Plaza Community Cinema

When I look at the Plaza as I go past or as I enter it, I can’t help thinking of the cinema in ‘Last Action Hero’ starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, where a boy who loves watching action movies is given a special ticket by the owner of this old cinema and gets to go into the movie itself. It all goes a bit wrong after that though because the characters start coming out of the films and into real-​life but the magic of small, independent cinemas such as the one in the movie is there to see in the Plaza.
Whilst you won’t get friendly old men passing you magic tickets here (they’d probably call the police if you saw any), you do get a great viewing experience when you visit. The screens themselves might not be the biggest and the seats might not be the fanciest, but when you visit the Plaza you do really feel like you’re giving something back to the community.
The staff there are all very friendly and helpful and the prices there are very cheap, especially compared to the bigger chain cinemas in Liverpool and Southport nearby. The Plaza also does a special reduced rate on a Wednesday to compete with the ever popular Orange Wednesdays offer, so there’s really no reason not to visit here when you fancy a trip to the cinema.
A local treasure that needs everyone’s support in the local area.

Not many people have a cinema on their doorstep, and those that do probably suffer the glare of ODEON signs and ridiculous amounts of traffic rattling past their windows. Crosby’s so fortunate to have this community cinema, and the response to fundraising for it’s upkeep and vehement protestations to its closure suggest the locals are not blind to this. Sure, the building itself is a little run down; the floors are sticky and the chairs are squeaky, the screen crackles a bit and the toilets are a bit ropey, but it’s an antique. The Plaza is an endearing little place with character, unlike the cookie cutter cinemas of Vue and the aforementioned Odeon.
There’s always a good mix of movies on here, and they do show top new films: Robin Hood was my last. There’s somehting for everyone and the prices are about half that of nationwide cinemas so it’s a great, inexpensive night out for the family. Kidscreen (£3) is on every Saturday at 9.30 and welcomes children and an accompanying adult free of charge for a film and activities with prizes; my niece and nephew love it, and so does their mum!
The cinema shop is good with lots of snacks and hot and cold beverages, again reasonably priced.
The Plaza’s just off South Road and close to all the bars and restaurants if you fancy a pre/​post cinema meal.

It’s bad enough that we don’t get enough choice over the films that are shown up here but at least we can choose were to watch them.
The residents of Crosby have demonstrated people power — us scousers love a good cause! — to keep alive their local cinema and shown what cinema means to the community. Even though it is on the other side of the city from me, I’m glad that the cienma is still here as it does try its best to show a variety of films that appeal to its local community. It was here that I saw Godard’s Breathless, a film which really did open my eyes to the potentials of film. Of course being independent does mean that this is harder to do as more than ever the place needs to constantly draw people in.
The cinema is now a registered charity which means all money gets plowed straight back into the upkeep of it’s art deco interior and the arts schemes that it runs for the local schools and community at large. In an era of crass Hollywood blockbusters and multiplexes herding us in for the soft drinks and hot dogs it’s good to see who film not plays a part in society but how communities can create successful enterprises for the good of the locality.

It may b a dive but it’s our dive ! It’s hearts in the right place ie our community, features r up 2 date n varied, it offers a saturday kids club for goodness sake (the chains don’t even like children !) n if we don’t use it we’ll loose it ! So come on readers lets b leaders n keep ur pounds local !

Bit of a dive really. Some good events. Small screens too small. They are supposed to be refurbishing 2009 and i for one cannot wait.