I suppose unless you say something like "it makes my flesh crawl," but yes...never really used in a nice way!

I have only seen on episode of Hudson & Rex. I think "theatre" and "movie theatre" are more common colloquially here, but "cinema" can still be used occasionally. Official business names of cinemas tend to have "cinema" in the name, or when referring to the different theatres within a multiplex they will be referred to as "Cinema 1, Cinema 2," etc.