If you’ve read The Movie Blog for any length of time, you know one of my biggest pet peeves in the world is the ungodly prices that theaters charge us for popcorn and pop. Excuse me?!?! You’re going to charge me $5 for a $0.15 bag of popcorn?!?! Is there no sanity left in the world? Is there no beacon of light and justice that can light our way to enlightenment?
Wait… wait… maybe there IS! I got this email from a reader who is an American ex-pat living in Australia that makes the land down under look like Eden to me. Here’s what Nikki had to say:
I have never heard what Im going to tell you brought up on the audio edition OR in print… but I thought you may want to know, that in this country, you can take any drinks, snack food or anything else you want into the theatre. And you arent required to purchase 4 dollar soft drinks or ANYTHING from them if you dont wish to.
We went to see King Kong ( FINALLY ) last night, and my fiancée said lets go buy our food at the grocery store beforehand. I saw her pick up a big bag of chips and informed her that it wouldnt fit into her bag or under my shirt, so we couldnt sneak it in. She laughed and said what does this look like? A communist country? Evidently, you can bring your OWN stuff, is what Im trying to say. That is what I call a free country.
Oh yes, let freedom reign Nikki… let freedom reign.
Just out of curiosity… are there any other of our international friends who can say that bringing outside food into a movie theater ISN’T frowned upon in your country? I only ask because I’ll be planning my vacation soon. :)
Ehr Vix, rice??? I ought to try that, what’s the ulam apart from the chicken? ;-)
I have brought in those little Chinese take away boxes in the cinemas here, with my 500 ml bottle of Coke. Ahhhhhhh….
i’ve done soem checking, john…. evidently it’s supposed to be against the rules, but most theatres know better than to enforce them… and unlike most theatres in america, once you’ve bought your ticket they’ll let you through.
the theatre i went to , i called up and asked their policy. They said they didnt like the idea of snacks being brought in but would rather people come , even if they didnt buy any of their stuff.. BUT they would not let anyone bring anything that could be used to hurt someone else… IE hot food, soups or the like…
hope that clears it up.
As Simone says it the practice here in the Philippines to bring in your own food – usually it’s burgers or potato chips but I’ve seen some people bring in fried chicken and rice.
darkbuddah? if you dont think this is a free country, then there is no such thing.
I also used to live in the Philippines and when I watch movies with friends, (say 3-4 of us) yes we brought in a box of LARGE pizza and a box of KFC chicken to share. And this is like everytime we watch a film. There are bins everywhere to put the rubbish away so basically, clean as you go.
In the UK, (I go to the Cineworld-West India Quay) I brought in a shoppping bag of 2 tubes of Pringles with dips, couple of cans of Coke, and some bags of sweets, never been stopped. I dont do it all the time, only on a whim.
In Brazil, at least in Rio, by law movie theaters can’t keep people from bringing their own food. Although the people that work there may not be too happy about it.
Hey john… i accidentally sent that email under my fiancee, nikki’s account. lol… my name’s Billy. But all symantecs asside, i want to inform the guy above that the AMC theatre i went to in america routinely turned me around for having anything from bottles of water into the theatre.
anyway, keep the good stuff coming… later man.
how do theatres exist?
I’m almost positive that you can bring food into any AMC theatre
The one in Whitby Ontario allows it
The enforced policy in Australia varies from cinema to cinema.
Some places search your bags, people get around it by buying the same brand lollies as the Candy bars’ sell.
It is illegal to bring in certain items into the cinemas, like cans or bottles of soft drink and hot food, due to Health and Safety regulations set down by government. There are “Gold Class” cinemas where you pay a premium and get a cinema with a total of 18 people, large recliner seats, and can purchase meals and alcohol. They are usually only twice the price of a full ticket so are worth it
There is no way you could call Australia a free country. There is a large mass of rules and regulations that people are simply not aware of, just as in the US. All our phone conversations and emails are recorded for ASIO (Australia spy agency) and also our allies in the US. It is believed to be done through Pine Gap. Software goes through the conversations and picks out key words using waveform analysis for voice or text analysis for emails. Someone joked about a bomb on the phone and was under surveillance from ASIO for 2 years and could do nothing about it.
There are laws that cover every aspect of your life, but unless you actually read the laws and regulations, say for example you are a health and safety officer, you wouldn’t know. People also forget that States and local Councils make their own laws on top of Federal laws. State laws vary, but some States you are not covered by worker’s compensation if you vary your routine from getting home from work. For example, Friday night drinks at the pub, even if you don’t drink, is not covered by workers comp. That’s fine, except, companies must legally cover you for workers comp. So if they find out you had drinks after work they must legally fire you.
There are laws for how close to a building entrance you can smoke.
There is even an official ruling on how large a hole is before it can legally be called a hole.
I forget again, what makes Australia a free country?
The problem I have is sneaking movies into restaurants.
John:
Right in your own back yard, the Oakville AMC theatre (right about the midpoint between Hamilton & Toronto along the Q.E.W. allows food into their theatres, the just don’t have a big sign saying “Everyone bring in your own food” – yes the would rather you buy the $5 popcorn.
I’ve brought in Sushi, Subway and nearly always a cup of coffee from an outside place without any issue whatsoever.
Reg Hartt’s Cineforum in Toronto allows the patrons to go across the street and buy a bottle of wine, and drink it during the film, but then Hartt is running the cinema in his Townhouse living room. Anyone in the Greater Toronto Area who loves cinema, should experience the Cineforum at least once…It is the most unique movie-going experience in Toronto…Period. What other theatre offers an hard-hard-hard-left rant before a screening to a Looney Toons Cartoon festival involving personal details as to when he first became sexually aware, and such?!?! Worth the Price of admission.
But I digress.
Dom Dunc has the UK situation pretty well stated. There are no particular rules and they wont throw you out, it√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s just that u kinda shouldn’t really.
I have been in with a full Pizza Hut pizza before :D
Ohh and my local art house cinema has now got a licence so you can take alcohol into the theatre as well, it makes watching bad films that little bit easier.
I stopped going to traditional theaters because the experience was just not what I thought it should be food included. You pay $8 bucks to get into the movie – then $15 for food and drink only to be subjected to 20 minutes of commercials for what you just payed for.
Was there any hope? As it turned out yes. That hope is called Alamo Drafthouse Cinema which started in Austin, TX. Its been rated the best movie franchise in the company and its one of Tarantino’s favorites.
Go in sit down, order a reasonably priced burger or pizza or even a greek salad. Wash it all down with a GLASS of your favorite spirit (beer/wine). Also, instead of commercials, they show really bizarre/funny old movie or foreign film footage that have relevance to what you are about to see.
Congrats and thank you for making me want to go back to the movies!
I’ve never had trouble bringing in my own food.
I had a friend who had a huge bag of popcorn from walmart and was never even confronted.
I live in Iowa, btw.
I’ve never had trouble bringing in my own food.
I had a friend who had a huge bag of popcorn from walmart and was never even confronted.
Here in the UK it is frowned upon to bring your own stuff into a cinema, but no-one will stop you or throw you out if you do.
In fact one time when we were running late my friends and I took a take-away McDonalds into the film with us, the porter guy told us we really souldn’t do it, but let us stay anyway so the rules are pretty relaxed.
I’m from Norway and I never heard about this rule you Americans have before. In Scandinavia and I believe most countries in Europe allow you to bring whatever you want in to the movie theater withour having to buy anything else than you movie ticket.
Yeah, here in Jacksonville, Florida there is a movie theater that doesn’t frown upon bringin’ your own stuff. I buy Auntie Anne’s pretzels and bring ’em in all the time.
Empire Theatres here in Charlottetown PEI supposedly do not have rules against outside food in their theatres. It was a few years ago, but I was told by an employee that their only stimpulation is no glass bottles. He said if you stop at the counter they would give you cup. I am led to belive this is true as I have never made an attempt to hide food I have brought in and I have never been stopped.
In the Philippines, you can bring in food bought anywhere. At least that’s the way it is in most theaters.