Charlotte Observer | 02/18/2005 | Noisy food has no place in a movie theater

Charlotte Observer | 02/18/2005 | Noisy food has no place in a movie theater: "Despite my affection for new and weird stuff, I detest anything but popcorn at the movies, and feel reasonably fair in wishing all else were banned from theaters. Except gummy candy in the serve-it-yourself bags. That'd be OK. But all the stuff that must be unwrapped, or that drops as you tilt your box (M&Ms, Raisinets, chocolate-covered treats of other varieties, etc.) should be outlawed, I've always thought."

Perhaps some very wise words...

UA Coronet

We went to the Coronet for the first (and last) time, last thursday to see Million Dollar Baby. I won't go into any practical details since the theater is going to be closed and torn down, but I will talk about it's grandeur. This place was a fantastic huge theater. Very well kept and a very stylish building. It was like a small opera house or other fancy venue. It just felt classy to watch stuff there.

I have mixed feelings about places like these getting torn down. In one way, it's so neat to see something here (the sound and picture were both updated to great current standards) and see the layout of a place like this. But on the other hand, I always think if a business can't sustain itself, something has to change. It seemed like there was no longer any place for a theater of the Coronet mode. I just wish that it didn't have to be replaced by something that will probably be unspectacular like more condos. Great things should be replaced with more great things and not just the projects of financial opportunists.

On a sad note, it seemed the theater staff was unmoved by the situation of the theater. One manager in particular arbitrarily stopped one couple from taking pictures (despite the fact that many others had just done so) and that the theater was going to be a fading memory soon. Institutionalizing things, it appears, takes some of the humanity out of people. In all areas of life.

The UA Metro

Having wanted to watch a movie here since I first saw it last week, I was prepared for a pleasantly grand (if a little run down) theater. And I pretty much got what I expected.

It was a much bigger venue than I had thought, like one of the bigger rooms at a standard multiplex. It had an earlier version of stadium like seating, which I like. The room fanned out like a concert hall, which I also prefer to the straight boxes that are prevalent at the mercado or metreon. And the room was huge and decorated beautifully. Lots of classic details on the railings and murals on the walls.

I was impressed with the sound (at least during the trailers, it seemed to drop a little power for the feature) and the picture was a terrific size, totally immersive, but not too big to follow.

But after the movie was done, I noticed I had been uncomfortable throughout. And Martha mentioned a similar discomfort. The seats and spacing don't look like they've undergone much consideration lately, and the armrests were occassionaly missing. That was the biggest letdown. If not for the seats, it would be very serviceable movie watching location. It's a lot like the aquarius and guild in that way.

The theater was filled to about 5% capacity and martha predicted that it wouldn't be around long. Another factor that might contribute to that would be the fact that it costs $14 to park at the garage next door and that in the crowded shopping of the marina, there's little chance that you'll find parking anywhere else.

We managed to take a bus over from noe valley (the 24 which takes a very exciting and scenic route) but the trek from the fillmore (and especially back up the hill) was a little taxing. In the end it's only a couple of blocks, not much to complain about.

On another note, I didn't realize regal had theaters in the city. I suppose I should have realized that anything with a UA name is regal, but it just never occurred to me. Maybe as the biggest theater chain in the country they should ship in some nicer seats :)

The UA Metro

Having wanted to watch a movie here since I first saw it last week, I was prepared for a pleasantly grand (if a little run down) theater. And I pretty much got what I expected.

It was a much bigger venue than I had thought, like one of the bigger rooms at a standard multiplex. It had an earlier version of stadium like seating, which I like. The room fanned out like a concert hall, which I also prefer to the straight boxes that are prevalent at the mercado or metreon. And the room was huge and decorated beautifully. Lots of classic details on the railings and murals on the walls.

I was impressed with the sound (at least during the trailers, it seemed to drop a little power for the feature) and the picture was a terrific size, totally immersive, but not too big to follow.

But after the movie was done, I noticed I had been uncomfortable throughout. And Martha mentioned a similar discomfort. The seats and spacing don't look like they've undergone much consideration lately, and the armrests were occassionaly missing. That was the biggest letdown. If not for the seats, it would be very serviceable movie watching location. It's a lot like the aquarius and guild in that way.

The theater was filled to about 5% capacity and martha predicted that it wouldn't be around long. Another factor that might contribute to that would be the fact that it costs $14 to park at the garage next door and that in the crowded shopping of the marina, there's little chance that you'll find parking anywhere else.

We managed to take a bus over from noe valley (the 24 which takes a very exciting and scenic route) but the trek from the fillmore (and especially back up the hill) was a little taxing. In the end it's only a couple of blocks, not much to complain about.

On another note, I didn't realize regal had theaters in the city. I suppose I should have realized that anything with a UA name is regal, but it just never occurred to me. Maybe as the biggest theater chain in the country they should ship in some nicer seats :)

The UA Metro

Having wanted to watch a movie here since I first saw it last week, I was prepared for a pleasantly grand (if a little run down) theater. And I pretty much got what I expected.

It was a much bigger venue than I had thought, like one of the bigger rooms at a standard multiplex. It had an earlier version of stadium like seating, which I like. The room fanned out like a concert hall, which I also prefer to the straight boxes that are prevalent at the mercado or metreon. And the room was huge and decorated beautifully. Lots of classic details on the railings and murals on the walls.

I was impressed with the sound (at least during the trailers, it seemed to drop a little power for the feature) and the picture was a terrific size, totally immersive, but not too big to follow.

But after the movie was done, I noticed I had been uncomfortable throughout. And Martha mentioned a similar discomfort. The seats and spacing don't look like they've undergone much consideration lately, and the armrests were occassionaly missing. That was the biggest letdown. If not for the seats, it would be very serviceable movie watching location. It's a lot like the aquarius and guild in that way.

The theater was filled to about 5% capacity and martha predicted that it wouldn't be around long. Another factor that might contribute to that would be the fact that it costs $14 to park at the garage next door and that in the crowded shopping of the marina, there's little chance that you'll find parking anywhere else.

We managed to take a bus over from noe valley (the 24 which takes a very exciting and scenic route) but the trek from the fillmore (and especially back up the hill) was a little taxing. In the end it's only a couple of blocks, not much to complain about.

On another note, I didn't realize regal had theaters in the city. I suppose I should have realized that anything with a UA name is regal, but it just never occurred to me. Maybe as the biggest theater chain in the country they should ship in some nicer seats :)

The UA Metro

Having wanted to watch a movie here since I first saw it last week, I was prepared for a pleasantly grand (if a little run down) theater. And I pretty much got what I expected.

It was a much bigger venue than I had thought, like one of the bigger rooms at a standard multiplex. It had an earlier version of stadium like seating, which I like. The room fanned out like a concert hall, which I also prefer to the straight boxes that are prevalent at the mercado or metreon. And the room was huge and decorated beautifully. Lots of classic details on the railings and murals on the walls.

I was impressed with the sound (at least during the trailers, it seemed to drop a little power for the feature) and the picture was a terrific size, totally immersive, but not too big to follow.

But after the movie was done, I noticed I had been uncomfortable throughout. And Martha mentioned a similar discomfort. The seats and spacing don't look like they've undergone much consideration lately, and the armrests were occassionaly missing. That was the biggest letdown. If not for the seats, it would be very serviceable movie watching location. It's a lot like the aquarius and guild in that way.

The theater was filled to about 5% capacity and martha predicted that it wouldn't be around long. Another factor that might contribute to that would be the fact that it costs $14 to park at the garage next door and that in the crowded shopping of the marina, there's little chance that you'll find parking anywhere else.

We managed to take a bus over from noe valley (the 24 which takes a very exciting and scenic route) but the trek from the fillmore (and especially back up the hill) was a little taxing. In the end it's only a couple of blocks, not much to complain about.

On another note, I didn't realize regal had theaters in the city. I suppose I should have realized that anything with a UA name is regal, but it just never occurred to me. Maybe as the biggest theater chain in the country they should ship in some nicer seats :)

AMC Kabuki

We saw Elektra in Theater number 8 last night. The Kabuki, for anyone who hasn't been there, is one of those great big in-city multiplexes that has a bunch of theaters stacked in a small space. (Like the AMC Van Ness or the Century in Daly City). Our theater didn't have stadium seating and I quite liked the way the theater felt. I suppose in the modern day of home theaters, this one approached what a grand home theater would acheive, but it made for a movie watching experience that seemed superior to the smaller stadium seaters. I like that the seats spread out around you and that the experience seems wide, and vast (even for a smaller room). It's rather underwhelming to walk into the stadium rooms for the smaller films that seem to have the capacity of my living room, all in the name of an unobstructed view. Of course, I might not be saying this if their were taller people in the movie with us.

Parking was sort of a bummer. They had a garage with validation at the theater, but it still cost 2.75 to park there (on a tuesday night) on top of the 9.00 tickets. At least it wasn't hard to park (but there weren't really any street options in that area of town. There was a lot of food around the filmore plazas and the general area, which was nice. And it was even nicer that they didn't question us when we brought it in! Which means I didn't have to stick all the popeyes I bought into my pockets.

We, of course, did a good job of cleaning up our food related trash, thus leaving the theater no reason to stop allowing us to bring it!