reply to TomD89:

I went the other week to see to those who wish me dead (pretty decent). Very safe and organised and I never got anywhere near 2 metres of others. Much better then a coffee shop I went to last week where most people couldn't be bothered to where a mask when walking around. 

I'm pretty cautious but thought it was fine.

Lawrence

In reply to Flinticus:

I've been five or six times. First time, like you, I was not sure what to expect (mostly from my own feelings rather than any perceived scenario) and decided that if I felt uneasy about anything, I could just walk out. It was fine. As Lrunner says, better than (say) a coffee shop. Cineworld (and Broadway cinema in Nottingham where I went to see First Cow) have a policy that you must keep your mask on during the film, unless eating or drinking (kerCHING at the sweets counter!) and at Cineworld a staff member comes into the screening two or three times and checks the audience (presumably for mask compliance) using night vision goggles (which has the side effect of deterring me from sneaking in a cheeky beer!

All that said, I haven't been to any busy screenings and Cruella is the only "big film" I've seen (and I strategically chose a 17:10 screening as that is a kind of "dead zone" time. Other films have been Nomadland, Frankie (members-only early preview), Judas and the Black Messiah, Those Who Wish Me Dead, A Quiet Place Part 2 (members-only early preview) and First Cow. These are not films that really attract troublemaking anti-mask "rebels"....
The only time there was anyone within even a row of me, was Cruella, where I had four young women sat behind me. They behaved impeccably. If I hadn't felt comfortable, I could have moved forward a row. 

In reply to Flinticus:

I went to odeon cinema the other day and it was a better experience then prior to covid. Plenty of gaps between parties and overall less people. 

In reply to Flinticus:

My wife took our daughter to see the new Ghibli film at the local Odeon and literally had the place to herself!

In reply to Flinticus:

Thanks all.

Got tickets for Monday screening. Lets see how it does. 

In reply to Flinticus:

Reference staff checking screens with night vision cameras, that will more likely be checking for people trying to record the film. Used to have to do that when I worked in a cinema as a Saturday job back in my youth. 

In reply to grumpyoldjanner:

Thanks, yes I did make a bit of an assumption there, I think simply on the grounds that I've not noticed the night vision goggles before this year (I've always seen staff come in and make spot checks for whatever - recording, eating own food etc). I kind of thought there were other technologies to spoil or "jam" recordings, like shining periodic strobes of infrared to mess with the recording. I also assumed that recording a film using a camera inside the cinema, was a thing of the distant past and that piracy is done more at source now. But these are only assumptions and could easily be wrong. I think the "check for mask" assumption is because once or twice I've seen the staff member go into the audience (didn't watch what they did, as I sit near the front, and am not nosey enough to turn away from the film and see what's going on )

In reply to Blue Straggler:

I'm probably just a little behind the times these days. When I worked for at the cinema films were still 35mm print rather than digital so not sure what anti-piracy measures they have now. Probably right to say its a thing of the past, if I remember correctly, back when I worked at the cinema a lot of the films appearing online were pirated from the DVDs sent out to press critics ect and sometimes appeared online before the films had been released in the cinema! 

In reply to TomD89:

Personally I won't be back until masks are no longer necessary.  There is no enjoyment in sitting with a mask on for a couple of hours.  I recognise they are necessary to minimise spread in some settings, but I am avoiding so far as possible any setting where they are necessary.  I can watch a film at home.

In reply to Neil Williams:

Masks are not a necessity according to the cinema guidelines once you are seated just an FYI.

In reply to BenSends:

That's not what...

https://www.cineworld.co.uk/static/en/uk/blog/cineworld-cinemas-reopening-s...

...says.  Only when eating and drinking.

In reply to Neil Williams:

Sucking on a gobstopper OK?

In reply to Neil Williams:

It varies by cinema/ cinema chain 

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Ah.  Sadly my local is a Cineworld.

I get it for premieres, but most times I go to the cinema I am well over 2 metres from others (as I go when it's quiet, which most showings are - the money is made Friday and Saturday nights) so I'm not sure there is a need for a mask while seated, and it is definitely an off putter.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Been now.

Felt fine. Loads of space. Only two people near us and there was two empty seats between us.

Good film too!

In reply to Flinticus:

Excellent on all counts but mostly the fact that you felt comfortable and safe. Thanks for coming back to the thread. The entire second half of the film was basically the climax, and a masterpiece of simple, non-flashy basic cross cutting all paced to perfection. Almost made you overlook how implausible it all was even within its own universe 😃 As “Aliens” was to “Alien”, “AQP2” is to “AQP” 

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Spoiler alert - do not read if you want to see A Quiet Place II

What did you consider the more implausible elements within its own reality?

For me, that there was no functioing gov or substitute given the aliens can't swim, meaning many islands around the world would be effective refuges. And boats / ships. 

Plus did no-one else think to use sound against monsters with extremely sensitive hearing.

And would you really have a baby in that environment! 

In reply to Flinticus:

Regan’s whole plan, to go out alone on her mission. She is deaf so, despite her skills in treading silently etc, will have no way to detect the sounds of imminent threat or knowing if some random sound near to her might inadvertently alert aliens to her presence. 

In reply to Flinticus:

I think it was a particularly heavy handed way of suggesting that everyone is as selfish and paranoid as Cillian Murphy (and to some extent the Emily Blunt family) 

In reply to Flinticus:

Someone behind me in the cinema took a phone call when I was watching the first film. Can you imagine! 

In reply to PaulJepson:

You will enjoy this

youtube.com/watch?v=OBhB_2xZlAM&

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Desperate, cautious and traumatised I think you mean.

In reply to Flinticus:

Yes. I was in a grouchy mood yesterday morning