NGUSTAS@HAMPVMS.BITNET (03/01/90)
Okay-here goes... This details my experience at the Empire theatre, the creme de la creme. I walked in and stepped on the marble floor. The ticket seller asked me where I wanted to sit. I told her the general area (pointed out on the map of the main theatre) and she sold me the ticket. It was a matinee- only four pounds. I walked up the red plush carpeted stairs to the clean, shiny snack counter, where I asked for a medium popcorn. "Sugar or salted?" the man asked. "Well...um...what are they like?" He said, "Here, try them", and gave me a few kernels of each. Salted is like our movie theater popcorn, but fresh, sugar is candied popcorn. I took the salted and a coke. You could also get assorted candies, hot dogs, and alcoholic drinks. There was a bank of television screens on one wall of the lobby upon which were shown previews for the movies, including the one I wanted to see, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". The video arcade was in a separate room with clear windows-you could see it, but you didn't have to hear it. I walked into the theatre. The whole place was carpeted with the same thick, soft, red rug. There were hundreds of seats in two sections-one a wide, slightly sloping area (the front section), the other at a steep gradient (the back area) Each row was slightly wider than the last, like a Greek ampitheatre. The seats were upholstered in something that bore a striking resemblance to red velvet. They were like armchairs, almost-wide, with a lot of legroom and wide arms. No plastic fixtures-all upholstered. The curtains opened on a screen which was easily four times the biggest I've seen here, and the show began, first with 15 minutes of previews, then with 15 minutes of commercials (I didn't mind, some were really good! All were better than ours.) The curtains closed again, the lights came up for about a minute, then they had a LASER SHOW and started the movie. I think my love of it was affected by the conditions I saw it in. Best of all-no cinemagoo! -Nikki