Is it time to bring back the interval in cinemas?

[DotCommunist]

It still happens in theatre does it not?

The case for:

A 2-3 hour film is long. If you leave your seat for that much-needed slash/burger/fag/spliff you miss what might be a pivotal scene. There is no way to judge when you can duck out for 10-15 minutes without missing important bits. With the hectic pacing of modern films sometimes a few moments discussing it over a fag and thinking can help

The case against:

Some films rely on a taut and punchy style- you run the risk of losing the dramatic tension. A lot of cineastes want FULL IMMERSION and would resent the break.

what say you?

 

[Pickman's model]

nay

 

[Greebo]

It still happens in theatre does it not?
<snip>Some films rely on a taut and punchy style- you run the risk of losing the dramatic tension. A lot of cineastes want FULL IMMERSION and would resent the break.<snip>

Full immersion is easier to sustain for more of a film if you're neither thirsty, nor distracted by a full bladder, nor have a back beginning to go into spasm - IMHO a short well timed interval probably does more good than harm.

 

[Miss Caphat]

it would probably be profitable for them to do so, wouldn't it? as far as concession sales

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

it would probably be profitable for them to do so, wouldn't it? as far as concession sales

Not at a multiplex. It would mean less screenings so they'd get less people in.

 

[Miss Caphat]

Not at a multiplex. It would mean less screenings so they'd get less people in.

but, at those theaters, the food/beverages are often more expensive than the ticket cost.
I mean, you're probably right, but it doesn't seem to make logical sense.
eta: or maybe it does. I guess you can't have people crawling out of the theater at 2 a.m.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

but, at those theaters, the food/beverages are often more expensive than the ticket cost.
I mean, you're probably right, but it doesn't seem to make logical sense.
eta: or maybe it does. I guess you can't have people crawling out of the theater at 2 a.m.

Yes but more showings means more people to buy that food as well as more tickets sold.

I think that's probably the reason they got rid of intervals in the first place tbh.

 

[blossie33]

I'd rather not have an interval, it breaks the thread of the film for me but I can understand the nuisance of having to rush out and miss some of it if you need the loo or whatever.

Intervals in past times were usually because you got a programme of the main and a B movie, plus adverts so it was easy to fit them in between - of course films were not so long.

 

[DotCommunist]

it would probably be profitable for them to do so, wouldn't it? as far as concession sales

well theatre bars certainly manage to take the right royal piss on food/beer prices during an interval

I suppose one issue would be that you have to have an arbitrary cut off point for the interval. Nobody really needs to see the full Galadriels Gift Giving scene from the LOTR films. Break it there. But what about say, Heat? cut off right in the middle of the pacino/de niro coffee drinking scene? no.

 

[frogwoman]

no.

 

[5t3IIa]

There's an app that will tell you about the good time to nip out of the slash in a film. I can't remember what it's called

 

[wtfftw]

There's an app that will tell you about the good time to nip out of the slash in a film. I can't remember what it's called

http://runpee.com

 

[FridgeMagnet]

They could just not make films padded out with an extra hour and a half of shite.

 

[DotCommunist]

They could just not make films padded out with an extra hour and a half of shite.

when you had to actually blow something up to capture an explosion on film they weren't so cavalier. Now its CGI explosions just because

 

[5t3IIa]

http://runpee.com

69p!!!!

 

[Puddy_Tat]

69p!!!!

that's taking the piss...

and in answer to the original question, yes. complete with mighty wurlitzers

 

[littlebabyjesus]

when you had to actually blow something up to capture an explosion on film they weren't so cavalier.

Peckinpah was.

good point, though. Sometimes restrictions make for better art.

 

[kittyP]

Full immersion is easier to sustain for more of a film if you're neither thirsty, nor distracted by a full bladder, nor have a back beginning to go into spasm - IMHO a short well timed interval probably does more good than harm.

This.
Most films, even full on absorbing ones will have a natural break point.
I hate missing bits for the sake of a piss.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

If that Runpee app catches on there will be so many people getting up to go for a leak at the same time that the disturbance to everyone else will mean that a de facto interval gets created. What a good idea.

 

[ska invita]

I'm trying to remember what films Ive seen in the cinema that had an interval.... there have been some in the last 20 years...

 

[maya]

Ooh, that would be great for the more 'bladder challenged' among us...

I do remember watching "Fried Green Tomatoes" at the cinema in 1990, and there was a middle break where people went out to buy popcorn and go to the toilet and stuff... I don't even remember when those sort of breaks disappeared? Until seeing this thread I didn't even remember they used to have them!

 

[DotCommunist]

also with intervals you can stop that person- you all know one- who asks whats happening during a film, because apparently Die Hard 2 is so complex. You can explain the plot so far during the interval, enhancing the slackwits enjoyment and your own.

 

[maya]

also with intervals you can stop that person- you all know one- who asks whats happening during a film, because apparently Die Hard 2 is so complex. You can explain the plot so far during the interval, enhancing the slackwits enjoyment and your own.

Oh, god yes. I'm not very tolerant towards other people's noise at all, which is why since the invention of dvd's I have rarely been seen in the vicinity of a cinema hall, unless dragged kicking and screaming by 'friends' who tried asking nicely... I suspect some of these inquisitive characters have special learning needs, or are just randomly firing out the voices they hear inside their heads... And if you ask them to shut up, it just gets worse

My worst experience of such a character was during the second LOTR film when a father dragged his two toddlers along, sat them in the seats directly in front of me, then proceeded to fetch three thick pillows for them to sit on (so I couldn't see anything), then during the film proceeded to loudly read out the subtitles to the crying four-year-old who didn't understand shit, while the other (and younger) kid screamed in such angst it looked like the vision of charging Orcs and fire-eyed Evil would haunt him for the rest of his days... Shame was, I was so shocked by the dad's rudeness (considerate, anyone?) that I lost my power of speech completely, and didn't even manage to scold him/tell him off when the film was over- I wanted to ask him if he could give me money for a new ticket, since he'd spoiled the entire viewing of the film for me! But I couldn't utter a word, and he just as rudely went off with his fucking pillows (and dropped them by the entrance, as he'd pillaged them from vacant seats and didn't even bother to put them back in place), and dragged his poor offspring- now crying in unison- along with him out into the daylight and new horrors to come... I still wonder if they're okay, poor things.
((( bad parenting ))) / ((( therapists ))))

- What about dining/wining combi variants in cinemas, though? I remember a posh venue in France or whereever it was where they served wine and you had a tiny little table beside your seat, which was more of the comfy armchair variant, and you could adjust the angle of the back of your chair and everything... Proper lush (i think they lost their licence later, though...)

 

[RedDragon]

Cinema - no

 

[DotCommunist]

when Virgin Cinema first opened in sixfields duston northants they were so short on staff you could walk in without paying. Massive ten screener, no staff. You could even hog one of the 'love' seats (a two seater couch with no armrests between) to yourself. Even unto smoking cannabis, so lacking in staff were they. Shit got out of hand though, I was pelted with minstrels by a teenager while watching a film and although I had not payed honour had to be satisfied so I got up and fronted him out, whereupon a reedy voiced torch wielding bod came to restore order. Clincher was he demanded to see tickets that neither of us actually had. Halcyon days.

 

[mauvais]

I'd quite like an interval, just so a helpful usher or usherette can repeatedly bash me over the head with a mallet. That way I could forget that what I've just seen is one and half hours of either (a) people tediously walking up a mountain or (b) robots tediously fighting. Ideally this would also happen at the start and end.

 

[maya]

While they're at it they could bring back the early 90s and the endless reams of chewing gum, jeans and deodorant/shampoo commercials, too- I've no idea what could be so glamorous about chewing gum that it'd make you simultaneously a super popular sex machine AND able to climb a rocky cliff overhang with earthbound fans and mountain eagles watching in awe, but it seemed tempting at the time (depite the bad haircuts). The one with a hunky window cleaner being adored by a pack of office ladies in a skyscraper, then being adored more as he suggestively started drinking diet Coke- that must've been on repeat in every cinema throughout the entire decade (often it popped up three or four times during the commercials before the film started, extremely annoying). I also miss the charmingly low-tech pre-commercials screened before the 'real' commercials started, consisting only of slideshows with ads from local businesses... Some of them had linked together some sort of 2-D "animation" of stop-motion slide frames which magically altered the picture... I wondered how much they paid for that. And if they ever got more customers because of it.

 

[DotCommunist]

If that Runpee app catches on there will be so many people getting up to go for a leak at the same time that the disturbance to everyone else will mean that a de facto interval gets created. What a good idea.

its shite though, how is an appgoing to know the piss break worthy bit of a film that is only just out? And I bet its user generated as well so some claque of cunts will say you can have a slash break in the middle of 'Friends, romans, countrymen' or similar

 

[DJWrongspeed]

I saw 'Blue is the warmest colour' over xmas and heard it had been released as 2 parts in France, presumably because it was more mainstream there. It was just right as it was, breaking it up would've stopped the flow of the film. 3hrs is long but about as long as you can really stay in a cinema for. It's good to experience something as a whole.

 

[friedaweed]

I'd like a wee break please.