YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE ISSUES THAT COUNT
Going to the cinema with the children is a joy, full stop
Ask most men my age to name a place closest to their hearts and the majority would say either a particular pub or football ground, possibly the toilet. While all of the above would feature high on my shortlist, they are all pipped at the post by the cinema, a place that holds the fondest of memories for me.
Watching ET as a six-year-old at a long-since demolished picture house in South Manchester is one of my earliest, clearest recollections and the magic has continued for me ever since.
While the 'pa-papa-pas' of the Pearl and Dean adverts are largely a distant memory, going to the 'flicks' in the 21st Century is no less appealing than it was in the 1980s.
For a start these days, you can enjoy a full meal and a drink in the most comfortable of seats – a far cry from the days when you were almost guaranteed to get in a row with the big fella in front, for resting your British Knights on his mullet.
Although it will certainly set you back more than what it cost me to watch Terminator 2 three decades ago, a trip to the cinema today is a full night out in itself.
Or at least it was.
Like many industries around the world right now, many cinemas are in serious trouble, largely because most of them were shut for the best part of four months and, now that many have reopened, there hasn’t been a great deal new to watch.
This serious lack of action has prompted one major player – Cineworld – to take the toughest of decisions.
Earlier this week, the chain decided to lock the doors of its 127 UK cinemas, not to mention more than 500 venues in the USA, until further notice.
This move comes on the back of reported losses of £1.3bn for the world’s second-biggest cinema operator and means more than 5,000 staff here losing their jobs as a result.
The final straw proved to be last week’s announcement that the latest instalment of the James Bond saga –reported to be Daniel Craig’s last appearance in the role – has been delayed again until April next year.
If 007 cannot save us from a world without some light relief then we are probably in more trouble than we first thought.
It was this genuine blockbuster on which cinema managers everywhere were pinning their hopes of a miracle turnaround in the run up to Christmas.
Going to the cinema during the festive period is pretty much the law in our house as it almost guarantees to get yours truly into the spirit of the season, even if a turkey of a film is on the menu.
Going to the cinema with the children is a joy, full stop. Especially if it is to see a film that I genuinely want to watch.
If 007 cannot save us... then we are probably in more trouble than we first thought
Introducing my eldest to the world of stormtroopers and Skywalkers on the big screen not long after her seventh birthday was an experience that will stay with me forever and the memory more than makes up for it being nowhere near as good as the originals.
The news about Cineworld was no great surprise, given that life as we know it remains very much on hold, and looks like it will stay that way for some time given that the UK’s daily toll of positive coronavirus cases is now at eye watering levels, with or without ‘lost’ test results.
While there’s still many great picture houses still operating, it is unlikely that film lovers will be returning in significant numbers until well into 2021 and that can only be bad news.
If there was a time that required for some silver screen magic to relieve us from the stark reality of life, it is now.