Competition in action! Update on Brisbane Cinemas

The re-opening of the New Farm Cinemas (previously known as Village Twin) seems to have really shaken up our local cinema industry.  I've noticed a few changes going on and thought I'd give Brisbane residents an update on what is happening around town.  Apologies to my readers who live elsewhere, this is not relevant to you.
 
So we have a new cinema in town which is pretty exciting!  New Farm Cinemas is the new name for the iconic cinema complex on Brunswick Street at New Farm (on the corner of Moray Street) which was established in 1921 and was part of many people's childhood.  Having been closed for many years, it has finally been dusted off, refurbished and re-opened a few weeks ago.  They are still building 4 of the cinema rooms but 2 are open.  I haven't been yet, but the styling looks great, they have bean bags, and the prices are very attractive.  General tickets for adults are $11.50 and they only charge $2 extra for 3D (most cinemas charge $3).  Cheap day is Tuesday where all tickets are $7.50.  A range of concessions are available.  However, deal of the year has to be joining the "Purple Club" which costs $16 per year but gives you the ability to buy tickets for $9.50 for you and a friend all the time, plus a free ticket on joining and special offers.  With a Lounge and Café selling pizza, light meals and sweet treats from local gelato bars plus my favourite ever brownies from Dello Mano, this place cannot go wrong!  Look forward to the range of movies showing expanding when all theatres are open.
http://newfarmcinemas.com.au/
 
The opening of this cinema seems to have injected some competition into the market, unless it's just coincidental that it opened its doors and a bunch of other places have dropped their prices?  Of course, there have been other discount options around but most of those are suburban or at South Bank so they don't seem to have prompted the same amount of competition.  Let's see what else has happened around town?
 
The biggest change I've seen is that the Palace Cinema chain has dramatically slashed prices and shifted discount day from the universal Tuesday, to Monday.  At Palace Barracks and Centro (also at New Farm - hmmm), Monday night prices are now $7 for all films.  On other days, adult tickets are now $11 and concessions $8.  This is a pretty big reduction given they were charging around $17 per adult ticket prior to 31 July (from memory).  Palace Cinema Club now only costs $8 to join per year, which gives you $8 adult movie tickets at any time plus 1 free ticket a year.
http://www.palacecinemas.com.au/

I was at Dendy Portside (Hamilton) the other day and noticed a large sign promoting cheaper ticket prices.  Their website is still showing Adult ticket prices of $18, but I swear they had a sign up saying all adult tickets were now $11.  You can join the Club Dendy program for $18 for 1 year or $24 for 2 years, which gives you tickets at $11.50 all the time plus discounts at local retailers and a frequent movie card which gives a free one every 5th movie.  Tuesday is cheap day at Dendy.  If you are thinking of going there hoping for $11 tickets when you are not a member, it may pay to phone ahead and check, because that sign I saw might have been just for the day I was there (a public holiday).  However, I'm sure it's not going to take them long to catch on to what everyone else is doing.
http://www.dendy.com.au/Page/Home

The cheapest chain in town has always been Cineplex, who own South Bank Cinemas, Balmoral, Hawthorne and Victoria Point.  No changes here, as they were already pretty good prices. Tickets prices here depend on when you see the film.  Weekends and weeknights after 6pm are $8.50, Sunday after 4pm is $7.50, cheap Tuesday and any other weekday before 6pm is $6.50.  Then there are concessions on these prices for students, seniors and children.  Balmoral and Hawthorne cinemas are smaller and more intimate so you may want to skip seeing the latest 3D blockbusters here but they are good for small films and arthouse stuff.  Southbank has the giant 35 metre screen in Cinema 5 for all the blockbusters, but it gets pretty popular.   Parking is a problem so catch public transport if you go.   It's also been messy and dirty on our last few trips.  Victoria Point is by all reports pretty nice and has decent screen sizes, but it's way out of town unless you live in the Redlands area!
http://www.cineplex.com.au/index.php

The Schonell theatre at St Lucia (inside the Uni of Qld campus) is a great idea if you've missed a movie on its first release and want to catch it before it goes to DVD.  There are 2 screens, relatively small, but that's OK as they generally show arthouse/indie fare that doesn't need a big screen and ear-punishing sound.  It's fun to go here for a movie and pizza from the iconic Pizza Caffe.  Tickets are $12 for all sessions, $6 UQ Students and $8 for concessions.  The best deal is the Movie and Pizza deal available from the Caffe.  For $25 you get 2 movie tickets and 1 pizza.  Or for $50 you get 2 movie tickets, 2 pizzas and 2 glasses of wine.  You may to have to pay for parking though and prepare to get lost!
http://www.schonell.com/buy-tickets

Blue Room Cinebar at Rosalie doesn't advertise the ticket prices and seems to have remained a relatively expensive 'premium' option.  An advertised gift card for $46 seems to get you 2 tickets to a movie - that's $23 a ticket.  Way out of touch with the others but nice if you want that "Gold Class" experience I guess.  You can get food and drink served in the cinema here.
http://www.blueroomcinebar.com/

This leaves only our 2 big chains which are Event Cinemas and Hoyts (Redcliffe, Stafford, Sunnybank).   Neither of these are feeling the pressure yet, probably because they are suburban based (apart from the Myer Centre event cinema).   Ticket prices are still $17.50 for adults at Event and $16.50 for Hoyts.  If you have to attend these cinema chains because they are your local, I would recommend that you join their Reward programs and try to take advantage of any deals they offer.  Both clubs have a 'movie of the week' which usually costs $10, which is a good saving if you are happy not to see a movie when it first comes out.  These movies are usually ones which have been out for a few weeks and are on their way out.  RACQ members can also buy discounted Event Cinema tickets for around $11 and there are now e-vouchers that can be bought from RACQ online, but these cannot be used Fridays and Saturdays after 4pm.  I also understand that Telstra and Optus both offer their mobile phone customer discounted tickets for Event Cinemas or Hoyts, check with your provider if you're not aware of these.

So there are still some expensive nights out to go to the movies, but if you are willing to travel a bit further or go on certain days/nights, then it should be affordable to go to a movie.  Keep this information above in mind and you should be able to take advantage of discounts and avoid paying full price, which is pretty out of reach for many families.