I consider myself quite lucky when it comes to cinemas. I have an Odeon and a Showcase within a 15-minute drive of my house. Birmingham is just a 25-minute train journey away, and there I have the choice of a Cineworld with IMAX or The Giant Screen. Normally I stay loyal to Odeon, but the Showcase do excellent offers on Sunday nights, and they offer me advanced screenings every now and again too.
Anyway, me and my little brother went to see The Purge: Anarchy the other day (review coming soon) and none of the timings were really ideal for us. That's when we remembered a little independent cinema again, a 15-minute drive away that we never go to. The tickets were nearly half the price and there was a showing at 6pm that was perfect.
Here it is, in all its...okay, glory isn't the right word. No, it isn't very pretty to look at. There's also a load of construction work going on next door which doesn't help the aesthetics either. But we were going to see The Purge, there wasn't any need for a gigantic screen, IMAX quality picture or 200 seats. Inside, it's actually quite cool because they have all of the Odeon's old signage, so it's like a little piece of home.
We queued for less than 5 minutes on an Orange Wednesday, and we could buy snacks at the same time as our tickets which saved queuing twice, and the popcorn only cost an arm rather than a leg as well. There are only 4 screens at the Reel, and Screen 1 is their biggest which they save for the big films like Guardians of the Galaxy.
Upon entering the screen, we had no problems finding seats in a spot that wouldn't hurt our necks, and we didn't have to cram in with a bunch of strangers. The seats were surprisingly comfortable, much better than its fancier rivals. We had about 5 minutes of adverts compared to the half an hour we're used to, and although the screen wasn't very large, the picture and sound quality were fine.
All in all, we had a great experience, and I'll definitely be back again soon. For any of our UK readers, on a Tuesday and Thursday a standard 2D ticket costs £3.55 at any time of the day, which I'm sure you can appreciate is a fantastic price!
Has anyone else shunned their local big-chain cinema for an independent one?
I love the indie cinema in my city, they always get great movies, but their showtimes are not convenient for me since I've become a parent. That really bums me out too, because I'd be there every week otherwise.
ReplyDeleteOh that's a shame :( Mind you, when we saw The Purge there was just 1 showing for it, but it just so happened to be perfect timing for us.
Delete- Allie
Cool post. There are a couple indie theaters within a 45 minute drive of where I live, only one of which I've been to. Even so, I haven't been to that one in years, sadly. They mostly show small indie pictures that get little to no advertising, some of which I'd love to take in on the big screen. However, with a wife and three kids, when we do venture out to the theater they want to see big Hollywood stuff so that's what we do. I will say that we most often see it second run at a theater that is run by one of the big chains, but only shows films that have left all the other theaters months ago. Often, they've even been released on Blu-Ray, already. However, at $2.25/ticket USD (not sure what that translates to), it's a fun time. It becomes even more fun when you consider that tickets are generally 5 times that amount everywhere else in this area.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds great! There's a cinema in Birmingham that shows small indie films but it's a fair way to travel so I've never been. As far as I know, we don't have any cinemas here in the UK that show films after their initial release, but that would be brilliant! $2.25 wouldn't even get you a small popcorn here in the UK, even after you exchange it for pounds sterling! :D
Delete- Allie
Sadly, we've only got big chain theaters left in my hometown. Our indy theater shut down a while back, and, in fact, I'm actually now working at the new establishment that moved into the abandoned location, that being a Whole Foods Market. :P Thankfully though, once the indy theater closed, the bigger theaters got better about picking up smaller indy flicks, because before that place shut down, it was literally the only place in town you could find stuff like that. But yeah, I'd still like to have a place like that around anyways. Pretty cool you've still got one. :)
ReplyDeleteAh that's a shame about the theater that closed down :( Our bigger theaters (or cinemas here in the UK!) are pretty rubbish when it comes to the more indie flicks, I couldn't find anywhere nearby to see Boyhood, August Osage County or the newer Hector's Search for Happiness!
Delete- Allie
Nice Thursday Thought! There is a local indie cinema in my area that offers free screenings on the lawn of classic flicks and a few dollar showings for newer independent films, but it's in an unsafe area where the criminal level is extremely high. I usually don't feel comfortable going there. I usually opt for a big-chain theatre near me - which is still very nice because it doesn't feel like like a big-chain. It's a nice balance but I do love smaller indie cinemas a bit more.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting point. I really wish our UK indie cinemas were more like their overseas counterparts though, they sound so interesting! Mine isn't in a great location either and I do tend to find that because the tickets are so cheap, you get some interesting characters show up.
Delete- Allie