John Doe said:AMC is definitely the better choice. I’ve really lost my patience with Regal Cinemas. My girlfriend and I decided to catch a movie, so I went ahead and reserved our seats online at Regal Cinemas and headed over. When we pulled up to the garage, the light was green—great start. But as soon as you descend into the garage, every single level is stuck on red. After doing a total safari through every floor searching for a spot, I finally get out, and the entrance light is back to green. That's one strike against them. I eventually managed to park about 20 minutes away. When I reached the concession stand, there was a massive line. I joined the queue for ticket pickups, but the guy behind the counter was impossibly slow; he didn't have any change, an elderly couple starts yelling because he sold them tickets for the wrong day, and he can't find our reservation. Meanwhile, the lines at all the other counters have vanished, so I almost just bought standard tickets since they were still available, but I didn't want to lose those prime reserved seats I worked for. Strike two. After about 25 minutes of waiting, I finally grab the tickets and head toward the theater. On the way, I grab some popcorn, only to find the staff member standing right in front of the doors refusing to let anyone in. We didn't actually get inside until 15 minutes after the movie was supposed to start. Strike three. Now, the theater itself is nicely decorated, which briefly made me forget the frustration. Strike one in their favor. But then comes the 20-minute ego trip where they brag about how Regal Cinemas is the best, the biggest, the prettiest, and has the best everything. Strike four. Finally, the film begins, but the projectionist forgot to turn off the lights in the booth, so a bright 1m x 2m square of light was glowing on the screen the entire time. Strike five. To top it off, the doors weren't even shut properly, so you could hear all the noise from the hallway. Strike six. To wrap this up: the experience at Regal Cinemas, combined with a painfully boring movie like Master and Warrior, results in 🙂
It was basically everything mentioned above, plus a nightmare of a parking situation. The screening was scheduled for 4:50 PM, but because those greedy bastards don't want to provide free parking, they run 20 minutes of ads and propaganda just to push the actual start time to 5:10 PM. The intermission isn't even that bad, but the tickets are outrageously expensive (for blockbusters that are already going to make a fortune regardless), and there’s zero legroom—I'm 6'3", so it was brutal. Once the movie ends, you head to the garage only to find it packed because those money-grubbing vultures couldn't be bothered to add another level. When we finally make it to the cashier—who supposedly accepts cash—they refuse to take our paper bills. They send us running around to different bars trying to get change, but nobody has any (we had already checked the main counter, and they don't deal with that stuff). We even tried going to the casino to order coffee just so we could try to break a bill. We asked the guy if he had any small change, and he said yes. We get our coffee, but the change they give us is just a bunch of paper scraps. After a few frustrating attempts, we have to return the coffee and head back to the cashier. After being ripped off and arguing with the absolute trash at the "Criterion Collection" stand, they barely deign to give us our coins... and it was already an hour or an hour and a half after the movie ended (and I'm an old man, I don't have all night). We get to the local diner and ask who we need to talk to so we can tear them a new one 😠 (the guy at the diner just laughs), and he tells us it's Sunday and nobody is working. We walk past what they call an "elite restaurant" that serves breakfast for $30!—honestly, they are delusional. We were honestly close to just ripping the door off the hinges and leaving. We finally pay for the parking (after being there for over 5 hours!) and get the hell away from that "Criterion Collection" dump.
As for those greedy owners of the "Criterion Collection," I hope their kids grow up in misery and nothing good ever comes of them... 😠 😠 😠😠 😠
Next time they see me, I’m showing up with a baseball bat and some grenades...