UKH

This is a bit depressing, I've just looked back at which films I saw at the cinema in 2020:

The Gentlemen 7.5/10

Cats 4/10

Bombshell, probably 8/10

1917 6.5/10

Parasite 7.5/10

The Personal History of David Copperfield maybe 8/10, undecided

Queen and Slim 3/10

The Rhythm Section 8.5/10

Bad Boys For Life 5.5/10

Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn 6.5/10

Underwater 5.5/10

Emma. 9/10

The Invisible Man maybe 6.5/10

The Hunt, maybe 7.5/10

So, yes, some pretty decent stuff there but also a lot of stuff that I wouldn't have gone to see if I didn't have a Cineworld Unlimited pass (I wouldn't have paid DIRECTLY to see Underwater, Bad Boys for Life, or Cats, that's for sure!)

Hoisted by my own petard slightly here because I used to happily declare that it's OK for me to watch rubbish (and sometimes you do get a nice surprise such as The Rhythm Section which I really enjoyed but would not have paid directly to see) because my pass worked out at £2.57 per week or something. 
HOWEVER due to a few changes in terms, combined with the timing of the renewal of my annual pass (and the fact that I have written off the remaining time on it after having paid for it in full), currently it stands that each of those films cost me £11.23 to watch!
Note that one of them was WORSE than Cats. 
Without a pass, my local cinema would have been about £7 per film. 

If you're wondering where JoJo Rabbit is, I saw it late in 2019 on a special preview. 

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Didn't they suspend your pass whilst the cinema was closed. Or did they offer this, but you choose to support them?

In reply to Blue Straggler:

I'm not a cinema go-er, but I do enjoy a good film (at home, in peace) so I have been dismayed at the lack of films being produced / released due to covid, lets hope the film/cinema industry return soon

In reply to The New NickB:

It was initially suspended, but the wording was a bit vague (and admittedly I didn't really look into it all that much). Then when the cinemas reopened, it was reactivated but I really didn't fancy watching The Goonies or Tenet. Wording was vague again, but by then I'd written it off.  So I may still have some months remaining (well, 8 months really) but I haven't complained or chased any sort of refund. So in that way I am sort of supporting them by letting them hold onto my money. Some of the comments on the Facebook announcements from Cineworld, from disgruntled customers, were appallingly petulant and entitled (having said that, some were quite reasonable, I can imagine that the annual outlay for a family is big). 

Thus, the £11.23 per film average stated in the OP may be due some adjustment. 

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Hoist  

In reply to Pedro50:

Thank you! I thought that was it, even if it’s unusual for the infinitive and present tense to also be the past participle. But some lazy and distracted Googling to check that it meant what I thought it meant, also returned some “hoisted” results and somehow this became my text. I am happy to have had my error pointed out 

In reply to Blue Straggler:

You only gave 1917 6.5? We really enjoyed that.

I'm beginning to miss the cinema we didn't go vast amounts before but our favourite cinema is this quirky wooden shed in the woods where you can get a cup of tea in the interval and we'd make a proper date night out if it with a meal first. 

In reply to Blue Straggler:

How was Birds of Prey? Ok for an 8 year old with a lot of serious anime under their belt?

In reply to Removed Userwaitout:

I thought it was fine. 8 year old might find the beginning to be a bit dreary (a fair bit of sardonic witty voiceover about relationships) but given that the final basically centres on trying to get someone to do a pooh, it might be ideal 😃 Also Mary Elizabeth Winstead delivers one of the best-timed f-bombs ever. There is an action scene involving a motorbike and roller skates, that I thought was excellently done 

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Just see it as charity work helping out the cinematically needy on UKC.

In reply to geode:

I have not seen the latest one, and it is nearly three decades since I saw the 1940s version. Therefore "no comment" at the moment. I do want to see the 1940s version again, for many reasons. 

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Thankyou, that's good info. Main concern is any stuff that's not comical like rape scenes or somesuch. I love a good girlpower film after growing up on Tank Girl and would like to show the kid there's some of that in Hollywood too.

In reply to geode:

IMO both very overrated films

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Just spotted Black Narcissus (1947) is on BBC 2 at 13.15 today.

In reply to Offwidth:

Brilliant, thank you! 

In reply to geode:

I thought Dunkirk was a stronger cinematic experience than 1917. I was sceptical about both, before seeing them, as I am not a fan of either director, but I try to be open minded. I was pleasantly surprised at my enjoyment of Dunkirk. For once I liked what Nolan was doing with "clever stuff with time". Tom Hardy's magic Spitfire with its "reserve fuel" switch and his self-sacrificing heroics, somewhat cheesy and didn't feel like it belonged. I liked the "tick tock" music. 

1917 just felt too artificial with its gimmicky "one shot" appearance, the condensing of time and the frankly ludicrous narrative. People try to defend it by saying it's meant to be a bit abstract/hallucinatory; I think they are possibly clutching at straws. The "one-shot" didn't really add much to the narrative; it did give it a bit of momentum but not in the same way as the German film "Victoria" (also, funnily, a 6.5/10)

In reply to Removed Userwaitout:

I can't guarantee that it's all "suitable" but I don't think there is anything "disturbing" as such.

> I love a good girlpower film after growing up on Tank Girl and would like to show the kid there's some of that in Hollywood too.

The recent Charlie's Angels flop might actually be suitable! I thought it was "tolerable", and rather unfairly maligned. Yes it's a mess but it's kind of fun. 

In reply to Blue Straggler:

It has been pointed out to me that "at least I managed to avoid Bloodshot (Vin Diesel superhero bollocks), so that's something I suppose. That my last film (The Hunt) was enjoyable, is something, I guess! I can't remember what else was available that week but I sensed imminent lockdown and made sure that I didn't go see some total crap "for free", just in case it became my last cinema outing. The Hunt was a bit of a gamble admittedly. 

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Thanks cool. I'll run the experiment. We sit through a fair bit of intense stuff ever since kid asked to watch movies about Somalia, only later to find out it was meant to be Mongolia, but some stuff raises more worries than questions.