Hippodrome Cinema celebrates reopening with full day of movies. Here's what's playing

Gainesville movie buffs are in luck ? an old favorite is rejoining the city’s theater scene after temporarily closing its doors in May.

The Hippodrome Cinema reopened Saturday after undergoing three months and over $300,000 worth of renovations, and it’s celebrating the new look with a full day of movie showings for guests of all ages.

Running from 10:30 a.m. to past midnight, the lineup included six films ranging in genre and rating. The day started with some family-friendly content with “Paddington” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” but then grew darker with “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts." It closed off with ‘80s dramedy “Do the Right Thing” and the thriller “The Taking of Pelham 123.”

The Hippodrome Cinema is Gainesville’s only art-house cinema, featuring a wide selection of independent and international films, documentaries, older classics and other special programs traditional theaters might not showcase. It makes the theater a more personalized experience, said Matthew Cugini, the Hippodrome’s cinema program manager.

“It’s a more compact space,” Cugini said. “There’s only one theater, which leads to community building within the audience”

Attendees were able to buy annual Hipp Cinéastes Club memberships, which provide savings and benefits at future showings.

Hippodrome renovations

Thanks to recent renovations, the Hippodrome Cinema now boasts a more comfortable, immersive experience for Gainesville moviegoers — a project funded by the city’s Wild Spaces & Public Places sales tax. Upgrades include new seats, lighting, carpet, paint and a brand new movie screen and acoustic wall panels.

Prior to the renovations, Cugini said, much of the theater’s furniture was reused or recycled from other materials. The light fixtures, for example, were created from pieces of brass construction workers found while working on the Hippodrome, and seats were repurposed from Center Theatre, a now-closed Gainesville movie theater.

Now, the cinema has installed brand new chairs and LED dimmer and aisle lights, he said.

“It’ll probably last forever,” Cugini said.

The restrooms on the first and second floors were also updated to include new plumbing, bathroom stall walls, mirrors and refinished floors.

Looking forward to the theater’s reopening, Cugini was excited to roll out programs he and the Hippodrome staff planned over the summer, including biweekly family movie screenings on Saturdays. The cinema also started booking with the British National Theatre to bring screenings of live stage productions to Gainesville.

“[The cinema] is going to be more of a full-fledged part of the Hippodrome,” Cugini said prior to the event. “Everyone’s pretty excited and ready to see how much of a pop we can make.”

The cinema will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 13 at 4 p.m. that will be open to the public.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Gainesville's Hippodrome Cinema reopens with Pan's Lbyrinth, Paddington and more