Food for thought

Films like The King's Speech attracted loads more "mature" people to the cinema earlier this year and helped to boost box-office revenues at Britain's biggest cinema chain Cineworld by 1.1 per cent, the company reported today as it announced its first half accounts.

But the downside is that the oldies don't spend anything like as much on popcorn, sweets, Cokes, hot dogs and nachos as the young 'uns while they're at the flicks, so retail spending dropped by 0.7 per cent and other income, such as advertising and the sale of 3D glasses, was down 8.8 per cent.