The movie's the thing

By STEVE PERSALL

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 13, 2001

What do you need from a megaplex? Lately, theater chains opening places around Tampa Bay have offered moviegoers a little bit of everything.

Some gourmet snacks here, a little neon there (okay, a lot of neon). Maybe a child-care facility or an adults-only section with plush seats, lush sound and a cash bar. Architects designed new theaters to match old Ybor City and add Mediterranean touches to downtown St. Petersburg.

Nice, but is it all necessary?

R/C Theatres, a rookie player in Florida film exhibition, hopes it isn't.

The Maryland-based chain has 128 screens, most along the Eastern seaboard. It's small in comparison with the Tampa Bay area's major exhibitors, AMC, Regal and Muvico. Movies 16 at ParkSide Mall in Pinellas Park is R/C's first foray into Florida, with another under construction in Daytona Beach.

Last Saturday, a screening of Bridget Jones's Diary introduced me to R/C Theatres' ParkSide project, an occasion that felt like a reunion with the past.

Not the antique coziness of Beach Theater or Tampa Theatre. Something more like the 1970s when single-screen theaters divided into the first multiplexes, followed by compact, no-frills venues in practically every shopping mall. Most of that era's theaters are closed now, made obsolete by elaborate megaplexes with more everything.

R/C Theatres chief executive officer Dennis Daniels didn't appreciate that comparison.

"I really won't comment on that," he said with the assurance of a businessman who has declined to answer that question before. "As far as we're concerned, we built a very nice movie theater there. It was very expensive."

Fifteen-million dollars is a lot of money. Not as much as many other recent megaplexes, but still a lot of money. You can't blame Daniels for being a bit sensitive.

Movies 16 -- even the name sounds generic -- is a throwback that can throw off a visitor. My initial impression was disappointment. The entrance is fairly sterile. Box offices are tiny by comparison, without those bright LED displays of show times. An escalator leads to a practical lobby with standard concessions and the first set of basic restrooms. Not much to call fancy.

Auditoriums feature stadium seating, as expected these days. But the seats are comfortably basic, recliners with shorter backs that don't shield viewers from other rows. Almost like good minivan seats with fake leather upholstery. They're nice, but a step down from AMC's or Muvico's standard modern issue.

However, those cut corners are invisible when the lights dim. R/C Theatres obviously decided to put much of its investment into a fine projection and sound system.

What a concept. The movie matters most.

"Our primary focus was making (the theater) technically correct," said R/C vice president Dave Phillips, echoing the claim of Movies 16's newspaper ads. "We're certainly not (architecture) themed like a Muvico. We focused on other areas of presentation besides that."

Or, as ParkSide Mall marketing director Susan Robertson said: "Movies are what people remember, not necessarily whether there was a painting on the wall."

You know, she's right. But her point is easy to forget with the distracting amusement glut of modern megaplex construction. Like so many moviegoers, I've been seduced by aggressive theater chains with deeper pockets. Visit a state fair and Disney World seems wasteful, artificial. Visiting Movies 16 brings out the same feeling about valet-and-velvet megaplexes.

What's important is what fills our eyes and ears when the projector rolls. Not the cappuccino or wall carvings. I can't help wondering how many moviegoers share that priority.

R/C Theatres isn't flashy, but it's savvy and perhaps ahead of the curve, as Muvico was with its ornate theme designs. Real estate conditions won't always allow such lavish projects. Market pockets just beyond the reach of existing megaplexes will need to be filled. Pinellas Park is a good example.

Also, the movie theater industry is volatile. Right now, it's on a roll with more screens than ever. Who knows when economic factors will dictate tighter budgets for construction? Movies 16 may be a forecast of the future. If it succeeds.

There's a lot riding on this project. Robertson estimates Movies 16 will attract 20,000 visitors per week. ParkSide Mall, still trying to establish an identity apart from its former fiasco of a life as Pinellas Square Mall, could use the boost. For its part, R/C is getting a Florida foothold after briefly operating the mall's failed discount-ticket theater in 1999. Nearby residents deserted by local theater closings have another place to go.

It could be a win-win-win proposition. We'll see how it plays out.

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