Ok, we've been here for two years now and it certainly is about time that we venture forth and try to see a movie in our fair city of Moscow. As fun as it was to go to London to see Skyfall, the reality of our financial situation is that was a complete one-off. Who do we think we are, multi-millionaires with disposable income hemorrhaging out of our ears? НЕТ.
The other day I was chatting with a friend who has been to the movies multiple times and claims it is as easy as pie. Who knew? When we first arrived, we were told that there was only one theater that screened English movies and it was across town. Not only was it a drag to get there, the films were hit-or-miss and sometimes we would have to wear earphones in order to get the original language translations. You can see why we weren't rushing out to go to the movies.
ОДНАКО, I decided that enough was enough and that I was going to figure out a way, by hook or by crook, to catch a movie on the big screen. It was high time to actually expand my horizons and now that I am feeling completely comfortable here, I had it in my head that we were going to see a movie with tickets, popcorn and comfy seats. Poor Mr. U, he didn't see this one coming. I had as of yet to inform him that we were going to the movies!
It turns out that there is a movie theater one metro stop away from our place in the Afimall! You might remember from a previous post that the Afimall is an awesome multi-story shopping center that puts the Rideau Center to shame and makes the Eaton Center (Pssst, Toronto friends, is it still called the Eaton Center?! Oh gosh, I'm dating myself here!) look like a collection of thrift stores. Check it out here: http://afimall.ru/en
Who knew there was a cinema that played films in the original English there, too?
A quick trip through cyberspace to the cinema's website and we were off to the races! http://www.formulakino.ru/cgi-bin/show.pl?option=cinema_contact&id=49 Using Google Chrome gave a pretty good translation and I was able to see the availability for ticket sales for each showing. It turns out that when you buy movie tickets here, you also buy a specific seat. I find that very civilized. You can even buy them in advance and not worry about last minute scrambling and rushing for seats. I imagine there isn't much of an issue with that for English language showings, though.
Once I had my facts straight, Mr. U was summarily informed that were heading out the next evening and he was given the choice between two movies.
Tomorrow came and we hopped on the metro and headed over to the fifth floor of the Afimall where we could purchase our tickets at a self-serve kiosk. All would have gone smoothly IF I had been paying attention to my task at hand instead of being distracted by the excitement of it all. I guess that in my haste I did not do the mental math fast enough and did not realize that I had selected and payed for seven seats instead of five. There were our five in the back row plus two more in the row in front that must have been inadvertently selected as my hand hovered over the touch screen.
No big deal, right?
Just head over to the counter and get a refund, right?
Wrong.
As you know, everything here is complicated. Things get done but things are complicated. As long as you do not deviate from the plan, you will have no issues.
I deviated from the plan.
In order to be refunded the price of two tickets (a total of 700 руб or 22 CAD) one of us had to produce a passport, fill out a form with every personal detail imaginable and then submit it for scrutiny followed by a deep sigh and then the cash back. Thankfully Mr. U had his passport handy and was able to fill out the form with no issues. This process earned me a pretty harsh glare from Mr. U and made me thankful that he does not have laser beam eyes. It is a good thing that he loves me.
After the requisite trip to the concession stand for some refreshments we headed to the movie theaters to find our seats. It seems that we were a touch early so we had to sit on a bench and wait until 5 minutes before the movie was scheduled before they would open the doors to our amphitheater. When you have assigned seats there really is no reason to line up, is there?
My one complaint is that the amphitheater was heated. At least, I believe that the A/C that should have been blowing on us to keep us cool was either not functioning or it was actually blasting heated air at us instead of cool air. It is not fun watching a movie when you are melting down. FYI
Aside from the slow-cooker atmosphere, everything was fantastic. The ultra-comfortable seats reclined and rocked, it was simple to buy tickets and there were maybe 20 seats occupied in the whole place. The Canadian judge gives the experience a 9/10.
As for the movie itself, I gave Mr. U the option of either The Wolverine or RED2. Guess which one won?
I just love John Malkovitch. Hugh Jackman is nothing to sneeze at either so there really was no wrong answer. I just know which movie we will see next.
It still makes me giggle that North American/English films are considered "foreign films" here. It is all a matter of perspective, I guess!
The other day I was chatting with a friend who has been to the movies multiple times and claims it is as easy as pie. Who knew? When we first arrived, we were told that there was only one theater that screened English movies and it was across town. Not only was it a drag to get there, the films were hit-or-miss and sometimes we would have to wear earphones in order to get the original language translations. You can see why we weren't rushing out to go to the movies.
ОДНАКО, I decided that enough was enough and that I was going to figure out a way, by hook or by crook, to catch a movie on the big screen. It was high time to actually expand my horizons and now that I am feeling completely comfortable here, I had it in my head that we were going to see a movie with tickets, popcorn and comfy seats. Poor Mr. U, he didn't see this one coming. I had as of yet to inform him that we were going to the movies!
It turns out that there is a movie theater one metro stop away from our place in the Afimall! You might remember from a previous post that the Afimall is an awesome multi-story shopping center that puts the Rideau Center to shame and makes the Eaton Center (Pssst, Toronto friends, is it still called the Eaton Center?! Oh gosh, I'm dating myself here!) look like a collection of thrift stores. Check it out here: http://afimall.ru/en
Who knew there was a cinema that played films in the original English there, too?
A quick trip through cyberspace to the cinema's website and we were off to the races! http://www.formulakino.ru/cgi-bin/show.pl?option=cinema_contact&id=49 Using Google Chrome gave a pretty good translation and I was able to see the availability for ticket sales for each showing. It turns out that when you buy movie tickets here, you also buy a specific seat. I find that very civilized. You can even buy them in advance and not worry about last minute scrambling and rushing for seats. I imagine there isn't much of an issue with that for English language showings, though.
Once I had my facts straight, Mr. U was summarily informed that were heading out the next evening and he was given the choice between two movies.
Tomorrow came and we hopped on the metro and headed over to the fifth floor of the Afimall where we could purchase our tickets at a self-serve kiosk. All would have gone smoothly IF I had been paying attention to my task at hand instead of being distracted by the excitement of it all. I guess that in my haste I did not do the mental math fast enough and did not realize that I had selected and payed for seven seats instead of five. There were our five in the back row plus two more in the row in front that must have been inadvertently selected as my hand hovered over the touch screen.
No big deal, right?
Just head over to the counter and get a refund, right?
Wrong.
As you know, everything here is complicated. Things get done but things are complicated. As long as you do not deviate from the plan, you will have no issues.
I deviated from the plan.
In order to be refunded the price of two tickets (a total of 700 руб or 22 CAD) one of us had to produce a passport, fill out a form with every personal detail imaginable and then submit it for scrutiny followed by a deep sigh and then the cash back. Thankfully Mr. U had his passport handy and was able to fill out the form with no issues. This process earned me a pretty harsh glare from Mr. U and made me thankful that he does not have laser beam eyes. It is a good thing that he loves me.
After the requisite trip to the concession stand for some refreshments we headed to the movie theaters to find our seats. It seems that we were a touch early so we had to sit on a bench and wait until 5 minutes before the movie was scheduled before they would open the doors to our amphitheater. When you have assigned seats there really is no reason to line up, is there?
My one complaint is that the amphitheater was heated. At least, I believe that the A/C that should have been blowing on us to keep us cool was either not functioning or it was actually blasting heated air at us instead of cool air. It is not fun watching a movie when you are melting down. FYI
Aside from the slow-cooker atmosphere, everything was fantastic. The ultra-comfortable seats reclined and rocked, it was simple to buy tickets and there were maybe 20 seats occupied in the whole place. The Canadian judge gives the experience a 9/10.
As for the movie itself, I gave Mr. U the option of either The Wolverine or RED2. Guess which one won?
I just love John Malkovitch. Hugh Jackman is nothing to sneeze at either so there really was no wrong answer. I just know which movie we will see next.
It still makes me giggle that North American/English films are considered "foreign films" here. It is all a matter of perspective, I guess!
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