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August 17, 2005
But Will We Still Have To Watch "The Twenty?"
Just learned via The Reeler (his title's far better than mine) about a Bruce Weber New York Times article discussing the emerging trend of motion picture chains that want to redefine the moviegoing experience (and, of course, make a tidy profit along the way). Perks at these thetares include gourmet snack bars, valet parking, and, of course, booze. Weber notes that up until recently, very few first-run theaters served alcohol in the United States:
The first first-run theater to offer alcohol was the Commodore, a one-screen palace in Portsmouth, Va. And according to In Focus, a trade magazine published by the theater owners association, by 1997 only 14 theaters allowed patrons to drink, either in the lobby or their seats. At the beginning of this year, the magazine said, the number was 270, most operated by independent owners or small chains. Places like the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Tex., and two small chains in northern New England, Chunky's and Smitty's, seat customers at tables and offer different versions of dinner and a movie.One restaurant, I mean theater, in Boca Raton, Florida, serves shrimp cocktail and sushi to selected patrons while they wait for the movie to start. Now, of course, these specialty chains represent one possible response to flagging movie ticket sales and, more importantly, to the ways in which the giant multiplex chains have made moviegoing feel more like watching television through extensive pre-show advertising.
While I don't want to dismiss other factors behind the decline in movie attendance, I'm fairly convinced that theater chains should be in the process of redefining the moviegoing experience in order to make it more attractive than staying at home, and these theater chains offer an interesting alternative, especially for adult audiences. Obviously, these luxuries will only draw in a certain niche market, and I do find some of the upscale pretensions to be a little excessive, especially the valet service. I think these chains may be a useful alternative to the cattle-herding experience offered by most multiplexes, although these luxury movie palaces might also be read as an attempt to avoid rubbing elbows with the general public (the "crying babies, giggling teenagers, [and] rude patrons" who populate multiplexes). There's certainly a history of theaters offering luxuries, such as air conditioning, to entice customers, so I'd imagine that these chains will flourish, especially in urban centers, but as I've been writing this entry, the underlying subtext of disdain for general movie audiences is fairly striking (not that I'd pass up a beer and a California roll to go with my movie).
Posted by chuck at August 17, 2005 1:39 PM
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Comments
I've been to the Commodore in Portsmouth, several times actually, when I lived in that area. Great theater, though the process of getting tickets made me start calling the owner the "movie nazi" (think Seinfeld and the Soup Nazi). You had to queue up early on the day of the show, choose your seats, buy the proper amount of tickets, leave them stapled to the paper indicating your seat choice, and all show up together (or you will not be seated).
But it's a great space, cool food, and a wonderful date night-kind-of-experience.
Posted by: TerminalMFA at August 17, 2005 3:44 PM
My family lives in Portsmouth, and so they go to the Commodore all the time, and I think I've probably been about 20 times. TerminalMFA describes it well: The Commodore's a restored art-Deco theater, and is, in its way, a very nice date. TerminalMFA is also right about the ticket-buying process.
But what makes the Commodore work is the space that it's in, and the fetishistic ardor with which the owner restored it. It's hardly a template.
Posted by: JBJ ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://chutry.wordherders.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at August 17, 2005 4:20 PM
Interesting readinsg of the Commodore. While that theater certainly wouldn't serve as a "template," I'm wondering if there's a form of localized nostalgia that could be. My guess is that companies could "exploit" these local differences in order to create a local date-night attraction.
The owner sound like an "interesting" guy. "Soup Nazi" tendencies aside, I'm intrigued by his "fetishistic ardor" for producing a specific kind of cinematic space.
Posted by: Chuck at August 17, 2005 4:57 PM
I guess he is an interesting guy. He really did create a space that's reminiscint (at least from my reading) of the old movie palaces. It feels like a luxury experience, even compared to stadium-seating theaters with plush high-back seats. You sit at tables with plush, deep chairs. You pick up a phone on the table and place your order, which is brought to your table. One glitch is the payment process. The phones start ringing (a very quiet ring) towards the last 30 mins of the movie, and the kitchen staff tells you what you owe, then they come by the table to get your card. So as the movie is ending, you're trying to pay your bill and calculate your tip. But it's still a cool place that I loved to go to.
Since it was a single screen house, it was never a 'go back again and again' experience for me. Plus, I got picky about what movies I was seeing because of limited time, and I didn't always want to see what was playing there.
But I loved it so much, I thought several times about how I'd run such a place.
Posted by: TerminalMFA at August 17, 2005 10:49 PM
I meant "interesting," more in the sense that he had teh desire to produce this nostalgia trip (a theater experience that evokes the good old days of grand Hollywod theaters) more than anything else. The phone system does sound like a pain in the ass.
Posted by: Chuck at August 17, 2005 11:12 PM