The Various Cinemas I've been to in Vancouver

I really enjoyed making that CHILDHOOD MALL post that I decided that I should follow that with a post about the various CINEMAS I've went to in VANCOUVER & it's municipalities during my CHILDHOOD and later my ongoing ADULTHOOD.

01. Cinemark Tinseltown Cinemas/Cineplex Odeon International Village

I don't like to admit why I put this Multiplex Cinema at the top of the list but I must because from 2005 until 2011, I frequently went to this cinema with the Latch Key after-school program I attended.

And the end result was a childhood favorite that made me want to put this cinema at the top of the list of Childhood Cinemas I went to.

Opened in December 10 1999, this 12-Screen Multiplex theatre was an unusual theatre opened within the Canadian Multiplex space.

How so?

Well, first, It wasn't even operated by a Canadian Company so neither Loews Cineplex, Galaxy, nor Famous Players even operated the theater.

It was originally operated by the AMERICAN Cinema Chain:

which was at the time, was going through a major change with their many locations.... Sort of.

By the late 90s, Cinemark's USA locations temporarily retired FRONT ROW JOE.....

and decided to retire their garish funky colored Pizza Parlor Decor.

and instead announce that their newer multiplex theaters would be constructed with an Art-Decor look. 

Essentially this made the theatres, right down to the hallways and auditoriums, look somewhat classical right down to the Faux-Curtains & Light Fixtures in the auditoriums as well as other things like the woodgrain walls, wall divisions, and photos like that of Laurel and Hardy...

Despite the ART-DECO Mandate, CINEMARK still was firm that all their new theaters are required to have Stadium Seating so that's what their Auditoriums use regardless of size.

This also coincided with Cinemark's Expansion outside of the USA and into the Latin-American Market such as Chile, Mexico, Brazil, etc.

Interestingly, Cinemark Tinseltown Cinemas International Village Location, adjacent to the Stadium-Chinatown Skytrain Station, was one of only two Canadian Locations for the Cinema Chain.

The Vancouver location was the Second while the first was in EDMONTON, ALBERTA.

Also interesting was that the former EDMONTON location was released during the near-end of the GARISH COLORS ERA.

Fortunately for people like me, TINSELTOWN International Village's opening on December 10 1999 was smackdab in the sophomore year of CINEMARK's ART-DECO era.

Many of the films I watched in this theatre were mostly CG-Animated films which include

CHICKEN LITTLE(2005)

VALIANT(2005)

MADAGASCAR(2005)

HOODWINKED(2005)

CHARLOTTE'S WEB(2006)

ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN(2006)

OPEN SEASON(2006)

CARS(2006)

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, LION, WITCH, & WARDROBE(2006),

RATATOUILLE(2007)

WALL-E(2008)

UP(2009)

etc.

In March 25 2010, Cinemark exited the Canadian market but rather than let the Cinema or the entire mall close down, they sold the Multiplex to CINEPLEX CINEMAS.

And so, it was then renamed to CINEPLEX ODEON INTERNATION VILLAGE.

Now for those who aren't in the Vancouver area and are in other Provinces, or live in the USA, you might think CINEPLEX gutted and redid everything in the theatre.

But that's not true.

Fortunately, CINEPLEX respected CINEMARK's wishes to not tamper with the interior of the hallways and auditoriums.

So aside from the replacement of the purple Cinemark Seats

with the Blue Cineplex seats as well as replacements of the film projectors with Digital Projectors, the cinema is still the same.

All the faux-curtains, Light Fixtures, Hallway decorations, they're all the same since 1999..... barring a few Speaker Replacements due to required maintenance.

Though by this point, my visits to this theater have declined since my mother dislikes the area so I mostly go once in every blue moon(metaphorically speaking).

This year in 2025, I went to watch 

REVENGE OF THE SITH 20TH ANNIVERSARY

& 

TOY STORY 30TH ANNIVERSARY.

02. Famous Players Silvercity/Cineplex Cinemas Metropolis

Opened on November 6 1998, this mall was a major expansion to the already available at Station Square FAMOUS PLAYERS & CINEPLEX ODEON multiplexes that were in operation since 1988.

The 10-Screen cinema was added on the top part of the mall above the Former Playdium, Now WINNERS store during EATON's 1998 expansion of the mall.

The theater was made to appeal to the then younger and more modern audiences of the late 90s who wanted to have much larger screens, Louder Digital Sound, Stadium Seating, etc.

The films that opened with the theatre included 

ANTZ, Living Out Loud, Waterboy, Pleasantville, Your place or Mine, Night at the Roxbury, Practical Magic, & Wizard of Oz 60th Anniversary.

This was also the theatre for Star Wars fans so expect to see people between 1999 to 2005 watching the Prequels in this multiplex theater back when hating on the prequels was cool..... 

before the infamous Sequel trilogy of the late 2010s.

But other films were here for people to watch such as

DOUG'S 1ST MOVIE(1999),

SOUTH PARK: BIGGER LONGER & UNCUT(1999),

Eyes Wide Shut(1999),

Tarzan(1999),

The Iron Giant(1999),

Recess: School's Out(2001),

The Emperor's New Groove(2000),

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy(2001 to 2003),

Harry Potter(2001 to 2011),

etc.

The films I watched include

PAN'S LABYRINTH(2006),

CURIOUS GEORGE(2006),

HAPPY FEET(2006)

PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST(2006)

SHREK THE THIRD(2008)..... don't ask why I watched this fallacy,

The Chronicle of Narnia PRINCE CASPIAN(2008),

etc.

Yes, I do still come to this theatre but mostly because my mother prefers this theater and because it's also a close approximation to my house via both the Skytrain and the bus.

Most recently, I went to watch JAWS 50th ANNIVERSARY in 4DX.

03. Famous Players Paramount/Scotiabank Theatres Vancouver

This Multiplex Cinema was one of the last to opened by FAMOUS PLAYERS before they got acquired by CINEPLEX in 2005 which coincidently was the year this Cinema opened.

Having taken a longtime to be made due to issues involving lofty ambitions, Indonesia's economic problems, etc., the 9-Screen Multiplex Theatre called PARAMOUNT, opened at an unusual time.

2005 was the year FAMOUS PLAYERS would be acquired by CINEPLEX....

So the name FAMOUS PLAYERS PARAMOUNT was only for 2 months until Cineplex outright acquired the FAMOUS PLAYERS brand.

Though for a few years, the facade remained the same until CINEPLEX replaced the branding with their SCOTIABANK Branding.

This theater is sort of in a weird corner(Pun Intended)

It's in the SCOTIABANK THEATERS name

(Formerly FAMOUS PLAYERS PARAMOUNT)

But the theatre is somewhat small.

No No. The Auditoriums are still quite large but what I'm saying is that this multiplex theater is lacking in screen-count.

The other SCOTIABANK(PARAMOUNT) locations in CANADA often have a screen size of between 14 to 19 Screens.

But that's typical for a theater situated in either a Mall or Condominiums to have less amount of screens than a typical megaplex can have compared to a standalone megaplex that can have either between 19 or 30 screens.

But I still go here due to things like the Nice Decor of the atriums, mezzanine, and the seats are different compared to your typical CINEPLEX fair which I like.

In late 2024, The multiplex added an IMAX theatre which was just converting one of the existing ULTRA-AVX Auditoriums with the new branding by replacing a majority of the seats, wall decor, projector, and speakers.

Despite my suspicions, that didn't stop me from watching DEMON SLAYER INFINITY CASTLE & CHAINSAW MAN REZE ARC in this movie theater.

04. Famous Players/Cineplex SilverCity Riverport

Of the many times I went to Watermania in Richmond's Riverport, I've always let the nearby SILVERCITY RIVERPORT CINEMA go through my head.

That was until December 2015 when I finally went just to watch the then highly anticipated STAR WARS EPISODE VII THE FORCE AWAKENS in IMAX since I felt the IMAX theatre was the only way to experience the film and do it's high production budget Justice.

Since then, this 1997-built Multiplex Theater has been my Go-To for any movie playing in IMAX because like the later opened in 1999 Langley Cinema, This is the one of only two theaters in the Vancouver areas that have Purpose Built IMAX Auditoriums.... sort of.

The kind of IMAX that Multiplex theatres have before the mid to late 2000s were called IMAX SR. These are theaters that are smaller in size than their earlier GT counterparts but are still purpose-built as to preserve the taller aspect-ratio that the films optimized for the format use.

Unlike the newer and modern IMAX theatres which are often Converted from an existing Auditorium... ULTRA-AVX, RPX, etc.

The first IMAX SR was in HALIFAX, Nova Scotia.

05. Famous Players Colossus/Cineplex Cinemas Langley

Ok Ok. I will admit.

The only time I went to watch a movie at the Langley Cinema was in August 2017 when I went to watch DUNKIRK since it was the only place in the Vancouver area to play the film in pure 70MM IMAX even with it's Late 90s small but still purpose built IMAX SR Auditorium.

I remember because It was a hazy day during WILDFIRE Season.

Plus, I also have photos of the outside of the theater while I was waiting for the Bus to Surrey, Central Station that day.

I need to change my tactics and go to back to this theatre in the future... starting maybe in 2026.

06. Festival Cinemas/Cineplex PARK THEATRE

One of the older theaters in the Vancouver area and probably one of the preferred for citygoers to get their 70mm Film Fix.

But really, it's there for people like me to watch films nearby whenever an Event Screening is booked solid at the Multiplexes.

I remember going here for films like 

2001: A SPACE ODDYSEY 50th Anniversary in 70MM.

I've read on October 23 2025 that Cineplex planned to permanently close the theatre which is not good for most movie busts because that's effectively erasing another cinema legacy.

Fortunately, the 70MM projector is moving to a different location but we don't know where it will go since there's no Single Screen Theatre owned by Cineplex anymore.

Unless Cineplex plans to send the 70MM to either the DUNBAR CINEMA or International Village Cinemas just for the VIFF. 

Shortly after I heard the news about THE PARK THEATER closing, I then heard another report that THE RIO THEATER company bought and saved THE PARK from permanent closure.

THANKS RIO THEATER! YOU"RE THE BEST!