Annaconda-- Lots Better and Funnier Than Expected

 Last night my husband and I went to the movies... 

We used to be big movie goers, but in recent years it's rare. Actually, the last time was an occasion like last night. My husband's a retiree from the the Menachem Begin Heritage Center and now volunteers there, so he's invited to some of the staff events. This was a family event in Jerusalem's Cinema City. It included an "all you can eat" dinner in their VIP room, lots of pasta, pizza, salads and more plus a choice between two movies, neither which he had ever heard of. One was described as suitable for kids and the other seemed "childish," too, but we're a generation or two or even three older than pretty much everyone else who'd be attending. We agreed that if we didn't like it, we'd just walk out. Yes, the movie was ANACONDA.

I looked it up on the internet first to get a bit of an idea as to what to expect. It didn't sound impressive at all, but the evening was free. We even travel for free... So we figured there was nothing to lose.

To be perfectly honest, we had no positive expectations... but within a few minutes we were mesmerized...

ANACONDA is a movie within a movie and a comedy. It's fantasy for sure. That's genre #1, but I was reminded of John Belushi, not just because the main character is heavy. If there's such a thing as a John Belushi genre, this would be it... John Belushi in the Jungle.

Apparently an anaconda is a dangerous jungle creature, whether fact or fiction, it's irrelevant. The acting was great; the characters seemed totally real, though it was obviously unrealistic. We recommend it, and yes, there were people who walked out in the middle... 

One more thing... it's a clean movie, neither nudity nor sex. You can take your kids.

PS I took these pictures of the screen while watching the movie. We sat in the back row, and the footrests didn't work in many of the seats. It was still comfortable, lots of upholstery... so different from the Jerusalem movie theaters from way back when.

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #36 Cinema City- Not Just for Intermission

 See #35,  #34,  #33, #32,  #31, #30, #29, #28, #27, #26, #25, #24,  #23, #22,  #21, #20, #19, #18, #17,   #16, , #15a, #15, #14, #13, #12, #11, #10, #9, #8, #7, #6, #5, Saved by The First Station aka #4a, #4, #3, #2 and #1.

In the cinemas of my youth, there was nothing other than a snack bar for buying popcorn, soda and other noshes before stepping into the darkened movie theater plus some difficult to find public toilets. One needed to remember to visit either before, after or during the intermission as not to disturb the other moviegoers. Of course, there was only one large screen and movie showing at a time. Sometimes there were double-features, and you got to stay to see two movies for the price of one. 

Today movie theaters are now malls offering a variety of restaurants and even event halls, besides the fact that there are multiple movies playing simultaneously. Even more "shocking" to those of us raised in the mid-twentieth century is the fact that you can go to a place like Cinema City for something as unentertaining as a visit to the doctor, which is why I was there yesterday.

Nestled among the restaurants, stores and pubs on the main floor are the public toilets. Look up, and you'll see the signs pointing the way. When I was there yesterday, they were clean and well-equipped with soap and toilet paper.
You can tell that they were designed to suit the ambience of the location. 

Having gone to movies in the Jerusalem Cinema City, I recommend taking advantage of these on the main floor, if possible. They are much larger and nicer than the ones near the movie-viewing halls.

Actually, you can think of Cinema City as a nice indoor restaurant mall or food court. There's a small selection of restaurants and snack places, all kosher, either meat or dairy. There's even a grocery store where you can buy some healthy food, not just sugared or salty nosherei.

Public transportation is convenient. I suggest searching on Google Maps. And for those who like to walk, you'd be amazed at how centrally located the Jerusalem Cinema City actually is.

I hope that this has been helpful and was surprised that I hadn't reviewed it earlier. If you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments, thanks. Or email me at shilohmuse@gmail.com subject: Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem. I'm also on facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Celebrating at Tereza & Seeing The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

This week some of my friends took me out for a pre-Birthday Lunch at Tereza, Cinema City Jerusalem. Afterwards we saw The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, because we had read the book for our book club.

At first we had trouble choosing a restaurant in Cinema City; there are so many. But despite the fact that Tereza bills itself as a "Pasta Bar," we chose it. It looked more interesting, and was relatively quiet. Apparently it's a chain, and I couldn't find a phone number for the branch itself, 1-700-700-338. 

Tereza offers those popular lunch specials in which for the price of just the main course you get a starter and juice, bottled water or soda. We all chose different menu items, breakfast, fish and pasta.

My first course of grilled eggplant, which included salad and white cheese, was so large and filling, I had them pack it up for me to eat the following day for breakfast. I chose a fish which was delicious. The bones had all been removed, so it was easy to eat. As you can see, there was also a large green salad, which I chose from the side dish options. The others were all carbohydrates.

My friends ordered us a celebratory waffle with ice cream and whipped cream for my upcoming birthday. It was the perfect end to a birthday lunch with close friends. And for me, eating a quarter of such a treat was enough to satisfy my sugar cravings. On that we were split. Half of us said that we were glad to share it, while the other half would have been happier eating an entire portion.

We all agreed that Tereza was a great choice. We loved the food and the atmosphere. Service could have been a bit swifter, but we made it to the movie on time.

Being that it was a Tuesday afternoon, the senior tickets were reduced to NS14, if I remember correctly. We also enjoyed the movie and agreed that the screenwriter did a pretty good job adapting it. With the exception of the non-American actor playing the fiance, who had an awful fake accent, casting was on target. I love the fact that British actors have real faces, unlike Americans who look like they've come off an assembly line in a toy factory.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a movie suitable for all ages.

Ice Skating in Cinema City, Jerusalem, and Memories

I must admit that although ice skating was once a favorite winter pastime for me, and the evening I was in Cinema City, Jerusalem, I was with an old skating buddy, we didn't skate. But I did take a few pictures. I haven't been on skates of any sort for well over twenty years, and I wasn't dressed for skating nor psyched up for the adventure.

The last time I had skates on they were roller skates. I don't remember the exact year, but it was probably around 1990 or just before. That's when I was still the girls Gym Teacher here in Shiloh, and at the summer training session for gym teachers in Israel, we were surprised with a treat. Well, for me it was a treat. I was in the minority about that. They had brought in a skate rental company, and we had a few hours skating in the huge gymnasium.

Well, not everyone could skate. My generation of those raised in Israel rarely had a pair of skates per kid. Many of the gym teachers had never properly skated in their lives. Those raised in the time of the "Tzena," serious poverty and food rationing in the early days of the State of Israel didn't grow up skating the way I had. It was common for a family to have one pair of skates, if any, for all their kids to share. So many grew up scooting on a skate rather than properly skating. Growing up in Bell Park Gardens, Bayside, NY, with all the internal sidewalks and paths and when the large parking lots were empty during the days, we had lots of place to safely skate. And in the winter we went to ice skating rinks. There were even times when the "traffic circle" nearby froze over and we could safely ice skate in BPG.

So the funny thing was that although I wasn't a great athlete, nor did I ever during the 13 years I taught, get certified/qualified as a gym teacher, suddenly people were coming over offering me more jobs.

I haven't skated since.

Here are some photos from Ice Skating in Cinema City:

Chanukah, 5776, 2015, Day #4, A Night at The Movies, VIP

The first thing my husband and I did as we rushed back into the house after a night at the movies was to get our chanukiyot ready for lighting.

Yes, we went to the movies! Here's how I summarized our evening on my facebook page:

I hadn't been to a real movie, like in a cinema for years, ever since the Andy Kaufman Man in the Moon played in Israel. (We had been in the same GNN class.) But tonight my husband and I went to see Bridge of Spies, the Tom Hanks movie about Gary Powers etc. And even more, it was in the Cinema City VIP, a birthday gift from his job. It took months to find a movie the right movie, night and time. Coincidentally, someone else from there was also at the same showing and they dropped us off at the "city-line." Within a minute or two a neighbor came by and took us home. B"H!!

Since I had been warned that the seats were extremely comfortable, I have have a history of dozing off at movies, I took a cup of coffee, cappuccino, as part of the complimentary self-service "dinner" before the movie. In all honesty, the food was nothing spectacular, but there was a lot of it and they even had a salad of sorts and roasted vegetables, besides pizza, pasta, lasagna and too many desserts, popcorn, too, of course. And there was also wine and soft drinks. I didn't see any beer, but I didn't ask.

So even though, my feet were very comfortably raised, I stayed awake for the entire movie. The coffee must have helped, and it was good coffee. I only had a couple of sips of wine, which can put me to sleep if I drink a cup of it.

Now, from what we've heard, a large percentage of those who take advantage of that VIP deal got their tickets as gifts, frequently from work like my husband did. Considering that at our age, movie prices are reduced, you can go to a good restaurant for the same and not be rushed to finish on time. There's only a half hour allocated for each showing. For those who love that sort of food and dessert it can be fun. We did have a good time, and it was worth waiting for the movie. Maybe because it was a serious adult history (totally clean, so anyone would feel comfortable viewing it) movie, the audience was quiet and respectful. I have no idea what goes on during other movies.