Grex Aaypsi Conference

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Grex Aaypsi Item 74: Movie Theaters
Entered by denise on Thu Jul 26 22:24:23 UTC 2007:

So where are your favorite theaters?  Who has the best seating? Best
popcorn and other  snack items [if you don't bring your own from home]? 
Best sound system? Best movie  selections?

4 responses total.

#1 of 4 by slynne on Fri Jul 27 13:50:12 2007:

I am not especially picky about sound or picture quality or things like 
that. I am able to easily tune out problems with either of those 
things. 

I judge a movie theater mostly by their seats. That is why, even though 
I love just about everything else at the Michigan Theater, I almost 
never go there. What is the most funny thing about that is that the 
seats in the main theater arent quite as bad as the seats in the 
screening room which is a modern addition. I think they might even be 
the same seats but maybe they just seem more uncomfortable to me 
because I know that since the screening room is an addition, they 
*could* have put in comfortable seats but instead chose not to. Those 
seats sure look nice though and that is VERY important while watching a 
movie in the dark ;) 

They dont have the most uncomfortable seats though. The State theater 
gets the prize for that!!  Those seats are old so they are kind of 
lumpy and I always end up with a butt ache after sitting there for even 
just a half an hour. In addition, most of the seats there dont have a 
lot of leg room. I often end up with leg cramps. There are some seats 
here and there that have leg room and if you really want to see a movie 
at The State, it is worth it to get there early enough to snag up those 
seats. 

I havent seen a movie at the Quality 13 in a couple of years. But I 
never really liked going there. Mostly it wasnt because of anything 
about the theater itself but rather consistant bad experiences with 
other movie patrons. Sometimes I wondered if the Quality 13 had an 
advertisement out there that said "Movie Talkers Welcome" because just 
about every time I would go there, I would end up with some dumb person 
behind me who would spend the whole movie asking his/her companion "I 
dont understand what is going on" and "Why did they do that?" and my 
personal favorite usually said after they missed a bunch of dialog 
because they were getting the explanation they requested, "What did 
they just say?"  

So, my favorite theater in the area is Showcase over on carpenter road. 
They have a lot of snack variety which I enjoy. I dont like movie 
popcorn (except for the popcorn at the Michigan Theater which I do like 
for some reason). I dont know what it is about movie popcorn but it 
always makes me a little bit sick and there is something about the 
taste of it that just doesnt sit right with me. Since I love popcorn 
ordinarily, I figure it must be the oil they use. Anyways, Showcase has 
comfortable seats, few movie talkers, it is close, etc. 

Another place I sometimes go is the theater in Brighton. I like meeting 
people up there. It has less snack food variety than showcase but you 
know, I am not a big movie eater anyways so that isnt all that 
important to me. It has comfortable seats. It has more movie talkers 
than showcase (especially if you go during the day). One of things I 
like about it though is that there is a Borders right next door which 
makes for a convenient pre or post movie place. I kind of like that 
about the Michigan Theater too: there are lots of pre or post movie 
places to go.

#2 of 4 by remmers on Fri Jul 27 14:31:54 2007:

Gee, did the Quality 16 lose three auditoriums?  :)  (Since moving to a
different part of town, we hardly ever go to Quality 16 anymore, but I
too had notice a problem with talkers there.)  When we go to a first-run
non-artsy movie - not all that often - it's usually at Showcase.

Being somewhat shorter than average, I like stadium seating - your view
is never blocked.  Showcase and Quality 16 get high marks for that. 
Despite the stadium-like seating, the State Theater provides the worst
seating experience by far - the seats are ancient and too narrow, the
space between rows is too narrow, and the seats don't even face directly
at the screen - they're at a slight angle to it.  This last flaw comes
from the fact that the two State auditoriums used to be the balcony of a
larger theater, and the seats face where the screen *used* to be.

I'm fussy about projection quality and sound, but most theaters do a
reasonable job of it these days, in contrast to say 20 years ago.  The
only local theater that's problematic in that department is the State.

The local theater that we attend most frequently by far is the Michigan,
because they show the most movies that we want to see right away and not
wait for the DVD.

#3 of 4 by slynne on Fri Jul 27 16:58:58 2007:

Haha. I meant Quality 16

#4 of 4 by krj on Thu Aug 2 19:40:18 2007:

Strictly on movie selection, we have primarily been customers at the
Michigan Theater and the State Theater, with occasional forays down 
to Briarwood Dollar Theater.  I am having trouble recalling the 
last time we were at the Quality 16 or the Showcase.

Agreed on the situation with the State:  you want to be one of the
very first people into the auditorium to get one of the few tolerable
seats.
 
We just renewed our Michigan Theater membership so we can get 
tickets at the Michigan and the State for $6, any showtime.
The Michigan is also the only theater I know of in the area with
real butter on its popcorn.

Does anyone go to the Penn Theater in Plymouth?

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