I was in Birmingham last weekend and on Saturday night i decided it would be a good idea to go and do something, as i had the opportunity to in a large city (unlike where i live, here a good evening consists of watching cattle ((those that haven't been burned on a pire)) wandering aimlessly around). I didn't much fancy going for a drink as over-indulgence on the Friday night left me cursing anything alcoholic for at least a day. I decided that i would go and see a film.
Upon reading the "What's on" guide i was struck firstly by the number of cinema's to choose from in Birmingham, but opted for the Odeon as it was nearest to my hotel, and it was showing the film of choice for the night, "Mike Bassett: England manager".
I boarded a taxi and said "odeon please" and found myself right outside it in about 5 minutes, the journey having cost only £3.20, a bonus. It is a fairly large building and i expected the screens to be similarly proportioned, which isn't quite the case....
I got myself a ticket, £4.50, pretty reasonable i thought. Then, as i had half an hour to kill before the film, i wandered up the street to have a much needed McDonalds. The street the cinema is on, New Street, seemed to have pretty much everything you would expect from a high street and food is not a problem here with a KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut and McDonalds all within spitting distance of the cinema (this is helpful as food in cinema's always seems to be sold at exorbitant prices!!).
My film was showing on screen 8. Before i tell you about what was awaiting me inside the doors, i will firstly stress that my cinema-going is not the most prolific and i have only ever been to 2 cinemas before this one, one in my local town of average size and one at Teeside Park with gargantuan screens and the most comfortable chairs outside of DFS. Having said this, i was shocked when i entered screen 8.... It was a tiny rood, with about 40 seats maximum, the screen was about as big as my next door neighbours telly. However, the film was good and the place was, at least, clean and tidy. Sound quality was not exceptional but quite adaquate, at least it wasn't too loud (unlike Teeside, where i think most of the regulars must be hard of hearing).
I cannot comment on the other screens, but the one i was in, screen 8 was tiny and pretty substandard. Perhaps this is what you get when you cram 13 (i think) screens into one building?? I also would say that this is probably why it is difficult for these cinemas in the centre of towns to compete with their out-of-town counterparts, they do not have the space to provide huge multi-screen affairs. However, they could have gone to a bit more trouble where the seats were concerned, not the most comfortable by any stretch of the imagination and pretty constrictive in the leg-room department.
All in all, i think the term is "not bad", but neither, unfortunately, was it good.
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I think it all depends on what time you go & what film it is, if they don't think they'll sell many seats for a screening, they'll put it in a small screen. Usually they squash too many screens into these places though, more money I guess. Virgin cinemas are my favorite, £10 a ticket, but for that you get adjustable seats & a small table for every two seats to stick you drinks & pop corn on, much better than those horrible cup holders. Very good opinion.
Connoisseur_Haggler 30.10.2001 00:50
I know the one you mean, went to this years ago on New St. it is very cramped, I think a better choice would be Star City off M6 for a more spacious layout. thanks for the warning about cramped spacing.
incubus 30.10.2001 00:01
You generally don't get too many Mancunion scallys in the Odeon over here so that makes it cinema of choice for me. I see your points though.
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Oct 29th, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
