Cinemas

Rotterdam has about 6 or 7 really nice cinemas, and they're nice because for the greater part, they serve different audiences. The major chain of cinemas in Rotterdam (actually in the Netherlands) is the ‘Pathe’ but that’s far from being the only way to go.

You have the ‘Intellectual’ cinema: 1. (Cinerama: www.cineramabios.nl) where you can sit in a quiet environment, have some coffee and read designated magazines and newspapers. The Cinerama usually shows a well-selected mixture between Hollywood hits and the less commercial, independent/foreign films.

You have the “quality, foreign-film, independent-feature, documentary” cinema: 2. LANTAREN VENSTER (www.lantaren-venster.nl), which is kind of the alternative cinema, mostly showing anything that’s not commercial. Absolutely necessary, but can and will be boring at times.

AND of course, last but not least, the commercial cinema: Pathe: www.pathe.nl which is usually an architectural highlight, a complex with many screening rooms and noise and people and playstations and candy and whatever, junk-food culture meets cinema (if its big, its good!) almost always fun. (But who wants to be like America)

Ok , I know I said 6 or 7 but pathe has like 3 cinemas, (check out the site for locations) so that’s 5.

Can't finish this without mentioning the IFFR, the renowned "International Film Festival Rotterdam": www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com. (held every January), the IFFR is a big occasion for the city, hotels are booked, the streets full of people. A week of cinema bliss. Do-not-miss status.