Job Discussion Forums

[southofreality]

'No Country For Old Men' premiered here in March, 'Cloverfield' two weeks ago, and next week, 'There Will Be Blood.'

Are you willing to pay ￥1800 to see the movies you really want to see at the theater, or do you usually wait for the DVD release?



Review of 'There Will Be Blood' here:
http://sevententotokyo.com

[Mothy]

I say I see one movie in the theatres a month... down from maybe 3 or so when I was in the US. I'm a big movie lover so I don't think I could stop seeing them in the theatres all together. I saw No Country For Old Men when it came out here. I hated having to wait so long for that one since I love the Coen brother movies. There Will Be Blood I'll probably wait until it comes out on DVD. I saw Cloverfield in the theatres but it was because my wife and I were having a date night and decided we wanted to see a movie, not because we specifically wanted to see that one... and it wasn't great so I wish I would have waited for that one to come to DVD. But there are definately some movies coming this summr and late Spring that I'll have to see in the theatres.

[Sour Grape]

If you buy tickets from the ticket specialist shops, you can get them for 1300 yen each. Those shops are usually a complete waste of space, selling 500 yen book tokens for 490 yen each but 500 yen off a cinema ticket isn't bad, especially if there's several of you going.

I haven't seen anything for about a year - it has been a very poor year and a bit at the cinema in my opinion.

[gaijinalways]

My wife and I see a lot of videos, probably at least one per week on average. It's true, this hasn't been a great year. As to going to the actual theater, we do that once or twice a year.

I saw NCFOM on the plane recently, and I could have seen Cloverfield too, was too sleepy.

[markle]

What are movies?


Sorry since the baby the wife and I have foregone the cinema, really though we have only seen 3-4 movies at the cinema in the 3 years we've been here, a combination of poor access and sparse choice. Funny considering that there was a time that we saw a movie once a week or more and once saw 10 in a weekend at a film festival.

[southofreality]

I guess when the baby comes, it's DVD time for a few years, eh?

GA, I can't imagine the watered-down version of NCFOM you must have seen on the plane.

Are there any movies anybody's looking forward to for the summer movie season? American, Japanese, or otherwise?

[Mothy]

I always get excited for the summer blockbusters. Of course 9 times out of 10 that just leads to massive disappointment, but I still can't help it. The new Indiana Jones I'm excited for since I wasn't old enough to see the first ones in the theatres (well my parents didn't think I was old enough anyway) so it'll be nice to finally get to have that experience in the theatres. Even though the movie will probably suck. The new Batman is another big movie I'm looking forward to too. And I'm sure there will be a few more that will catch my attention when they come too. Hopefully Japan won't be too far behind the US in releasing the big movies.

[Hoser]

If you have time off in the middle of the day during the week then you can see movies for relatively cheap. The movie theatre next to Shinjuku Gardens (something 9) cost 1200 per ticket if you go see a movie between 1 and 5 pm or something like that.

[Sweetsee]

Last theater I went to was in the boondocks of Saitama with my daughter at a new cineplex. We had some time to kill while the missus was doing private lessons and took in Brokeback Mountain. It started out as a wonderful experience as the place was nearly empty, like I like it. We had seats up in the back of the place with no one around us. Then two women began to make their way up the aisles. As I feared, but could not believe, they came and sat down right next to us. Honestly, there were no more than a small handful of people in the entire place and they had chosen to occupy the seats directly beside us. I literally had to take my arm off the armrest as the younger women, with a hint of apprehension, sat down beside me. We moved over several seats and enjoyed the film. We have since had two more children and not been to any movie theaters since.
Enjoy,
s

[Hoser]

That's one of the things that get me about movie theatres in Japan-the numbered seats! I remember the good old days back home where you could buy a ticket and then go into the theatre and sit wherever there were no people! Another thing that gets me is how they all sit right through to the very end of the credits! Come on people! The movie's over, nobody cares who the caterer was.

[BobbyBan]

I watch films about once a month. It is better to go to the evening showings as they are about 1300 yen each, I believe and if you want to take a special lady out to the cinema then go on Wednesdays as women get in for 1000 yen.

Watched No Country For Old Men recently and it was great. Didn't mind forking out the 1800 yen for that one.

[BobbyBan]

[Mothy]

Yeah I don't mind sitting through the credits, and in fact like doing so if the movie was especially good. Allows me to mull it over in my head while still in the ambience of the film. Of course if the movie sucked I generally just want to get up and leave. I already wasted an hour or two or three, why would I want to waste even one second more of my life on it.

[Sour Grape]

[Hoser]

Yes but what if you get into the movie theatre and you find that the place is practically empty except for a bunch of really annoying teenagers directly in front of you? And you know you can't move because as soon as you do someone else is going to come in and tell you that you're sitting in their seat-Murphy's Law.