i've developed a certain fascination with the concept of "luxury movie theaters". i think it started with the promise (never truly delivered upon) of san francisco's metreon movie theatres. when i first read elliot hesther's book Adventures of a Continental Drifter about his experiences at the empire hotel in brunei's movie theater, my apetite was only whetted further. my experience at the theater in brunei was that is was nice, but it could definitely be better. the black leather-covered couch seats were great, but couldn't they go really over-the-top with movie watching decadence?
then i heard about bangkok's several "VIP/Gold" movie theaters, complete with massive overstuffed power seats, pillows, blankets (for that always overpowered AC), and service to-your-seat by a waiter from to satisfy any thirst (or popcorn) cravings that you might have during the movie. now THAT sounded interesting.
i first went to the siam center's EGV Gold "VIP" theater to see X-Men: The Last Stand. (wired magazine also has an short article on the same theater.)the luridly red massage seats with electrically extending foot rests were a nice touch. the whole fancy entrance, fully stocked bar with uniformed waiters ("would you like some popcorn with your gin and tonic?"), were all great. and all this for the same price as a regular movie ticket in san francisco!
the only drawbacks were the subtitles and thai movie censorship where they edit out "inappropriate" parts of the movies. (however, the gray-market DVDs of the same movies sold at patpong night market have no censorship at all applied to them. the irony of this situation has not gone unnoticed by the press.)
the sound in the room was amazing, as was the video quality aside from displaying the code "E13" scratched into the celluloid every 30 minutes or so, which i can only assume is part of some anti-piracy measure in case people were filming the screen in the theater. (in my case, i was at the last showing of the evening, and the theater was almost empty aside from myself and a farang with his thai "girlfriend".)
all in all, i had a great time. one of the better $10 entertainment values in bangkok!
then i heard about bangkok's several "VIP/Gold" movie theaters, complete with massive overstuffed power seats, pillows, blankets (for that always overpowered AC), and service to-your-seat by a waiter from to satisfy any thirst (or popcorn) cravings that you might have during the movie. now THAT sounded interesting.
i first went to the siam center's EGV Gold "VIP" theater to see X-Men: The Last Stand. (wired magazine also has an short article on the same theater.)the luridly red massage seats with electrically extending foot rests were a nice touch. the whole fancy entrance, fully stocked bar with uniformed waiters ("would you like some popcorn with your gin and tonic?"), were all great. and all this for the same price as a regular movie ticket in san francisco!
the only drawbacks were the subtitles and thai movie censorship where they edit out "inappropriate" parts of the movies. (however, the gray-market DVDs of the same movies sold at patpong night market have no censorship at all applied to them. the irony of this situation has not gone unnoticed by the press.)
the sound in the room was amazing, as was the video quality aside from displaying the code "E13" scratched into the celluloid every 30 minutes or so, which i can only assume is part of some anti-piracy measure in case people were filming the screen in the theater. (in my case, i was at the last showing of the evening, and the theater was almost empty aside from myself and a farang with his thai "girlfriend".)
all in all, i had a great time. one of the better $10 entertainment values in bangkok!
