Saturday, August 07, 2004

Watching movies in Tehran...

Unlike other countries, going to a movie hall is not very popular between Iranians. Most people I know prefer to watch a DVD at home than to go to the movies. It's cheaper; & more comfortable. Still, this doesn’t mean that we don’t watch movies.
A movie hall is a cool place to hang out for a while. Most young couples find movie halls a good place for spending some time together, holding hands &.... but I must admit that I really don’t like to go to a movie hall with my gang; to be honest, we are so noisy & loud that we often get some hushes during the movie.
Movie theaters over here are not very cozy & facilitated. This could be a reason that folks don’t like to spend their time there. Most of the time, some thing is wrong or out of order. Another reason could be the fact that the price is a bit high. & of course folks choose to watch a movie at home when they can pay one-tenth of the price for a better movie....
Yet, when a good movie like MARMOOLAK (the lizard) is released, you must book your seats a weak ahead if you don’t want to miss it; alright at least if you want to watch it a good movie hall.
Farhang is one of the best movie halls over here in Tehran. It had been renovated & refurnished. The movie hall is very friendly & welcoming & another point that makes it popular is the fact that you can watch latest foreign (English & non-English) movies in their original languages (Which is a very important factor for me when I choose a movie). Farhang is located on SHARIATI Street, north of Tehran.
Another movie hall that I might choose is ESTEGHLAL, which is located in Vali-Asr Street. & as I think about it more, ASR JADID in TALEGHANI Street is another movie hall I would recommend.
Now, enough about movie halls remind me to write more on movies next time.

3 comments:

Lynne said...

I like going out to see movies in the theater when I can but, to be honest, I also like curling up on the couch and watching them at home. Both have their advantages.

Doral said...

Hi Proshat,
It's good to hear from you.

I don't get much chance to see movies , because the nearest movie theatre is nearly 150 km from my home. I will only drive 300 km to see the very best movies. I am a fan of really old time classic movies. The ones made before about 1950, and I have my own collection of them on VHS and DVD. I have about 350 on VHS and about 60 on DVD.

It doesn't cost so much to see a movie here. The top rated movies usually cost less than CAN$10 in the evening. If you go to a morning or afternoon show they are around CAN$3. The popcorn and other snacks that they sell are much more expensive than the movie tickets. Last may I paid 14 dollars for two movie tickets, and 16 dollars for two bags of popcorn and two large soft drinks.

Kids do say the funniest things some times. I wish that I had written down all the funny things that my students used to say, because now that I've been retired for 22 years I cannot remember most of their funny sayings.

A former student, who used to be a real funny little girl, came to visit me yesterday. I hadn't seen her since she was in grade 3. She has grown into a real beauty and has been on tv a few times already. She still has a good sense of humor, but now her funny lines are not accidental.

Lynne said...

Hi Proshat. I was thinking of you this weekend. I watched a pretty good Iranian movie called Baran. I am sure you've seen it. Anyhow, I liked it a lot although I liked the director's other movie Children of Heaven better.

Still, Tehran looks like a beautiful place.