Movies, Money and Schadenfreude
Went to see Hoodwinked II with freddo last night and it was definitely an up and down sort of experience.
The movie itself was rather... meh. Definitely lacked the fractured fairy tale spark that made the first one so good, but it wasn't bad as such. The 3D really didn't add anything at all though, which leads me to my first bad point. Birch Carrol & Coyle/ Event Cinemas have at some point upped their prices for 3D movies to $20 a ticket, even on Cheap Tuesdays. Sure you've always had to pay a little more but on Tuesdays you still got some off but no longer apparently.
Next is that VMax Cinema, which at least at the Myer Centre, seems to be where they're directing all the 3D movies, which adds another 3 dollars to the ticket price. So $23 dollars all up for the ticket. And the VMax was... not worth it. Supposedly an upgrade over regular cinemas with better seating but ultimately I cannot endorse it. The plus side is that the seating is wider which is a plus for someone of... wider girth such as myself. On the down side the padding on the seats is minimal and uncomfortably hard and while regular seats have a slight recline, the VMax ones do not which coupled with their hard padding ultimately made them less comfortable than regular seating, especially since in a less crowded session I can always just lift up the arm rest for some extra room.
Which leads me to the schadenfreude. Despite being over charged, and me being rather underwhelmed at least freddo and I were able to take consolation in the fact that they must have lost hundreds of dollars on that screening alone since we were the only ones at that particular screening. The largest cinema in the complex, recently renovated on a fairly average weekday evening session and it was occupied by only two people. And if that was any indication at all the decision to put all 3D sessions in VMax may be biting them on the corporate ass, at least with Hoodwinked II.
The movie itself was rather... meh. Definitely lacked the fractured fairy tale spark that made the first one so good, but it wasn't bad as such. The 3D really didn't add anything at all though, which leads me to my first bad point. Birch Carrol & Coyle/ Event Cinemas have at some point upped their prices for 3D movies to $20 a ticket, even on Cheap Tuesdays. Sure you've always had to pay a little more but on Tuesdays you still got some off but no longer apparently.
Next is that VMax Cinema, which at least at the Myer Centre, seems to be where they're directing all the 3D movies, which adds another 3 dollars to the ticket price. So $23 dollars all up for the ticket. And the VMax was... not worth it. Supposedly an upgrade over regular cinemas with better seating but ultimately I cannot endorse it. The plus side is that the seating is wider which is a plus for someone of... wider girth such as myself. On the down side the padding on the seats is minimal and uncomfortably hard and while regular seats have a slight recline, the VMax ones do not which coupled with their hard padding ultimately made them less comfortable than regular seating, especially since in a less crowded session I can always just lift up the arm rest for some extra room.
Which leads me to the schadenfreude. Despite being over charged, and me being rather underwhelmed at least freddo and I were able to take consolation in the fact that they must have lost hundreds of dollars on that screening alone since we were the only ones at that particular screening. The largest cinema in the complex, recently renovated on a fairly average weekday evening session and it was occupied by only two people. And if that was any indication at all the decision to put all 3D sessions in VMax may be biting them on the corporate ass, at least with Hoodwinked II.