Troy

[armb]

We went to the new Cineworld cinema in Cambridge to see Scooby Doo 2. After a short while we realized that The Cat In The Hat we were watching wasn't just a trailer, it was the start of the film. A very apologetic manager explained that they hadn't been able to get the Scooby Doo print, and the tickets and signs should have been changed, and of course we could have a refund and would we like to watch either The Cat In The Hat or any other film they were showing free? So we saw Troy. I thought it was a lot better than some of the reviews have suggested.
Some of the changes from the standard story seemed a bit arbitrary and unnecessary. Not having the gods directly involved I think is a reasonable decision, if want this to be the "real" story to which the gods were added as the story turned into legend. But there is no sense whatsoever that this is a ten year long seige - it appears to all be over in three days of fighting (and a 12 day break, not shown, for funeral games).

Comments

[crazyscot.livejournal.com]

Movies are released to different schedules in different countries at the whim of the media marketing executives. Sometimes they come out about the same time, but as far as I can see they usually open in the US first.

On a side note, Cineworld has only just opened; it sounds like they have had trouble getting in the prints.

[armb.livejournal.com]

Things might change when we have more digital showings, but at the moment it apparently actually costs too much to make enough prints to open around the world at the same time. The US is the biggest market, at least for US made films, so they open there (and it was supposed to be the last showing of Scooby Doo2, but Troy is fairly new), and then the prints get shipped to Europe later.
The excuse for region coding DVDs is that the studios need DVDs to come out at roughly the same interval behind the movie around the world to make the most money and that money helps fund more films, so film viewers should want to see DVDs make lots of money. But classic films like Casablanca, and films that aren't released worldwide, also get region coded, so the fact that they can get away with charging more in some regions than others has something to do with it too.

[armb.livejournal.com]

> the cat in the hat was supposed to be very, very bad.

That's why we didn't go for the "stay and watch The Cat In The Hat no we've started" option. We were the only people in that screen, and almost the only people watching Troy, which I guess is partly because the cinema has only just opened (and the car park was free because they hadn't finished installing barriers and ticket machines).
Troy was a bit silly, but in an okay kind of way, and it's not as if Scooby Doo was going to be a deeply serious movie that we had to change moods for.
It's not as convenient for people who live in town as the Grafton Centre one but (assuming not having the advertised film and failing to let people know is teething troubles they'll get over) does seem like a nicer cinema, and least while it's still all shiny and new.

[timill]

So where is it? I hadn't noticed any advertising nor mention on cam.misc.

[armb.livejournal.com]

On the old Cattle Market site, near The Junction.
http://www.cineworld.co.uk/ didn't have it listed yet last time I looked, but there have been adverts in the local papers.