By upscale, I mean those cinemas that have leather seats, and full menus, with alcohol served to you during the film.
They sometimes prohibit kids from attendance in some instances.
I have never gone to one;I guess im simple, and a cheapo.
I feel like all the food service would distract from the movie experience, plus movie theatres for me havent reached the frustration stage yet, but thats b/c I tend to go more for matinees as I get older.
Have you guys ever gone to one? Will it replace the regular theatre?
Or is it just a passing fad ?
We have Hollywood Cinemas out in Chicago among others. I don’t mind them because the drinks and food are top notch and would diff go again. I do like the family own cinemas and some of the mainstream ones due to supporting local business. Hate it thou that my local AMC jacked up their prices on combos and shit.
All i want is for a movie theater to do like in Europe and pause the movie halfway through. Interstellar was good and all but fuck man, sitting for over 3 hours without moving or peeing? I’m tired of that shit! Movies are too long if I can’t take a break! I’d pay for that.
Alamo Draft House movie theaters are fucking amazing. You get to watch a movie and feel like a grown up doing it. I love movie theaters as is, but that was an entirely different experience altogether.
10 years ago I went to a movie house that had living room-sized theaters and a smaller screen that seats 6 people in sofas. Yeah basically a home theater rental for first-run movie releases.
Well worth it. It seems counterproductive to travel to another city to watch a movie, but experiencing some of the nice things they have to offer, even if its as minute as that, is one of the neat things about traveling.
They give you one warning and then they kick you out. They actually kicked Madonna out of one of their theaters for using the cellphone; that alone should tell you how godlike they are.
I should explain a bit better what the deal is with Alamo Draft House. When you go to get tickets, you aren’t just buying random tickets, you pick where you want to seat. This does mean that if you are kinda late, the seating won’t be the best. But if you like getting to movie theaters early (something I love doing) it means you get to call dibs on your favorite seats. Another nice thing is that, because of the way the theater sitting is built, there won’t be terrible seats in the house.
This is the one on Lakeline in Austin, TX. Seating is going to vary from theater to theater but as I said, not really a bad seat. When you get there you’ll have a menu and a server. Food is pretty nice and comes out quickly. Its a bit expensive but, if you figure that you are combining dinner with the movie experience, it isn’t that bad. Another neat thing about these is that they all have a theme. I lucked out on mine since I’m a huge mark for:
Yeah…Planet of the Apes all up in that bitch. They have original posters for the films and, IIRC, that statue was costume made for the theater. You walk in the theater and get a sense that these people really love this. Kind of like walking into Hard Rock Cafe without it going full douchebag.
These don’t replace a regular movie theater. It doesn’t have the same magic of getting fisted for some popcorn, fighting over an arm rest, hearing black people get loud and people clapping for Will Smith when he welcomes ET to earth. But for those moments when you want to have a really nice time and enjoy watching a movie that cares about your enjoyment, ADH rocks fucking hard.
I hit up the closest IMAX amc theater. they sell alcohol in a mini bar area which is cool and well most of the time people don’t show up early so the chances for a good seat are great. it takes me an hour but its better than sitting in a regular country ass theater with a bunch of preteens and teens since the local parenthood tends to use the mall as a daycare.
I gotta see if I have any theaters like these where I live.
People actually getting told by employees to shut the fuck up and telling assholes to put the phones away? Sign me up. The Comfy beds and chairs are just a bonus.
No it won’t replace normal theaters simply because they’re too expensive, but they aren’t a passing fad either, I love going to a fancy/gimmicky theater once in a while when I want to treat myself as the experience of a cinema is almost as important to me as the quality of the film itself. I have the luxury of AMC Lincoln Square 13 which boasts the second largest movie screen in the world 80 feet high and 100 feet wide it is definitely overwhelming in a good way. The size of a film screen matters to me more than anything else, the bigger the better, too bad 4K projectors are now the standard all across the country it still has a ways to go before it can truly rival film. My arms could be on fire during a film and my legs being ripped apart by starving piranahs, I don’t care I like to tune out the world and give myself over to the film so anything that makes that easier to do is well worth it.
I’ve heard about the Alamo Draft House, sounds awesome, apparently one is being built in Brooklyn and will open next year woo! That reminds me I just signed up to the film club at Nitehawk Cinema where once a month we meet up and watch a film then talk about it together over brunch hosted by Matt Singer editor of screencrush and it’s $5 tickets woo!
It’s possible these become a standard, especially as netflix begins to do theatrical releases, rather obsoleting the general theater option. If that happens really only two groups would be served by cinemas: poor people who can’t afford a decent home system and netflix (although probably they can’t afford movie tickets either) and more affluent types that want a better environment and probably only will watch a few films as well.
Heck it used to be there were drive in movies, that sounds pretty stupid to me now, but maybe regular theaters will sound stupid going forward too.
Man I was so glad when we got something called ULTRAAVX around my area. Apparently the seating and sound is much better, but the most important aspect for me is the preselecting of seats. It’s really convenient to be able to purchase your ticket two hours before the movie and show up five minutes before it actually starts; without having to worry about getting a good seat.
Of course they charge a slight premium for this “service”, but it’s definitely worth it on cheap movie nights and you’re not going to get a complaint out of me.
I’m torn on this. I grew up in a movie theater environment and really fell in love with the industry. Not having watched many movies as a child, I was amazed to see how people regularly watched movies and how big attractions were akin to theme park experiences. My favorite is when a huge movie is released and the entire theater is crowded, packed to capacity and the room’s brimming with excitement.
That said, I didn’t work in a ghetto area, so that probably makes my experiences more positive than those who have to undergo such horrors.
We have an upper-scale theater here, and I’ve been once. It was a nice enough experience. Long-Island tea one after the other was a nice touch. But I couldn’t help but feel that the experience was missing something in comparison to my rowdier experiences at traditional theaters. I don’t think combining the restaurant experience with the movie experience is as satisfying as they are separately. But I can definitely see the appeal, depending on the company and the mood.
Damn you totally beat me to this comment. That velvet bed looks too comfortable. They serve alcohol in that type of lighting and bed, and its over. Nigga I would go there to watch some bullshit ass movie that nobody is trying to see with a girl. Hotel and movies all in one.
