• (especially British English) (usually North American English movie theater, theater) [countable] a building in which films/movies are shown

  the local cinema

  See related entries: Public spaces, Showing films

• the cinema [singular] (British English) (North American English the movies) when you go to the cinema or to the movies, you go to a cinema/movie theater to see a film/movie

  I used to go to the cinema every week.

• [uncountable, singular] (especially British English) (usually North American English the movies) films/movies as an art or an industry

Sources: http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/