orpheum

I want to see the new WW1 film Flyboys.Despite advertising and it being the headlined review in the Evening Standard do you know how many cinemas this is being played at throughout Greater London.Just 3.It probably cannot get playdates due to Pirates.Pirates is so i have beentold by those who have seen it a bum numbing 168 minutes.So in order to maximise their profits most cinemas are showing this in 3 of their cinemas eg 11,12 and 1.So must cinemas with an average of 5-6 screens will be giving over more than half their screen time to this film.So it gives little chance for other films.I dont blame the cinemas but the producers for this situation.Because of these overblown Hollywood films there is little chance for anything else worthwhile to be shown.By the way how do they expect us to see all of these films in one go without an intermission.I went to see Zodiac,too long by 45 minutes,and just had to pop out in the muiddle.

Moor Larkin

What was Flyboys like? It looks a bit CGI on the adverts on the TV (bit of a waste of an advertising budget if there are no cinema's showing it.. ).

I've always had a penchant for Biggles' WWI incarnation: Sopwith Camels and red tri-planes. I quite enjoyed Aces High but apart from another film that had George Peppard in it, I can't really recall many others that tried to take those RAFC days very seriously.......

[code]http://www.flickr.com/photos/29487363@N02/sets/72157606700675506/code]

orpheum

I am going to see it on Sunday,probably at the Reel in Boreham Wood.The only 2 other cinemas showing it are The Appollo in Regent Street and Cineworld in Enfield.I tried to see a film at the Cineworld last Monday,not Pirates,but could nt get parked,probably because of Pirates.I will let you know what it is like.

Moor Larkin

Doh!!

I read, you went to see........

You actually wrote, you want to see......

What a sillybilly I am....

[code]http://www.flickr.com/photos/29487363@N02/sets/72157606700675506/code]

ChristineCB

It was released here in the States several months ago, and the CGI effects are fairly limited to the mechanical objects - planes, weaponry - no Kong vs. Dino's, tumbling down canyons. So the CGI precision of mechanical objects allows it to avoid my complaints about being "cartoonish".

The overload of 80 and 100 aircraft in a relatively small part of the sky is about my only CGI complaint because it seems like the artists were trying to impress us with sheer numbers - "Look! I can indeed put 28 more planes in this part of the video-screen and animate them!"

"Oh yeah? Well so what? I can put 29 in MY grid!"

Puh-leeze, guys - let's remember there's a story somewhere in there, not just a sketch-pad's version of one-upsmanship.

This is not a film I'd recommend on DVD, however, because the scope IS the thing, and a big-screen experience is the only way I'd recommend this film. Preferably for a cheaper ticket than not.

penfold

The first was William Wellman's Wings, IIRC the only silent film to win best picture... along the lines of All Quiet, or The Big Parade, but with planes...anyway, it has Clara Bow, Gary Cooper and Buddy Rogers, so what more can anyone ask for?? Wings (1927) No back projection either...those actors are in the air for real...
I always liked Dawn Patrol too....chockful of brits!! The Dawn Patrol (1938)

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

orpheum

i tried to see Flyboys at The Reel Borehamwood at the weekend but could not find the cinema.I was given all sorts of directions for it.Its address is the Metropolis Centre,but there is no signpost for this.the phone number was just a message line giving times of performances.So does anyone know where this cinema is.I will try Cineworld in Enfield instead in any event

Steve Crook

Go to their web site and click on "How to find us"
That gives you a map. They also give the address as 84 Shenley Road. That's the extension of Elstree Way to the West

Steve

orpheum

I finally saw Flyboys.It is quite entertaining even though riddled with cliches.However if you want to see it you had better act fast as it only lasted 1 week at most venues.The trouble is that most cinema goers arent interested in WW1.No wonder that a film which according to IMB cost $60million has sunk like a stone.By my calculation Pirates was playing at 6 of the 14 screens at Cineworld Enfield

ChristineCB

This was its fate in the USA as well. I don't know what it needed except maybe Johnny Depp in a long white scarf - maybe that would have lit up fans' interest. Strangely, it has lasted 4 months in our dollar-theatres. Even though these theatres are decidedly not the most modern of venues, it's still a good big-screen film that will have that advantage erased once on DVD.

orpheum

I have visited some of your dollar venues in the Chicago area and they are marvellous.Apart from the price they keep open some marvellous 20s and 30s cinemas.The screen i saw Flyboys on was quite large and so the visuals were that mjuch more impressive.Although Flyboys lumbered itself with a silly romantic subplot by and large it was an evening well spent.I can only lament that not only was this film dismissed by critics but it only lasted 1 week on most screens,whilst meretricious rubbish such as Pirates continues to occupy the majority of screens at most multiplexs.Anyway this weekend i am going to see the remake of Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House.

ChristineCB

I see so many of our local dollar-theatres having films with "Held over 19th week" and "Held over 27th week"... films that last 4-5 weeks at these dollar-theatres aren't even noticed. It's interesting that others, and as you said 'were dismissed by critics', have grown their legs and found audiences that probably repeatedly see the film and make up an abundance of ticket-purchases.

The one feature of these audiences that I do like - they know the film and appreciate it, and behave accordingly. They'll cheer in the right places, or stay quiet in the right films. The audiences aren't so full-of-themselves to turn everything into a ROCKY HORROR festival, but it sure helps when everyone gasps at the same time, or you can hear others muttering, "no no, don't open that door - don't go down that hall-!"

And more, I like seeing proof that audiences still believe in giving films a chance to entertain them over and over on the big-screen. Hollywood claims this doesn't happen, but dollar-theatres' continued existence proves the exact opposite. Just because a film doesn't make them kajillions in the first 10 seconds doesn't mean it can't make kajillions over time.

orpheum

Unfortunately there are no such cinemas in Greater London other than the Prince of Wales just off Leicester Square.In the UK there is no idea of subsequent runs.Once a film is payed out thats it.We used to have a rep circuit ,the Classics chain.However this was killed stone dead in the 70s when VHS came on the scene.At times the UK cinemasgoing scene is rather depressing