Dutch theaters (Or: Staring at the ondertitels)

In a previous post, there was some talk about Dutch movie theaters. Here is what I have learned about them:

1. Most importantly, the major English movies are still in spoken English. Generally a movie is shown in its original language.

2. Most (or all?) of the movies I saw had Dutch subtitles (ondertitels) at the bottom of the screen. For me, this was distracting – in a good way. At times I found it more fun to stare at those then to actually look at the movie itself.

3. There is assigned seating. When you purchase your ticket at the ticket machine, you pick the exact seats you want. This is nice since it lets you see what seats have already been taken. Of course with movies which have been out for a while this isn’t as big a deal, but it’s good to stake a claim.

4. I’ve been told you can order beer at the cinema, though I have not seen it (yet).

5. The only movie theater I have been to so far in the Netherlands is Pathé Spuimarkt. It sort of reminds me of the 42nd street theater, since you have to go up 3 or 4 escalators to get to your theater.

6. Marco mentioned how you have the option to purchase 3-D glasses for 3-D movies. You can keep them, but it doesn’t help when you forget them at home. On the plus side, I do think Marco could easily host a 3-D viewing party for 10 folks with his extra pairs.

7. They have vending machines in the cinema. Very useful if you want to skip the lines and only want candy or pop. Of course you are still paying cinema-level prices!

Here’s one of my old, battered tickets. It was riding around in my jacket for many months after:

Dutch movie ticket from Pathe Spuimarkt

8. Zaal = theater. Rij = Row. Stoel = Seat.

Happy movie viewing!