Chatham Hickory Cinema — Local services in Chatham Township

As I gaze at the images on my screen from across the world here in Tokyo, Japan, I'm overwhelmed with joy to see Chatham Cinema is still there. As a kid, I used to look out my bedroom window and see the sign to this small and great movie theater, which I believe was called Robert's Chatham Cinema at that time. I grew up in Green Village and lived right across the street from the Hickory Tree Mall. Our house, which is gone now (where the playing field clubhouse is now) was an old white Victorian called the 'Hickory Tree House', had three stories and a wrap around porch, with eight acres of beautiful land and great woods behind, perfect for me and my brother and sisters and our best friends on the other side of Loantaka to play in, as well as 'Bosie' the black steer that would sometimes get loose!

I saw many of my first movies in a theater there at the Chatham Cinema. Jaws, Spy Who Loved Me, The Sting, Man With the Golden Gun, The Ra Expedition; all of these we saw countless times. And even snuck in through the back door and entered from behind the screen a few times. But we got caught by the manager once and were escorted out, tails between our legs. How embarrassing. We even used to play some catch in that small parking lot in front and my pal John accidentally threw a fast ball through the window of a shop called 'Joie de Vivre', whose owner was not a fan.

There was the a Cumberland Farms that used to be on the corner (where the cafe is now), a record shop and a wicker furniture store. Wonderful memories of growing up in Green Village and Chatham Township.

So pardon my trip down memory lane here. Though I haven't been to the Chatham Cinema since Roger Moore was 007, the very fact that it's still there deserves a full 5 star rating from this New Jersey kid who...

I never post reviews of anything but feel compelled to share our family’s experience today at this theater. First of all the lobby and theater were sticky and filthy. We were there for a kids movie and the sound was insanely loud, so much so that several young children were crying from the volume when the movie started. The men’s room was covered with bleach-y water which splashed on my husband’s shirt and left bleach marks all over it. I ordered popcorn. Not only did the popcorn taste weird and wasn’t warm, their do it yourself butter tub sprayed butter/oil all over my jacket. I expect my kids to get us dirty when we’re out, I never expected the theater itself to ruin our clothes. And bad popcorn is just sad....

We had an amazing time hosting a birthday party at the Chatham Hickory Cinema. Garry and the staff were unbelievable with their service, accommodations, and communication before and during our event. I wished all our previous parties were as simple and seamless as this. Everyone, children and adults alike, had a wonderful time at the movies and were already talking about next year's birthday event. What a great neighborhood independent movie theater. Thank YOU! 🎬📽️🥤🍿🍕🥳🎁 To top it all off I believe they have showings of the cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show. Wow, talk about a...