Coming
Attractions: The Rise Of Luxury Movie Theaters
(By Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 18 December 2014)
Next time you go to the movies, you might want to think
about putting on a coat and tie. As more
high-end cinemas open in the region- boasting reserved seating, concierge
desks, cocktails and fancy food- the experience is becoming less and less like
an afternoon at the Bijou and more like a night at the Kennedy Center. In fact, when ArcLight Cinemas unveiled its 16-screen
multiplex in Bethesda last month, a place with a posh lobby bar and
old-school ushers, but no box office, the company’s vice president of
operations, Stephen Green, described the chain’s competition not as other movie
theaters, but- wait for it- opera.
What’s next, printed theater programs?
Though ArcLight’s basic ticket price of $13.75 is the
highest of its ilk (and still a bargain when compared to, say, $49 to $75 for
the Washington National Opera’s “The Little Prince”
at the Kennedy Center), it has some competition. Within a week of the
California chain’s arrival in the Westfield Montgomery shopping mall, Florida’s
iPic Theaters opened its own
eight-screen cineplex a mere three miles away, in North Bethesda’s burgeoning Pike
District.
General admission at iPic is $13 for a standard (or “premium”)
seat: a 33-inch-wide leather armchair attached to a mini dining table. But for
an additional $9 “premium-plus” surcharge — yes, bringing it to roughly the
price of two tickets at a no-frills theater — you get all of the
following: the same $13 seat, but one that reclines; touch-pad ordering from an
eclectic menu of food, beer, wine and cocktails; seat-side service by
a black-clad “ninja” (as members of the stealthy wait staff are known); and
a pillow and blanket (which will conveniently double as an oversize napkin when
your $15 pulled pork sandwich falls on it). Oh, yes, and unlimited popcorn.
iPic's "premium plus" seats come with blanket and pillow. (Eileen Escarda)
IPic gives new meaning to the phrase “adult movie theater,”
and not only because of the almost obscene level of pampering available.
According to iPic Entertainment chief executive Hamid Hashemi, fewer than 3
percent of iPic’s customers are younger than 21. Hashemi cites another statistic: According to
his company’s research, the duration of the average iPic visit is a whopping
4 1/2 hours. That’s a major investment of time, even
if you’re sitting through “Boyhood,” Richard Linklater’s buzzy Oscar
contender, which clocks in at 165 minutes.
To be fair, the iPic experience also incorporates a real
restaurant. Although premium-plus ticketholders can order food and beverages
from an in-cinema menu of snacks and sandwiches (or, alternately, carry the
food in from the “iPic Express” station in the lobby themselves, if they want
to save $9), there’s a second dining option. City Perch, run by
Wolfgang Puck protégé Sherry Yard, sits just steps away from the theater lobby.
Hashemi expects that many moviegoers will stop there for dinner and/or drinks
before or after the film. Entrees here run $16 to $38. The in-theater food,
which includes caviar-topped potato skins — excuse me, potato boats — isn’t
exactly cheap either.
Call it the Landmark Theatres
effect. The chain was a pioneer of the luxury movie theater concept in the
Washington area, opening its Bethesda Row Cinema in 2002 and a downtown branch
two years later. Two more are on the way: By the end of 2016,
the company will have added a six-screen moviehouse near the 9:30 Club and a
multiplex with 10 screens in NoMa. But
the scene didn’t really start heating up until the 2012 arrival of Angelika Film Center Mosaic in
Merrifield. The three-story, glass-fronted, eight-screen outpost of the New
York-based boutique theater chain boasts a bar with gorgeous sunset views, a
cafe and a concession stand slinging hot dogs topped with kimchi and fried
shallots. The company has since opened a D.C. movie theater — a pop-up in a converted warehouse
behind Union Market. That temporary space is
set to be replaced, in late 2015, by a nearby permanent theater. All of
these, with the exception of Landmark’s E Street Cinema, offer reserved
seating, an amenity we’re starting to see even in some mainstream
chains.
We visited these game-changing theaters, along with Alamo Drafthouse
Cinema, which opened a branch of its Texas-based,
tavern-style theaters in Ashburn last year. To be sure, despite all the
hoopla — in-theater cocktails, fancy food and “guest services” instead of
ticket takers — you might still find someone in Redskins pajama pants and a
hoodie noshing on popcorn next to a toff nibbling prosciutto-wrapped dates.
Here’s our guide to navigating the changing landscape.
Guests relax in the third-floor lounge of the Angelika Mosaic. (Tom McGovern Photography)
ANGELIKA FILM CENTER
Located in the Mosaic development near Gallows Road and Lee
Highway, the chain’s flagship local theater looks like the cornerstone of an
exurban town center from the outside, with a Target and a MOM’s Organic market
nearby. Inside, the flavor is way more downtown. Sample dialogue overheard in
the laid-back cocktail lounge one night after a screening of “Birdman (Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”: “I thought Iñárritu’s choice of ending was
very, you know, Christopher Nolan-esque.” “Frankly, I can’t imagine a way to end it
that isn’t Christopher Nolan-esque.”
Specializing in smart-to-mainstream Hollywood releases, the Fairfax theater welcomed
an addition to the family this year, with the arrival of a pop-up location near Union Market.
The funky urban sibling — the glasses-wearing grad student to Fairfax’s sexy
older sister — gives off an even stronger smartypants vibe, with a lounge area
that resembles the pit of an upscale college student union. Unlike the Mosaic
theater, the Pop-Up wouldn’t be caught dead showing “Horrible Bosses 2,” preferring films drawn
from the world of indie, arthouse, foreign and documentary cinema.
Angelika Mosaic: 2911 District Ave., Fairfax (Metro: Dunn
Loring) . 571-512-3301.
General admission is $13. The Angelika Mosaic’s eight
auditoriums (ranging from 100 to 300 seats) all offer reserved stadium seating.
Beer and wine is available, as well as gourmet concessions, sandwiches, salads
and small bites.
Angelika Pop-Up at Union Market: 550 Penn St. NE (Metro:
NoMa). 571-512-3311.
General admission is $11. The Pop-Up’s three auditoriums
(ranging from 51 to 60 seats) all offer reserved, non-stadium seating. Beer,
wine and gourmet concessions are available.
ARCLIGHT CINEMAS
Is this a multiplex or a meditation center? To hear ArcLight Cinemas executive vice
president Gretchen McCourt describe the experience of entering the new theater,
on the third level of the Westfield Montgomery mall, visitors don’t so much
walk into the lobby as pass through a “decompression space,” where the cares of
the world are swept away by what McCourt calls the “deep connection” that
you’re about to make . . . with a movie.
There’s no formal box office. Instead, the room is dominated
by a chic bar and cafe (whose offerings, including a chocolate martini,
admittedly help with the attitude adjustment). Tickets can be purchased online,
at one of several interactive kiosks or, if you’re hopelessly old-fashioned,
from the concession stand. An overhead “departure board” lists movie times,
like trains to some faraway land. If it
all sounds intimidatingly new agey, relax. The SoCal vibe is a little silly,
but the payoff is worth the price. (At $13.75, it’s the priciest basic ticket
of all the premium theaters.) Comfortable seats. State-of-the-art sound. No
pre-movie ads. Limited trailers. And the food — from snacks to more substantial
offerings — and gourmet concessions are great.
7101 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda. 240-762-4000.
ArcLight’s 16 auditoriums (ranging from 85 to 295 seats)
all offer reserved stadium seating. Membership is free through May 1, then $15
a year.
ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE CINEMA
On a recent Thursday night, the Alamo Drafthouse
Cinema’s Glass Half Full bar was, true to its name, half full. Though I
suspect some customers came not to see a movie, but to sample one of the 19
local beers on tap, several folks in the room quickly drained their glasses and
filed out as the hour approached the start of that evening’s “Die Hard”
quote-along.
How’s that? Picture a
theater full of happy idiots, shooting cap guns at the screen every time Bruce
Willis shoots a bad guy and gleefully shouting along with the 1988 film’s most
famous (and helpfully subtitled) catchphrases, including the immortal “Yippee
ki yay, m----------r!” Twinkies were handed out, because they appear in the
film. The evening — one of many regular
retrospectives and special events hosted by the theater, which has in-cinema
food service down to an art form — was shockingly fun. Not in the mood for a trip down memory lane?
Don’t worry. Alamo also offers current Hollywood releases. That and some killer
sweet Thai chili wings.
20575 East Hampton Plaza, Ashburn. 571-293-6808.
General admission is $11.50. Alamo’s eight auditoriums
(ranging from 49 to 151 seats) all offer reserved stadium seating, full bar
service and satisfying pub food. A free rewards program is available.
IPIC
IPic Entertainment’s Hamid Hashemi likens the upscale
theater to a country club. The film offerings are fairly mainstream — big
Hollywood releases to slightly more eclectic fare — but it’s the amenities that
make the experience stand out. Easing back into one of the theater’s plush
leather recliners, I started to wonder whether a foot massage and pedicure were
imminent. (Answer: No, although there was a pillow and blanket. Don’t be
alarmed by the fact that messy food and drinks are served here. The fleecy
coverlets, of which there is a stock of 2,500, get dry-cleaned after each use.)
In two visits to the new
theater - where recently staffers still were mulching potted plants from
giant sacks of pine bark- there were some service hiccups. It took me more than
20 minutes, for instance, to get ketchup. And the wax paper that lines the
baskets of chips and fries is unexpectedly noisy. Hashemi isn’t happy to hear about these
issues, but he takes them in stride. A certain learning curve is to be expected
when you’re training new staff. Not to
mention the learning for iPic’s potential customers. Moviegoers who aren’t used
to a Nero-like level of decadence while watching “Dumb and Dumber To” may take a while to adjust
to it. Or to discover that they can’t live without it.
11830 Grand Park Ave., North Bethesda (Metro: White
Flint). 301-231-2300.
General admission is $13 ($9 surcharge for premium plus
seating). IPic’s eight auditorium’s (ranging from 82 to 112 seats) all offer
reserved stadium seating. In-theater dining features full bar service,
sandwiches and light fare. Free introductory membership is available, with
higher levels starting at $15 a year.
LANDMARK THEATRES
The nation’s largest chain of arthouse cinemas was one of
the first to bring premium moviegoing to Washington. Its two theaters — the
adventurous E Street Cinema, known for quirky indie fare and midnight cult
movies, and its somewhat more mainstream Bethesda cousin — have become
mainstays of the area’s high-end movie market. There’s an air of seriousness at both locations. By happy accident, neither of the underground venues gets cell service, making the viewing experience one of the more pleasant and distraction-free for cinephiles. Although both have nice bars and lounge areas (particularly Bethesda, which was handsomely renovated in 2013), the food offerings are scant, limited to upscale concessions and pre-prepared bites heated in a small oven. Fortunately, each theater is situated in a hotbed of restaurant activity. Sure, you could order the tandoori chicken satay or fish tacos (with a side of Twizzlers) in a pinch. But with restaurants like Jaleo — and dozens of others — a short walk from both venues, why on Earth would you?
Bethesda Row: 7235 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda (Metro:
Bethesda). 301-652-7273.
E Street: 555 11th St. NW (Metro: Metro Center).
202-783-9494.
General admission is $11.50. Bethesda’s eight auditoriums
(ranging from 86 to 245 seats) all offer reserved stadium seating. Seven of E
Street’s eight auditoriums (ranging from 96 to 260 seats) offer stadium
seating. Reserved seating is not available at the E Street location. Both
locations offer a full bar, gourmet concessions and pre-prepared snacks.
Discounted Aficionado ticket books are available (25 tickets at $8 a piece).
A Movie Theater Flashback
(By Michael
O'Sullivan., Washington Post, 18 December 2014)
The concession-stand cliche of buttered popcorn, Raisinets
and a large soda was busted — or at least seriously dented — by the arrival, in
the 1980s, of the cinema ‘n’ drafthouse phenomenon. Cocktail-lounge-style
swivel chairs and low tables replaced folding theater seats, with burgers and
pitchers of beer elbowing out Twizzlers and the like. Tickets came cheap, as
the on-screen fare was often second-run or repertory. Here are some milestones in the Washington
area’s ongoing march toward a more mature moviegoing experience.
1983
Bethesda Cinema ‘n’ Drafthouse opens in the historic
Bethesda Theatre . After a 1990 name change to Bethesda Theatre Cafe, it ceases
regular operation as a commercial movie theater in 2001.
1985
Arlington Cinema ‘n’ Drafthouse opens. Still in operation,
supplemented by live comedy performances and other offerings.
2000
Mazza Gallerie multiplex opens two of its seven screens as a
“Club Cinema,” offering beer, wine and high-end noshes. Club Cinema is open
Friday and Saturday nights only.
Visions Cinema/Bistro/Lounge opens in the former Embassy movie
theater, serving coffee drinks, cocktails, beer and wine, and a selection of
Mediterranean and Indian fare. Closed in 2004.
2002
Landmark’s Bethesda Row Cinema opens.
2003
Avalon Theatre reopens as a nonprofit in a renovated 1923
moviehouse, making it the city’s oldest operating theater. The cafe just off
the lobby offers beer, wine, sandwiches, coffee and baked goods. AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center opens in a renovated Art Deco theater in Silver Spring, with a bar and gourmet concessions.
2004
Landmark’s E Street Cinema opens.
2010
A renovated West End Cinema reopens as independent arthouse,
offering full bar and pre-made sandwiches.
2012
Angelika Film Center opens. 2013
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema opens.
2014
In a busy year for high-end cinema, openings include
Angelika Pop-Up at Union Market, Bethesda ArcLight Cinemas and North Bethesda
iPic. 
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