• Hegar@fedia.io
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    5 months ago

    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.’

      • jorp@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        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.

        • Spacehooks@reddthat.com
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          5 months ago

          I See that In movies and go BS no one cares that much for such a minor role but nope your right there is someone so petty.

        • Ephera@lemmy.ml
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          5 months ago

          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.

          • BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee
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            5 months ago

            Seriously, what is a guy like this even gonna do for the rest of his life? Moving to the US and becoming a cop?

          • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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            5 months ago

            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.

    • ALQ@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Is he secretly an American? Because that sounds far more like something I’d hear here. Atrocious.

      • optissima@possumpat.io
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        5 months ago

        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…

              • MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
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                5 months ago

                I agree with what I think you’re trying to say, which is that moral narcissism is good, but I don’t think moral n*rcissists are smug assholes. I think they’re people with a pathological need to improve and treat others with kindness.

                • AnomalousBit@programming.dev
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                  5 months ago

                  So by making some snarky comment about how a guy working at a movie theater would probably just shoot the whole family if they were all in America, you think the original comment is by someone who seeks to improve and treat others with kindness? Are you even reading the same thread?

      • Ech@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        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.

        • Ephera@lemmy.ml
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          5 months ago

          I think, it’s more the US love of capitalism that makes people think so. It just sounds on brand that someone who worships their company that much would be in the US.

            • StereoTrespasser@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              And some European airports are great examples of runaway capitalism. Good luck finding your gate when you’re walking through what looks like a shopping mall on steroids. No, I don’t want a Burberry Armani Hermes scarf, I want a damn sandwich.

          • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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            5 months ago

            I was more under the impression it was because in developed nations, cops don’t go around killing civilians for frivolous reasons. But in the US, it happens regularly.

          • Ech@lemm.ee
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            5 months ago

            Lol, your brain is so wired on “Capitalism Bad” and “'Murica Bad”, it’s the first thing you think of when anyone does anything wrong, even on the other side of the planet.

            Get some air, bud. You’ve had enough propaganda for a lifetime.

            • Ephera@lemmy.ml
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              5 months ago

              The guy acted on behalf of the company, that he works for, at a degree that no one asked him to, nor he’ll be rewarded for. And companies get put in charge in capitalism.

              That’s all the thought chain it took for me to get to capitalism. Literally the point of my comment was that it’s not about it being bad/evil/wrong.

        • ALQ@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          I’m in the US and did a double take when I saw that it was NZ; it’s the Americentrism that was ingrained in me since childhood that led me to automatically assume, based on the headline, that it was a story from here.

          It could easily be one of dozens of similar stories here. People here can get rabidly protective of their firearms. Threats/offensive comments like the one the employee in this situation made are common enough that I think this would only be considered a fluff piece in the states, if it made the news at all.

          • Ech@lemm.ee
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            5 months ago

            it’s the Americentrism that was ingrained in me since childhood

            You can (and should) fix that. Assuming everywhere else is better just because you haven’t seen it (or buy the hype) does a disservice to the victims. Power tripping assholes exist everywhere there’s power to be had.

            • ALQ@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              I’ve unlearned much of it, but it remains an ongoing process; it’s similar to how recovery from addiction is a lifelong process. Unfortunately, many of my (I’m guessing our, but don’t want to assume) compatriots don’t feel the need to unlearn it or don’t see it as an issue to begin with.

              Assuming everywhere else is better

              Nowhere did I say that I assumed everywhere else was better. I can see how you inferred that, but that wasn’t my implication; I suppose my sarcasm didn’t come through well enough. Rather, I am just so used to that type of gun rhetoric here and not used to that from what I hear about NZ that it was a surprise.

              Power tripping assholes exist everywhere there’s power to be had.

              Fully agreed with you.

    • pyre@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      this whole thing wouldn’t be a problem if the police were the tiniest bit trustworthy

    • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      “My niece asked nicely: ‘If you’re calling the police, are they going to kill my mum?’”

      the fuck

  • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    If you work at a cinema (condolences), and you see someone smuggling snacks in, no you didn’t.

    • illi@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      A long time ago, as teens, we used to go to the movies quite often. Ofc we didn’t buy the local overpriced popcorn but brought our own snacks, smuggling them, all sneaky like. One day the guy who was admitting us in was like “you should just be honest guys - no need to hide them”. Of course this was not forever but for a couple of months we could bring inanything because we were not tied by the snacks being hideable.

      • LifeBandit666@feddit.uk
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        5 months ago

        We just take a tote bag full. If anyone says anything they have just lost our custom. Can’t stop people smuggling snacks when nobody goes

    • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      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.

      • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        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.

        • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          No, all that happens is the movie theaters close. Back in the 90s, in my area we had what we call quarter cinemas. These were theaters that showed movies that weren’t in theaters anymore. So, older movies. Instead of $6.00 per ticket, it was $0.25, and kids under 12 were free with a paying adult.

          So you could get one adult to bring 6-7 kids in, for $0.25. Problem is, nobody bought the snacks.

          So now, we went from having 8-9 mega plex’s, 3 mall cinemas, and 4 quarter cinemas, to now having 2 mega plex’s, and thats it. Hollywood doesn’t care WHERE you buy your ticket. It doesn’t affect hollywood. It only affects movie goers.

          • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            People not going to the movies because there is no convenient theatre does affect Hollywood.

            But action and reaction have a long delay. Don’t give up your rights just because a Hollywood exec won’t make his bonus this year. You need to cause economic pain for the problem to be fixed.

          • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            When I lived near a cinema like that, I was happy to buy its snacks and even the occasional beer. The snacks were good, and only slightly marked up. They had great taste in film, and tickets were cheap.

            It was a good business model, and I supported it. Nowadays it seems they’ve moved on to higher ticket prices and more “hot” movies. I wish them luck, but I would not likely continue to support them if I was still in their area.

            It’s a bad business model. The way it’s supposed to work is that bad business models die. If that’s not how it works anymore, all I can say is that projectors are affordable and you can make really good popcorn with ghee and powdered salt. A little turmeric gives it that yellow color. Enjoy.

          • Mango@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Have you seen the TV in your living room and the snacks in your kitchen? Turns out that’s a better business model than someone else owning an extra big one far away and making you deal with their schedule and crowd.

        • samus12345@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          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.

          • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            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.

            • samus12345@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              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!

      • Agrivar@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        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.

        • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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          5 months ago

          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.

        • Cataphract@lemmy.ml
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          5 months ago

          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.

      • Mango@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        If they only make money on the concession stand, then their business model is shit and they should fail. Nobody is obligated to buy that shit and there’s no reasonable grounds for policing someone’s eating.

    • lobut@lemmy.ca
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      5 months ago

      … is it smelly food or something? if not, who cares. There’s fewer and fewer people watching movies now anyways why chase them away man … it’s so dumb.

        • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          5 months ago

          Ehhh if it’s not old, it’s not gonna be smells enough for others a meter away to smell… and if it IS old, not a food idea to eat anyway hahaha

    • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      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

  • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world
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    “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.’

    • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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      5 months ago

      At that point, with comments like that, you’d be tempted to give the guy a real reason to call the police…

    • credo@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      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.

      • Rob T Firefly@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        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.

        • credo@lemmy.world
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          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?

          • Rob T Firefly@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            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.

      • buddascrayon@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        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.

      • buddascrayon@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        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.

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      5 months ago

      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.

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          5 months ago

          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.

        • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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          Seriously, God forbid someone being reasonably skeptical.

          • tweeks@feddit.nl
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            5 months ago

            Don’t bother, you’re talking with a random idiot.

            Edit: I was joking, check his name.

        • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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          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.

  • Stern@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    They agreed but the employee apparently insisted on sitting next to them to monitor the snack situation.

    Instead of… telling them to take the snacks back out to the car? There’s no situation where that isn’t weird to me. Were there no other theaters to be cleaned, patrons to be helped, tickets to be sold, anything else, they just have this extra guy with literally nothing else to do but watch this family not eat the food they brought in?

      • ditty@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        Pathetic, small men who relish in wielding any power they have to fuck over normal people make my blood boil. From the lowly movie theater grunt in NZ to the plethora of elected officials in the US, they all need to get knocked down a peg. Let people live their lives for Christs sake.

        • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Yea seriously. The LAST type of person that deserves it is the dipshit that will flex it.

    • Ephera@lemmy.ml
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      Yep, seriously, is he thinking if he’s extra hard on these visitors then no one else will smuggle food in? Because they’re not earning any more money by disallowing this family to eat their snacks.

      And they’re hopefully losing customers over this shitshow, too.

    • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      Instead of… telling them to take the snacks back out to the car?

      Where I live in you can bring stuff in but you can’t snack it during the viewing. Also, did we know that they came in with a car?

  • esc27@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I was planning to see a movie this weekend, but this story just reminded me how greedy and anti-customer that whole industry is.

    • BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      its not nearly as good as any of the other despicible me movies. felt like they had no idea how to tie everything together plus the kids are barely in the movie and dont do anything

      • mightyfoolish@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Try shopping out theaters. There are many movie theaters pretty close to each other. One of them costs $40 for tickets. The other I can get two tickets, medium popcorn, a box of candy, two medium drinks for that same $40. Guess which one I refuse to go to…

        Though, I can probably sneak in that same box of candy if I really wanted to. 🤔

  • jasep@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I hope this cinema (or the chain it belongs to) goes out of business. What a hostile way to treat your customers.

  • M500@lemmy.ml
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    5 months ago

    Where I live it is pretty normal to openly bring your own food. You can bring whatever you want. Bring your own ice cream and cheese burgers for all they care.

    They do sell some stuff, but its not overpriced.

    A few years back, one cinema chain said they were going to stop allowing this. Then their competitor advertised that they still allow you to bring your own food in and then the first cinema chain backed off.

    • Schmuppes@lemmy.world
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      It’s become so expensive over here. We were out last week to watch the new Pixar movie. Tickets were 12€ per person (so 24€ for the two of us) and we’re eyeing nachos with a cheese dip and a medium drink to share. That would have added 20€ to the bill and we decided that was was just too much. I understand that ticket sales alone don’t keep the little cinema afloat, but 20€ for maybe half a bag of store-bought nacho chips and a drink that’s 95% tap water? Come on. 20€ is almost a cooked meal for two at an entry-level restaurant.

      • Syd@lemm.ee
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        It’s probably a slight mistranslation so I don’t mean any offense but, I’m finding"entry-level restaurant" hilarious.

        Imagine Alexander, who after years of hard work and dedication to his craft finally moves on to a professional level restaurant. On the way in he sees an overconfident novice kitted out in the newest gear, silk napkin smoldering at his side. Escaping from singed mustache hairs a rasp can be heard, “Don’t eat the fire… Don’t eat… The fire.”

        “Poor guy never stood a chance, came here having never even seen a flambe?? I’ve trained for this, I’ve got this, I might not have the best gear but those forks and knives become a part of me when it’s time to dine”.

        Alexander reassures him self, attempting to squelch the nerves steaming from his soul.

        His teeth grit, hands clench, breath ceases for just a moment upon hearing the words.

        “Do you have a reservation?”

        Suddenly the seriousness of the situation struck Alexander, then with a cool confident sigh he knew he would succeed. No plate, bowl, or flaming pan would stop him.

  • Doxatek@mander.xyz
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    5 months ago

    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

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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      5 months ago

      I’m surprised the police even bothered to turn up. In the UK it’s hard to get the police to turn up to actual crimes.

      • RoosterBoy@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        Lol, American cops crave violence too much and UK cops don’t want to be anywhere near it. Neither are doing their damn jobs.

    • Mango@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Considering how things are in the US, calling the police on someone pretty well warrants attempted murder in return.

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    5 months ago

    Cinemas: our business model sucks so much we have to sell overpriced food!

    So? Just die already. Bye.

    • Paranomaly@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      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.

      • Flax@feddit.uk
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        5 months ago

        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

        • deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz
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          5 months ago

          Standalone cinemas are still the norm in NZ.

          The odd one is part of a larger entertainment complex.

          • cass24@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            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.

      • deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz
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        5 months ago

        That sounds like the invisible hand of the market weeding out failing competitors.

    • stoly@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      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.

      • deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz
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        5 months ago

        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?

        • cass24@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          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.

      • YeetPics@mander.xyz
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        I have a feeling you or a member of your family owns a struggling (dare I say failing) theater.

    • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      Just die already

      Would suck not being able to watch movies on the big screen imo

      • deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz
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        5 months ago

        If enough of them die, then that particular market will need to correct. The movie industry needs consumers.

        Or, to put it another way, the current business models need to die, so they can be replaced with better models.

        • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          I have a more cynical view where it’s the smaller ones that die and the market just turbo consolidates, and the remaining cinemas get even shittier since there will be always people who probably go to cinema no matter what

          • deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz
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            5 months ago

            Hmm. Yeah. That is exactly what would happen.

            Though the possible advantage of that is the bargaining power of the cinemas increases compared to the distributors… as if cinemas should have some form of union ;-)

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    5 months ago

    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.

    • stoly@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I walked in with two footlong Subways once. They’re like…eh…just clean up when you’re done, please.

      • MisterD@lemmy.ca
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        5 months ago

        This. Regardless if you brought it in on bought it at the cinema, don’t make a mess or leave garbage behind

      • RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        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.

    • ZeffSyde@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      You haven’t lived until you’ve snuck all you can eat fajitas from Applebee’s into a movie.

    • Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca
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      Damn, dude. A French dip with au jus? That’s way better than my shitty French fry story…

    • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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      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.

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    5 months ago

    “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.’”

    My man’s finally flexing the full power vested in him as cinema popcorn popper, and it is glorious!!

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      5 months ago

      It’s not the nature of power. Sometimes it’s just the nature of peoplw to be week-old cockswabs

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    5 months ago

    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.

      • YeetPics@mander.xyz
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        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.

        • stoly@lemmy.world
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          The model has always been based on food sales from back in the early cinema days. Theaters have to pay a lot of money in fees to get the film reals, and tickets basically just offset that. To get a profit, it’s food.

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            The model has always been based on food sales from back in the early cinema days.

            That was almost 100 years ago. If they haven’t updated their business model in a century idk what to tell you; the model is outdated and inadequate.

            If your business model fails because I’m not stupid enough to pay $18 for a small bucket of popcorn, your business doesn’t deserve to exist 🤷

            You can be mad at it, but that’s the way the corn pops, fella.

            I download cams and haven’t paid for a movie ticket in over a decade. If they want me to buy tickets they can make movies that are worth the ticket value.

            Maybe if that happens I’ll return to the theater to balk at the snack prices lmao.

            • stoly@lemmy.world
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              I’m not sure why you’re taking exception with me for pointing out how an industry I have nothing to do with operates.

      • stoly@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Mindlessly accepting authority is far worse and leads to fascism.

          • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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            5 months ago

            Seriously, the people carping on about the fascism reeealy need to get some perspective on life I think.

        • cass24@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          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.

          • stoly@lemmy.world
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            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.

  • raynethackery@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    So, theater patrons and owners need to get together and tell studios to stop expecting to receive 99% of ticket sales money.

  • Mr_Dr_Oink@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    In rhe UK (at least the part i live in), they dont stop you from bringing your own food in. I think that staff know that no one wants to pay the crazy prices for the food they sell. If i could buy the snacks they sell for the prices that the shops across the road are selling them, then i wouldn’t need to go to the shops across the road. Maybe thats not possible for them, maybe they need to find a new revenue stream.

    • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world
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      Movie theatres make almost nothing from ticket sales. They have to pay a huge lump sum (upwards of $100,000) up front just to be able to get the movie and show it for a month. Often they simply lose money on it! So the crazy price of snacks is an attempt to recoup their investment faster and hope to get some profit.

      The other model is for the theatre to simply pay 95% of ticket sales to the movie studio for the first week (and a bit less as the weeks go on). This essentially guarantees the theatre loses money on the film (due to all the other overhead that easily eat up that 5%) but it’s less risky if the film is a failure. Either way, they only make money on food!

      • Mr_Dr_Oink@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        So they need another revenue stream. If i am forced to pay high tickey proces and high snack prices, im going to wait for the film to come out on a streaming platform and watch it then.

        Lots of people do the same. Its the reason most films ive been tonsee recently are in empty cinemas where i basivally get a private screening.

        The industry at large is failing and has been for a while.

        • Maalus@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Rent-a-cinema, just let dudes rent the entire screen for bachelor parties or something so they can play on it or watch whatever they want. Make it in the hours the cinemas aren’t showing anything and bang, free moneys

          • Mr_Dr_Oink@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            I guess. Skeleton crew, someone to see you in, someone to serve you drinks and snacks and someone to work the projector. bring a data pen with your videos on it and give to them to plug in and play.

            Or log into your streaming servitheand hook your device up to the projector.

            It would need all kinda of restrictions and protections for the cinemas but its not like that couldn’t be worked out in a room somewhere. Private parties would be great.

            If it became lucrative then pay more staff and capitalise on it.

          • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
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            5 months ago

            Movie theaters already do that here in Canada. Though it’s usually rented out to companies to have movie nights for their employees.

            But this is usually only offered on weeknights. Weekends they probably won’t do this because they tend to have more ticket sales those days.

            So not sure how this would work for a bachelor party. Would you have one on a weekday? And they may not be able to permit people to drink alcohol in most places for legal reasons. They also wouldn’t be able to show whatever people wanted without approval from the copyright holders. Fair use covers you showing your friends whatever movie you have in your collection when you’re at home, but it doesn’t cover a business doing this.

            • OneCardboardBox@lemmy.sdf.org
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              5 months ago

              I did this in my town. It was a local theater though, not a big chain

              • Went on a Wednesday night and rented access to a screening room for ~5h. We had to pay extra because they normally close earlier on a weeknight
              • Showed up early to meet the projectionist and get a technical rundown
              • Setup was a friend’s laptop plugged into HDMI running up to the projector booth
              • Nobody complained when we brought out a disk full of torrented movies
              • The theater already had a license to sell alcohol, so we had that covered
              • We brought a small bit of outside food, and nobody complained

              It was absolutely the best time I ever had at a cinema. When the evening wound down, the projectionist invited us into the back area for a tour of the projection equipment.

              I think that because we were a private event the rules about screening copyrighted materials to public audiences did not apply.

            • cass24@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              We have a local cinema that offers bookings for events here, too. There’s a lot of behind the scenes jank to get through that many people don’t even bother.

        • Professorozone@lemmy.world
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          Personally I like going to see movies in a theater. I even run a little movie group. We go out and talk over food , then hit up a movie. It’s a nice night out. I don’t want to see them go away entirely. The theater I go to is independent and the people who run it are cool. They gave my group a free tour of the projection area where they not only have new projectors but some old equipment they preserved. Fun fact: the bulbs got so hot that they could be dangerous and a special leather vest was worn whenever they worked on the projector in case it exploded.

          The group only goes on Tuesday nights because the movie is $5.00. so yeah, in a time when everything is so expensive it feels like you can’t do anything, I understand to complaints. Tipping is like that too. It’s gotten out of hand.

          But honestly, this is nothing new. I’m pretty old and it’s been this way for as long as I can remember. But calling the cops? Come on! The stupid thing is, movie theaters survive mostly on regulars like me and that woman. She’ll probably never go back there again. So they’re just shooting themselves in the foot.

          • cass24@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            $5 movies? Where is this, I’ll be there right away. (most of the cinemas in my country start at like $10 USD per ticket…)

            • Professorozone@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              Yeah, it’s only on Tuesdays. Must be their slowest night or something. Wednesday also has $5.00 classic movies, stuff like Jaws and The Shining and that even comes with a free small popcorn. Pretty cool. I really like that place.

              It’s in central Florida. I know …Florida. who da’ thought?

    • Tekkip20@lemmy.world
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      Yeah, in my entire time of going to the cinema and sneaking snacks in a backpack, not a single member of staff asked me or other movie goers about it.

      I think it’s only questioned if you openly bring in say, a bag of minstrels of a share bag of doritos.

      I mean shit, the smaller hotdogs that VUE sell are like a fiver which is an absolute rip off. You’d think with popular films coming out they’d make a killing with the revenue from the tickets being sold so food prices wouldn’t be that shite.