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Tel Aviv and Haifa each offer some high-profile film festival options, but the premier celluloid-themed event in the land is undoubtedly the Jerusalem Film Festival. Nothing beats the capital when it comes to big-name international guests, free outdoor screenings and a general atmosphere of movie-ready magic.

With the 2010 festival set to kick into gear in another 10 months, now seems like as relevant time as any to reflect on the city's movie-going trends, which have come under considerable fire lately. Although Mayor Nir Barkat's office has been aggressively courting Hollywood production firms to shoot here, Jerusalem's movie-loving public had better get used to spending its money on big-name cotton clothing brands instead.

The Malcha Mall is scheduled to close its cinema's doors in October to make room for H&M, known as "the Scandinavian Gap," a move which more discerning Jerusalem movie-goers are likely to see as an upgrade for the mall.

Upon announcement of the move, Azrieli Malls CEO Peer Nadir told the Ynet news website that he sees H&M's displacement of the mall-based multiplex as being in line with movie-going trends:

"Today there is a shift from cinemas in malls to larger complexes like Yes Planet which we built in the Ayalon Mall (in Ramat Gan). In places where the cinemas cannot be utilized to the fullest, we decided to give up on them in favor of stores like H&M which will attract buyers. Cinemas are not necessary for malls."

Meanwhile, recent initiatives to bring multiplexes back to the city center - including talk surrounding the new bustling retail hub of the Alrov Mamilla Avenue mall - have been thwarted by Jerusalem's religious lobbyists, who assert that cinemas belong closed on Friday nights. Apparently, clothing that is colorful, affordable, comfortable and mass-produced is more appropriate for the Holy City, as the Gap, also known as "the American H&M," is scheduled to open the doors to its first Israeli branch at the Mamilla mall, tomorrow night at 19:30, staying open until midnight.

Another major project, which would have brought a mainstream cineplex to Talpiot's Sherover Center, has been frozen due to the current difficult global economic situation.

Many might have taken solace in the knowledge that Jerusalem's movie scene was still home to many art-house theaters, like the picturesque, recently renovated Cinematheque and the Third Ear Screening Rooms. But even the art-houses are now in trouble, with the beloved 81-year-old Lev Smadar of the German Colony, still offering beer on tap in its lobby at time of publication, now fighting for survival. Apparently, due to a dispute between sisters and Smadar owners Sara Harish and Nava Chechik, the local courts have ordered that the business be sold. So much for sibling comradery in the Jerusalem cultural scene.

The municipal government's culture portfolio head, Deputy Mayor Yosef Alalu, has been scrambling to save the Smadar, looking into potential legal measures, but his hands are largely tied, since despite being a cultural treasure, it's a private business. As he recently told the Ha'aretz daily newspaper, the cinemas' closings "mostly affect young people, whom we'd like to stay in the city. It's a hard blow." But who ever said that taking leaps forward in the realm of global retail would be without sacrifices?