A call to visiting cinemas!

In times of internet piracy and expensive cinema tickets "watching a movie" most often refers to streaming a movie illegaly or maybe borrowing a DVD in a video rental store, in case the movie you want to watch is available on DVD already. Going to the cinema has become an expensive luxury for most of the students.
But if you think about it, watching movies at the cinema is so much more fun when you can sit down in one of the snugly seats, the quality of the movie is the best you can get, the sound is perfect and on top of all this, you don't have to be worried about being caught and fined for illegal movie streaming!

Abaton ( © J.Zimmermann )

Studio Kino in Altona ( © Lars Brücher)

Still, I wouldn't necessarily recommend you to go to the well known cinemas like "UCI" or "Cinemaxx". What a lot of people in Hamburg forget, is that there quite a few smaller and private "Lichtspielhäuser" you can visit! If you want to enjoy a movie in a relaxed and more personal atmosphere, in a cinema that looks more like a big and cozy living room than a huge hall designed for as many people as possible to fit in, I would recommend you to visit for example the "Abaton", right next to the university campus, the "Holi", also not very far from university, or maybe the "Studio-Kino", which was completely renovated lately! There are lots of choices, you can find a list of all the cinemas in Hamburg here. So please, if you decide to go to the cinema, choose one of the smaller and maybe less known cinemas. They offer a special atmosphere, and not only mainstream Hollywood movies. If you are interested in smaller productions, you will also find an interesting choice of local or upcoming directors who make their first steps to success! These cinemas also deserve to have the possibility to add to Hamburg's culture, because in my eyes they offer even more than the big cinemas.

So prevent these important movie theaters from having to close down, and simultaneously enjoy a wide range of movies in an exclusive surrounding!