Address: (Edit Info)
565 N 3rd Street, Phoenix, AZ, US
Page Views: 249
8 positive - 3 negative = Net Rating (5)
Positive (8)
Negative (3)
Posted on: 2008-08-09
One of my favorite theatres in the valley. Why? Because it's never crowded. Ever. I've been there on weekend nights, weekday evenings, middle of the afternoon - nobody there, I don't get it. But it makes for a much more enjoyable movie-going experience. Otherwise, same as every other theater in town.
Saw Space Monkeys with my lil bro this afternoon, which was amusing - a little fast & loose with the science for my taste, but in its defense it was an animated picture about monkeys in space - but once again, nobody there. I think there were maybe four or five other folks in the theater. Granted it was Space Chimps, but even out in the lobby, hardly anybody around.
One note about the parking garage (besides don't forget to get your ticket validated): The signs on the wall with the big '5' on them - that's the speed limit, not the floor number. One night my girl and I walked around forever looking for the car because when we pulled up I said, "We're on 5, don't forget it." Yes, babe, I'm admitting it, in front of everyone. It was my fault. Now let it go... Yeah, so we walked around and around the 5th floor forever trying to find the car. It was down on 2, btw. oops.
I have never in my life been to a movie theater like this one. And I mean that as a compliment for this theater. It's HUGE, and because there's no one there, you get your own private showing (almost) of the movie. Or of one of 24 movies, because there are 24 screens! (Maybe this doesn't blow your mind, but I've mentioned in other reviews that I moved here from DC. There's not as much space in DC. We don't have movie theaters with 24 screens. I will never be the same.) It's all stadium-seating, and there is more space between the seats than I'm used to. I'm not giving it 5 stars because: a) it feels WRONG to give AMC Theatres and the Phoenix Art Museum the same rating, and b) I'm not sure what the standards are for movie theaters in general around here. They all look pretty new and large, and I imagine all the first-run theaters have stadium seating, right? I need to get out more before I will have a definitive star-rating on this theater, but it's at least a 4. Good find!
I'm about to blow my secret.. I know I may be making a huge mistake but here it is..
THIS THEATER IS NEVER CROWDED!!
I know that posting this info is totally going to screw this dynamic, but I figured I'd let you in on this little secret.
I've seen so many opening night flicks here because of the lack of crowds; Star Wars, Spiderman 3, Cloverfield and I have never had to struggle with lines.
Ooooohh, also-they have this fancy ass kiosk that you can access outside to buy your tix that noone uses. Utilizing this gizmo lets you not wait in the ticket buying lines!
One more thing.. on the off chance that there is a line waiting to get into the opening night screening, take the elevator to the second level and enter through the secret door at the top of the theater! If they give you grief, do what my friend Diana did and pitch a fit "IT'S NOT POSTED" then they'll let you in! Primo seats!
As far as movie theaters go, this isn't too bad. As others have stated, the Movie Watcher Card is a must. I think it averages out to a free movie and small popcorn with every 15 and on the other visits, free red ropes every 5 visits, and $1.50 off popcorn or drink on the rest. This could be the because I have a bajillion points (resulting from a post divorce inability to sleep anywhere but movie theaters period).
Parking used to be an issue, but as the Arizona Center's popularity has declined over the years, not so much. The other plus for parking is that it is covered, which in the summer rates a huge WOOHOO. One suggestion on validating would be to remember to do it when you are entering the theater. The little machines that used to be located near the rear concession disappeared when they switched systems, so unless you want to hike back to the front, save yourself some steps.
Best feature: wait a couple of weeks after the movie opens and you will be like the only one in the room; creating your own private screening. Never been huge on PDAs but it is nice to know that you could act like a teenager if you wanted to and it's super cool to see a movie without ten thousand screaming children on occasion.
Worst feature: the football field length hike to your screen. Maybe it's because I do wait a couple of weeks to avoid the crowds, but I always seem to be stuck back in either screen 23 or 24. This also makes popcorn or drink refills a little inconvenient... go in the middle of the flick and you could miss the center third of the movie.
So, for the last couple of years, the hubs and I have been die-hard Harkins fans. It's a local company, the theatres are clean, the popcorn is good, and best of all, you can get a plastic cup for the same price as a regular drink that can be refilled for just $1.
That said, AMC Arizona Center had an uphill battle to fight when we decided to ride our bikes over yesterday because there isn't a Harkins within biking distance.
I thought ahead and got the AMC MovieWatcher card in the mail, which we used, though it didn't get us anything off the price of the movie or anything special at concessions (I think I knew that already though). The prices are reasonable - $10 for the two of us for a Saturday morning matinee isn't too bad!
The price for concessions was a little spendy, but everyone knows that already.
We ended up spending $2.25 more than we would have at Harkins... and we didn't spend any money on gas, so I think they did well price-wise.
The ushers and ticketpeople were very friendly and nice, and the theater is very clean, except for the bathroom (and as Amy D. noted, the theater smelled like feet. What gives, AMC?).
The loo was 98% clean - and that 2% is icky. Stop reading here if you are of the sensitive of stomach.
There was poo on the floor in the next stall over from mine. No, not a little drip. A whole turdlet. Someone missed the bowl entirely. This can certainly not be blamed on the cleaners of the bathroom - so I can't really dock them any stars for that, but ew!!! That is so gross.
Back to the review. I would definitely go back to AMC. It's close, convenient, and I think that MovieWatcher card will get us something good someday.
If you are going to spend almost $40 between two people to see a film and get the "perfect co-stars" #2 combo (1 Large popcorn 2 Large sodas) and a bag of peanut M&Ms, you better be sure that you are going to LOVE your movie experience.
And this place is exactly it for me.
First of all, this place is NEVER crowded ... which leads to less people talking all over MY movie, or texting, or just generally being muledicks in MY theater ... and, when i refer to "MY movie" and "MY theater", it really does feel as such because it is so roomy in the giant stadium-style theater with very few others around you. It is not uncommon to get an entire row to yourself, even on a Friday or Saturday night, and it feels uncannily like being in your own personal living room, if your living room had a 50 foot wide screen, THX surround sound, and cup holders.
Also, because there are just not a whole lot of youth living downtown (combined with the availability of many, many other screens around the valley), there is just not that element of nuisance here (i know this makes me sound older than 29, but kids/teens are a pain in the arse at movie theaters).
My only complaint is that the service at the concession stands is agonizingly sllloooooow. Still, their popcorn is fresh and they DO have self-serve butter and jappers. Mmmmm!
My husband and I frequent this AMC more than I care to admit...we see most of our movies here in the Arizona Center, and we almost always have a great experience. Once the ladies' room was a mess and once the concession stand was staffed *entirely* with young men who didn't give a shit. Oh, and the machines outside sometimes do not work as they should (we like to buy our tickets online). Wait... maybe I should knock them down a star- this is starting to add up. On the other hand, I LOVE the ticket takers just inside the doors. We always get either the super nice plump woman with short dark hair or the awesome and friendly short man with glasses. It's clear they were hired for their people skills. Get a movie watcher card- the bonuses add up pretty fast (free tickets, free snax, or discounts on snax). The $5 tickets before noon on weekends and holidays are also hard to beat if movie prices are a concern. The theaters themselves are usually well cleaned, and the items from the concession stand are pretty fresh (nearly every time I have been to a Harkins, for the sake of comparison, the popcorn has tasted stale). Having Sam's Cafe, UNO, and now the great 1130 restaurant so close by, makes this AMC even more appealing and the Arizona Center a one-stop date night for us.
Pros: - Never seems packed - Seats are comfortable - Customer service is good - Popcorn is tasty and always hot - Movies aren't too loud - Free refills on large popcorn/drinks
Cons: - Many times they seem to have problems with the film.. not centered, jumps around on the screen, has annoying lines that jump all over the place. - Bathrooms aren't very clean - Don't offer Ice Tea, like the other AMC (not a big deal, but when you don't drink soda your only left with water or very sugary lemonade) - Not a lot of eyes open to what's going on, teen kind of rule the place going from movie to movie without paying, and when there is a problem with the film, its hard to find someone to help you.
Overall is awesome that there is a movie theatre downtown and is buy some good restaurants
This is the closest theatre to me, so we go there all the time. The lines are usually long and there are two people selling tickets at most, so get there early. Once you are in you are greeted by a friendly employee who will direct you to your theater, which may be a distance away, since the theatre is so large (24 screens). If you want to purchase something at the snack bar, forget about it unless you are half an hour early. For whatever reason, popcorn, nachos or whatever your ordered, it is a major undertaking to get to you. But the theatres are clean, the staff is friendly and there are usually plenty of open spots. And I can't blame the theatre for the occasional arse who decides to have a conversation during the movie, kick the back of my seat or eat popcorn like a camel chewing on Fritos.
AMC... so expensive, sometimes worth it. The theatres are nice, and usually clean. The reason I choose them sometimes over Harkins is really quite silly: I love their little butter bar they have. Hey, why should someone else be in charge of my popcorn butter dispensement? Also, they put jalepenos out at the butter bar, and I really love to add them to my popcorn.
So I took away one star for being so over priced. And I took away another star for this experience from the other day. I went to see the opening night release of Spiderman 3 (DON'T waste your money: it ended up being terrible), for which there was a long line. I was with a group of friends, and I knew about a little secret: there is a mezzanine on the second floor from which there is an entrance/exit to all of the large theatres. So we all went up to the mezzanine to wait until they began to let people into the theatre, at which point we, too, would enter, without having to wait in line.
Now, I know what we were doing wasn't exACTly legit. But still, more than a few employees saw us and said nothing. And a cop came along to check our tickets and make sure we weren't trying to do the ole theatre switcheroo. So it seemed like it was going to be fine. THEN, right when they were going to open up the theatre this manager-type, who totally takes her supervisory movie theatre role a little too seriously, came up and told us we had to go downstairs and get in the end of the line!! How unfair is that??!? I mean, if they had told us right when we got up there, we might have had a decent slot. But there was no way I was going to pay $9.50 for a ticket to sit in the very first row.
So what did I do? I threw a fit. Well, not a crazy-person screaming fit, but the 'i'm not going to leave until you agree that i'm right' kind of fit. I pointed out that there is no posted policy that says we can't enter from the top, and no employees had yet stated that, so really she was being unreasonable. She consented, but told us to wait right there, she'd be right back. Well, by this time people had begun to enter the theatre. So do you think we waited right there? Absolutely not. We entered, got killer seats, and watched one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time.
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