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!

The Clay Theater

Parking is certainly not one of this venue's strong points :) Luckily I didn't have to deal with it -- and instead I was assigned to brave the scary line around the building for seating -- but I thought HollyG would never make it back. She did, and as it turns out, the line had more bark than bite as well. We had no problems finding seats. And what was better was that even for this sold out show, and us not showing up more than 20 minutes before curtains, we got great service from the box office staff who happily refunded the cash that Nina and Sasank paid for our tickets in exchange for my need-to-use-before-Dec 15 discount passes.
On to the theater, it was a typically strong offering from the landmark line. With the seasons changing outside, it was pleasantly warm on the inside. The lobby even offered free water and tea (which I think is also typical of landmark theaters now that I think about it). There were plenty of other promotional movie items to pick up, so naturally I did.
Despite my usual skepticism of non-megaplex venues, it was an exceptionally comfortable viewing experience. The seats were really new and had cupholders with these little lips. The screen was small and the theater was long, but even sitting 5 rows from the back, I had no problem getting lost in the movie. The tall guy in front of me had a knack for blocking the subtitles, though. One other touch I noted was that they decorated the interior of the theater with framed movie posters. It was a little cheesy over the curtains, but what was worse was that the plastic covers reflected glare from the movie image.
All in all it was a perfectly comfortable city theater. A great addition to a small but growing collection of city theaters that I know about and how to navigate.

Mill Valley Film Festival (Throckmorton)

Receiving a tip from the Balboa Theater weekly newsletter, I decided to check out the ongoing Mill Valley Film Festival. I'd heard of it before, and had the vague impression that it was something big, so I wanted to see what it was all about. The lineup from the website looked impressive, however the experience was a little disappointing. The website turned out to be a big liar and we missed the movie about basketball that I was really excited to watch. HollyG got me an apple/pumpkin to salve the wound, and we caught the next film at the Throckmorton theater in Mill Valley. Not a true movie theater, the venue was more of a live theater type of thing, with a digital projector and an art gallery in the pre-seating area. The original venue (which actually was a movie theater) was the one whose roof fell in, so I'm a little more forgiving for the scheduling inconsistencies and the venue mis-listings, given the circumstances for the festival.

One cool note about the theater was that there were no permanent seats in the building. I found this pretty strange given that the room was a full time stage theater. But it seemed to work and I found myself more disturbed by the implausibility of the plot developing on the screen than the lack of cushiness on my butt.

Foreign Cinema

Foreign Cinema

HollyG and I enjoyed a romantic date at Foreign Cinema this past Saturday. She's been before, but I had been wanting to go since I first heard about it, and see what it was all about. She broke out her cocktail dress and I put on my fancy shoes to impress her. The meal was great. We had some great mmm... Oysters and I had fancified fried chicken. We got sufficiently wasted on half bottles of wine and port for dessert.

Unfortunately, I didn't think they pulled off the movie part of the evening in any interesting way. Everything about the venue was classy and impressive except for the way they integrated the film into the experience. They threw a small, dim, digitally projected image onto the far wall. You could see the cheesy background of the digital projector where the letterbox didn't fill out, and all hues were all a little too blue. Also there was absolutely no way to enjoy the audio portion of the movie. Even though they had the cute idea of playing the sound through old drive-in movie speakerboxes, they didn't make any attempt to clean up the obvious shortcomings of an older technology.

The outdoor patio setting was particularly nice, though. It was cozy and enclosed (and warmed by heat lamps) while still feeling open and outdoors, which is a nice feeling to pull off. I think that was the part of it that I liked best (that and the swank). Maybe they could have done something like project the movie a little bigger and played just the soundtrack (no voices, just music and effects - like taking the center channel out of a dolby digital mix) in the background. Anything to work the film into it a little better.

Was it worth the price tag on the fancy meal? It's hard to say, since HollyG was there and I'm inclined to say that our dates are worth any price tag...