Kunming's new and first IMAX theatre is located in the brand new Sun Cheng Mall right next to 世纪广场。The mall itself is refreshingly different from the boring malls of this city with it's open-space architecture and fairly original layout of curved walkways. When the shops are all open I think this is going to be a popular area.

The IMAX is the common huge screen type and sadly not the rarer wrap-around that offer a whole different experience. We went to see the Michael Jackson "This is it" documentary about the preparations for his 50 concert comeback. Tickets are 60 kuai a pop which seem a bit on the expensive side,, especially for "This is it" but more about that later.

The theatre is as one would expect of a new IMAX. Chrystalclear picture quality backed up by a powerful 12.000 watt sound system. There weren't many people on the day we went and thank god for that because I can confirm that Chinese people don't turn off their cells and gladly engage in long conversations in the middle of a movie. I'd consider going back to watch a real IMAX movie some other time in spite of the steep ticket price, and when use the term "real" there is a reason:

"This is it" is a strange mix of rehersal takes, Idol and playback. Michael looks like a walking corpse in most shots. More than half the movie has gone before we see him without sunglasses for the first time and it is not a pretty sight. The footage was originally intended for DVD so often the quality doesn't look good on a screen intended for the IMAX format. The sound isn't recorded in Surround either so neither the screen nor the sound comes to it's right here. The best thing about this movie is that it abstains from being overly sentimental. MJ himself seems a bit rusty and is often excusing himself from singing to spare his voice,, fair enough but you can't help feeling a bit cheated. Can't blame MJ for that though,, rather the people who rushed this movie out to make a profit on his death. You can't help wondering had MJ not died if this show would have put him back in the game. The dancers and the musicians are excellent and beautiful Orianthi Panagaris as lead guitarist rock chick extraordinaire often steals the spotlight of skinny shaky Jackson.

Anyway,, forget about this docu but go check it out when they've got a real IMAX movie on show unless you are a die hard fan.

I never expect people will turn off their mobile in cinemas here though it is really annoying when they do. Sometimes I couldn't really hold my temper and was about to mug them off but then i thought 'f**k it, why would i break my ease by speaking to these people...

Anyway..just went back from the IMAX cinema, i thought it was quite good. Maybe it was because there were only few people watching MJ's documentary film. But I'll definitely go back to see more films later, not Transfermers 2 though.