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Speciality Cinema opens second theatre

Viewing in comfort: Giovanna and Shandon Easton, pictured at the Speciality Cinema and Grill’s second theatre (Photo by Mark Tatem)

Speciality Cinema & Grill officially opened its second movie theatre on Friday.The Church Street, Hamilton, movie house now boasts a 65-seat theatre complete with state-of-the-art surround sound equipment, comfortable seating with 38-inch backs, and a 15-foot film screen.Designed and built for additional screenings of popular blockbuster movies as well as private parties, corporate functions and gaming events, filmgoers will now have more options in terms of movie choices and times.Speciality Cinema’s original and main theatre seats 162 people.“Before we could only show two to three movies a month,” said Shandon Easton, owner with his wife Giovanna. “Now we can show four to six films a month.”Mr Easton, who studied architecture and engineering at university, helped research and design the space along with the architectural firm OBMI.The new site was built in what was formerly the Mailboxes Unlimited store.The theatre has high-tech additions, including head phones for the hearing-impaired as well as hand-held devices on which people can read subtitles. Scripted audio is also available, which helps the seeing impaired through scenes that do not any dialogue; verbally describing the scenes to the filmgoer on head phones.The new theatre, which took almost a year to build, is THX-certified meaning that it provides a high-quality, predictable playback environment to ensure that any film soundtrack will sound as near as possible to the movie’s original intentions.“The sound is very intense which makes the theatre seem larger,” said Mr Easton, who purchased the cinema with his wife five years ago.Mr Easton said that they are going to continue to improving the Grill and dining areas of the cinema, which is a popular spot for teenagers after school and on weekends. An added plus for filmgoers is that any food item that is made in house, can be brought into the theatre.“Whatever we sell you can bring in — hamburgers, salads, protein shakes and smoothies,” he said, adding that because of the wide variety of food, the moviegoer’s experience is that much more intensified.“We have so much more to offer than a traditional movie theatre,” he said. “People actually complain there is too much to choose from but too much choice can’t be a bad thing.”The new theatre is now showing Paranormal Activity 4 while the main theatre is showing Flight, starring Denzel Washington. This week the new James Bond movie Skyfall will open in the main theatre.To find out movie times, visit www.specialitycinema.bm or 292-2135.