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Topic: Does Atlanta have a single good theater complex?
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Pravin Ratnam
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 844
From: Atlanta, GA,USA
Registered: Sep 2002
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posted 01-11-2003 12:51 PM
Theaters are getting worse in Atlanta with AMC leading the way in declining quality. I can't find a single multiplex or independent chain that satisifies me lately. Let me give a rundown of theaters are I visit.
1) Garden Hills , Buckhead, Atlanta. This is the indie theater in Atlanta showing a lot of art house movies. Usually each movie plays 2 to 4 weeks. So really not more than 20 movies shown here each year.
Nice selection of movies. It is a cozy place for 16MM blowups. But the theater simply does not do justice for 35MM. Sound is passable.
2) UA Tara: a 4 plex where 2 houses usually go to mainstream indie movies and the other 2 to mainstream commercial cinema. Like the movie they choose. But pretty mediocre projection quality, poor screens, and passable sound. Even the big auditoriums are lame. They are long and narrow. You will need binoculars to watch the movie from the last row.
3) AMC Phipps (Buckhead)- 14 plex: This used to be the spot in Atlanta to go watch a movie. They used to have a nice mix of regular movies mixed in with 2 to 3 indie movies. All the film festivals used to be held here. Projection was competent with generally no dim projector bulbs.
Movies just seemed to be matched to the correct auditorium and managers seemed to be aware of which houses had which sound systems.
NOw, Phipps is mediocre. Frequently, when movies are pushed too soon( Gangs of NY already playing in two small auditoriums, both of which I doubt can show the full 2.35:1 ratio to the very fullest since I don't remember them using vertical adjustable masking in these two halls ) instead of playing in one of the medium sized ones and a tiny one which ironically has a pretty widescreen. I saw PunchDrunkLove in the third week, and the theater was like a shoebox. If the manager even cared about the dimensions, he would have moved the 1.85:1 movie playing in another small theater but equipped with a wider screen with PDL. The manager claimed that it was the right dimensions even when I told him that it was obvious Adam Sandler's shoulder was off the screen in a few scenes. I sent email complaints about a couple of other movies being shown in the houses without vertical adjustable masking and AMC never even bothered to reply.
Also, AMC Phipps no longer plays a good selection of movies and have cut down on their patronization of the local independent community.
Also, I noticed marks/holes on a couple of their screens which no other patron inexplicably seemed to care about.
AMC Mansell(ALpharetta): Due to proximity, this is another chain I used to go to a lot. Most of the screens are decent size and was one of the first theaters here to have stadium seating. But this theater has gotten real bad in terms of projection quality in recent years. A few of the projector bulbs are very dim. The sound has become one of the worst of the multiplexes that used to be among the better new ones built in the 90s. I saw Truth About Charlie here and it sounded like my TV set when set on loud. I complained to the manager who didnt seem to give a shit. A few movies are not even projected straight. One movie was like it was rotated 10 or 15 degrees which becomes evident when you see the titles.
Regal/UA Perimeter Parkpointe: This is one of the newer ones with a couple of THX auditoriums. First few experiences went well. But Signs was a pretty scratched up print with this annoying long green streak showing up randomly all over the center portion of the frame for almost the whole movie. No, it was not one of the aliens inthe movie.
The manager did not seem to care when I complained. Just said thanks for telling us. The sound was bad in one of the smaller auditoriums for another movie. Managers seemed to have no clue when I call and ask them if the movie is playing in a THX auditorium.
Regal Hollywood 24: Decent sized screens. Average Sound. Saw LOTR- Two Towers here. The sound was not bad, but it was underwhelming for an epic.
AMC Parkway POinte(CObb county): Used to be a GCC. A couple of screens are good. The rest of the theater has too many tiny screens. Unless you can catch a movie in the very first week here, this place is not worth going to if you care about big screens.
UA - Lenox Square: Some auditoriums are smaller than my living room. Pretty bad multiplex right in the heart of the city(which is Buckhead not downtown).
EFW (formerly GCC Sandy Springs): used to have two nice auditoriums, one of them a THX one. Closed, then bought by the infamous EFW which ran it on minimal budget. I actually know a friend of a firend who works there. I will get the scoop on it soon.
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