Regal Kingstowne

saw ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ this afternoon on the RPX screen, sitting in the middle was perfect in hearing the 7.1 audio mix and great peripheral eyesight lines – the ‘High Frame Rate’ was interesting – the ultra sharpness of the image was outstanding, but the lack of grain and the slight speed up, really did make it look video-esque.

three? really? wow! I saw ‘Pacific Rim’ on the RPX screen (2D) in Atmos and it sounded pretty good – the volume isn’t as LOUD or annoying as it is over at Tysons.

I agree thebrat – the aural experience of ‘Gravity’ was just literally out of this world [yeah, kind of the corny there – huh?] Actually I think the three Atmos systems was a Regal website misinformation – the manager I talked with last time I was there said the RPX screen is the only Atmos equipped screen.

Based on Fandango seating chart info, the capacity for this theater is 3,123. The RPX auditorium (1) is the only one with recliner seating and as such is in the middle of the pack capacity-wise at 157. Theater 16 is the largest at 357. Theaters 7, 8, and 16 all have large side-masked screens with 16 being the largest. Theater 9 has “ScreenX” technology which includes a scope-formatted main screen as well as screens running along the side walls that are supposed to reflect imagery that blends into the main picture.

On a recent visit to the area, I decided to check out Screen X #9 and the showing of ‘Fantastic 4: First Step.’ Screen X could be termed the 21st century digital version of multi projection Cinerama from the 50s. Having seen a rendering of the ‘experience’ I thought I would be experiencing something refreshing and new but was disappointed or maybe I just set my expectations too high. The auditorium was decently sized but kept reminding me of the old Hoyt/Regal venues that opened in the mid-late 90s. I sat way in the back to take everything in and saw the projectors on the side that projected the picture on the opposing walls. The opposing walls didn’t match the brightness/clarity on the main screen and the screen was not seamlessly joined together so the omission throws off the believability you’re watching a movie. The immersion experience is broken.

I’m still holding out the hope that the late Doug Trumbull’s HFR digital projection semi spherical auditoriums come to some fruition. Or, someone with the clout of a James Cameron or similar tries to advance the movie going experience with subsequent Avatar movies. :)

The seats are awful. Being spoiled by Bow Tie/AMCs/Xscape’s plush recliners, having to sit on older style seats and mine seemed out of alignment made it uncomfortable to watch and enjoy the movie. On a positive note, the sightline to the screen from the last row of seats is perfect as it lines up quite nicely. The $21 admission price is hard to accept for old seats. :(

Atmos sound was very good, not AMC over boosted. My thinking is that if you’re going to expand the visual, the audio must also be expanded to match that much more visual real estate even if its not traveling dialog and are more ambient sounds.

I can’t believe this is the 2nd remake of the Fantastic 4 films. I was perfectly fine with the original cast who look a lot better on screen than the prior remake and this one. The 60s setting brings back memories of the cartoon series but even the cartoon renderings of the characters look better than this latest cast. This current cast are flat and dull. I miss the interplay between Chris Evan’s Johnny and Michael Chiklis' Thing. Matt Shankman should’ve stuck with the Star Trek movie remake if only Paramount hadn’t stopped the movie from going forward. Just my 2c :)