@courtenay 

The word cinema is sometimes used here in America for movies collectively or for the movie industry in general.  There is also the adjective cinematic. I guess it would be clearer to distinguish theaters designed to show films from those that have live plays by calling them movie theaters or cinemas to prevent confusion.  But the people living here are used to American English, and it might cause confusion trying to change my words even though the UK English may be better and more accurate. I haven’t tried to change my Michigan accent either, although I am not always certain that my pronunciation of words is correct. 🙂

@narnian78 I don't think anyone should feel the need to "change" their words, as long as we all understand each other (with occasional explanations if necessary). I haven't changed my Aussie accent even after 13 years of living in the UK, but nobody seems to mind!  

I was wondering if old movie theaters are now regarded as obsolete. In my area they are often converted into small auditoriums which are used for something else. I guess the old fashioned projectors are removed since the technology is obsolete just like the projectors that were used in schools decades ago. I guess they will have to be repurposed in some way to prevent them from being razed.  It seems like they should be preserved if possible. We have two old theaters in my area which no longer show films. A college was able to restore one of them as an auditorium, and the other was made into a dance floor. At least they can still be used for entertaining audiences.