For some reason Roba’s post about Concord Cinema made me extremely homesick. Concord Cinema was the very fist theater where I got to watch a movie of my choice on the big screen without parental presence. I remember it was in the early 1990’s when I headed out on my first "sans-parents" movie outing with my friend Lana to Cinema Concord in Jabal al-Hussein. I vividly recall watching the film La Bamba. I was very happy that day and went back home to tell my sister, Tania, about the movie and the wonderful experience at the theater.
Those were the days when I used to enjoy the simple things. Would I return to that theater today? I very much doubt it. The place has become filthy, the screen quality is comparatively mediocre and you are always greeted by a grumpy old man who wants to make sure you have the right ticket for the right show. Amman changed a lot since the heyday of Cinema Concord.
Nowadays, there are a good number of top-notch theaters which have helped transform a trip to the movies into a mainstream outing instead of a fringe activity for the curious. Today’s theaters are clean with fairly new movies and young, attractive clerks that issue the ticket with a smile –- a rare feat for Jordanians.
Long gone are the days of Cinema Concord, Philadelphia or even Plaza. Now it’s: Century Cinema, Galleria and Grand Theaters! Although these places provide you with a decent movie night, they lack the unique character of Cinema Concord or even Cinema Philadelphia, where you were greeted with hand-painted film posters! Ah, I long for those good carefree days of youth in Amman when simplicity was the name of the game.
Iyas ! I think that my first memory of a Cinema was the “Al-Taqrir” for Dureid Lahham in Concord as well 🙂 I can even recall were we parked the car, Thanks for bringing this up again to refresh my memory.
As for Philadelphia, I am really sad that is it shut down as well, really comfortable seats, large screen and so.. It had this poster thing that Roba talked about, as well, it had this weird translations 🙂 I remember “Meet Joe Black” was translated in the sign outside to “قابل جو الوسيم” (Meet the Handsom Joe) 🙂 they used catchy lines for sure .. hehe
I can neither confirm nor deny your claim iyas! How can I tell from an across the street distance?
There was a “resturant” that sells to7al and mkhaakh “brains” there. That was the closest distance I dared to be from that cinema.
Yes Natasha, Ammoon was its name although the name changed 3 times in a matter of a few years. I think it was something else before Ammoon.
And Jareer, cinema il hamra, hehehe…they used to have aflam “mata3ameh”, meaning it would be a perfectly “normal” movie, an action one most often, then all of a sudden it was edited with some X-rated material 😛
You cinema goers! and you boast about it . It used to be a felony in my days to go to cinema, even passing by one in Amman, especially ” cinema il7amra.”
And by the way, Iyas, I think the old name of the Abdali theatre is “Ammon”, don’t know I might be mistaken.
Rainbow’s theatre has now been transferred into “Hisham Yanis” theatre and it is still up and running. I went there two years ago to cover a play for the Jordan Times.
Here is the link:
http://www.amanjordan.org/english/daily_news/wmview.php?ArtID=956
No way! Philadelphia is shut down?! I used to think it was the tidiest movie theater in Amman, even after Galleria opened.
But does anybody remember Cinema Rainbow? The one that eventually turned to Nabeel and Hisham Theater; or the cinema in Abdali (forgot the original name damn it) that was later named “Cinema wa Masrah An Nujoom” then became Nabeel Al Mashini’s Theater? This reminds me of my parents and others of their generation that used to tell me Cinema Basman in downtown King Hussein (Sult) St. was the theater back in the days.
The two vivid memories I have of the older movie theaters in Amman are “The Wizard of OZ” in Philadelphia and Dureid Lahham’s “Al-Taqrir” (The Report) in Concord.
One final comment, movie tickets are relatively expensive. In the US, they are typically around $7.5 to $10. Last I remember in Jordan, they were around JD 5. For a family of 4, that’s 20. I think a wide sector of Jordanians cannot afford that. In addition, give me a decent movie theater with relatively new releases outside of Amman. Again, we go back to the idea of entertainment options being limited to a select stratum of society…in Amman. Jordan is becoming Amman and Amman is already the modern-day Jordan. It makes me sick…
Yeah Philadelphia Cinema was very unique. Too bad they shut it down.
I always thought Philadelphia had a more unique character than Concord.
Well i guess Concord had the whole two levels thing, which was cool when you sat on top (even though you couldent see that well) but then Philadelphia was just kind of weird being under 3amaret il burj, and then there’s that Royal cubicle type thing in the back etc…
Haven’t heard of that game 🙂