To the Movies
Up the escalator for two flights… down a corridor… through a refreshment area…. down a set of stairs… in the left set of doors…. and finally, I was in the theater. I was in Hong Kong and decided to go see Da Vinci Code at a movie theater. I probably should have picked a better time to see the movie. I got one of the very last seats available, and with the assigned seating, that put me on the second row of a theater wider than it was deep. If I go back to see Da Vinci Code again and then sit on the left side of the theater, it will be like seeing a different movie altogether.You see they really believe in the assigned seating at the theaters here. I’m still not sure I like it. You go up to get your ticket, and there is this big electronic chart where you pick out your seat. I thought I had really picked a great seat for MI: III recently. Only I found out when I got inside that I had things backward: what I thought were vacant seats were occupied and vice versa. I ended up in the middle near the front, when I thought I was further back. The amazing thing was that the back half the theater was all filled and no one sat in the front. Seemed kind of odd to have half the theater full, but everyone sitting tightly packed in the back. No one dared move. I wasn’t going to be the lone fool to risk a move, even if it meant more room to myself. I’m a little uneasy in uncharted waters here.
Otherwise, it’s pretty much the same as any other trip to the movies. I do always get a little anxious when the previews or commercials start and they are in Cantonese. “Oh no, am I in a Cantonese theater for the Da Vinci Code??? Am I gonna have to read the screenplay at the bottom of the screen? AHHHHHHH! I forgot to ask at the counter!” ………. So far, the features have always been in English. Thank goodness.
You do always have to go up and wind your way all around to get to these theaters. It’s like they must bury them back behind all the storefronts and up several floors. Most have escalators, but invariably there are a bunch of steps too. Not much on handicap access here.
And did I say this theater was wide? I couldn’t believe it. Charts never make it look the same, do they? The electronic screen fills up whatever space is available. But when I went inside, it was like a football field wide. Great if you are in the back middle. My head is still crooked to the left from looking down the screen from my seat.
Oh, I enjoyed the Da Vinci Code. Book was better though. And MI: III was good too, but that didn’t look so much like the China I know in the last scenes.
posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 3:42 PM
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