Movie Theaters in Review

By shawn bowers <arts editor>

Trailridge

It’s hard to compare Trailridge to the other theaters in this feature because, unlike the others, Trailridge is a discount theater, and a nice one at that.  Admittedly, it doesn’t look like much, but when there’s a movie that you didn’t want to pay full price for, it’s nice to know that you can play catch up for only $2.50. 

The picture and sound quality is equivalent to that of a lower end regular theater, and every once in awhile, they get movies that the “normal” theaters didn’t even show.  It’s a good theater with good prices.  What more could you want?

AMC Studio 30          

Studio 30 is the best all around theater, in part because of one of their most valuable assets: the balance of big-budget Hollywood movies and smaller, artsier films.  In recent months, Studio 30 has been the host of films like Jerry Seinfeld’s the Comedian and Equilibrium, which may only be playing in one or two other places here in KC.  At the same time, they play the big ones like The Two Towers or Die Another Day.  And remember back to earlier this year, when Studio 30 was one of the only places in town you could find My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  Their small-time support paid off in a big way.

Besides that, they offer spacious theaters, some of which are equipped with digital projectors.  Digital projectors provide better picture and sound quality, and make those special effects look all the more special.  With those digital projectors, they can play commercials and music videos before the feature.  A small point, but it’s better than watching those static slides.

One of the few downsides may be price.  Though the student price for evening shows is cheaper than Cinemark and AMC Town Center 20 (at $6), they’re comparably more expensive during the day.  At Cinemark, matinees are $4.50.  At Studio 30, they still cost $6. 

But for all the extra touches that AMC Studio 30 offers, it may be worth the extra buck or two.

Cinemark 20

Cinemark is average.  There’s no other way to put it.   Average (which means sometimes faulty) picture and sound quality, average film selection.  It is clean most of the time, but the main gripe is prices.  A while ago, Cinemark took away the student price for evening shows, escalating the cost of a ticket from $5.50 with a student ID to $7.25 for everyone.  Don’t get me wrong, I go to Cinemark probably more often than not simply because of its close location (as opposed to Studio 30, which is all the way in Olathe) and it is decent enough.  But it might be time for a little renovation.