Comments from RobGordon

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RobGordon
RobGordon commented about AMC Quarry Cinemas 14 on Jan 3, 2010 at 8:41 am

Hi, I work at the Quarry. If there’s anything you can suggest that help us improve the place, I’m happy to take your suggestions. Since I’m here, I’ll help settle some confusion.

Our address is indeed 9201 W 63rd St, Hodgkins, IL 60525. Its proximity to Countryside tends to confuse some people and online maps. You can get to us by taking 63rd st off Lagrange Ave or East Ave.

I’ve asked corporate to fix the branding several times in the last few years. The new CEO’s making changes, so hopefully we won’t have to go another year advertising “Cineplex Odeon”. Right now the only thing that says we’re an AMC is the sign on Lagrange/63rd and “AMC” letters on our back marquee. The marquee that says “Cineplex Odeon”. Fun stuff.

I have to respectfully disagree with Mindhunter55 on the status of the theatre since 2007. I’ve been here a few years now and I feel that conditions have done nothing but improve since 2007. Standards were elevated, the employees are a lot happier, and guest satisfaction and attendance have remained pretty constant, especially considering how theatres on a whole have declined in satisfaction in the home theater age.

CinemarkFan is a little harsh, but fair. Yes, the IMAX screen is not a large format screen, nor do we claim it is. No-one here likes IMAX’s decision to not differentiate between their several screen sizes or ratios. The employees are trained to know that the IMAX screen is 30% larger than our other large screens. At fifty feet wide it does encompass the whole front wall of the theatre. This info, and the differences between the IMAX 3D and RealD 3D theatres, is displayed at the box offices and guest services for the guests' information. We make no bones about the fact that the screen isn’t as big as a large format screen – if people ask if it’s a “full-size” or “regular” IMAX screen (themselves misnomers), we tell them about the differences.

Mind you, people don’t seem to mind, surprisingly. We opened it in October and I was worried we’d get a deluge of complaints when we opened a “Liemax”, but people really enjoy it. I’ve had two complaints about the size – once for “This Is It”, once for “Avatar”. Maybe it’s a case of savvy moviewatchers being more informed. At any rate, the only real source of complaints we get is about the glasses, and how we have to take them back at the end of the show. Since RealD uses disposable one-size glasses, most people assume they can keep the IMAX ones too.

As for the cost manadated by IMAX, we don’t find that particularly fair, at least for the up-rezzed 35mm shows. The 3D IMAX, however, is only a buck more than seeing a RealD show in our normal-sized theater.

Hopefully some of CT’s readers will give Quarry another look. We’d love to have you.