Megastar Cinema

Remember the days when movie theatres only charged $5 for admission? And Cheap Tuesdays were only $2.50? Located in the Vincom Towers Shopping Mall on Ba Trieu, the Megastar Cinema complex is a state of the art movie theatre showing recent flicks from Vietnam, Korea and Hollywood for $3.50. Wednesday nights are cheap nights, where admission is discounted even further to $2.00.

Unlike in Canada, seats in the movie theatre are assigned when you purchase your ticket in Vietnam, which makes things very orderly. The only time that the assigned seating bit me in the butt was when I was seated next to two screaming, unsupervised, hyperactive kids, who also provided running commentary during "Ratatouille". That week, "Ratatouille" was the only interesting film playing in English, too...

The Megastar Cinema also serves ice cold Heineken beer for $1.50, along with the other traditional movie goodies - chocolate bars, candy, hot dogs and popcorn. It is possible to take a date out and not have to spend $40 for two hours of diversion!

All movies are shown in the original language, with Vietnamese subtitles. My only complaint is that the Korean and Vietnamese movies aren't shown with english subtitles, so unfortunately these films aren't an option for me, although I'd really love to see them.

I recently went to go see "Silk" (a.k.a. 'Lua' in Vietnamese), directed by Francois Girard. The movie was OK, but what I found really annoying was that the characters were supposed to be French, yet everyone spoke with American accents? Another F.Y.I. is that the film was supported by the Canadian government.

Then I went to see, "American Gangster", which was less violent than I thought it would be. A note about this movie is that it is set in America against the background of events of the Vietnam War. The war was obviously depicted from an American Hollywood perspective, so it was fascinating for me to sit in a theatre full of Vietnamese as they watched the movie, hearing snickers from the audience in the dark.

And just to balance things out, just this past weekend, I saw "The Heartbreak Kid", a cheesy romantic comedy. Two thumbs down, although American comedy does translate well in Hanoi and many people laughed at Ben Stiller's antics.

Obviously, there is a short 1-3 month delay with regard to current movies, so those shown in Canada right now will eventually make their way over here in a few weeks. Maybe this has something to do with the translation or distribution rights, I'm not sure. I've been waiting with bated breath for "Bee Movie" for an eternity, but it is on the "Coming Attractions" list, so I cling to hope.

Nonetheless, the movies are a great distraction for me (at home, as in Vietnam), and it's nice to surrender my willing suspension of disbelief, even if it is for only a few hours.