Cinema Ads nauseum

I went to a movie at Dendy Cinema’s in the first week it opened in 2008 and remember being pleasantly surprised at how few ad’s they played before the main attraction (I’m talking about commercials for local businesses-I love the movie previews and can never get enough of those!). However when I went to Dendy last week I was appalled at how many commercials were played before the main movie- 20 minuet’s worth and that only included about 2 movie previews!! Surely the expense forked out by the public to buy a movie ticket ($17 if you are not a Club Dendy member!!!) is enough that you should be able to go to the movies without sitting through close to ½ and hour of ad’s!!

troll-sniffer said :

Mysteryman said :

I haven’t returned to Hoyts since the time that I found a giant turd in the middle of the floor, outside the stalls in the men’s toilets.

Bit tough aren’t you? I doubt the cinema staff knew it was there when you saw it. Did you let them know some lowlife had shat on their floor, or did you blame the cinema for having a floor someone would be able to crap on and vow never to return?

Yeah, how dare I decide not to frequent a venue because of my unreasonable objection to human feces on the floor. It had been there long enough for a giant shoe imprint, and subsequent footprints leading towards the sink. Judging from the smell, and the condition of the toilets in general, I’d say they hadn’t been cleaned or even visited by a staff member in many hours. Probably because there aren’t enough staff to do the job properly. That’s not acceptable.

To be truthful, that incident was really the straw that broke the camel’s back. The lead up was the 30 minute queues to purchase a ticket due to the box office being closed (for no other reason that to cut costs by employing fewer people) and a sign being placed outside saying that patrons should arrive at least half an hour early so they can line up. The poor training and rudeness of staff members was another big factor. There’s a joke that “Hoyts” is really an acronym for “Hire Only Young Teenage Staff”, because they are known for employing the staff members that cost them the least amount of money per hour. The result is a truly disappointing experience, magnified by the expensive ticket prices.

So no, I didn’t just write them off because of that one experience. It was a decision based on their track record and total disregard for their customers.

Pandy has the right idea…Limelight Tuggeranong FTW.

$9.90 tix to every session (except on Tuesdays when they’re $6.60!), nice clean cinemas, free parking, Coles just around the corner for snacks.

We hardly even go to movies now, because it’s expensive and we don’t want to sit through the ads. And when it comes to expensive cinemas, Dendy up there with the worst. I’ve been to ‘premium cinema’ overseas that was better than what Dendy offers here, and paid less than Aus$2 per ticket.

Cosmo was a great cinema, used to love going there.

I’d rather go and watch just the ads than watch the crap movie you describe.

Pandy said :

Lime light?

Exactly!

You people talk like Dendy has been around for ages, they were never a replacement for Electric Shadows either.

Cosmo at Woden was a good cinema too, RIP.

I think it’s quite cheeky to start half an hour after the advertised start time. Everything else I go to starts on time, so I always have this sense that I have to be there on time, and even when I remember that I don’t need to be in the cinema at the advertised start time, I still stress that that will be the one day when the ads don’t go for half an hour!

These days I don’t bother with the trek into town, and I haven’t renewed my Dendy membership this year. Limelight’s ad break is shorter than Dendy’s.

Lime light?

Mysteryman said :

I haven’t returned to Hoyts since the time that I found a giant turd in the middle of the floor, outside the stalls in the men’s toilets.

Bit tough aren’t you? I doubt the cinema staff knew it was there when you saw it. Did you let them know some lowlife had shat on their floor, or did you blame the cinema for having a floor someone would be able to crap on and vow never to return?

There were no ads originally becuase the ad agents hadn’t sold any ads.

Ticket prices are 50% the property of the distributor so you’ll have to do better that a buck or so unless you vote with your feet and demonstrate that you will not go unless they drop the ad.

Hoyts and GU are worse so don’t look for any help there.

Dendy Canberra have never been an arthouse cinema which is a pity but face it really they are the best cinema in Canberra.

Dendy does pre allocated seating, if you don’t want to sit through the ads / trailers rock up 10 – 15 minutes after the posted start time.
if that is to hard take to the internet and whinge…… oh wait….

Yep, I clearly remember the lack of ads/previews when they opened and absolutely loved it.
Dendy, lose the ads!
I’d be prepared to pay that extra $1 or 2 per ticket if it means 20 minutes less crap before the movie starts.

while we are talking about Dendy, I have one more gripe, whose stupid idea was it to have only 1 cup holder in the big armrest between the pairs of seats ???

Definitely miss the days of few or no ads at Dendy. I don’t mind if the movie starts 5 – 10 minutes after the advertised time, but 15+ is annoying and 20+ is ridiculous.
The ads at the last film I saw there reminded me very much of this image
http://www.cpuhack.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/PiratevsLegit.jpg

Yeah I’ve noticed a huge increase in the number of ads screened prior to the start of the films at Dendy. Hoyts were the worst offenders a few years ago. I would guess that Dendy are now the worst but I can’t compare these days as I haven’t returned to Hoyts since the time that I found a giant turd in the middle of the floor, outside the stalls in the men’s toilets.

The last film I saw at Dendy was about 4 weeks ago and there was approximately 22 minutes worth of advertising. That’s about 12 minutes more than I’m prepared to sit through. Haven’t been back since. It’s sad, really, because there was a time that I would go to the cinema weekly. Back when tickets were about $10.

You’d think that cinemas would be trying to encourage patronage with film piracy so widespread. It seems to me that they’re doing the opposite! No screenings between 7:45-9pm, prices increases, too many ads, making you wait in the candy bar line for 30 minutes to purchase tickets because they’re too tight to pay staff at the box office (I’m looking at you, Hoyts!)… I don’t condone piracy, but you can’t really expect people to be sympathetic to an industry that doesn’t care much about their customers.

This really gets my goat. When Dendy first opened they had no ads before the film, meaning if the screening time was 7pm, then the movie (or previews) actually started at 7pm. I remember thinking smugly to myself that I would never again have to frequent a Hoyts or Greater Union.

But now, apart from the odd semi-art house film and the ability to plastic cups of wine (they used to be actual glass) there is no difference between Dendy and the rest. All the movies at Dendy have ‘ads nauseum’. Was the initial lack of ads when it opened just a ploy to get bums on seats?

Bring back Electric Shadows!

You paid $15 to watch 24 minutes of advertisement?

I do that at home for free! (microwave popcorn is extra, but they throw in complimentary tap water)