Just like Heaven closing its gates all those years ago, the curtains are coming down one last time for another Canberra icon: The Center Cinema.
My fondest memory of Center Cinema was viewing the film ‘Das Boot’ set in a WWII German U-boat, with the directors cut being 4 hours long, extremely claustrophobic, and ending with everyone being killed 5 minutes after sailing triumphantly back to the harbour. Not that it was a negative experience at all, because it was a seriously awesome movie.
Another highlight was the movie ‘Fast, Cheap and Out of Control’ – a strange documentary about an elderly 
topiary gardener, a retired lion tamer, a man fascinated by mole rats, and a cutting-edge robotics designer. Where else, apart from Electric Shadows, could you see such an off-beat range of films?
Let’s hope the disco themed nite club that’s replacing the Center Cinema can fill the gap that will be sadly left.
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