I went to see a film over the weekend, The Darjeeling Limited at Off Broadway which is a theater that is very close to the tram stops of either Zülpicher Platz or Barbarossaplatz. Most of the English speakers that I know go to The Metropolis, but I personally think Off Broadway is actually a better theather (for me anyway) than the Metropolis for a few reasons:
- they show both the mainstream + independent films
- more film times rather than more films. (Nothing irritates me more than when the film I want to see is offered only once daily, at 21.50.)
- ticket prices are less expensive by a few euros (unless you go for the 4 euro Thursday Metropolis special)
- the lobby is much more spacious with built in window seats along the entire length of the lobby, and as a result, I do not end up squashed in the middle of a throng of 30+ people.
- tickets are sold with assigned seating, which you choose when you purchase your ticket. It seems to alleviate the stampede that occurs at the Metropolis, when the doors are opened and the throng rushes forward. The last time I was at the Metropolis, someone was so close behind me holding a tray of nachos that I ended up with nacho cheese in my hair.
- it's close to two restaurants I like: the all veg go! vindam and the very veg friendly Habibi at Zuplicher Strasse 28.
- there is a resident cat who sleeps in one of the windows, so I imagine the place is rodent free.
- In general, it's a lot cleaner than Metropolis inside the theater.
- The area is much more lively, so leaving the late show on foot seems safer as the area has plenty of people, as opposed to the area around the Metropolis, which is a little more desolate late in the evening.
Before you swear off the Metropolis, however, a few negatives for Off Broadway:
- Sometimes seats for the film you want will be sold out, especially on a Friday or Saturday during evening hours when you walk up 5 min before showtime.
- It's a little on the non-mainstream side, so instead of Coke, you can only get Afri-cola which seems to smack against years of American marketing, associating a movie with a cold Coke.
- It doesn't show as many different English films weekly as the Metropolis
Want to find other English movies showing in Cologne? Try here, keeping an eye out for the ones marked OmU or OV, but check that it's not an original in another language, like French. :-) Here: http://www.choices.de/heute.php or here: http://www.koeln.de/ausgehen/kino/kinokalender/index.php
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5 comments:
Thanks for the tip. I tend to go to Ffurt when I want to see movies in English but perhaps I'll give OB a go.
You are right on with OffBroadway. My favorite movie place since the extremely sad demise of the original Broadway, which was in the Ehrenstrasse and had fantastic films and a great atmosphere.
Did you like Darjeeling Limited? My son recommended it, but I have been avoiding it up to now because I don't like Adrian Brody. Silly reason perhaps.
I live near Hennef and my choices are Bonn and Cologne.
For a city of its size, Cologne is a letdown as far as English-language films and books are concerned. That surprises me given the size of the expat community there. Metropolis is sleazy, and Broadway, as vailian says, is not what it was.
If I'm not borrowing DVD's from the local library, I might drive to Beuel to the Brotfabrik, which has a good program featuring many films in English. Kinopolis in Bad Godesberg, despite the commercial flash, offers first-run movies in English. There's a good train link from Cologne to the Bad Godesberg train station, by the way.
Hope this helps.
j: it's worth a go to try it out.
vailian: Darjeeling Limited was a light comedy, so if you're in the mood for such a thing, it's just fine. Although Brody is prevalent and 'very Brody-esque' here, so not recommended if you're not a fan from that angle.
ralph: thanks for the tip, I've been past Bad Godesberg on the train, but had not heard of the Kinopolis, so will have to look into it.
Kinopolis is about five minutes' walk from the Bad Godesberg station. It shows one or two English-language films weekly, usually trashy and commercial with the rare gem ("Atonement" was showing a few weeks ago). Projection and sound are good.
Before going to the movies, you might want to walk down from the station to the Rhine. There are a few good restaurants there and a view of Drachenfels.
http://www.tedsoft.de/special/kino.html is a site listing films showings in Bonn.
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