How f***ed up is this s***. Okay its fine for a sold out movie but ones which
aren't its ridiculous. They ask where do you want to sit, I say middle. Then they give me a seat which is not the middle. And then I move to the middle anyway cause there was no one there when the movie started.

Went and saw AVP2 and was on the side this time, and some dudes asked if we could move down right next to the wall so they could all squeeze in together, I said sorry man this seat is bad enough but I'll move closer to middle if you want the wall. There could be movie seat rage soon enough.

The only ones who are advantageous to this are the noobs who buy tickets online. I got there early to get a good seat and still had to sit on the side when there was heaps of seats left in the middle (until the movie started of course)

Another reason to stop going to movies. Bad move Birch.

solution?

get a phat home cinema and wait for dvd release. Ive been doing it for a long time.

are you talking gold class or regular styles?

Why don't you buy a ticket online if you like sitting in the middle. What's the diff?

people still go to the moofies?

are you talking gold class or regular styles?

regular


does balmoral or southbank have allocated seating or only bcc cinemas?

sorry, wtf? how do you get allocated seating in regular theatres?

Even if you buy your ticket online, it doesn't guarantee someone else is not going to sit there because:

a) They didn't know seats were allocated.
b) The "middle" seat they were allocated ended being so far away they needed a telescope, so instead thought your seat was better.

I've been a victim of the above, just as much as I've committed them.

My advice is to always choose your seat personally, either online or buy looking at the cashiers screen. Guaranteed, your definition of "middle" is not the same as theirs. I've tried 'middle', 'center', 'center-middle', and I always end up in some screwed up offside/way-up-the-back seat. Make sure you show up early.

last edited by ccl at 23:34:12 28/Dec/07

Also, if allocated seating isn't in a theater near you, look out for it. They rolled it out over NSW this year. It took some longer then others. This is speaking of Greater Union at least.

sorry, wtf? how do you get allocated seating in regular theatres?

all the seats are numbered now so when u go and buy a ticket they ask if you want to sit at the back, middle or front. when you get the ticket it has you row and seat number eg L12; row L seat 12

afaik its only at bcc cinemas. thank f*** i hardly ever go to them.

last edited by ravn0s at 23:39:12 28/Dec/07

The difference between ordering online or at the desk is the extra $1 or $1.50 or whatever they charge you for ordering online.

As for seat rage...yeah I've already seen that.

Went and saw some movie (forget what it was now). Was a pretty quiet show. Plenty of spare seats (I got in early and pretty much got the middle of the middle so I was happy).

Anyway I was hearing an argument behind me.

It was something like some guy who had booked a seat and there was some stuck-up-bitch^Wlady who was taking up that seat (and others next to it) with herself and her children.

The guy asked her to move as he had booked that seat. She refused. Told him to move. He told her to move etc.

Sounds like it got pretty heated.

If there had been no stupid seat allocation there wouldn't have been such tension in the first place.

I mean I don't see the pro's of allocated seating (extra services for those that book online or early making them feel special etc, and maybe making the extra $1 booking fee worth it or whatever) outweighing the negative experience people get from arguing over seating because "that's their seat because the ticket says so".

Stupid idea imo.

I personally hate the idea and have decided to boycott Birch and just go to Elderrado down the road near Cold Rock. The online tickets had the bonus of not having to line up but now you can be a lazy prick, order online, walk in when the movie starts and get your seat without having to wait 1/2 hour before the movie starts to get a decent seat.

Screw that. I'd rather smaller movie theatre and sub-par candy bar then have ot deal with allocated seating.

Anyone know if garden city is doing this? I'm against movie piracy but I'm about to f***ing start if this s*** keeps up. I'll sit where I want to sit you a******s.

yer garden city is doing it since i went there on thursday

another thing to add to my boycott list. cya big screen entertainment it was nice knowing you.

since when do cinemas allocate u?! Sounds like the stupidest idea ever. Gold class yeh but I'v never even heard of seat allocation in plain old I wanna see x movie, here's ur ticket, its cinema 5 kthxbi type cinema.

Its like rockin up late to a big queue sayin' "im allocated the 68th spot in the queue. Shoveover will ya!"

Sucks to be in brisbane, suckers.

GC cinemas ftw.

I only see movies in gold class now, hate regular cinemas.

Garden City has been doing it for about a month now, I've seen a few movies there since. Hasn't been a largely negative experience (we've sat in other people's seats, but not vice-versa), but seems just a bit dicky when you are one of six people in the cinema, and two people are sitting in the seats directly in front of you and two sitting directly behind you because everyone asked for "middle". We just get up and move in situations like that.

BTW, saw a movie on Boxing day, and I got the ticket and said "Yeah, middle", and the cashier was just like "It's not allocated seating for this session." Fairly popular movie at 7:15 session, so I don't know WTF is up with that.

They have done seat allocations in both Sweden and the UK. In Sweden is has been like that since i have been here.
When i was over in London last weekend, my friend and i went to see a movie and bought regular tickets, they have a combined gold class/regular theatre in one.
The ticket collector said to sit wherever we liked so we got ourselves a nice couple seat. Nice way to see a movie :)

people still go to the moofies?

i go to the movies more than ever. you just can't beat the experience.

This was covered in this thread but ill spam it here for those who missed it.

Benifits of allocated seating.

benifits
1) makes buying online heaps better.
2) means you don't have to line up before the movie starts to get a good seat
3) means you can sit exactly where you want
4) means you can make sure if you go with a group of friends you can all sit together.

if you still go to the movies and don't book a seat then you are going to lose out.

Can you book student seats online???

^ cheap

is it possible to book the back row corner couple seat online so my date can suck my wang during the movie?

i go to the movies more than ever. you just can't beat the experience.

sorry, i dont like the costs, the people, the noise, the hassle and 9 times out of 10, the moofie is a let down anyway (regardless of how big and loud it is)

i gave up going to cinemas years ago

I wanna go to the movies but it's not worth the risk of having a screaming kid or whatever in there with you.

DVD and divx at home is where it's at!

Just go at 9pm, Rev. Any seat you want, no kids.

If there had been no stupid seat allocation there wouldn't have been such tension in the first place.

It wouldn't have happened if we euthanised f***wits who think they're above rules everyone else has to adhere to either, but I suppose you want to ignore that.

It happened because the guy was an antisocial tosser who thought he was above everyone else, not because of allocated seating.

they do this in the UK and here in Ireland, I rekon it's tops.

But maybe I am backwards after a year living here in Ireland :p

It'd be okay if you didn't have to pay extra to book online, but to me they seem to be doing it as another way to make more money rather than a new "service" that works elsewhere around the world.

ohh it costs no extra over here

i go to the movies more than ever. you just can't beat the experience.

Your TV must suck.

If you don't like the allocated seating let them know about it. If you get some crapy seats don't put up with it, get your 15 bucks back and let them know you will be going elsewhere from now on. Simply doing a silent boycott won't get their attention since they'll just blame any drop in attendance on growing piracy.

If enough people complain they will either scrap it all together or only run certain sessions as allocated seating.

Your TV must suck.

can't even compare the best plasma tv to a cinema screen... people fail to realise a cinema is more than a projector and a wall, there is TECHNOLOGY there you aren't even aware of!!

Yer, Technologies like allocated seating!

We were allocated seats when we went to the movies. We chose to ignore it and sit where we wanted. It worked well for everyone.

people fail to realise a cinema is more than a projector and a wall, there is TECHNOLOGY there you aren't even aware of!!

Apart from audio and video what other magical qualities are we all missing out on ?

what do you mean apart from the audio and video...

Firstly the shape of the room and the position of the speakers is designed and calibrated by specialist technicians.

The picture coming from a piece of film rather than a video format, and being projected onto that giant screen made of that special cinema material gives a whole different feel to the experience.

The candy bar, the audience reactions, the curtain that unveils the screen, the cup holder in the seats.... the urinals afterwards.. it's all just an amazing journey!

You gotta go every now and again for a big flick!

last edited by Idol at 12:42:24 29/Dec/07

last edited by Idol at 12:42:46 29/Dec/07

haha, no i dont;

maybe if i only ever went gold class, but if i paid cash for half the moofies i watched, i woudlnt be able to sleep at nite thinking how much cash id wasted on such garbage

Any advantages a cinema has over a home theater are destroyed by the dude on his mobile, the crying baby at the back, the giggling teenage girls in the corner, and the old folk making loud obvious remarks like "oh, he's the bad guy!".

There are only 2 situations when I go to the movies:

1. The cinema is empty
2. The cinema is packed/populated, but the movie is loud enough to drown out the f***tard audience (e.g Die Hard 4, Transformers).

it costs MORE to book online?! ahha this new system sounds retarded. I've prolly been to the cinema like twice all year and wont be going back any time soon. I'm so over movies now that I've discovered the awesomeness of quality tv series though.

Trog it's a scam.

By booking online, they eliminate the need for extra staff... more $$ for them, THEN they f***ing sting you extra $$.

Allocated seating/online booking = more money for them.

Simple as that, they don't give a s*** about being fair.

I love going to the movies, albeit I only go Gold Class.

yeah i discovered this when i went to see hitman the other week, basically i wont be going to Birch cinemas anymore, allocated seating is GAY! First in best dressed is the way it should be, the system is s*** too cause the cinema was only 20% full and we were seated in the back row off-centre. Soon as the movie started we said f*** it and sat in the middle of the theatre, nobody ever turned up for those seats.

the system is just retarded, rocked up to see AVP last night some c***s had sneaked our "allocated" seats, so we just sat the row behind em.. no-one showed so it was like what's the point.

yea, i was pissed off when i discovered it at chermside a few weeks ago. asked for back middle and they said that was fine, but then when we got in there we were stuck with people on both sides of us. if i don't have to, i wouldn't choose to be stuck right next to other randoms. allocated seating is crap

Yeh I think I'll actually make the effort to complain. I probably went to the movies less than 5 times this year, but I when I go, it's for a movie I'm really excited about seeing in the cinema.

definitely the worst decision birch ever made. i just don't see why the hell they came up with the idea in the first place.

On a semi-related note, who is the most annoying demographic in a cinema? People bitch a lot about kids, but my bet goes with those female seniors. So bloody loud and chatty!

Yeh some f***ing lamer twit was sitting behind me during AVP2 explaining every f***ing scene to his girlfriend. Half the time he was just saying in words what had just happened on the screen... and he would always do it about 20 seconds after the scene and loud enough for the few rows around him to hear.

Yea. I hate it when people talk really loudly during a movie, and people who leave their phones on loud and continue to let it ring

complain, but VOTE WITH YOUR FEET and don't go back. The only thing that they'll really take seriously is a dropoff in attendance. Without that they won't give a s***.

come on guys. start downloading more movies and share them with your friends!

Ring them up and tell them you'd like to buy a ticket, but since it's allocated seated you won't. I wonder what the response would be.

^not a bad idea.

They have allocated seating in Danish cinemas, except you pay more for middle seats :\

guys, see hot girl buy ticket, ask for exact same theater and movie and next to her

when curtain opens whip it out

duh

come on guys. start downloading more movies and share them with your friends

If I download a movie I make sure I delete it after 24 hours and if I give it out to friends I make sure they delete their copy as well.

They've had this in Melbourne for ages, and I've never had a problem with it. Like someone else said, the problem seems to lie more with the f***wits who think they're above the rules and sit wherever they want. I've never experienced seat rage all the times I've been to the movies in Melbourne cos everyone just follows the f***ing rules, and if someone is sitting in your seat you go "Oh hey, thats my seat" and they move.

I never book my tickets online, but I still prefer allocated seating, I don't see why its such a big deal. Without allocated seating, if you want a good seat for a popular movie you just have to get there early and line up for god knows how long doing sweet f*** all. With allocated seating, you just get there early and buy your ticket, then you're free to do whatever you want until your movie goes in. You can go do some shopping, go get dinner, go drink piss, whatever you want, instead of standing like a dweeb in a queue. Then you can rock up whenever you want, and have your sweet seat ready and waiting for you. Sounds way better to me.

yeah, i haven't been to birch cinemas in a long time, their prices are through the roof. and purchasing some items at the candy bar, gives me a heart attack when they tell me its 10 dollars for some frozen cokes and corn.

im a cineplex man, southbank, or balmoral is my domain. haven't been to eldorado in a long time, but from memory they were cheap too. f***. i'd even go to the drive ins at yatala before i go to a birch cinema to get ripped off.

yer bcc cinemas are a rip off. it cost me $20 for a student ticket plus a coke and hotdog

Yeah i dont understand how you can charge $10 for a regular cock and popcorn, which isn't too far off the price of a movie ticket.