I just saw the latest Indiana Jones at a second-run cinema. It cost me $2. It was worth exactly that. Before the flick, I had dinner. It was $6.
Clearly, the people at Village Roadshow — the Australian entertainment company — did not have people like me in mind when they envisioned their Gold Class Cinemas, a luxury $35-a-seat movie theater planned for three Southern California locations next year, including at Costa Mesa's Triangle Square.
What do you get for the money? Reclining chairs decked out in suede, a personal attendant, and the chance to see the same movie that's playing at the local cineplex for a 350% markup.
If you think that dinner and wine is included in the ticket price, you'd be wrong. Check out their menu, which include these gourmet options:
Hot Dogs
Spicy beef mini hot dogs served with chunky chips, tomato relish or dijon mustard
AU$15
Traditional Fish and Chips
Lightly battered fish fillets, thick potato chips and tartare sauce
AU$22
Though the prices and items above are from their theaters in Australia, even if you converted it to U.S. dollars, you're looking at quite an expensive night out.
The ArcLight, the Landmark or the Bridge in L.A. already offer this kind of premium theater seating with some success. But Triangle Square? Really? Remember NikeTown? Virgin Megastore? If Phil Knight and Richard Branson couldn't make it there, what makes these Aussies think they can do any better?
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.