| It has been exactly two years and some few days since the last time I stepped in the cinema to watch a movie. It’s been quite a while but that changed all that with the pandemic and the emergence of streaming services. Local cinemas are slowly opening and easing restrictions, but we can’t vigilant to be careful are we?
Speaking of vigilant, the first movie I’ve decided to see was “The Batman” and my expectations wasn’t as high as it used to be. But I’ve seen a handful of trailers and staving off early critical reviews and try to get to feel that ‘big screen’ atmosphere when I entered the cinema a few minutes before the actual movie played. |
I chose a little subtle cinema with less crowds in the shopping centre and mostly the viewers who paid for their tickers are from the suburbs nearby the area. I’ve been frequent to nearby malls, but never actually spending and buying a ticket to experience the big screen.
One of these reasons are the way ticket prices have significantly increased, and second despite the easing of restrictions with regards to the health protocols you can’t be relaxed despite being fully vaccinated. I miss the cinema experience as you can’t replace the big screen with fancy projectors or streaming services. But you can’t also take things for granted and just appreciate the experience that comes your way in seeing this films as they’re still an escape from your mobile phones, social media, and reality you might be struggling dealing with every single day.
It was surreal to be back and quite strange to be inside with a group of peoples, since I’m used to the smaller cinemas a few years back while living in Adelaide. Those memories of paying for ‘student tickets’ (since I was taking post-grad course) gives you perks, besides the reduced bus fees and some interesting things that the Philippines don’t have for the local students here.
I chose the cinema at the Ayala Malls Circuit as above mentioned to avoid large crowds, and having the experience seated separately from the other viewers. I’ve seen a handful of films in this cinema and it was always a good experience, but I kinda miss the Greenbelt 1 cinema, which has not opened since the pandemic. Their tickets are actually cheaper compared to the current rates.
The cinema I was in for ‘The Batman” was at the Dolby ATMOS theatre, which was a few pesos cheaper than the one in the CBD. This was also the last full show at 7:45 PM since the film is a whopping three hours long.
It was quite the visceral moment how intriguing it was to see another rebooted Batman film as I recall going back to the time I’ve seen the Tim Burton Batman with Michael Keaton in the role at the former Harrison Plaza with a colleague. Those ticket prices back then were just ₱ 20.00 Pesos ($0.53 AUD | $0.39 USD **) compared to the current rate that I paid for this at ₱ 320.00 Pesos ($8.54 AUD | $6.22 USD **), which would still be cheap if you’re earning dollars but I don’t.
Though after seeing it the satisfaction was actually worth it although it won’t be the same experience for every time you watch a film in the cinema. It’s still a strange feeling being inside wearing my mask and just trying to get the feel of the people’s vibes in seeing this film.
In the past, I used to see movies through press screenings consistently, and then I was gone living back in Adelaide. I’m just fortunate to have that experience in the past and writing reviews for them. But when you pay for your ticket there’s this feeling of no restraint to really go and let people know how was the experience and that never changed and definitely appreciate went to see it.
Hopefully will post the review here soon, for now the ‘feel’ inside the cinema was something else aside from the film. Let’s be optimistic that things look up with some semblance of normalcy that life gets better for everyone.
** - Currency Converter via Google.com
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