Capitol Cineplex Memories

Roar

Had a discussion about the Capitol Cineplex in work this morning. I miss the place and I still get a little sad looking at the derelict building it is now.

What are your memories of it?



The first movie I saw there was Back to the Future 3, I think.

That feeling of dread walking up to screen 5 right at the back of the cinema, thinking you could be murdered at any time and no one would know.

That grumpy old fella, who was part of the charm of the place.

The smell of popcorn as you walked in the door.

Queuing up all the way down towards Mandy's on a busy day

The whirr of the projector if you sat at the back of screen 2

Double seats!

Me and my buddies having the whole of screen 6 to ourselves for a screening of Jurassic Park because no one else showed up

Had my first date with my wife in there - we went to see the Grinch in screen one, in one of those glorious double seats all the way over to the right.

"I'll meet ya outside the Cineplex" you'd say in the pre mobile phone days.

I brought my little brother to see the Incredibles in there. The film print literally went on fire about twenty mins from the end. I had to argue with the old one who worked there to get my money back because she was trying to insist I saw most of the movie.

Good times!



I remember being very sad when it closed, and I still am. I'm still an avid cinema goer, but Mahon Point just doesn't have the same magic that the Cineplex had.

So what are your memories of the place?

Sephiroth_dude

First movie I saw in there was Jurassic park in 93, I was 7 .


Whenever I passed the place on a Saturday during the day as a kid in the 90's, the ques outside were going down along grand parade sometimes.

The grumpy old ticket guy who use to come out and give out too everyone .

I loved the place wish it didn't close.

hoodwinked

first movie i saw in there was toy story when i was 9! it was a huge treat when my aunt said we were going to the cinema in town as we usually went to the one in Douglas, i remember seeing the double seats and of course i had to have one all to myself

went back many a time after that usually on school/summer camp trips, also remember when i got in there (i was too young at the time im sure it was rated 15's) with my school friends to see never been kissed (kinda wish we had made a better choice now :pac: ) and i remember feeling so grown up!

razorblunt

My uncle bringing us to see the Turtles was my first venture, queued up from Burger King only to be told it was sold out. Went back in for the 5pm showing, the wait inbetween was torture.

Can't remember much of that movie, so proper, first film recollection was Jurassic Park, eyes nearly popped out of my head when the first dinosaur was revealed.

I always preferred screen 3, the smaller one to the left of the food counter.

Milly33

I used to love going here, they should re-open it!!

I remember queing outside sitting on the steps waiting for your turn to get to the ticket desk. Then was it up to the left as you go in the door there was two screens up there, one was huge. I remember going to see the Spice Girl movie in there and there was around 6 of us in total in the entire place we had so much fun..


And the smoochie seats, two people could seat without a barrier!!! Ohhh the memoires

The_Banker

I remember seeing the old Superman movie with Christopher Reeve there...
This was before the days of the cineplex when there was just the main cinema and the smaller "mini" upstairs.
I saw the movie with my dad in the Mini so it must have been out a while if it moved to the Mini...

The first time I went to the cinema on my own (with friends and without a parent) was to see "Escape to Victory".
I felt very grown up with my bag of sweets in my pocket!

gimmick

Very first movie I saw there was The Last Unicorn with my mother. I must have only been 4. Santa Claus the movie I queued with my aunt for only to eb turned away close to the door. She brought me back the very next day though.

I think the first movie I went to see on my own was Look Who's Talking.

Last one was Terminator 3 with 100s in between.

Padraig Mor

I remember both the Cineplex and the old Capitol! Saw Jaws 4 in the old cinema and still remember myself and my Dad and brothers being turned away from Top Gun because we were too young (it was 16s)! The old cinema closed around the same time as others in the city centre (Classic, Lee), leaving the Pavilion (now HMV) the only cinema for a while and, IIRC, that closed shortly after, leaving NO mainstream cinema in the city centre for a few months!
Many memories of the Cineplex - went to it the first week it opened and saw Licence to Kill (and still remember they didn't show the certificate beforehand - tut tut tut). Of course its main opening movie was THE event picture of 1989 - Batman, which I saw the same week IIRC (and again a week or two later!). Saw Braveheart 3 or 4 times there. I still remember the Examiner did a rolling promotion one summer, where you could redeem vouchers in the paper for free tickets to preview screenings - you had to drop into the Examiner office and hope not too many people got there before you. Saw In the Line of Fire and a few others for free.

And yes, screen 5 always did seem a bit 'exotic' with the long hike to get there!

JohnMearsheimer

I think the first movie I saw there was Home Alone with my Dad and sister. That would have been around 1990 I think. I remember the grumpy aul fella as well, I was terrified of him!

I think the last movie I saw there (that I can remember anyway) was Road Trip.

My Dad has told me there were many cinemas in the city centre at one time. There were mostly one screen places showing different movies.

It's a shame the site is derelict now. I believe there were plans to develop a shopping centre there. I think the site is for sale again at the moment.

Pitcairn

If you hid under seats or in the toilets you could stay there all day.

Also I remember kids asking the attendant if they could use the payphone in the lobby and then they'd jump over the velvet rope when noone was looking.

Saw Reservoir Dogs in the tiny Screen 6 when it showed for one week only. I was never so scared of being rejected from a film for not being over 18. The relief when I got through the door was unbelievable.

KCAccidental

I'm sure the first film I saw in there was My Girl. I snuck in to another movie a few times as well. I remember once I was refused entry to see Kingpin, so snuck into mission impossible to spite the bastards

Miss that place a lot. Sad to see it derelict, would have loved to see once screen left open if it gets redeveloped and have a kino type place in there!

kooga

first film i saw there when it reopened in the summer of 1989 was wild at heart!

i used to always walk past it on a friday morning to see what was after opening up for the coming week with Empire magazine in my bag!!

i remember when i started ucc in 1991 going to the cinpelex every friday and sometimes doing a double showing catching a film at 2.30 and again at 4.30.

all i will say happy days and innocent times and i miss the place ...................its not the same in mahon douglas or the gate.

Sephiroth_dude

Did they rip everything out when it closed? Would love to go in there and have a look.

Roar

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Did they rip everything out when it closed? Would love to go in there and have a look.

Ditto. I think they have done - they definitely took all the seats anyway. And it'd be impossible to see as it would be so dark in there. Can only imagine the amount of rats and pigeons occupying it now!

Milly33

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Did they rip everything out when it closed? Would love to go in there and have a look.

No I don't think so, I think they just left it... I know of two girls who used to go in there lets say to do no so nice things and they said all the seats where there and things like that... Think they used to get in through some back windows somewhere. Would love to go in for a look around. It would be such a shame when, I say when as they are bound to do it, change everything to all the fancy way of doing things now..

Dannyboy83

First film I saw was Dances with Wolves, what a film, still in my Top 5 ever.

The grumpy old b@stard used to remind me of James Tolkan


I was told back in the 80s, he used to make everyone sit in the same row, complete strangers would be forced to sit next to each other.

I went back as an adult a few years before it closed and couldn't believe what a kip it was.
Ireland changed more in those 15 years, than in the 50 before it.

Knifey Spoony

I remember trying to get into the second Matrix film there with a friend of mine when we were about 12. Both confident we would get into a 15's film no problem. We weren't prepared to be asked our dates of births and were under pressure to add and subtract years as the girl at the ticket desk needed a year and not just the the day and month. Some guy behind us must have noticed us struggling and whispered to us to say 1985. So, we both give our birth years as 1985, get a shrug from the ticket desk girl, get the tickets and off we went.

It was only afterwards when I thought about it that being born in 1985 would have made us 18 or 19 at the time. :pac:

Miss Demeanour

Them double seats......that is all :-D

rebelden

The Capital Cineplex, that brings back memories. Many afternoon spent on the 'hop' watching movies back in the day.

bleach94

Went there once when I was younger (probably 8 or 9) for the Digimon Movie. My friend's mum took us both and.. I fell asleep

pwurple

Remember seeing my first cinema film there too. Think it was something christmassy!

I think the idea for the building is to extend the english market into it somehow. Which would be pretty cool too.

My dad used to work in there when he was young, we would sometimes get to skip the queue and get in free.

Nash Bridges

I saw Titanic there when Burger King went on fire. The fire alarm went off just after the ship hit the iceburg so most ignored it. Not because the film was really good but because the noise could have been part of the story and the lights were not put on. It wasn't until there was a smell of smoke that people realised that there really was a fire somewhere and suddenly everyone was in a mad rush to get outside.

Really interesting to see how people behave in crowds, some were leaving in ones and twos but suddenly there was a tipping point when almost everyone left at once. Being young and dumb I stayed until the fire brigade came in and kicked out the remaining ejits.

We thought we would get a few free tickets next time we went back but were only offered a refund or one free entry. Wasn't going to sit through a 3 hour film to see the last 5 minutes so didn't see the very end for a few years until it was on TV.

The ship sinks.

Have some other good memories from the Capitol too, the place had real character, it's a pity it closed down, especially when nothing was built there after.

Flesh Gorden

Only went there a few times in the early-mid 90's with my mother.

My favorite memory was Independence Day, when the White House blew up everyone cheered

I was way younger than the certificate age, but they didn't care once my mother was with me.

Going Strong

I can't remember what the first film I ever saw in the Capitol was it's so long ago. I remember going to a birthday party event in the Capitol (must have been mid-late '70's) and half the group legging it to The Classic on Washington Street to see some spaghetti western while us eejits were watching some kids movie in The Capitol. When it was the Cineplex, it was a right dump - the roof leaked like a sieve. I was watching a film once when the usherette was running in and out with buckets to catch the leaks. All through the quiet bits of the film, you could hear the water falling into the bucket. Another time, some eejit in the row behind me started a fight with another eejit in the row in front of me so I was stuck between the pair of them throwing punches over my head.

My only other memory of the Cineplex is arriving late for the showing and running up to the main theatre. I opened the doors and ran inside, only I forgot about that planter full of plastic plants and went straight into it. I winded myself with a loud "OOOF!" and the usherette came over and shone her torch on me as I lay on the floor gasping like a landed fish.

valoren

First film I saw was there too.

Ghostbusters in 1984.

I was scared sh1tless for the whole thing.

Going Strong

valoren wrote: »

First film I saw was there too.

Ghostbusters in 1984.

I was scared sh1tless for the whole thing.

My dad took my brother and I to a Pink Panther film as he was a huge Peter Sellers fan so we got used as an excuse despite not caring for said films at all. My brother got bored and sneaked into the next cinema where some horror film was on. He came back pretty quickly looking very, very, pale.

I was barred from The Palace on MacCurtain Street back in the early '80's . Something to do with a war of words with the woman running the kiosk but God only knows what it was about. I even got thrown bodily out the door by the manager and bouncer and everything.

aoshea83

Feck me the memories!!!

First film was when my father brought me there to see The Addams Family in '91, I was 8 and it was my first time in a cinema, still remember it.

Gamb!t

Last I heard was it would be expanding the English Market and that the Capitol site will be used for restaurants and Cafes.
There's certainly ongoing works in there at weekends.

Sephiroth_dude

Where the was the cinema on mac curtain st?

ofcork

Everyman I would think.

Roar

There was also the Coliseum cinema, which is where the Leisureplex is now.

There was a cinema where the Everyman is now that was called the Palace.

Going Strong

There was the Lee on Winthrop Street which was tiny. The Classic on Washington Street was a right tip of a place. I remember it being dirty and smelly so didn't like going there. The Savoy on Patrick Street - I only saw it in its final days but my parents recalled the glamour of it. I liked The Pavillion - it looked like the classic 'Picture Palace' - all gold paint, ornate plasterwork and red velvet. The only cinema I never visited was The Cameo on Military Hill. I tried a few times but was told, literally, to "F**k off! Regulars only!"

leahyl

I think the first time I was ever in the Capitol I went to see Thumbelina (that was 20 years ago!), the last movie I saw in there was War of the Worlds in 2005 which was shortly before it closed. It was a great cinema in a perfect location, pity it's gone.

evilivor

Gamb!t wrote: »

Last I heard was it would be expanding the English Market and that the Capitol site will be used for restaurants and Cafes.
There's certainly ongoing works in there at weekends.

Capitol cinema site went up for sale last month on instruction from NAMA.

ofcork

There was also a cinema on the south mall below Jacobs called the assembly rooms don't remember it though.

evilivor

Going Strong wrote: »

There was the Lee on Winthrop Street which was tiny. The Classic on Washington Street was a right tip of a place. I remember it being dirty and smelly so didn't like going there. The Savoy on Patrick Street - I only saw it in its final days but my parents recalled the glamour of it. I liked The Pavillion - it looked like the classic 'Picture Palace' - all gold paint, ornate plasterwork and red velvet. The only cinema I never visited was The Cameo on Military Hill. I tried a few times but was told, literally, to "F**k off! Regulars only!"

Lots of photos etc here

https://www.facebook.com/thegoldenageofcorkcinemas

farmerjj

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Where the was the cinema on mac curtain st?

Leisureplex was a cinema back in the day(the old col), it was corks 1st purpose built cinema in cork and think the everyman had a screen for a while to.... oops never read this page the question was answered all ready

Judes

I need a boardsie to confirm this "memory" - as the Capital used to be a big part of the film festival in the 80's and if "memory" serves me right - the actor/Director Sir. Richard Attenborough once did a talk there - could have been around '84/'85. I've been trying to google this over the years to see if I am correct. Please somebody put me out of my misery - if it wasn't him, who was it Thanks, Judes

Roar

Very hard to find images of the Capitol online, there aren't many

Here's one from 1957 when there was a flood on Grand Parade



And the trailer for the film that was playing there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IlaXNHIrIo

Sofa King

My aunt used to work at the ticket box in there and we always got free tickets from her (well, she said they were free unless she paid for them separately herself, although we didn't care as kids).

I remember going to see Hook & Jurassic Park.

SpaceTime

I just remember it being a kip unfortunately. My only vague memory is leaving halfway through a film due to the overwhelming smell from the toilets which were at the back of the auditorium.

Going Strong

It was common enough at afternoon showings in The Capitol to find yourself the only person present - especially with less 'mainstream' films. Happened to me a few times.

Sephiroth_dude

I didnt realise there was so many cinemas in the city at one stage.

SpaceTime

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

I didnt realise there was so many cinemas in the city at one stage.

There were tons of cinemas in the past due to television being unavailable.

I don't think any TV was on air in Cork City until RTE launched in 1961. So it's likely that local cinemas survived longer.

The east cost & border areas mostly had access to tv from the early 50s onwards and more channels after RTE launched due to overspill signals from the UK.

Cinema was probably more important in Cork until Cork Multichannel (UPC's ancient ancestor) rolled out cable TV.

whisky_galore

Sticky carpet is my abiding memory.

Roar wrote: »

Ditto. I think they have done - they definitely took all the seats anyway. And it'd be impossible to see as it would be so dark in there. Can only imagine the amount of rats and pigeons occupying it now!

Heard that when they opened it up just before Queenie's visit, probably to check it out security-wise, there were signs that folks were breaking in and using it as a shooting gallery, and not the funfair type.

Going Strong

whisky_galore wrote: »

Sticky carpet is my abiding memory.





Heard that when they opened it up just before Queenie's visit, probably to check it out security-wise, there were signs that folks were breaking in and using it as a shooting gallery, and not the funfair type.

The boards over the windows at the back of the building, on the laneway into the English Market, were always being pushed aside.

forzacalcio

Best memory letting off Fart Gas in the back row when I went to see that movie Medicine man and being bored out of my tree. It absolutely stank.

First movie there was Home Alone I think, I remember seeing the Turtles too, it was very easy to jump into the next film for free.. Worst memory was being stuck in the double seats watching Philadelphia and being pushed in next to a randomer....awkward to say the least

Ive a memory of seeing who framed Roger Rabbit but I think that was the cinema by either where HMV is or the Savoy, anyone know which one it could have been or when there was a cinema there?

Going Strong

I met a mate of mine as we were going in to The Capitol once. We were stopped by the doorman. "Is that food in your bag?" says he. ""Just a couple of books." says my mate. "Oh yeah? Then why are they giving off steam?" - I looked down and there indeed was steam rising from his carrier bag with a distinct aroma of kebab and chips about it. I fecked off inside and left them to it.

sham2

Showing my age and I'm not that old but I remember seeing Jaws with my dear old dad first time around in 1975. They had rubber sharks in the shop but my dad wouldn't indulge me.
Also remember seeing James Bond: The Spy Who Loved Me in 78 I think and of course Star Wars several times, Raiders of The Lost Arc etc. All in the Capitol. Nobody mentioned the groovy light show on screen before the show where this psychedelic coloured stuff was projected on to the screen. We used to try and make out shapes of things. Simpler days.:)

valoren

I remember when Michael Collins was released in November 1996.
The film had it's "premiere" in the Capitol with a fancy laminated brochure and all!

With Collins being a corkman, rumours spread that Liam Neeson would be attending or at the very least, Alan Rickman or Stephen Rea.

Standing out in the cold waiting and waiting, as the great and the good of Cork showed up for the showing, but no sign of any stars

I also remember going to see Titanic in screen one and being absolutely bewildered at the rapturous applause at the end. I had never known of a film being applauded before.