England's Cinemas

Odeon is one of the many movie theater chains in the UK. The picture above is of the one in Bournemouth. Last night Ashley and I rode our bikes into town and enjoyed Inception, which I highly recommend (it's like a less-morbid Matrix!)

Firstly, theaters are referred to as cinemas, and movies are films. Anyhow, I was particular perturbed by the slightly different way in which seating for the film is divided and sold. Take a look at the prices and seating chart below and notice the last line reading Premier Seats as an upgrade.



These premier seats are basically the best seats in the theater, not too close to the screen and in the middle section. The theater charges £1.50 more for these premier seats. Going to the cinema is already expensive with the high priced snacks and drinks, and I see this as just another way to rape the wallets of the public.

Ashley and I came earlier in the day to buy the tickets and the premier seats for the film were already sold out, and it was a good 6 hours beforehand! So as we entered the theater we were stuck, like the rest of the general viewers, scrambling for the crappy seats in the front rows and the sides. It's not that big of a deal, but I think this premier seating kinda of kills the spontaneity of movie going. You can't just randomly decide to go to a film and expect good seats, you have to plan a movie days in advance and book decent seats. LAME.

BUT.... when you do get premier seats, you can rest easy knowing however late to the screening you arrive, your pre-paid nicer seats are waiting patiently for you.

In all fairest though, this WAS the premiere weekend of Inception, so it was bound to be busy and sold-out. And also we went on 2-for-1 Wednesdays, because it was cheaper, and that also had a lot to do with the crowd.

We ended up seating four rows from the front and on the right side of the theater. It wasn't too bad. We enjoyed the movie. And I don't know if it's just this particular theater, but both of us were hot as hell! I was literally breaking into a sweat half way through the film! Also LAME.

Okay, I'm done with my rant.
♡ - Kristen