A Local Movie Theater Gets Fancy and More Comfortable

I openly admit that I'm a movie theater snob. For what it costs to go see a movie these days, I want to get the best experience possible. One of our local theaters is currently undergoing a renovation to make the experience more comfortable and worth your time and money. 

Since yesterday was a company holiday and I had the day off, I decided to go do something that I don't get to do very often with my work schedule - I went to the movies. I had some errands to run in Monmouth County, so I decided to catch a flick at Monmouth Mall while I was in the area.

I was surprised to see that the AMC Loews Theater at the mall was apparently undergoing some pretty extensive renovations, making it a little bit of a hassle to get around the lobby and wait for snacks, but I was very pleasantly surprised when I stepped into theater 6.

I was greeted by what you see in the picture above - rows of spacious red recliners instead of the standard elbow to elbow, cattle packed together seating arrangement that we're all used to.

Each row had probably about half of the seats that they used to hold, and were wide apart. So not only was there plenty of room between seats, but the rows were far enough apart that someone's head being in your way will be a thing of the past.

They recline, too!

Not only does the foot rest extend with the press of a button on the arm of the seat, but the back of the seat also reclines. Another nice touch - the seats are arranged in pairs, and you can lift the armrest between seats if you want to snuggle up with your movie buddy.

The armrests are also nice and wide, so not only is there plenty of room for your popcorn or candy, but you no longer have to jockey for armrest space with strangers.

This might seem like a random thing to rave about, but something stuck out to me about this whole renovation - these days, trains and airplanes are squeezing rows together and reducing leg room and elbow space to cram as many paying customers as possible into a small space. With the renovations that I saw yesterday, it's clear that each auditorium is losing a bunch of seats. So they're actually reducing the paying capacity of each theater in exchange for customer comfort.

Now, whether the price of going to see a movie here eventually reflects this change remains to be seen. But, in the meantime, it looks like the best movie going experience at The Jersey Shore is a few exits up the Parkway.