I Went to New York

As the summer is winding down, and I’m in the process of changing jobs, I decided to make a quick trip to New York for something far more reasonable than seeing a play, or exploring the big apple. I decided to spend 4 days in New York to check out some premium movie theaters that are not near me.

I arrived on a Sunday. My 4.5 hour train ride was packed with going home traffic (admittedly something I did not think of) and while I expected to read for the whole trip I found myself listening to podcasts more than I would have thought. I did start The Fall, a novella by Ryan Cahill, but for the most part I was listening to the ambience of my train car or finishing my episode of Screen Drafts.

Then, as if my train were the tracking shot of a 00s comedy, New York appeared. I got a bit turned around trying to find the exit of Penn Station, and then the right street, to start my trek to the hotel. I was imagining 30-45 minutes of walking in intense heat (seriously, this summer has been brutal and I expected the city of concrete and metal to be steaming) but that was not the case. It was surprisingly cool and a short walk. I guess the tall buildings block out most of the sun. In fact, while I did sweat, I didn’t sweat as much as I was expecting walking all around New York.

Unfortunately, resting at my hotel wasn’t an option after my long journey. After checking everything in and taking in my surroundings it was time to leave. The first theater on my agenda was a Regal that was showing Screen X. From my research, Sunday was the last day for Screen X (Mission Impossible) while the next one (The Meg 2) debuted the day after I left.

Screen X is a premium theater with the intent to immerse you into the film. The theater itself is fairly small, and each wall to the side of the screen acts like another screen. So when there’s an action scene being played the film opens up all around you to make you feel as if you’re part of the action. I thought this meant that you’re getting more footage that you couldn’t see anywhere else. I was wrong. In the pre-show there’s a test of how this’ll work and look to prep the audience. Basically, you’re only supposed to watch the original screen in the middle. The two screen on the side act as you’re peripheral so technically you’re not supposed to look at them. Which makes sense considering the wall screens are darker than the original screen so if you do look at them you can absolutely tell the difference. Ultimately, this was worth it merely to satisfy my curiosity, but I left feeling underwhelmed.

The next morning was difficult. I went to bed late since it took me awhile to get back to the hotel the night before, and it didn’t help that I had an early screening with the longest movie I’ll watch in New York. Monday was Barbenheimer. I didn’t plan it, it just happened to be meme Monday.

The next premium theater I went to was an AMC. I waited to see Oppenheimer specifically for this moment because I was seeing it in 70mm IMAX. I was so excited. The IMAX they were showing it on is bigger than the one I go to at home by at least 10 feet. I was sitting in the second row from the screen and the house was packed. Been sold out for nearly a week. The hype was real. They showed trailers digitally, and initially I was worried because I’d heard horror stories of 70mm showings going wrong and the theater would have to switch to Digital. In my mind I was wondering, ‘Did something go wrong from the start?’ But there was nothing to worry about. Once the trailers were done you could see it changing from the shadows, and then it began.

It was glorious. 70mm IMAX is insanely good, and now that I’ve seen Oppenheimer a second time after coming home I can say that seeing it on film was the right decision. You get so much more light from film and I was giddy whenever an imperfection was onscreen. It felt so incredibly immersive that my head was spinning when leaving the theater, and no that wasn’t because my neck hurt. It was a relentlessly beautiful experience that I have trouble portraying in words.

I was able to grab lunch back at the hotel before my next venture into meme Monday. After a bite and some reading from Shock SuspenStories (EC Archive) comics, I was on my way. The afternoon had me at another AMC to experience AMC PRIME. I’ve looked this premium theater up so many times and yet I still couldn’t grasp what it was. For some reason it was the most obscure premium theater on my list and was thus excited and thrilled to journey into that AMC, slowly going up escalator by escalator, until we were finally let into PRIME.

I had seen Barbie the previous week so, while this film wasn’t new, I was excited to see it again to solidify my thoughts on it. The movie itself was still a joy and I liked it even more this time around, however I couldn’t say the same for the theater. It wasn’t a bad experience but I was left underwhelmed, like Screen X. The only difference I could see in PRIME was the screen being brighter and there being more speakers. Honestly, this and Dolby could be interchanged, but I think I prefer Dolby.

My third day in New York was the busiest. The day before I was still in the process of deciding my itinerary when I added two unexpected stops. The first was Alamo Drafthouse and the second was going to be the Museum of Modern Art (since they have a theater) but that museum was scrapped last minute in favor for a much more sophisticated one, the Museum of Sex. So, in all, Tuesday was the day I visit 3 theaters and 1 museum. I needed my rest and thankfully I went to bed earlier than the previous day.

The Alamo Drafthouse was the furthest theater on my trip. Since I didn’t want to start my day by walking an hour and half I decided to try the subway. My last trip to New York was a nightmare when it came to the subway. It’s so much bigger than Boston’s and hard to tell where you are and which platform you need. Thankfully, Google Maps has been a reliable friend on this trip and the only time I messed up was when I was leaving Alamo Drafthouse for my second theater that day.

I’ve heard so many stories about Alamo Drafthouse. Mostly from New York friends, but from what I’ve heard it almost sounded too good to be true. Did they really have a shop? A video rental? You can eat premium food there while watching the movie? How good is this so called Drafthouse anyway? Well, after my experience I’d say pretty damn good.

My experience was nothing short of incredible. I was blown away. Apparently, 30 minutes before showtime the Drafthouse makes their own sizzle reel of trailers and scenes from movies that relate to the movie you’re watching. I went to see Talk to Me, a horror movie about teens interacting with spirits through a ceramic hand. So naturally, my sizzle reel included evil hands that have been in cinema. It was really fun and I wish I remembered some of those films, they looked so cool.

At your seat you have a notepad, pen, and a menu. Their menu is far more detailed than I was thinking, and if you wanted a nice dinner while watching the latest movie I can see this as a good option. However, I was watching Talk to Me at 11am and their prices are a bit pricey, so I stuck with Mozzarella Sticks and a Salted Caramel Shake, because I was not going to leave this theater without a full experience. Oh my god the food was so good! And paying was easy. At the beginning of my order they swiped my card and it acted as a tab. I could order throughout the movie and an usher would sneak in like a ninja to take it. Near the end they come back with a check. It was quite the experience and the wake-up I needed to my busy day.

My second theater of the day was the IFC Center. After going the wrong way on the subway I eventually made it to the theater with 15 minutes to spare. I pulled out my phone to write a quick review of Talk to Me on Letterboxd and waited for my documentary to start. The IFC Center is a lot cozier than I was expecting. It reminded me a lot of a theater in Salem, except far more expensive.

At this point my trip was finally catching up to me. All the walking and travel slowly started to make my body heavy and I was fighting sleep against this really interesting documentary (Kokomo City). Thankfully, I didn’t fall asleep but those cozy chairs were no help! The theater also had a shop. It seemed like it was mostly shirts and tote bags with director names on them.

I was able to relax at my hotel before the next movie. My final destination on this trip was similar to where I started, Regal Cinemas. Different location, but this time I was checking out their 4DX theater. Luckily a new movie I wanted to see came out this day so I saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem in 4DX 3D. Honestly, I was so focused on the 4DX part that I forgot about the 3D until somebody sat near me with glasses and I was like ‘Wait, I didn’t get glasses!’

4DX is insane. I experienced a form of 4DX at Boston’s Museum of Science, but it was nothing like this. The demonstration of what 4DX can do before the movie had me almost thrown from my seat multiple times. I’m honestly shocked it doesn’t have seat belts. I was gripping my arm rests for dear life the whole way through. Granted, the movie wasn’t as violent as the demo, but there were still scenes where you felt like fish in a barrel. Overall, I liked it, but I wouldn’t regularly see a movie in this format. It would have to be special.

And with that, on Wednesday morning, I packed up my things and left New York behind having accomplished 6 theaters, 1 museum, 1 doughnut shop, and 1 book store. Overall, not bad for 2.5 days of adventure. I’d say my ranking of theaters goes like this:

1. 70mm IMAX
2. Alamo Drafthouse
3. IFC Center
4. 4DX
5. PRIME
6. Screen X