A Luxurious Movie Theater Experience

I had heard about upscale, fancy movie theaters before. I found the concept super cool but knew that no such theaters existed within my vicinity. With my recent trip to Charlotte, the opportunity opened up for me to finally try one out. Yesterday, my low-class butt got to sit in luxury as I enjoyed an amazing movie experience.

Sidney and I wanted to go to a movie before we left Charlotte. Wanting to get on the road at a decent hour we decided to see “The Wedding Ringer” at 11 a.m. We would be attending the Studio Movie Grill in the Epicentre. The friends we met at the bowling alley the night before told us that this certain movie house was an upscale theater but we didn’t really know any other specifics.

The entrance to Studio Movie Grill in the Epicentre in Charlotte.

The entrance to Studio Movie Grill in the Epicentre in Charlotte.

I guess the first specific I was most curious about was the price. If this theater was so exuberant, it must have an exuberant admission price, right? Wrong. We walked to the box office and went up to a self-serve kiosk where we purchased tickets for $6 each! Going to a movie so early on a Sunday does cut the cost down but this price was cheaper than majority of matinee tickets at regular theaters. After choosing our movie and show time, we then got to choose our seats. A seating map came up on the screen that let us choose where we wanted to sit. We just used our finger to touch the seats we wanted and the kiosk spit out our tickets.

Our tickets for "The Wedding Ringer" at Movie Studio Grill.

Our tickets for “The Wedding Ringer” at Movie Studio Grill.

We went up the escalator to the theater area. Only it wasn’t just the theater area. To our right was a full service, sleek bar. It looked like it was transported right out of a high end Vegas casino. Behind us was a billiards hall. To our left was the entrance to the theaters. We gave our tickets to the employee who asked us if we wanted menus. Yes, please!

The auditorium we were in had a large upper section and a smaller lower section. The upper section was split into three equal sections with generous aisles running up and down. The sections were filled with large, comfortable seats grouped in twos. They were more couches than theater chairs. The lower section had seats that were more individual-like. Sidney and I went to our assigned upper section seats. Each seat had a snazzy table tray and a button to press for service.

The button for us to push for service.

The button for us to push for service.

Because we were holding menus, we didn’t need to press any buttons. A host came to us immediately and introduced herself and said she would take care of us. She then left us to look over the menu. Expansive and appealing, the menu contained just about everything you could want from appetizers to entrees to cocktails to desserts. We ordered popcorn, a milkshake, and soda.

The screen was huge, the auditorium was immaculate, and the sound was the best I have heard at a theater in a long time. Not too many other people took up the offer to watch Kevin Hart for $6 as I would guess that only eight other people were in the theater with us. We reclined in the comfy seats and enjoyed ourselves.

Our order came. The soda was in a tumbler glass and the popcorn was served in a bowl with sheet paper. Don’t think this was your buttery, salty, artery-clogging (just how I like it) popcorn. It was much more on the lighter side, definitely not yellow in color. But it was really good! And the milkshake tasted great as our host made sure to bring us two straws and two spoons.

With about 20 minutes to go in the movie, our tab was brought to us. Knowing this was the cue that the movie would be ending soon, I sat back and savored the remaining time I had in the theater. I laughed out loud as the film reached its conclusion, knowing that the theater had something to do with my good spirits considering I had never found Kevin Hart funny before.

I would definitely recommend attending a movie at one of these service-based, experience-driven movie theaters. I really enjoyed myself and was able to relax much more than at a normal theater. Even with a long drive ahead of us and the need to get back to Myrtle Beach, we were able to let it all go while in Studio Movie Grill. In the future, it would be fun to go on a Friday night and sip a couple cocktails and unwind after the work week. You can bet that this wasn’t my last experience at a movie theater like this. Don’t Blink.

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