Lights out at cinema
How great is it to know that the cinemas at Westfield are to be upgraded and become Event Cinemas.
Hopefully, the newly upgraded cinemas will be maintained better than their counterpart at Beverly Hills!
In February, I attended a screening at Beverly Hills accompanied by a friend from New Zealand who runs a five-screen cinema complex.
The startled look on my friend's face when we entered one of the cinema auditoriums (cinema 3) to find six ceiling lights not working.
I ultimately wrote to the cinema manager with our concern regarding this — it is after all a safety issue!
Last weekend, I attended Beverly Hills cinema again and was seated in cinema 3 — and the same six ceiling lights were still not working!
This is disgraceful and I will try to avoid this cinema complex as much as possible.
With a new luxury complex at Miranda and the forthcoming upgrade to Hurstville, that should not be difficult.
I have read that attendances at cinemas are down (although the dollars are at record levels) and I wonder if unmaintained cinemas are partly to blame.
It is so easy to download movies these days. They are available on DVD within weeks (even days) after a film ends its run at a cinema, and one can view it in the comfort of one's own home.
Prior to the advent of TV, cinemas were often run-down and poorly maintained but when TV arrived all that changed and cinema operators realised they had to do something to attract audiences back to the movies.
They went for broke with huge screens, stereo sound and luxury cinemas, but it appears that the same attitude that preceded TV is returning — cinemas are upgraded but not maintained.
Rex, Oatley