Star Trek is Awesome!

I did something this week I haven't done in years. I saw the same movie twice, two nights in a row. I've been Star Trek fan since I was little and have been really looking forward to the new film.

I found the film exciting and a lot of fun. There were a couple places that seemed a bit forced (the guy in the water tube) and some logical inconsistencies ( how can a supernova threaten the galaxy?)

Overall the characters were good, the action was fun and the effects were flawless. There were never any of those moments where the effect is so obviously an effect it takes you out of the film. Wolverine had some of those.

Part of the reason I was it twice was I was checking out the new theatres at Westmount. I saw it on Sunday in one of the VIP theatres. It was cool but I was off center of the screen and it wasn't a real big theatre so I really noticed it. On the way out I talked to the manager who said theatre #1 of the regular cinemas has a 50 foot screen and almost 400 seats. I had to check that out! I figured Star trek would only play in that theatre for a week and Angels and Demons would take over on Friday. I went back on Monday for the late show and saw it in #1. That theatre is huge and the showing was impressive. I was able to sit in the exact center of the screen as I like it.

Some Star Trek fans are upset with the new film because it doesn't stick to the established canon. I don't think they could have stuck to the canon and made a film a lot of people want to see for a couple reasons.

-after 10 movies and several TV series I would imagine the canon is so twisted and complicated anything they did would contradict something. It would also severely limit the options for some of the characters.

-obviously since there is no TV series running and the last couple movies fizzled there isn't enough interest in Star Trek as it was to warrant making another film.

I'll probably watch Star Trek again when it plays at Western Film. I'm looking forward to the sequel. The characters have been reestablished so they can just go straight into a hopefully interesting story.

The New Westmount theatres.

There's going to be another change in the theatrical landscape of London soon. The last one was the closing of the Huron Market Place last September.

Cineplex is building new theatres out at Westmount Mall which is in the south end of the city, quite aways from Western Film.

Currently there's a somewhat antiquated six-plex in the mall, the new theatres are in a separate building which I can't tell if is going to be connected to the mall or not.

According to the Cineplex website it will have 8 stadium seating screens, three of which are their VIP cinemas. The VIP cinemas cost extra but have extra comfy chairs, serve food at the seats and are licensed so they are 19+ only.

There's several questions and things I find interesting about the place.

They built it behind the mall where it's not visible from the street. I thought this seemed odd but I figure they probably got the land/lease for very little back there. The mall itself is dying so it doesn't need the parking.

What will the admission price be? The current theatre is $7.50 but I would be willing to bet the new ones will be about the same price as the Silver City which is $11.00. That would leave Western Film by far the cheapest theatre in London, the closest would be Rainbow downtown which is $7.50.
In Toronto the VIP cinemas are $4.00 more than the regular cinemas.

Currently they tend to play a lot of 'art' product there. Will they continue to do so or go more Hollywood? My feeling is they will put the art product in the VIP cinemas assuming the people who want to see those films will be willing to pay the extra. I'd certainly consider it just to get away from the damn teenagers and their cellphones.

I'm not sure when it's supposed to open. I would imagine they want to open ASAP to catch the summer business.

Will the VIP cinemas work in London? especially right now. Probably but I wouldn't be surprised if they don't charge as much extra as in Toronto.

It says some theatres will be 3-D. Will any of the VIP theatres be 3-D and will they then charge an extra fee on top for that as most 3-D theatres do? That would be getting close to $20.00 per ticket.

Will it change booking patterns at all? That kinda depends on what they do with the art product. If they go more Hollywood that would leave pretty much only Western Film and the Hyland playing anything non Hollywood. Currently at least a couple of the studios consider us to be far enough from each other to play the same film at the same time. That might change with their higher price.

I'm kinda surprised it's only 8 screens. I didn't think anyone built less than 10 or 12 these days.

I'll check them out as soon as they open and report back.