Movie Watcher

"Leave your things behind cuz it's all going off without you." - Frou Frou, Let Go [buy the album] I wasn't the only one who saw Garden State this weekend. Outside of those completely standard movie cheesy wrap-up conversations in the last act of the film, I adored it. I'm now back to crushing heavily on Natalie Portman. Or at least wanting very much to interact with someone that's as witty, wry and alive as her characters--Princess Amidala excluded--always are. But that's not what I want to talk about. I want to discuss the AMC Movie Network. I haven't been to the AMC Promenade 16 in nearly 2 years. Despite the fact that it's walking distance from my apartment, I had the year long movie pass from Loews in 2003 and I've been spending more and more time at the Arclight and the Pacific Sherman Oaks Galleria since then because the Arclight is the best theatre on the planet and the Galleria is convenient for many of my friends. The AMCs (in both Woodland Hills and Century City), however, used to be my go to movieplexes. I was in love with the movie watcher card and the comfortable seats and the generally good movie experience. But somehow it had lost favor to these more regal establishments. The Pacific Sherman Oaks Galleria is still relatively new and unknown by the masses. I never feel crowded or overwhelmed there and the clientele, once you get past all the creepy Oaks 'tweeners in varying versions of the short skirt, ugg boots (slowly becoming sandals) and double tank top uniform, is generally high quality. No obnoxious kids talking all through my movies there. And the Arclight is the Arclight. No further explanation needed. But where AMC has these places beat is the pre-show entertainment. That AMC Network stuff is pretty excellent. Kind of like a TV Guide channel for the movies, I appreciate getting the commercials well before the movie starts rather than when my beloved trailers are beginning. The special bit on Shark Tale wasn't lame and in general it just was high quality and unobtrusive. Especially for a person like myself who often likes to go see movies alone (particularly indie flicks...the kind I want to take some time to process a bit before discussing) and is there early, a good pre-show matters. So bully for you AMC Network. Bully for you.