What's going on, Albuquerque?

IMAX in ABQ?

So Regal Theaters has announced they are planning a 16 screen theater in the new Winrock development link here and I must say I am very torn on the idea. While I'm definetly not a Cinemark fan by any means, I do enjoy the idea of this theater continuing to pick away at what little crowds the Rio is still getting. When I worked for Century Theaters, customer service was at least mentioned in the training. The projectors were focused regularly, the theaters were genuinely cleaned nightly, outside food was allowed inside because if I brought a Big Mac to the theater I wasn't going to buy popcorn no matter what. Now Century is running like the Cinemark dollar theaters and that's not even close to a compliment.

Now I don't have a huge problem with Regal theaters, mainly the fact that they never really pushed the Cottonwood theater as an alternative to Rio annoyed me but at least at Cottonwood I have a good chance the screen will be in focus.

I'm only disappointed it's another big chain theater. Albuquerque deserves another indie theater to continue what the Guild and the SWFC have done. I'll love going to the IMAX for the big popcorn movies but why can't I see Frost/Nixon yet? Why didn't we get a chance to see Repo! A Genetic Opera.

*sigh* I miss you Madstone.

---Matt

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Comment by Masshole in Fringecrest on December 18, 2008 at 9:12am: My impression is that because IMAX commands such high ticket prices, that their standards will be higher and they will be better managed. I dunno, maybe I give them too much credit.

Comment by Fenton Ayres on December 18, 2008 at 9:19am: Oh my gosh, I miss Madstone too! I really wished that it could have survived here. I enjoyed a few movies there prior to it going away. I am actually looking forward to an IMAX though because there are a few movies that I have wanted to see in the IMAX format.

Comment by Masshole in Fringecrest on December 18, 2008 at 9:37am: @RuCa (get it?- not that i'm questioning your sexuality, it's a paen to your zoot post)- you are relentless... I love it.

Comment by Phil_0 on December 18, 2008 at 10:34am: I'd heard that the issue with Madstone wasn't their business here in ABQ, which was fine, but rather a series of unsuccessful franchises in other markets (Scottsdale springs to mind)? Can anyone comment on this.

I say bring it on, Regal. Another centrally-located, mass-transit accessible theater that's worth a damn can hardly be a bad thing.

Comment by W2M on December 18, 2008 at 12:14pm: I miss Madstone too. nothing better than seeing Radical Harmonies there sitting withing 20 feet of one of the fore-mothers of women's music, Maxine Feldman...

Comment by mombat on December 18, 2008 at 1:36pm: I am with Susan on this. I doubt that this will an option for us.

Comment by Adelita on December 18, 2008 at 1:44pm: The theater at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science is actually an IWERKS - similar to IMAX but a flat screen. Only movies that serve the educational mission of the museum can be shown here. They are extremely expensive. We get requests for other types of movies all the time. It will be interesting to see what kind of competition it will be for the Museum. I'll tell ya, business has been very, very slow. We charge $7 for adults. I'll be curious about the prices of an IMAX theater

Comment by StinkyLulu on December 18, 2008 at 2:32pm: It should be noted, though, that this new Regal house will actually replace an existing Regal house (the current Winrock Theatre). So it's only 10 more screens, one to be devoted to the big IMAX compatible releases. Also, this new theatre will likely be wired for the special events that, at present, only Cottonwood can show. As far as price, remember that, at least at present, Regal has all shows before 6pm at matinee prices, even those on holidays and weekends (when Cinemark/Century boosts to full price at 2). Regal also still issues passes when there's a technical problem with a screening (a practice Cinemark seems to find implausible).

All of which is to say: I'm glad it's Regal adding the screens but I suspect the movie scene in ABQ will be basically the same as it is now. In particular, these ten new screens will likely not change when we get to see less box-officey releases.

Comment by shotsie on December 18, 2008 at 3:52pm: You'd think that, since this complex is getting 70% of the sales tax, that the City Council might be able to twist their arms a bit and maybe limit the simultaneous showing of the same movie on numerous screens at the same time and show some indie films instead. Invoke some anti-competition law or whatever law that forces Comcast to cough up bandwidth for an exclusive franchise - government, education and that weird channel where the pot guys tell you how awesome things are....

Comment by Masshole in Fringecrest on December 18, 2008 at 4:08pm: Maybe they could show the city council meetings in IMAX? How scary would Michael Cadigan be then?

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