Duh?! If my youngest brother would read this he would probably laugh his head off and ask uh? why are you writing about a cinema? He is my worst critic you know. And he would definitely say, cinemas are so common place and perhaps I’m running out of blog topics. Hmmp, as if! A cinema is a big deal. Period. For me and I think for the rest of Phnom Penh. Why? Because after three years of living here without Hollywood movies on big screen…well..you sort of miss it. And celebrate the day, a bonafide cinema opens. Complete with the frills {the popcorn!!!} and real, not pirated Hollywood movies.
I’m a movie rat. Ever since I was in high school, I love going to the movies. At the height of my movie addiction I go to watch a movie at least twice a week. I was lucky coz when I was living in Manila, our house was just across a mall with an 8 hall cinema. So I guess you can imagine my dismay when we moved here and discovered the only cinemas around were the ones showing Khmer horror movies. So that left me hounding the DVD shops in the markets for the latest movies. But the experience is not the same, and yeah, it kinda needles that I’m watching a pirated film. This is really enough for me to think that I was living under a rock.
When I heard that a cinema was opening in City Mall here in Phnom Penh, my reaction was, ‘Are you for real?!’ Then a friend said, yes, its for real. Cue for a happy dance from me. Hehehe. Legend Cinema is located at the 3rd floor {right beside the food court} of City Mall, Monireth St., Sangkat Veal Vong, Khan 7 Makara, Phnom Penh. A friend and I got an invite for the media screening of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and you guessed right! We were giddy with excitement, {you know not just because we’ll be seeing James Franco on big screen..although that’s a great incentive}, but we get to experience the the latest talk of the town.
And I was surely in for a pleasant surprise. Here’s what I liked:
- Well lit and well appointed lobby.
- Lounge seats for those waiting for their screening to start.
- No long queues. {or perhaps we went during the early part of the day? and it was weekday?}
- Friendly and accommodating cashiers.
- Affordable snacks although the choices are a bit limited. But the caramel popcorn was yummy {it even deserves a post of its own, sigh!}
- Clean screening hall.
- Well groomed ushers – I actually thought I was seeing Matrix doubles when I saw their uniforms. Hahaha. But they do look nice.
- Good sound proofing.
- Seats were comfy.
- Sound quality was superb.
- And the movie was great!
- And oh, they have 2D and 3D Screenings and also several types of seats you can choose from.
