Gold Class Cinemas

Filed Under Movies

I don’t mind shelling out a few more dollars to see a flawless print of a film in an enormous auditorium with assigned seating at the ArcLight or the Landmark, who charge between $12-$15 for tickets these days. To me, it’s worth a couple extra bucks to not have to worry about finding a seat or the presentation having picture or sound issues. But how much is too much?

I saw an advertisement for Village Roadshow Gold Class Cinemas this morning and looked them up online. They apparently just opened at the One Colorado in Pasadena. Poking around their website, I saw that they have auditoriums that look cozy with big, cushiony chairs and end tables for your expensive wine and duck tacos. They even have a black-tie wait staff. So how much is a ticket? $22. Of course, that doesn’t include the price of duck tacos.

What’s great about Gold Class Cinemas is that they’re showing the same stupid bullshit as the AMC Burbank 16: “New Moon,” “Old Dogs,” “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” etc. And yet, you can see any of those clunkers for $6 before noon at the Burbank 16. Or, you can pay almost four times that amount to see them at the Gold Class Cinemas. I don’t want to know anyone who’d be willing to spend over twenty dollars to see “Old Dogs” theatrically.

Clearly, there’s no accounting for taste among duck taco-eating Yuppies, who’ll spend way too much on a ticket to watch something you couldn’t pay me to see. You’d think a swanky joint like the Gold Class Cinemas would screen art films and foreign films and films with some prestige. Instead, they’ve got “The Blind Side” with Sandra Bullock and some country-western singer.

I dunno. Doing a quick cost-benefit anaylsis in my head, I can’t justify the $22 ticket price at Gold Class for the average flick. I’ve seen triple bills for less than half that. However, I’m curious about the viewing experience. What’s it like to check out a flick at a theater that makes the ArcLight look like someone’s rec room? I’ll keep an eye on that venue and maybe bounce over there to catch a very special movie I don’t mind paying through the nose to see.

And you bet your ass I’m getting duck tacos.

-Brad Lohan

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