I don't know about the rest of you, but as I've gotten older I've hated the movie going experience more and more. That really sucks because I love films. I love watching them, analyzing them, arguing about them and sharing the experience with my friends.
Over the last two decades, the prevalence of cell phones and the general decline in polite human behavior has made going to the movies an experience that at best, could be considered a necessary evil for me. There are just certain movies that cry out to be seen on the big screen with door busting sound and the ultra high resolution only film can provide.
However, the number of films I "must" see in the theater has been dwindling in recent years. And when I do go it's a stressful, strategic, often futile exercise wherein I do my best to avoid the unwashed masses that ruin it for me.
All that changed recently when I attended a showing of "Escape from New York" with two of my GFR colleagues at the Alamo Drafthouse (click here) in Yonkers, NY. The Alamo chain has quickly become a haven for cineastes who crave a truly amazing theater-going experience. I'm happy to report it lives up to the hype.
While the theater is mutually inconvenient for all of us, we three Carpenter fiends could not resist the temptation of seeing (for the first time) "Escape" on the big screen, a film we were all too young to see in theatres in 1981. Put simply, it was a no-brainer.
While I familiarized myself with the Alamo experience online, the in-person experience surpassed my expectations. The lobby was filled with custom retro posters of some of my favorite films, but the highlight was a full-sized replica of the nuclear bomb that Slim Pickins rode to Armageddon in "Dr. Strangelove," which everyone was encouraged to be photographed on!
Eyepatches and fake cigarettes were distributed to patrons there for "ENY," – a simple touch that showed you this film was being presented by film fans for film fans. Inside, instead of the usual array of annoying trailers, a loop of weird and wacky clips were shown (obviously poached from You Tube) that fit the Carpenter/Russell theme, and they were a hoot.
The auditorium was expansive and the seats were extremely comfortable, with ample legroom, but the best part was an incredibly badass menu of food and drink, all served right at your seat! Each row was outfitted with a bar to place the food and there was plenty of space for servers to move in and out. None of this detracted from the experience.
Another great aspect of the Alamo experience was reserved seating (something "normal" theatres are starting to adopt) – no more worrying about getting stuck in the front, the back or all the way to the side. But my favorite part had to be strictly enforced the talking/texting policy. It's simple. You do either and you're ejected without a refund.
I can't say enough about the Alamo experience. In fact, what I did say to my buddies afterward isn't printable on a family site, but it truthfully conveyed my excitement for an experience I thought was forever lost to me.
My hope is that my GFR colleagues and I (as well as other friends) can visit the Alamo on a somewhat regular basis for the films that cry out to be seen under nothing but the best circumstances.
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