Cinema City / M-tel IMAX

Tel: 929 29 29
101 Stamboliski Blvd (inside the Mall of Sofia)
Working hours: Projections starting from 11am to 11pm, depending on the day and film in question.

In one of the more ambiguous developments of Bulgarian economic development, Sofia now has a mall. I say "ambiguous" because, on the one hand, such a thing represents a milestone of progress that would have been inconceivable 10 or even five years ago, whereas on the other, it's a bit distressing to see that consumerism has a large enough following here to merit so impressive a temple. Malls are symbols not only of a certain level of economic prosperity, but also of a certain cultural outlook, and as such can become polarising points in cultural struggles.

Love it or hate it, it's here — and it was built, as all the advertisements during construction said, with an IMAX theatre inside, up on the top floor. I went recently to check it out — in addition to the single IMAX screen, there are regular movies as well, so to get the full experience I decided to go to both. Grabbing a ticket to a regular movie for six leva (the standard price for the newer theatres, such as the two Arenas in Sofia), which are pretty much the standard to which others are compared), I headed in.

The concession counter is just inside, and, like ticket prices, the prices here are roughly comparable to other theatres of this sort — 2.99 leva for a small soft drink and popcorn combo, 3.99 for a large. Interestingly enough, the concessions stand also offers nachos and salsa in combo with a drink for 3.99 leva. Being American, of course I had to get some, but they were rather disappointing. For starters, the tortilla chips were flavoured chips and not the plain salted chips that are required for eating with salsa. They weren't even a more normal flavor like nacho cheese chips, that could almost work with salsa, either. I think they were barbecue flavored, though I didn't ask. The salsa, sadly, did not redeem the tortilla chips — it was more like spicy tomato paste than real salsa. "Bulgaria just doesn't get tortilla chips and salsa," as my family says.

But no matter. I grabbed my food and headed off to the theatre, at first in the wrong direction because the only sign telling you which screen is where is directly above the cash register for the refreshments and not actually visible from it. A small annoyance. They have 12 normal screens arranged in two wings of six — I can't speak for all of them, of course, but the one I was in was about the same size screen as in most of the newer theatres in Sofia, with not quite as many seats. Due to space constraints in the building, I suppose, the seats are squished right up against the screen—I had bought a third-row ticket as per my usual practice, but immediately upon taking my seat I realised that anyone sitting that far forward would probably need one of those neck-bracing pillows that they sell for airline travel if they wanted to be able to move their heads after the movie was over. I like a closer view than most, but I had to move back to the six or seventh row before I was comfortable. The theatre was nearly empty, possibly due to the time (noon on Sunday) and the film in question (Borat) or some combination thereof. It puzzled me at first, as there had been quite a line at the cash register, but I found out the explanation for that later.

Since the theatre's main attraction is, after all, the 24-x18-metre IMAX screen, after the film was over I headed back to the ticket counter. The line was even longer and, while I got to the register 45 minutes early, there were only two seats left outside the first three rows, and this for a short film — Santa Claus vs the Snow Man — that runs every hour (and started 10 minutes late, according to my somewhat unreliable watch). The screen can of course be used for 2D IMAX, but all of the current films use the 3D technology. I'm not sure how much staying power it will have once the novelty wears off and it has to stand on the merit of its films rather than its effects, but for now, 3D IMAX seems very popular. At any rate this particular show was all but sold out.

Because it was a new film, tickets for this one cost eight leva, though the other IMAX films cost six just like regular films. 3D glasses, incidentally, have come a long way from the last time I saw a 3D movie almost 20 years ago. Gone are the days of "paper glasses with one lens of blue plastic wrap and one lens of red plastic wrap"— these are futuristic-looking, indestructible plastic models that rely on polarisation rather than color-shading. I was also amused to note the shoplifting alarms by the exits to make sure no one walked out with a pair.

As for the experience, well... it's IMAX: huge screen. In 3D: you know that the (pick one: snowflake, hand of Santa consigning you to the naughty list, giant flamethrower-wielding nutcracker battle-mech) isn't real, but you still want to reach out and touch it because IT'S RIGHT THERE. Quite honestly, just like the last time I went to a 3D film all those years ago, it drove my astigmatism absolutely crazy, giving me a splitting headache that lasted the rest of the day. So I can't really speak objectively.

If you like children's and educational films in 3D IMAX, I'm pleased to announce that you can now go (or take your children) in Sofia; if you're like me and they make you cross-eyed for hours afterwards, you'd probably do better to stick with more traditional cinematic fare.

In short, it's a good theatre, more or less on level with the other new theatres in Sofia, and with the added attraction of the IMAX.