In the age of the cineplex…

… the Cinema still exists.

I caught a picture of this as I was passing by the area - Sentul Cinema.

Actually, it was a while back but I never got round to posting this picture up.

I was absolutely fascinated at seeing it, because so many cinemas have already closed down due mainly to lack of business and the competition from the cineplexes. In fact, this cinema is new!

Given a choice between GSC with its 20 cinema halls and choice of movies, popcorn, drinks, air-conditioned comfort with plush seats; and Rex, with its cracked leather seats, single movie screening, musty cinema smell; which would the masses go for? In many ways, the rise of the clean and bright Cineplex rekindled the magic of going to the movies - except this time, we get popcorn instead of kuaci and preserved fruits on a stick, and the tickets cost a heck of a lot more too.

Hands up who remembers paying RM2.50 for a seat downstairs in the cinema or coughing up RM3.00 for a seat upstairs? I never knew what the difference was. And there’s that distinctive musty smell of the cinema - stale smoke and sticky drinks and food - that I don’t miss. What about the seats with the hard wooden backs and cracked leather seats that keep threatening to fold up on you especially when you are a small child and struggling to keep the chair from swallowing you up?

The last movie I saw in a cinema was at the Rex in Sungai Wang Plaza. It was Jurassic Park and it scared the crap out of me. After that, most of the cinemas have been closed down, and many are turned into hypermarkets or bazaars.

But is it my imagination or were cinema screens bigger in the old days? I used to be able to be totally lost in the majestic screen, absorbed in watching the movie, but these days, the screens just aren’t large enough for you to get totally lost.

Then also, the only thing you had to irritate you were people chatting or kicking your chair or that incessant crack of the kuaci shells. This time, you get people chatting, kicking your chair, and the ringing of mobile phones. Never once have I sat through an entire movie without hearing a phone ring at least once.

So, I’m positively fascinated by the Sentul Cinema. Its like a blast from the past. The newest poster shows Rush Hour 3, but I wonder if they aren’t still showing “Sivaji the Boss” - a Tamil movie that seems to have been running forever. 

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