What is the cinema industry's death wish?

5.24.06 Cinema
Originally uploaded by M J M

So we went to the movies on our tenth anniversary last week. We saw an average-to-not-so-good movie. But what bothered me was the disaster that is the cinema experience these days.

We don't get out much, and when we do, we sort of expect it to be ... I dunno ... good? What happened to the movies, that's what I want to know?

Maybe it's just my imagination, or nostalgia, or whatever, but I seem to remember the whole experience used to be magical.

Now, it seems there's a conspiracy to take away the magic.

Consider this:

1. Why is a popular, intelligent-looking film like Michael Clayton only playing at 1:50pm on a Friday? And why is there so precious little else on that seems appealing?

2. Why is it so easy to get lost at Village SkyCity Metro? (I mean, one thing they have got right is the architecture - it's a kinda cool place to get lost in, but it would also be cool to not get lost!)

3. Why is it impossible for the girl behind the counter to divide a large popcorn into two boxes? Not just difficult, absolutely impossible.

4. Why is my icecream in a plastic bag? That just sucks.

I guess my gripes come under three broad categories:

1. Clueless staff who are just there to pass the time and earn a wage.
2. Systems built for efficiency, not customer experience.
3. Crappy movies.

Okay, so a cinema chain can't do much about the crappy movies, but they could invest in staff training, and they could design systems that make me feel like I didn't make a mistake shelling out nearly 50 bucks to come to the movies with my wife.

The kind of service we get doesn't match what the price has become. Cinemas, wake up! Stop nickel-and-diming yourself to death. Your demise has been predicted many times, but you can actually make a difference, by focusing on the experience of your customers.

It's not rocket science. But it is. Very. Important!