Going to the Movies

I went to see a movie today with friends. This is a perfectly ordinary thing for most people to do, but not me. The movie (Tomb Raider, if you want to know) was quite enjoyable, but I couldn't help look around the theatre. After all, they want you to.

Maybe I'm a little old fashioned, not having gone to many movies in the last decade or so. But the theatre business has changed, and I'm not sure I like the changes. It used to be that you paid your money, perhaps picked out a snack, and chose a seat. The lights went down, there were a few previews, (not commercials!), then onto the main show. When it was over you walked out, and looked over the people lined up to get in to see if there was anyone you knew.

The Coliseum is in south Calgary not too far from where I live. There's a Chapters right next door, and it's all in the middle of one of those horrible big box complexes that are surrounded by acres of parking that is inadequate for the number of cars that want to park. The roads leading in or out are a nightmare. I'm not sure how old this building is, perhaps 5 years or so. There's a large open lobby area with lots of ticket machines on the right. That at least is one advantage over the old way of doing things. Off to the left is a video arcade, and beside that is a small restaurant. That isn't the snack bar; oh no, that's in the middle of the lobby. I was afraid to look at the prices. To get to the movies you go up an escalator and around a semi circular hallway. The theatre seats are quite comfortable, with lots of leg room. This is very important to me.

Well, mostly comfortable. I could tell these seats have been sat in a lot. The cup holder hadn't been cleaned recently, or else it was a mutant with an appetite for arm hair. The floor was as sticky as theatre floors have ever been. I was a little surprised to see that a real live person introduced the show. This was done when we saw the then new Star Wars, but I thought it was just for that. But no, a nervous kid stepped out into the spotlight, and stumbled through a short speech. I guess that's the human touch.

We walked in about 20 minutes before the movie started and they were already playing commercials. Then we got the real commercials, and a couple of previews. Can you say loud? They must calibrate the sound level to teenagers that have been listening to heavy metal all their lives. I wasn't quite wincing or putting my hands over my ears this time, but I did up at Silver City. That was painfully loud, and made me wish I had brought my hearing protection ear muffs from work. At least if people were talking during the movie, I couldn't hear them.

While waiting for one of our party after the movie I made the mistake of leaning against the railing while looking down on the lobby. I stuck to it. The metal treads of the escalator were sticky enough that I thought about the maintenance schedule. All that spilled soda, candy, and popcorn can't be good for the mechanism. It's clear that a great deal of thought has gone into handling the logistics of moving people into and out of 10 theatres, and providing a good movie experience. It's a pity they can't keep the place clean.

I was surprised to see that it wasn't totally aswarm with kids. At 4:30 on a Saturday afternoon I was prepared to be wading through them, and figured all of them would want into Tomb Raider. But no, it wasn't like that, much to my relief. I'm not big on crowds.

The whole experience has left me still ambivalent about going to the movies. Firstly, the product generally isn't that good. Sometimes even renting it on video or DVD is more money than it's really worth. There are a lot of movies that are just plain stupid, and I don't want to reward the people that made them. Next, getting into the parking lot is generally a royal pain in the butt. The complex that the Coliseum is in isn't bad for getting around, at least not compared to West Hills. You practically need a map there, and it's designed for grid lock. After that, they usually have the sound much too loud. It's hard to enjoy a movie when the sound overwhelms the visual experience.

All in all, most of the time I'd still rather rent the DVD and watch it on my computer. I suppose if I really wanted a better watching experience, I'd get a big screen digital TV and the dedicated DVD player. But I'm mainly a reader, and no movie can match what goes through my brain as I read a book.