Saudis crave revival of night out at the movies The lights go out, the projector whirls and entertainment-starved Saudis sink into plush seats to soak up an experience they were denied for decades —- a day out at the cinema. The rare movie night this week in Riyadh was a precursor to what is expected to be a formal lifting of the kingdom's ban on cinemas, long vilified as vulgar and sinful by religious hardliners.