Going to the movies in DR?

Since Christmas time is usually a good time to hit the movie houses in DR, I had a chance to visit the newest movie emporiums in Santo Domingo and for those who care, here is my personal rating for the latest in moviegoing in this city:

1)Catching your latest movie in Miami and New York or any major U.S. city is still your best bet. If you can, watch them there and avoid DR movie houses like the plague. In spite of heavy investments DR outfits like Caribbbean Cinemas, Palacio del Cine, etc. are way behind in movie technology. For instance comparing Coco Walks cinemas in Miami and Santo Domingos best is like comparing a Mercedes to a Honda Civic.

a)Diamond Mall: Movies are $100 pesos and not worth it. Your total personal expense could reach $200 with food and drinks. That is if you can find a parking space in parking defficient Diamond Mall. Four out of five times the lot is full. Dont waste your time going there. The screens are relatively small. Seats are very comfortable and A/C is nice. Not too cold.

b)Bella Vista Mall:The newest and most expensive. There is a $150 VIP movie seat which is not worth the trouble. Parking is fine since most people are still crazy enough to park in the streets and the medium on Sarasota Avenue. This is a marble floor mall with lots of stores and food. However, shockingly enough I went to see "The Ghost Ship" and after five minutes requested a refund and went home. The movie reels were either cheap copies made of one original or were damaged. There were streaks in all color in the screen. UNBELIEVABLE! They spent millions in a well designed movie house, yet they show copies of copies. I was dissapointed at the screens. They are half the size of Coco Walks panoramic screens. I will try one more time, since there are few options, but if they show another bootleg copy they will never see me again.

c)Acropolis: $100 movies. This place is so cold you need a fur coat and hat to withstand the windy air conditioned blowing on your head. I had a leather jacket, baseball cap and boots and was freezing. I could not enjoy "Die Another Day", a dissapointing James Bond movie with a stupid plot and equally asinine visual effects and stunts. I hated Madonnas theme song in this movie. I rather have Duran Duran or Shirley Bassey. I still think there is nobody like Sean Connery anyway. I have seen Dominican chicks in our barrios that look better than Halle Berry. She did not impressed me at all. And she was not Ursula Andress coming out of the beach! Avoid the Acropolis if you can. This is the only mall in the world that charges for parking and it becomes a huge traffic jam at the pay booth. Narrow parking spaces and lanes. Not worth all the hoopla. Better option is to go to Fridays Bar there and have a few drinks. Contrary to Fridays in the U.S., this bar is frequented by upper class people and has a chic atmosphere.

d)Plaza Central: If you like to have flying roaches land on your Coke come to the movies here. You may also watch the movie in the company of Mickey Mouse!! Except our rats are bigger. There is no air conditioning in the malls third floor. People even seat in the rugs up front. can you believe it? There are blackouts and sound problems sometimes. Screens are so small, your 29" Sony at home looks better.

In other words...buy a ticket to Miami and see your movies there.

TW

Chirimoya

You are absolutely right. Next time I stop over a shop called Mango and others I will ask why they sell fur coats and heavy wool clothes in DR.

Now dont think I have not seen a few jevitos wearing coats on Lincolon Avenue and some clubs. But fur???? In fact, one store display had nothing but winter clothing ready for a Chciago blizzard!!!

Better yet, those maniacs from the Harley Club wear heavy leather coats, beaver hats, leather gloves and heavy boots with 90 degree weather!!

TW

Issac and Dolores

Issac: It has nothing to do with black bitches. If you want to know, I liked Grace Jones better in one of the old Bond movies, where she was a bad girl. She is not as beautiful as Halle, but I found her to be more exciting. And she could sing too.

Frankly, I would rather go for Naomi Campbell as the next Bond girl if she has to be black. better yet, the blond dyed singer from Destiny's Child who has that new video called Bonnie and Clyde, or maybe Ashanti. So you see Issac, I like black girls too. Do you want to check out my six-foot black girlfriend with a Jennifer Lopez-like ass? I'll send you a picture.

Hey, there's one J-lo could make Halle look like Twiggy.

Dolores, I never knew El Millon or whatever neighborhood ISSFAPOL is located was an upscale neighborhood. I thought that was Dominican-York territory. As I see it, that area is full of colmadones and guys wearing gold chains. Then Nu?ez De Caceres Avenue is our future Avenida Duarte. Granted, the place looks very safe with that big fence.

For movie historians, there was a movie house on Duarte Street called the Coliseo Brugal where movie goers used to **** right on the seats. They used to throw spit balls and chewing gum from the balcony to the first floor and you could catch rats as big as wildcats with your bare hands and throw them down flying. The tickets were $0.10 cents.

I also saw a movie house near Leopoldo Navarro St. where a guy set up a flat screen large TV and shows movies for $5 pesos. You got to bring your own chair or stool.

TW

TW