Why do I love the cinema again?

Whether you are a regular to the cinema or not, I'm sure we all have that moment where we ask ourselves if what we spend at the cinema is actually worth it. Countless times when I've went to the cinema I've been taken aback when I realise how much a three hour trip to the cinema has actually cost me. So today I'm ranting about the cinema itself and how a trip we look so forward to can turn sour as soon as we walk in the building.

1. Ticket Prices

Last year at a cinema in Glasgow, I won't use any names (*cough* Cineworld *cough*) I was happily going to see a movie with my friends before I had a student card which gets you a significant discount because we students can't afford anything. I went to the desk to buy a ticket and had to pay over £10, WHAT?! Purely because it had entered peak time by 3 minutes!

Effie in shock at the price of her cinema ticket.

It's hard not to notice this. Ticket Prices at the cinema have become extravagant.  We all feel Effie's pain (from Hunger Games - seen right) when we go to the cinema approach the ticket desk and ask for a ticket, only to be asked for an obscene amount of money. We begrudgingly pay, giving a death stare to the cashier, and leave the desk in shock  whilst staring at our ticket in disbelief, and looking/feeling a bit like this -->



2. Food

Nothing completes the cinema experience quite like cinema food, mmmmmm. The popcorn, the nachos, the sweets... I admit it, I've been prone to buying it all and not even considering how expensive it actually is.

Now that I'm a student, I've kind of realised that this amazing food is a luxury I just cannot afford. So 15 minutes before a movie you'll find me in the local Pound shop clearing the shelves. Then, I don't know if it's the same in other cinemas but I know (from experience) that Glasgow cinemas don't really appreciate people bringing in their own food, so you have to stuff all the food in your bag. Which can be difficult if your a girl and stupidly only take a tiny bag anywhere you go. Cinema foods brilliant but does it really need to cost an arm and a leg to eat a handful of popcorn!

3. What you get for your money

What do we actually get for our money? I mean obviously we're paying to actually watch a movie but apart from that, what else? Many cinemas in Glasgow are in overdue need of renovation.
One cinema I recently went to didn't have one seat in the theatre that wasn't either ripped to shreds or broken.

 Also, obviously the turnover between films has to be quick in order to allow the next set of customers in to view the film. That means a quick tidy up of the popcorn that always somehow manages to find it's way to the floor, or onto the seat I'm about to sit on. So this often leads to that embarrassing moment when you have to ask someone if you've sat on something and, yep, you've sat in nacho cheese which was left over by the previous audience. *sigh*


Don't get me wrong I love going to the cinema but the price today for a regular trip to watch a movie is unbelievably expensive. The movie going experience is genuinely quite enjoyable but a few cinemas in Glasgow I have noticed seem to be lacking, I'm in no way criticising employees, but they just seem to be loosing their spark that once was and are unsure how to regain it. I don't know if this is the same in other cinemas anywhere else but if so we could see the future of the movie going experience hanging in the balance.