A couple weeks ago I was down in Los Angeles for a bit. In between working and enjoying the sunshine I has one task on my mind. To attend a screening at the ArcLight Hollywood, considered to be one of the top theatres in the city. Unfortunately due to poor scheduling, the only movie playing that my friend and I hadn’t seen was “No Strings Attached” so we were forced to see that. I will not give it any more service then to say it was the worst thing I have ever seen and I hope that Natalie Portman doesn’t win an Oscar for Black Swan because she released this piece of shit. It all matters people. In order to cleanse myself from that horrid experience I drove down to El Segundo before my flight left and took in a matinee of “The Mechanic” at ArcLight Beach Cities. Here are the 5 reasons why the ArcLight has ruined the movie going experience for me.
5. Caramel Corn – Thats right, the make their own Caramel Corn on site everyday. As someone who has a ridiculous sweet tooth, this was a nice change from the regular fare you can get at a movie theatre. Granted it was like 6 bucks for a fairly small container, but then how much caramel corn can you really eat? It was delicious by the way.
ArcLight Beach Cities
4. Wide-Ass Seats - As someone who spends a lot of time sitting in the dark watching images flicker across the screen, seat comfort is a big fucking deal. These seats are so big that they dont even have to flip down. They are just static. I probably could have fit two of me in one seat. Plus the armrests are double wide so you don’t have to share or take turns with your seat neighbour. Ample leg room as well. I could almost stick my feat straight out while sitting upright. SInce I am also 6’1, that means a lot. And yes, every armrest also had a cup holder.
Me about to enjoy "The Mechanic"
3. No commercials – Thats right. No commercials before the movie started, at any time. At the ArcLight Hollywood, the screen was just dark and in El Segundo the screen had a trippy hand puppet image on it. It also wasn’t blasting some out of date pseudo radio station, it just played some classic music that sounded like movie soundtracks (and knowing the ArcLight, it probably was). A very peaceful and adult way to prepare for a movie.
The Screen in El Segundo
2. Attendant attention - This is what solidified this theatre as a haven for movie fans. Before the movie started and employee entered and gave a little speech. They mentioned the name of the movie that we were seeing, then they politely told everyone to TURN OFF THEIR CELLPHONES!!!! You have no idea how happy this made me. Lately the darkness of the theatre has been consistently ruined by douches on cells. Granted the theatre wasn’t overly packed but the fact that they said this made the world for me. Then they stated that they would be waiting off to the side for the movie to get going, just to make sure that the presentation was up to ArcLight standards. Who does that anymore? It was so wonderful. Then the attendant waved his hand in the air, to signal the projectionist to start the movie. Yeah, that happened. Blew my mind.
Ugh. Yes. It was.
1. Seat Selection - This is the main reason that I wanted to go to the ArcLight. I have heard about this feature but never quite believed it. You can go online ahead of time and buy not only your ticket but you can choose where you want to sit. This is a movie lovers dream. No more arriving at the theatre 30 to 40 minutes before start time in order to get good seats. You can literally walk in as the movie is about to start and get your seats. The pressure is off and the movie going experience becomes enjoyable again. Even if you show up and purchase tickets at the box office you can pick your seat. So amazing. So genius. I wish every theatre did this. It completely raises this theatre to another level. I have made a promise to myself that every time I am in LA from now on I will go to the ArcLight at least 2 to 3 times. It is that good of an experience.
Good thing we picked our seats ahead of time
Hi Brian, this is too funny. I thought ArchLight did something horrible to you until I read your whole post. Ha..ha.. wow, that’d ruin the moviegoing experience for me too. Caramel corn! I love those!! Oh, one theater in Minneapolis actually offer seat selection now too, which is all kinds of brilliant. And the price is actually a bit cheaper than the regular AMC theaters. Why can’t more theaters do that??
The big comfortable seats, No commercials, actually having a real live human being asking the audience to turn off their cellphones– all that and Caramel Corn!— Nailed it!
Plus they really do pay good attention to keeping the theaters clean–and following up on the making sure people aren’t texting during the film–very cool (I only have been to the one in Los Angeles)
And Also– not only do I agree with your hoping Natalie Portman does not get the Oscar for that horrible No Strings Attatched garbage–I think she should be re-cast and they should re-shoot her scenes in Thor! ugh!
Wow. Looks like IMAX sounds like Shangri La;)
Glad someone thinks movies are still an experience worthy of a good presentation. Its those theaters that turned into day care for kids and sellouts to major advertisers that makes cinema going so dreadful. Great post Steve. Heard about arc lights but never knew it was that good. Can’t wait to go to one;)