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Room to view?
By ED QUIOCO, Times Staff Writer OLDSMAR -- Planning on catching a flick at the AMC Woodlands Square 20? Better get there at least 30 minutes early. And expect a crowd. Those tips aren't just for Friday and Saturday nights, either. Since the theater opened about two years ago, it has become the hangout for North Pinellas teenagers and a popular choice for retirees to watch matinees. When those groups converge on holidays when school is out, the Woodlands Square shopping plaza becomes "just crazy," said Sanford Felder, the owner of San's Pizzeria and Restaurant next to the theater on Tampa Road. "Busy, busy," Felder said. "All day. Nonstop." If there's any doubt as to the theater's popularity with high school students, consider this: A recent Friday night showing of the martial arts spoof Kung Pow: Enter the Fist was sold out -- but not because the movie is any good. In fact, it has been almost universally ripped by critics. It was sold out because it was the only PG-13 movie that still had seats available. "It was the only one left that wasn't rated R," said Emily Larimore, 15, a student at Palm Harbor University High School. "It was really bad." The theater is a hit with students for several reasons. It's the biggest and newest theater in this end of Pinellas County. Nearby restaurants offer a one-stop dinner and movie destination for teens not old enough to drive. The theater also can be cheaper than another leisure-time option for teens. "It's, like, this or the mall, and when you don't have a lot of money, the mall's out," said Larimore, while waiting Thursday with two friends for an afternoon showing of the movie John Q. "And we know a lot of people who come here," said Ashley Cavileer, 15. The theater generates enough traffic to fill San's Pizzeria during weekends, causing 20-minute waits for a table, Felder said. "We are just swamped." On weekdays, the theater can draw from the area's strong population of senior citizens to keep it busy. That mirrors a nationwide trend, said Rick King, spokesman for Missouri-based AMC Entertainment Inc. "What we have found during the last five or six years is moviegoing has grown among the 60-plus age group," King said. "They have come to represent a larger percentage of our audience." And that's not likely to stop because "the leading edge of the baby boom generation is now reaching retirement age," King said. "That's a big group." King would not disclose attendance statistics for the theater. But he did say that the Oldsmar theater is "one of the best theaters in terms of the amount of capacity we utilize," King said. That means the theater sells out a lot of its movies.
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From the Times |
