I hope I’m making this up, but I could swear the last time I visited Athens, this place was closed down. I think it’s a handbag store now. If that’s true, what a sad turn of events for such a classy old theater.
I think the former Rio Bravo space is now occupied by another restaurant – this one is called Londzell’s Martini Restaurant & Lounge. The former Holcomb Woods theater underneath is still a church, but I don’t think it is Hope Chapel anymore, it has some new name. I actually drove by it today, but I couldn’t read the whole name of the place because I was going too fast. It was something like “City Church” or something.
One thing no one really mentioned so far was that this place had some arcade games in it. Not many, though. They probably had 7 or 8 machines lined up against that wall on the right side when you walk in. I also remember there were a couple machines at the end of the hall right outside the theaters on the back right.
I seemed to remember the popcorn at Holcomb Woods being terrific. Of all my theater options in Roswell/Alpharetta at that time, I think I actually preferred going to Holcomb Woods because of the good popcorn. Does anyone else remember the popcorn?
By the way, this theater is called “Big Cinemas Peachtree Funplex 8” now. It was renamed during summer 2009. Can anyone confirm it changed ownership? If that’s true, and if I’m understanding this right, that would mean this place has changed hands like 4 times in the last 5 years.
I think this place’s days are numbered because this is exactly what happened to Holcomb Woods and look where it is now.
This place is a dump. I’ve been there a couple times over the last year, but I don’t go often because it is so run down. The sound quality and acoustics in the theaters are terrible and the hallways outside the theaters are poorly lit (read: dark and creepy). There are also old pieces of broken vending machines and jukeboxes just laying around. I feel really uneasy when I go to this theater and I have never felt that way inside a theater before.
Also, how are they making any money? Anytime I go, the movies never sell out. I’d say 5 or 6 of the 8 movies they run at any given time are now Bollywood movies. Is there that big of a Bollywood market in Norcross? Also, I have NEVER seen ANYONE at the arcade (which is quite large for a movie theater, I must say). You’d think they would just rip the machines out and re-install the 2 auditoriums they originally had. Arcades are dead, man.
Actually, I think I may have taken a girl there on a date in late 2001 (like October/November-ish), but again, that’s the last time I can remember going there.
Does anyone know if Hope Chapel took over both the theater AND the former Rio Bravo space? Since the theater closed, I have never been back to snoop around. Also, to the people who used to work at the theater, was Rio Bravo always there? If not, what used to sit on top of the theater before Rio Bravo?
I remember seeing a number of movies here as a kid:
Andre (1994)
The Man in the Iron Mask
Deep Impact
Face/Off
A Bug’s Life (1998)
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999)
Screwed (2000)
Frequency (2000)
I remember that towards the end of its life (from approx. 1998 to 2002), the theater changed hands like 2 or 3 times, sometimes closing for months at a time. For a while, I thought the theater had beed closed for good, but nope, they would re-open like 2 months later.
The last time I can prove I went was to see “A.I.” in 2001, but I honestly think that was my last time at the Holcomb Woods. I seem to remember the last few times I went to the theater it was really depressing. I could tell that people were losing interest in the place and it wasn’t getting the same business that it used to. I think it finally closed for good sometime in 2001 or 2002. A couple years later, it became “Hope Chapel” (a church) and has remained so ever since.
The shopping center that it’s located in has suffered a lot over the last 10 years or so with the losses of both Wal-Mart and Rio Bravo. Has anyone been down there lately? I wonder what it’s like now.
I went to see Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine” at the Tara in either October or November of 2002. I think that was the only time I ever went to the Tara, but I loved it. What a cool old theater.
I think what ultimately did this place in was that there were bigger, better, cleaner movie theaters with better parking literally right down the street (namely, the AMC Mansell Crossing 14 which opened in 1993/1994 and the North Point Market which was right up the street from that, also probably opened the same year). I wouldn’t be surprised if those 2 theaters eventually singlehandedly sucked all of the audience away from Startime.
I remember going to this theater all the time when I was a kid. I moved into the Roswell area in the summer of 1992 and saw “Aladdin” at Startime when it premiered. I remember the projectionist accidentally attached a trailer for “Leprechaun” (an R-rated horror movie) to the other trailers before Aladdin and all the kids freaked out and all the parents got mad.
Back then, Startime was a theater only. It had a small arcade with maybe 10 machines, located in a room off to the side of where the ticket booth was. I remember playing Mortal Kombat there. Beyond that arcade room was the actual mall. I remember there was a pizza restaurant in there and some kind of paintball supply store.
One day after seeing a movie there in the mid-90’s (I want to say like 1995 or 1996), I walked out into the lobby and noticed the management had put a big billboard in the lobby with artistic renderings and a “Coming Soon!” message on it. They had plans to expand Startime into an entertainment center with a go-kart track, a miniature golf thing, and a bunch of other stuff. Even as a kid, I thought, “That’s stupid.” But sure enough, over the next 5 years, they built a go-kart track, a miniature golf course, a HUGE arcade (memory fails, but I seem to remember a Dave and Buster’s-scope operation), a bar, a comedy club (!), and I think even a crappy restaurant in there. I remember they somehow booked huge talent like Tracy Morgan and Tommy Chong. Can anyone confirm that they actually did gigs there? I remember the ticket prices being pretty outrageous.
I think the last time I went to Startime was back in late 2001 or so. They had just finished making it into the huge bloated mess it remained for the rest of its sad life. I just wanted to go to a movie, but Startime wanted to be everything. And by being everything, it was somehow nothing. It was also getting really sleazy around the time I stopped going. A lot of drunk adults hanging out around children playing arcade games…not a good idea
I hope I’m making this up, but I could swear the last time I visited Athens, this place was closed down. I think it’s a handbag store now. If that’s true, what a sad turn of events for such a classy old theater.
To me, this place was and always will be “The Big Purple Monster” because of the bizarre use of neon all over the facade.
Does anyone know when Regal moved in and built this place on top of the old drive-in?
I think the former Rio Bravo space is now occupied by another restaurant – this one is called Londzell’s Martini Restaurant & Lounge. The former Holcomb Woods theater underneath is still a church, but I don’t think it is Hope Chapel anymore, it has some new name. I actually drove by it today, but I couldn’t read the whole name of the place because I was going too fast. It was something like “City Church” or something.
One thing no one really mentioned so far was that this place had some arcade games in it. Not many, though. They probably had 7 or 8 machines lined up against that wall on the right side when you walk in. I also remember there were a couple machines at the end of the hall right outside the theaters on the back right.
I seemed to remember the popcorn at Holcomb Woods being terrific. Of all my theater options in Roswell/Alpharetta at that time, I think I actually preferred going to Holcomb Woods because of the good popcorn. Does anyone else remember the popcorn?
By the way, this theater is called “Big Cinemas Peachtree Funplex 8” now. It was renamed during summer 2009. Can anyone confirm it changed ownership? If that’s true, and if I’m understanding this right, that would mean this place has changed hands like 4 times in the last 5 years.
I think this place’s days are numbered because this is exactly what happened to Holcomb Woods and look where it is now.
This place is a dump. I’ve been there a couple times over the last year, but I don’t go often because it is so run down. The sound quality and acoustics in the theaters are terrible and the hallways outside the theaters are poorly lit (read: dark and creepy). There are also old pieces of broken vending machines and jukeboxes just laying around. I feel really uneasy when I go to this theater and I have never felt that way inside a theater before.
Also, how are they making any money? Anytime I go, the movies never sell out. I’d say 5 or 6 of the 8 movies they run at any given time are now Bollywood movies. Is there that big of a Bollywood market in Norcross? Also, I have NEVER seen ANYONE at the arcade (which is quite large for a movie theater, I must say). You’d think they would just rip the machines out and re-install the 2 auditoriums they originally had. Arcades are dead, man.
Actually, I think I may have taken a girl there on a date in late 2001 (like October/November-ish), but again, that’s the last time I can remember going there.
Does anyone know if Hope Chapel took over both the theater AND the former Rio Bravo space? Since the theater closed, I have never been back to snoop around. Also, to the people who used to work at the theater, was Rio Bravo always there? If not, what used to sit on top of the theater before Rio Bravo?
I remember seeing a number of movies here as a kid:
Andre (1994)
The Man in the Iron Mask
Deep Impact
Face/Off
A Bug’s Life (1998)
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999)
Screwed (2000)
Frequency (2000)
I remember that towards the end of its life (from approx. 1998 to 2002), the theater changed hands like 2 or 3 times, sometimes closing for months at a time. For a while, I thought the theater had beed closed for good, but nope, they would re-open like 2 months later.
The last time I can prove I went was to see “A.I.” in 2001, but I honestly think that was my last time at the Holcomb Woods. I seem to remember the last few times I went to the theater it was really depressing. I could tell that people were losing interest in the place and it wasn’t getting the same business that it used to. I think it finally closed for good sometime in 2001 or 2002. A couple years later, it became “Hope Chapel” (a church) and has remained so ever since.
The shopping center that it’s located in has suffered a lot over the last 10 years or so with the losses of both Wal-Mart and Rio Bravo. Has anyone been down there lately? I wonder what it’s like now.
I went to see Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine” at the Tara in either October or November of 2002. I think that was the only time I ever went to the Tara, but I loved it. What a cool old theater.
I think what ultimately did this place in was that there were bigger, better, cleaner movie theaters with better parking literally right down the street (namely, the AMC Mansell Crossing 14 which opened in 1993/1994 and the North Point Market which was right up the street from that, also probably opened the same year). I wouldn’t be surprised if those 2 theaters eventually singlehandedly sucked all of the audience away from Startime.
I remember going to this theater all the time when I was a kid. I moved into the Roswell area in the summer of 1992 and saw “Aladdin” at Startime when it premiered. I remember the projectionist accidentally attached a trailer for “Leprechaun” (an R-rated horror movie) to the other trailers before Aladdin and all the kids freaked out and all the parents got mad.
Back then, Startime was a theater only. It had a small arcade with maybe 10 machines, located in a room off to the side of where the ticket booth was. I remember playing Mortal Kombat there. Beyond that arcade room was the actual mall. I remember there was a pizza restaurant in there and some kind of paintball supply store.
One day after seeing a movie there in the mid-90’s (I want to say like 1995 or 1996), I walked out into the lobby and noticed the management had put a big billboard in the lobby with artistic renderings and a “Coming Soon!” message on it. They had plans to expand Startime into an entertainment center with a go-kart track, a miniature golf thing, and a bunch of other stuff. Even as a kid, I thought, “That’s stupid.” But sure enough, over the next 5 years, they built a go-kart track, a miniature golf course, a HUGE arcade (memory fails, but I seem to remember a Dave and Buster’s-scope operation), a bar, a comedy club (!), and I think even a crappy restaurant in there. I remember they somehow booked huge talent like Tracy Morgan and Tommy Chong. Can anyone confirm that they actually did gigs there? I remember the ticket prices being pretty outrageous.
I think the last time I went to Startime was back in late 2001 or so. They had just finished making it into the huge bloated mess it remained for the rest of its sad life. I just wanted to go to a movie, but Startime wanted to be everything. And by being everything, it was somehow nothing. It was also getting really sleazy around the time I stopped going. A lot of drunk adults hanging out around children playing arcade games…not a good idea