“many struggling cinemas depend on the sales of pricy food and drink”
Fuck you, what they charge isnt “pricy”
its fuckin exploitative. Its why they ban you bringing in snacks, in the hopes you’ll pay 20 dollars for 5 cents of popcorn aind 7 cents of soda.
also, You expect anyone to have sympathy for the theater after
“My niece asked nicely: ‘If you’re calling the police, are they going to kill my mum?’” one of the women told the newspaper. “And he laughed at that stage. He looks directly in her face and he said: ‘Yeah, maybe we’ll find out.’
At that point, with comments like that, you’d be tempted to give the guy a real reason to call the police…
Because you start publicly urinating in the lobby?
Exploitive? C’mon mate, nobody is forcing you to watch new movies at the theater, or to eat hotdogs, candy, and popcorn while you’re there. The whole concept is outdated uncomfortable bullshit, and you have every right to abstain. At a minimum, go eat a meal before the movie and just fucking vibe without dumping wads of fat-soaked corn and carbonated sugar water into your gaping maw.
I don’t even bother with the big theaters anymore. I get my cinema fix from boutique neighborhood cinemas that play classics and offer dinner and a movie, and I pirate everything else for home viewing.
Corporate cinema sucks ass. You deserve to get price gouged if you haven’t figured that out yet.
And yet the entire Cinema industry is crying like babies cause “no one is going to the theater anymore”.
They can all go fuck themselves.
You realize that is just one side of the story, coming from the person who benefits the most from the theater employees looking badly. I don’t know if what she said is true, but there is no video of it, so I would take it with a huge grain of salt.
Well yeah obviously
Apparently not obviously because people seem to be buying her story at face value, despite if you watch the video she insults the guy for his accent, and I’m being massively downvoted for pointing it out.
Found the theater owner.
Seriously, they are one of the most tiresome posters. The look i’m so logically smart type, and complain about lemmy but hang out on lemmy.
Seriously, God forbid someone being reasonably skeptical.
Don’t bother, you’re talking with a random idiot.
Edit: I was joking, check his name.
Which is why I agreed with them. No point there.
its fuckin exploitative
It’s literally how they pay for the seats you’re sitting in. The money you pay for the ticket goes to the studio, not the theatre.
A poor business model on their part does not constitute a moral obligation on mine. Places like this are more than welcome to figure out ways to stay in business without being unreasonably fucking exploitative.
Why the fuck do you people think there is an obligation? A) don’t go or b) don’t eat. If you go to a business, you play by their rules.
Buncha fucking children that want everything their way, or they bitch and complain on the internet. Just don’t go and stfu about it?
Wait’ll you find out I also sometimes go in ten or fifteen minutes after the posted showtime so I don’t have to watch the ads they got paid to show me before the movie starts.
What is your point?
Yeah I’m sorry but fuck cinemas. I used to love going to the movies in the theater. It was a great time and it didn’t really cost all that much. Now if I want to see a movie in the theater I have to plan at least 2 or 3 weeks ahead to save up the money necessary to go. The ticket prices are too high the cost of the food is too high and they’re getting dickish about it. And it’s not fucking inflation either, they are blatantly overcharging for everything. Quite frankly they can all fucking close for all I care.
I will eat and drink whatever I like and I pirate all the movies I watch. If I am responsible for the demise of the film industry you are welcome.
This is a story of one bootlicking employee who was in desperate need of fucking off and minding his own business:
However, just as the movie started, an employee told them to put their snack bags away, the report said. They agreed but the employee apparently insisted on sitting next to them to monitor the snack situation.
A few minutes later, one of the children popped a Skittle he was already holding into his mouth, and quite frankly, all hell broke loose, the women said. The employee started shouting at them, and said that the police would be called unless they left. This is when the children started crying.
“My niece asked nicely: ‘If you’re calling the police, are they going to kill my mum?’” one of the women told the newspaper. “And he laughed at that stage. He looks directly in her face and he said: ‘Yeah, maybe we’ll find out.’
Dude’s progressed from boot licking to boot felatio to boot deep throat, what in the fuck seriously.
Fascists have it so easy, give the average fucker a little pin and tell them they’re special helpers and they’ll do this kind of thing for free.
Even the theatre was probably like “bro chill”.
Hopefully they fired the guy and referred him to a mental health institute. If I was a parent, I would definitely not visit a place where my kids get told I could be killed for their actions.
They were trespassed by the theater, so they don’t really have a choice in the matter there.
Also, I’ve seen a video of the encounter, and their conduct towards the employees was pretty poor, and they refused to leave.
Is he secretly an American? Because that sounds far more like something I’d hear here. Atrocious.
Yeah I thought it was US based on context too. I should’ve been suspicious when the employee didn’t open fire on the family…
whispers: your moral narcissism is showing
That’s a really weird compliment
Why are people incapable of understanding the US isn’t the source of all evil? Shitty people exist everywhere. It’s really not that complex of an idea to understand.
this whole thing wouldn’t be a problem if the police were the tiniest bit trustworthy
This happened in New Zealand.
ACAB isn’t short for “American cops are bastards”.
I was just reading about pirate radio stations. One pretty bitter post by a busted pirate radio operator went like “while a large number of police officers were busy chasing us through the forest, a guy got stabbed to death in the downtown. I think the raid on us was a gross mistake of police resource allocation.”
This is like that, but even more petty.
If you work at a cinema (condolences), and you see someone smuggling snacks in, no you didn’t.
I mean if it was my job then yeah I’d say something. It sucks you can’t bring in your own snacks but I’m not risking my job so someone can eat their own Skittles during a movie lol
You could live with that?
Lmao it’s someone’s movie snacks. They’ll live
The snacks aren’t the point. Do you have like, aphantasia?
Please do explain your point.
Do yoy have like, aphantasia
Not that I know of
I mean…theaters ONLY make money on the consession stand. They basically break even on ticket sales, because of having to pay the movie studios. So if they make you bring the snacks back to your car BEFORE you go in, I get it.
But once you do go in? Once you’re in the theater? No. If I were someone NOT with those people, I’d be angered that I followed your rules, I paid my admission, I bought from your concession stand, and now MY movie theater experience is being ruined over some fucking skittles???
I’d me more angry at the employee than the kids/mom. It would cause me to find a new movie theater.
Here’s the deal. If theatres can’t survive if I don’t like their bad expensive snacks, Hollywood will have to figure something else out. Maybe they’ll have to hire the same twenty faces less often, or take a more reasonable cut, who knows. Not my problem.
Hollywood can do what they did during the pandemic and release everything straight to streaming. Movie theaters are not necessary any more. As a bonus, pirates get to see the best quality versions on the day of release.
I’d love to see more outdoor cinema nights instead. I grew up in an area that did those and it was amazing. I’d even step up to run it, if there was a venue.
I remember going to a drive in movie once when I was a kid. I wish those were still a thing - it was nice to have a big screen, but also some privacy from other people - but alas, technology marches on!
This is why I’m relieved that so many theatres have realized getting a liquor license is the way to go. The profit margins on canned booze sold to captive audience are insane, and then I don’t even feel slight guilt about the burgers and fries I smuggled in to munch on! They definitely make enough off the 2-3 beers I’m buying to offset the popcorn I was not going to buy regardless.
I’ve actually been lucky enough to visit 2 theaters that were basically restaurants. Instead of rows of seats it had booths and tables where the staff would come and take your order. It was typically the “2nd running” of movies (older movies that have been taken out of theaters but not yet released) and would be a double feature for under $10. Definitely was an awesome experience and I hope there still open since this seems like an answer to the whole “we have to sell food at x2 the price” problem.
Went to a cinema experience not so long ago where you could order hot pizza and cold beer via SMS during a movie. It had a whole menu for very reasonable prices. And they delivered right to your seat.
The seats were setup so the staff could sneak through the isles without disturbing the rest of the public.
That sounds fucking AWESOME.
See what now?
That new Vin Diesel movie. I heard it’s got explosions and shit.
It is standard policy in New Zealand for cinemas to ban food brought in from outside and the Herald reported that Cinema 3 has five signs posted around the premises stating this.
“The exact wording is: ‘No outside food or drinks allowed’,” the cinema’s operations manager, Robert Greig, said, the paper reported.
Thus, once again, one of the oldest arguments in the world has been pushed back into the limelight: should you be allowed to take your own snacks into the cinema?
private businesses can do what they want. But the prices they charge for food is outrageous. So i just dont go to those places. For the cost of a few movies and snacks now, you could buy your own large screen TV and surround system that will annoy your neighbors if thats what you need.
Should private businesses really be allowed to dictate to us what and when we can eat or drink? If you consider that human right, I’m not sure they should.
Taking a shit is a human right but you can’t do that in a theater either.
They are actually legally required to have bathrooms…
In case English is a second language for you I will explain:
“in the theater” = the dark place with a screen/stage and amphitheater seating.
“at the theater” = the building/collection of buildings that support the screen/stage, such as ticket booths, food and drink vendors, and bathrooms
Please do not shit in the theater or you will be arrested.
This is like Freemen of the Land/Sovereign Citizen shit about movie theater snacks lmao
Food in general is one reason I haven’t been to a theater in decades. I hate listening to the endless crinkle of wrappers, the shoveling in of popcorn, etc. I really don’t want to smell the stink of the burger and fries you brought in or the crunching of the bag. It is bad enough when someone brings their smelly meal onto a plane and I have to smell it for an hour.
I grew up in theaters as my dad was a projectionist. You couldn’t pay me to go into a theater again since I was 18, what a miserable experience it had been every time I’ve broken that rule since. People in public are fucking annoying in so many unique ways.
Misophonia; it’s fairly common. My local cinema usually does one or two special screenings for people with autism. I imagine those are quieter overall.
Personally, I don’t mind- it’s part of the whole ‘going to the movies’ ambience for me. As long as it isn’t terrible smelling or people are intentionally annoying with it.
Damn, I’m sorry to hear that. Food has always been my favorite part of the experience.
It sounds like you have a sensory perception disorder, that is not most people’s reactions to those situations. A good home theater system will probably be more comfortable for you.
People who chew with their mouth open are maddening lol
At least it wasn’t in the US. Calling the police on someone for anything has a non zero chance of just getting them straight up murdered. So i was happy to see it was in NZ lol
Cinemas: our business model sucks so much we have to sell overpriced food!
So? Just die already. Bye.
Unfortunately they’re trapped. If they lowered the price of food and raised the price of admission to compensate people wouldn’t notice. In fact, they wouldn’t even make it to the food to see, they’d just know that one cinema has $10 admission and the other has $20.
They could advertise that they have lower concession cost to attract people, but there would be enough people thinking “I’ll just go to the cheap one and bring my own food/not buy food.” that momentum wouldn’t move into their favor.
I don’t really know anywhere that’s just a cinema these days anyway. I know of arcades, mini golf places, restaurants, soft play areas, etc that also have a cinema
Standalone cinemas are still the norm in NZ.
The odd one is part of a larger entertainment complex.
It’s like this in Australia, too. Sometimes cinemas here have a couple of arcade machines off to the side in the foyer, but that’s about it.
Keep in mind that you have fancy media devices at home. Cinema served a purpose that may not be as necessary now. That said, cinemas have always made money on food and not on tickets. It will die, but it’s not like they are stupid people suddenly for doing this.
Cinemas made all their money on tickets before TV.
Then TV came along, then ridiculously predatory movie distribution contracts, then the Internet.
Their response? Apparently. Using the police to enforce their terms of service regarding food sales.
What’s next; calling the police when you don’t watch the advertisements?
The police were called for trespass after the patron(s) refused to leave for violating the rules. There’s a difference.
Hanging around in the foyer to try and argue the point is not leaving.
Obviously it was excessive, but they’re still within their rights to have someone removed.
Obviously it was excessive
That’s the only bit that matters.
I have a feeling you or a member of your family owns a struggling (dare I say failing) theater.
LOL I don’t even go anymore. It’s a washed up format.
My real question here is, do they really pay the employees enough for them to actually care?
I suspect some employees (like the one of this article) are happy to do it for free… just for the fun
I’m honestly baffled by people busting their ass for shitty jobs for shitty corporations. It’s like people being exploited by Walmart risking their lives trying to prevent theft… Like why?
I snuck a whole Arby’s French Dip into that movie. Carried the au jus cup in my hand and walked right by the staff.
Ask me to leave all you want, but call the police? wtf? That’ll be WHY I sneak food in the next time. This time I just needed actual dinner, and y’all don’t even sell real food here.
I walked in with two footlong Subways once. They’re like…eh…just clean up when you’re done, please.
This. Regardless if you brought it in on bought it at the cinema, don’t make a mess or leave garbage behind
My god daughter dropped the bucket of popcorn. 😞
We were regulars and recognized by them. We also would have cleaned up even if not asked haha.
The girl next to me just tonight at Deadpool brought a full meal in a Whole Foods paper bag. At a theater with a full bar and some hot food like pizza and chicken wings.
They did refuse to leave, I’ve seen a video posted by the people who got kicked out, and even their own video makes them look pretty bad.
Wow, what morons. Never let them get you for criminal tresspass. Even your average Karen should have the sense to leave once the cops are about to be called.
They weren’t nice people. Or particularly bright.
You haven’t lived until you’ve snuck all you can eat fajitas from Applebee’s into a movie.
Meh my internet points will take a hit.
Guy is paid to enforce rules. “Hey you snuck in food I have to ask you to leave.”
Last says “No.”
Dudes next thing is “Well I’ll need to call the cops if you are treaspassing.”
Lady refuses. So he calls the cops.
Yes there is testimony from the people kicked out that he was a douche, but for arguments sake let’s say the guys denies saying any of the douchebag thing.
Now let’s put you in his shoes. You need this job, you have a lady refusing to leave… What do you do?
Seriously his actions aren’t unwarranted, especially in a place like NZ where cops don’t have a whole thing about shooting people.
I say this as a person who’s snuck tons of snacks, but also when I was caught and asked to leave I did.
Here is the original posting from New Zealand Herald which has video of the incident (1 of 3 near identical pages, that website is a mess). I searched out the real one because that linked article is just horrible and unnecessary (idk why he felt cool putting “The only things I’m planning to sneak in are sleeping tablets.” at the end).
For anyone wanting to get riled up, NZ Herald also has this wonderful little opinion piece from Ryan Bridge (a local broadcaster).
Ryan Bridge is wondering where people’s shame went when it comes to breaking the rules. This is not the most important story that you will hear today, but it grinds my gears. It’s a small, seemingly insignificant event, but I think it speaks to two things that I absolutely hate about the world that we live in right now.
The opinion article is just a shit show from what sounds like a pretty horrible and privileged person.
Thinking you are above the rules is privilege and self entitlement.
Following dumb rules just because they are rules shows a lack of critical thinking skills
Also, if the rules say you get to charge 500% the MSRP on shitty junk food, I am allowed to steal your profits by not being an idiotic consumer.
There is a singular reason why theaters are struggling; their misunderstanding of the profits they should be generating.
You can also just not get food lmao
Mindlessly accepting authority is far worse and leads to fascism.
it starts with skittles, and ends with a holocaust.
Seriously, the people carping on about the fascism reeealy need to get some perspective on life I think.
You can choose not to go to the cinema. The options here aren’t “accept or disobey”.
You can entirely remove yourself from the situation, given the fact no-one is forcing you to go into their private premises.
Unlike actual fascism in a country where escaping the government is, at best, uprooting your entire life. Or worst, illegal / risking your life / impossible.
I’m on the side of business here. It’s private, their rules, etc. My comment was more a response to their appeal to authority.
Oh good grief 🙄
Quick! Eat the evidence!
I was planning to see a movie this weekend, but this story just reminded me how greedy and anti-customer that whole industry is.