Dinner with a Movie: Thoughts on new Cinépolis theaters...

As I mentioned in my last Skyfall essay, one of the reasons my wife and I ended up seeing Skyfall the other night (her first viewing, my second) was to try out a new Cinépolis theater that just opened relatively near us. The gimmick behind this somewhat new chain is simple: It's a movie theater with extra-large reclining leather chairs and a full-service dining menu and a wait staff that tends to your needs during the picture.  It's been in its current 'VIP' form in Mexico since 1999 and has quickly made its debut in California over the last year or so.  It's not the first of its kind to open as Gold Class Cinemas has been operating in Pasadena since December 2009.  I was actually planning on making a trip down there back when it opened but life got in the way (my daughter had the 'stay home from school sniffles' pretty much the entire holiday break period).  After David Poland panned the place I lost enthusiasm for trying it.  Three years later, with a new chain and a location almost right next door, I finally got a crack at what amounts to 'dinner with a movie'.  The verdict?  Well, it's a gorgeous theater and the chairs as comfortable as all heck.  I wish the screen was a little bigger, but the projection and sound were flawless and once again I was reminded of how blindly beautiful The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey looks while trying to gin up interest in actually seeing it.  And the food is actually pretty good, although a bit overpriced even by movie theater standards.  But the experience feels less like actually seeing a film in a theater and more like the very best possible variation of watching a film at home.