Showdown at showtime

The Malha Mall movie theater is proving to be a disappointing experience.

By ESTI KELLER
king kong 88.298 (photo credit: )
king kong 88.298
(photo credit: )
Jerusalem moviegoers are becoming increasingly frustrated with the poor standards of service at the Globus theater in Malha mall. Audiences found their enjoyment marred by bad projection and sound quality and abrupt, ill- timed intervals. The theater's lack of cleanliness, run-down appearance and unaccommodating ushers were also causes of dissatisfaction. "When I recently went to see King Kong, the picture was so out of focus and the sound so bad that people found it hard to concentrate. They ended up speaking among themselves. Also, the floor was sticky, and the seats were stained," one young man complained. A young woman described being forced to get a chair and sit in the aisle after ushers would not help her locate another seat when she gave up her own aisle place to a disabled moviegoer. In an open letter printed on a Hebrew-language news site, a visitor describes his experience at the movie theater. "Strips of light stretched across the screen, cutting the picture into pieces," he said. "The entrance foyer was filthy, and the restrooms were dirty enough to make you sick." Responding to The Jerusalem Post, Globus Group's managing director Igal Galai apologized for the problems movie goers had been experiencing. "The bad sound and projection quality were due to faults in the system which are now being corrected," he said. "The messiness and ushers' lack of helpfulness has been brought to the manager's attention to ensure that better service is provided in the future." Galai also said that Globus was in the process of upgrading all its cinemas with improvements to the Malha theater scheduled to begin in two months. New seats and bathrooms are just some of the changes planned. In addition to the upgrade at Malha, Globus also has two other state-of-the-art entertainment complexes currently under construction, slated to open at the beginning of next year. "We recognize that as a leader in Israel's entertainment industry we have to keep our standards above the norm," Galai continued. "We can assure you that we are well aware of our patrons' needs and desires, and they are being dealt with."