Paul Tassi: The movie theaters of A2

By Paul Tassi  On  January 18th, 2007

Here at Daily Arts, we constantly tell you what films to see or not see. But where's the best place to find them? Look no further.

We can start with the little ones, which despite their small stature are big in value. The Michigan and the State theaters are often underappreciated luxuries in Ann Arbor, and you should attend some sort of event at both during your college career. It just feels classy walking down State Street to either establishment to see a film, and if you can get over the cramped seating arrangements, you'll have a good time. Often the movies shown are independent films you won't be able to find in a mainstream theater, so it might be a good chance to see something that doesn't star Cameron Diaz or involve Michael Bay.

The Briarwood Dollar Theater should be mentioned here, because if you're the kind of person who still hasn't seen "Superman Returns," chances are its still playing there. It's cheap - real cheap. It's at the Briarwood mall and the bus will drop you right at the door. The fun part is seeing if the bus is there when your movie gets out at 2 a.m. The money you save on tickets will be most likely converted to cab fare unless you feel like camping out in the empty mall.

And now, Showcase Cinema Ann Arbor, one of the area's two multiplexes. Here's a reenactment of the one and only time I paid for a ticket at there. My friends and I approached the nearly empty ticket queue at 7 p.m. on a Friday freshman year.

"Hi, can I get one for 'Bourne Supremacy' at 7:20?"

"Sure, that'll be $9.75."

"Wow, that's a lot, I'm glad I'm a student."

I flashed my M-Card.

"We don't do student discounts here."

I froze.

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm sorry."

She wasn't sorry.

"But this is Ann Arbor!"

"No, this is Ypsilanti."

"Fuck!"

So after my five friends and I collectively dropped damn near $100 on tickets, food and drinks, we all swore we'd never go back to Showcase again. No wonder no one is ever there. I mean seriously: You're one of two major theaters in a college-town area, and you don't offer a student rate? That's like not having a senior citizen discount at Bob Evans. They do have some movies in 3-D and IMAX which is cool, but not cool enough to add another $2 to an already ridiculous ticket price. If you don't know where Showcase is, I'm not even going to tell you. Just don't ever go there and maybe they'll go out of business. Why they haven't already is a mystery to me.

So where should you go to not get jacked? That $10 could easily buy a case of Natty Light or a box of Franzia, so save $4.50 of it by going to the (relatively) best theater around. Quality 16 is well, quality. It's nothing spectacular, but it's your best bet for most all new releases in the Ann Arbor area. In addition to offering a severely discounted student rate of $6.50, Quality also makes for a good time because it's just hilarious (and the awesome $5 tickets for everyone between 4 and 6 p.m.).

You will never find a larger collection of high schoolers in one place save Pioneer itself. Literally, they're crawling everywhere at Quality. Not only are they 90 percent of the film audience, but they run the entire damn theater. Seriously, I've never seen anyone older than 17 wearing a uniform there. The other day I saw a kid in a shirt and tie. I thought to myself, "he's awfully dressed up to go see a movie." Then I saw his nametag, and yes, he was a manager. I don't think his voice had even dropped yet.

Quality is east a little bit down Huron, but if you don't pay attention you will miss it, guaranteed. I've been there on about 20 different occasions and I still have to double back sometimes. Why? You would think such a large theater would be able to afford an attention-grabbing sign. Instead what they have out front is a Times New Roman, black-and-white, 2.5-by-8 foot joke of a sign that looks like it was made in shop class by one of the high school employees. It literally takes a crew of spotters while driving to locate it, so you don't miss your turn. This is always good for a laugh the first time someone sees it.

So to sum up, here's your theater guide in a nutshell: For classics, artsy and indy, go State Street; for things you missed, go Briarwood; for mainstream, go Quality. And fuck Showcase.

Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:26:20 -0500