More Politics

[Wolfshade]

Because we all love a discussion about our politics:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19980523

[Psychosplodge]

LOL they had him on the radio Sheffield breakfast show yesterday/day before and he hung up on them when they asked him "Don't you think MP's have better things to do with their time?"

[DrLove42]

It Galloway. In the revolution he'll be one of the first against the wall

And TBH its not a bad pitch. If unpopular, move to correct an issue, no matter how trivial that affectsa lot of people.

[Wolfshade]

This is what I was thinking. Initially, I was like "what a joker" then I though actually, yes this is an horrendous rip off (I loathe paying the prices for the snacks), sometimes they can be more than the ticket prices.
Certainly this is a matter which effects everyone, and does give him the apperance of tackling constituent concerns. Earlyday motions are always notorious for big fanfare and fizzle as they are never debated.
I think the worst part is that you can be ejected for bringing your own food in.

[Psychosplodge]

They only do that if you're blatant about it though, they even had an independent cinema manager say as much...

[Wolfshade]

Maybe I shouldn't have whipped out the camping stove and 1/2lb of sausages during tron....

[Psychosplodge]

Probably improved the film...

[eldargal]

Pfft, lern2ownacinema.


Disclaimer: I don't own a cinema.

[Wolfshade]

With some of the 4k projectors you can do your own.
I also find that with the turn around of film to DVD it is sometimes cheaper to wait 2 months and buy the DVD. Often works out cheaper than the tickets! But then again I am this sort of person:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/cutting_edge.png

[Psychosplodge]

Yeah my gaming's becoming like that...

[Wolfshade]

I got portal in 2011 ;)
Now it is a case of waiting for a steam sale

[Sean_OBrien]

Pfft, lern2ownacinema.


Disclaimer: I don't own a cinema.

Not a bad idea.

When we bought our newest house, I had rooms portioned off for use as a home theater and another area for a pool table (which also doubles for other gaming).

While not necessarily feasible for everyone, you can set up a pretty descent home theater system for a song nowadays with low cost surround sound and cheap flat screens. No, you don't get to see the movie the day it comes out, but the turn around from theater release to DVD release is pretty fast now. Cheaper snacks, no annoying kids on their cell phones or spilled sodas on the floor, can pause the movie when I need to go to the bathroom.

If you go to the movies on a regular basis - it will likely pay for itself in relatively short order (cost for BlueRay - $15-20...cost for tickets, $10 per person...plus $6 for a drink and $8 for popcorn). For just me and the wife, it costs about half as much to watch a movie at home when I buy the disk. If I use an online service like NetFlix or Amazon on Demand it is a much larger savings.

[DarkLink]

Funny thing about movie concessions, though, is as I understand it they're about the only thing that keeps theaters afloat. They need to mark up the prices like that, because movie studios can gouge them for the rights to show movies. It's like how sports teams sometimes mandate prices at their games. The studios have a monopoly, and they can pinch the middle man all they want.

[Sean_OBrien]

Funny thing about movie concessions, though, is as I understand it they're about the only thing that keeps theaters afloat. They need to mark up the prices like that, because movie studios can gouge them for the rights to show movies. It's like how sports teams sometimes mandate prices at their games. The studios have a monopoly, and they can pinch the middle man all they want.

By and large - I assume that it is similar globally as it is in the US, but of the actual ticket sales for a movie...the theater itself normally only gets to keep about 20% of the ticket sales for the first couple weeks after it opens. The theater's cut is on a sliding scale though based on how long after the release it is. 4 or 5 weeks after it was released, they might be able to keep 75% or so of ticket sales - though by that time, the actual ticket sales per movie have generally dropped so much that it is no longer being showed at a mainstream theater (or if it is it will be on a small/old screen). Some movies - the Star Wars prequel jumps to mind - take 100% of ticket sales, so everything the theater makes comes from concession sales for the opening week or two.

The overhead costs which theaters have to carry are not insignificant - heck, just cleaning after a busy weekend can cost thousands of dollars per screen...and with rising utility costs keeping the theater warm in the winter and cool during the summer are extremely high.

Theaters are in a crappy position in that regard, but they are the most direct route to get to the studios. I don't think passing a law that cracks down on them though is the right way to go about things - it will just squeeze them out entirely. Should that happen - the studios would look to make money off the DVD sales, but with a consumer base which has become accustomed to paying not much more than $20 for a DVD or BlueRay...the studios will likely find that attempting to charge $50 for a new release would fall flat, and then the guy who "works" 3 months on a movie will have to get paid something which is more inline with the actual value that they produce.

[DarkLink]

Netflix ran into a similar problem. That whole issue that people got mad about Neflix splitting its services wasn't really Netflix's fault, it was the restrictive contract with studios forcing Netflix to adapt its business plan that made them try that. Don't get mad at Netflix, get mad as Starz.