An Ode to Movie Theaters
It is no secret that we are big movie buffs. Our favorite Chicago winter activity was catching double or triple features of movies at the theater on weekends (of couuuuurse we paid for all of them). We would catch all kinds of movies in theaters in Houston, but honestly it had gotten a bit harder to bring ourselves to go to the movies in recent years.
Between disrespectful and obnoxious people on their phones or talking throughout the movie, to the skyrocketing costs and lackluster experiences we just didn’t enjoy the experience as much anymore (even with the recliner seats at our local theater). We were mostly only seeing big name movies in theaters but otherwise saved ourselves the headache and watched things at home.
During some of our down time in Europe we did catch a couple of movies. Those experiences were on par with the U.S. ( less talkers and texters but more basic seats and theaters) so we just thought that was the standard.
Until we got to Asia.
Our minds were blown when we first stepped into a movie theater in Asia, and theater after theater kept raising the bar and challenging our expectations (with only a few exceptions). The movie theaters we have experienced throughout Asia have largely been far superior to any we experienced in the US and Europe, and waaaay cheaper too!
So here is our rundown of some of our favorite parts of movie theaters in Asia, mainly just so we can reminisce and remind ourselves that movie theaters can still be a great experience, just maybe not in the West.
Most of the theaters we visited had varying seating types (sometimes even within the same theater) that you could pick from. Different seating we saw in different theaters included loveseats, couches, bean bag chairs, luxury loungers, and even full tempur-pedic (sponsored) beds. All of these were cheaper and cleaner than anything you would have seen in the United States. On average we would spend about $12 total for two tickets, and in several instances that price included a (normal sized) bag of popcorn and a bottle of water per person. This wasn’t even for the earliest showtime or tuesday special time to save money or anything either (something we would do to get a deal in Houston).
A few quirks though:
Language largely was not an issue, but they do clearly mark which movies are in the language of origin (english for american made movies) with local language subtitles, and which are dubbed in the local language. We just make sure to get the tickets for the ones in the language of origin for American movies. All of the movies had subtitles of some sort depending on what country we were in.
In Thailand they play the national anthem and an accompanying national video before the movie and it is customary to stand for it.
As mentioned, many of the movie tickets came with a smaller bag of popcorn and bottle of water included in the ticket price.
They also give you the popcorn in a resealable container so you can take extras home!
A movie theater in Manila had a VIP ticket. We got it because it was the only one at the time we wanted (it was still like $15 for two total). This ticket included luxury recliners, popcorn, water AND no trailers…which made us miss the first 30 seconds of Deadpool Wolverine, something Viv is still salty about.
Some of the theaters were not located at a singular location in the malls. You would visit the counter kiosk to purchase tickets and then they would direct you to where in the mall the theater was. The theater could be right next to the kiosk or a few minutes walk away past several other mall shops and kiosks.
What was particularly cool about this setup was that each theater then had its own concession stand and toilets so you could quickly use the bathroom if needed, missing very little movie (you could even hear the movie from the bathroom meaning you missed even less).
Two places we did not find had the best theaters were Vietnam and Singapore. Singapore was probably just a matter of location but Vietnam seemed to be of a lower standard overall.
Ok now a story about popcorn.
We had not yet been to the movies in Bangkok, but were at this nearby mall (with a theater) for some sightseeing and dinner. As we were leaving, we shared an elevator and traincar with a family of 5 (three older kids) who were carrying a HUGE tub of popcorn from the movie theater. Like HUGE. And it wasn’t a half eaten bucket from their movie that they were stuck with because they didn’t finish, but a freshly filled, untouched tub that they were leaving the theater with. This seemed strange. Why weren’t they going to the movie theater with this ginormous tub of popcorn? Weird right. Who goes to the theater to get popcorn and take it home?
Well, we came to find out why...
A few days later we went to the same theater for a movie (Kung Fu Panda 4). We opted for a (normal sized) bag of popcorn to go with our movie and were immediately presented with options. Cheese, caramel, butter/herb, or some combo of those. We opted for a cheese and butter/herb mixed and were BLOWN AWAY. Hands down the best popcorn we have ever had in our lives, no joke. The cheese was not the cheeto dust orange fake cheese stuff but like parmesan herby italian seasoning cheesy delicious. It was nothing short of amazing.
This popcorn was so good we tracked down the same brand of theater when we were in Chiang Mai JUST so we could go to the theater to get more popcorn (since we had visitors to share the giant tub with). We then went out of our way to a mall on the other side of town to get said popcorn (with Ma and Pa in tow who probably thought we were crazy). We came away from that excursion with the SAME giant tub we had seen the family carrying onto the train in Bangkok. No joke. We even found out that they had a kiosk in the food court of said mall that only sold popcorn so you didn’t even have to go all the way to the top floor to get to the actual theater.
Another welcome anomaly we experienced when we went to see Kung Fu Panda 4 in Bangkok. The movie at the time we wanted happened to be showing in a “kid-friendly” theater. We didn’t really know what that meant but it was a kid-friendly movie after all so we had low expectations anyways. What it meant was that the theater had a large slide on one side of the theater and a large ball pit in the front for kids who might not be able to sit through a whole movie could play on to get their energy out and still be in the theater. What a marvelous idea! Some kids did use it but it wasn’t distracting at all. Otherwise the seats were big and comfy and lounger-like and it was a great experience.
