Movie Day

Thursday was gorgeous -- beautiful, clear, sunny weather. Friday was mixed, humid, some clouds, still generally sunny. Saturday: raining. Sunday: raining. Naturally.

Since it was so rainy, we decided to head off to SihlCity for our first trip to the movies in Zürich. LGG and I were going to see Kung Fu Panda, and ZMG would go see an arty movie elsewhere, and then we'd meet afterward for camera browsing (yes, we still need to get a camera).

At first glance, the SihlCity theater would not be out of place in any large American city. It's a big multi-screen complex, with the usual ads for current and future movies, a box office, and concessions. After you get your tickets and snacks and go into the theater, they play music, show ads - including one encouraging all patrons to "sit down and be quiet" - and finally previews before the main attraction. There's the now-common stadium seating.

There are some significant differences, of course:

• Cost. We paid 31 CHF (pretty much the same in USD) for two tickets to a Saturday afternoon matinee. A medium popcorn and two 500ml mineral waters: 15 CHF.
• Your ticket comes with an assigned seat, and you can pick the seats you want from an interactive display that shows real-time seat availability.
  
• There is an intermission about halfway through the movie. This actually works really well for us. LGG is incredibly inquisitive, and always wants to know what's happening. At home, when we watch movies on the computer, she can't go more than 30 seconds between "Dada, why is he doing that?" and "Mama, what's happening now?" and so on. I've taken her to a few movies and she knows the rule is: No talking, just watch and ask later. Well, having an intermission means LGG can ask all her questions halfway through, then build up a new set from the second half. It worked well for us.
• Children's movies that are originally in English come in two varieties in Zurich: English audio, with German and French subtitles, and German audio, with French subtitles. You can tell the difference by looking at the movie time listings: an (E/d/f) means the first, and a (D/f) means the second. You need to specify this when buying the tickets. Of course, for me this is not hard: the moment I open my mouth to speak German, the ticket sellers know what's going on...
• It's also important to get out to the kid's movies quickly: E/d/f showings tend to only be around in the first two or three weeks of the movie's release. We missed Horton Hört Ein Who because of this mistake.
• Our theater had 2-seater couches in the back row, which was great for us: LGG could sit on her heels and lean against me, we had space for our coats and popcorn, and nobody was going to be bothered by LGG - she couldn't kick the seat in front of her.

Despite the cost, it was great fun. LGG was laughing throughout the movie, and grabbed my arm during the few scary parts. Her review of the movie: "Dada, the panda is so funny!" Her favorite part was the eating/training scene - she has been recreating it since yesterday. Her review of the theater: "Daddy, this place is really clean! And it's much better than the Colorado theater: it has cool lights and couches!"

Now she's watching a Winnie the Pooh movie on our computer; it's that kind of weekend for The Geeks.