This is me, masked up for the first movie I saw in a cinema in more than 14 months. It was May 18, 2021, and I hadn’t stepped inside a movie theater since March 12, 2020. I only felt comfortable returning because it was a very large screen (341 seats), there were only maybe a couple of dozen other critics in the room, and the studio hosting this press screening — Paramount, for A Quiet Place: Part II — implemented the same COVID-safe measures for the screening that it is using on film and TV sets to ensure everyone’s safety.
I’ve been to a few other press screenings and public multiplex showings since then, all with limited capacity, all with a mask mandate. But now, in the UK — I live in London — all those precautions are about to be lifted. And I won’t go back to cinemas unless I am sure they won’t be very crowded (like for an early-morning weekday showing). And I’ll keep wearing a mask.
Are you comfortable going back to cinemas yet? If not, what will it take for you to be comfortable? Or, perhaps you’ve been going to the movies all along during the pandemic, when possible, in which case I’d ask: How safe did that feel, and were you ever worried about your safety?
I went to "In The Heights" yesterday; my first in-theatre movie since March 2020. Saw it at home on HBO Max but wanted the large-screen experience. There were six or seven other people in the audience.
I'm vaccinated, so yes, I'm comfortable going back to the cinema as long as the number of cases stays fairly low; not sure how I'll feel about that when theatres are allowed to drop their mask requirement.
If I could go back to the way it was— $5 Tuesday Seniors Day, and the first showing, I would. There were never more than seven people in the whole movie, and was always assured of my same seat, four rows from the front. But management hasn't adopted a regular schedule, keeping only the prime times, and I have no desire to mingle with noisy kids or teenaager or litter. Has nothing to do with the pandemic really.
I'm comfortable here in Australia, but I wouldn't be in London. Cases are rising - fast. Several members of my family have been very ill, and two have died. Yes the lunatics are out in the streets celebrating the football, and the non-functional government is lifting all restrictions! As Mr Scrooge famously said, I'll retire to a lunatic asylum.
I've been going all along, since they reopened in my area June 2020. It's a very important part of my life, having grown up living a block away from my small town cinema, so I never considered not going. I've been over 100 times in the past year and never felt any sense of danger as all cinemas here have had strict safety protocols. Until recently, I'd often be the only person at these screenings, fervently hoping my meager patronage was enough to keep these sacred places in business. Now that we're vaccinated and "real" movies are being released, it's almost back to normal at last, and I'm so relieved.
Obviously, movies are very important to me, too. I don't think I've had as long a non-moviegoing stretch -- that 14+ months I mentioned in my post -- since I was a teenager. Probably even further back, to my gradeschool years. (I'm 51 now.)
I, too, worry deeply about the prospects for cinemas as a going concern, especially the small, local, noncorporate ones, in the wake of the pandemic. I agree that they are sacred spaces. But I *really* want to avoid catching this damn virus, and even though I'm now fully vaccinated, I still worry about being in enclosed spaces (cinemas have never been very well ventilated, I feel) with lots of people for long stretches of time. :-(
I really can't wait till everything is truly back to normal, and I don't have to worry about going to the movies anymore.
I went to "In The Heights" yesterday; my first in-theatre movie since March 2020. Saw it at home on HBO Max but wanted the large-screen experience. There were six or seven other people in the audience.
I'm vaccinated, so yes, I'm comfortable going back to the cinema as long as the number of cases stays fairly low; not sure how I'll feel about that when theatres are allowed to drop their mask requirement.
If I could go back to the way it was— $5 Tuesday Seniors Day, and the first showing, I would. There were never more than seven people in the whole movie, and was always assured of my same seat, four rows from the front. But management hasn't adopted a regular schedule, keeping only the prime times, and I have no desire to mingle with noisy kids or teenaager or litter. Has nothing to do with the pandemic really.
I'm comfortable here in Australia, but I wouldn't be in London. Cases are rising - fast. Several members of my family have been very ill, and two have died. Yes the lunatics are out in the streets celebrating the football, and the non-functional government is lifting all restrictions! As Mr Scrooge famously said, I'll retire to a lunatic asylum.
I've been going all along, since they reopened in my area June 2020. It's a very important part of my life, having grown up living a block away from my small town cinema, so I never considered not going. I've been over 100 times in the past year and never felt any sense of danger as all cinemas here have had strict safety protocols. Until recently, I'd often be the only person at these screenings, fervently hoping my meager patronage was enough to keep these sacred places in business. Now that we're vaccinated and "real" movies are being released, it's almost back to normal at last, and I'm so relieved.
Obviously, movies are very important to me, too. I don't think I've had as long a non-moviegoing stretch -- that 14+ months I mentioned in my post -- since I was a teenager. Probably even further back, to my gradeschool years. (I'm 51 now.)
I, too, worry deeply about the prospects for cinemas as a going concern, especially the small, local, noncorporate ones, in the wake of the pandemic. I agree that they are sacred spaces. But I *really* want to avoid catching this damn virus, and even though I'm now fully vaccinated, I still worry about being in enclosed spaces (cinemas have never been very well ventilated, I feel) with lots of people for long stretches of time. :-(
I really can't wait till everything is truly back to normal, and I don't have to worry about going to the movies anymore.