SONY METREON LOEW'S CINEPLEX
101 Fourth Street (at Mission) San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 369-6000
-A big Thank You to Manager Joe Nardone and the folks in Los Angeles and New York.
Location, Location, Location:
In the heart of downtown San Francisco near the Market and 5th shopping center, this wonderful place is easily accessible, especially via public transit(we BARTed it). There are almost too many diversions in such an alive place. Do be careful, though, of the transients that people Market Street if you take that route. Other than that, if you're there too early and want to catch breakfast, an IHOP is nearby and a Starbucks is literally right across the street.
You Got the Look:
Sleek black glass covers the outside with neon-red "METREON" signs covering the front. As soon as you enter, movie posters line the front hallway. You can then either walk straight to the ticket booth with rope-outlined lines or explore a little. Don't even worry about skipping the booth altogether, as tickets can be bought on the third floor -the theatre lobby- at automated machines with your credit card. When you see the lobby, you can either look out at the great view afforded such a location, or admire the lovely Living Concession Stand, as I will call it. A three-dimensional popcorn tub pops to life with an active kernel as reels of famous actors outline the ceiling. Continuing onward, a prop old-fashioned camera stands high in the corner. There is also a video game or two and the afore-mentioned ATM-style ticket vendors. Once you give your ticket to the usher, long, wide halls lead around the back, revealing 15(!) theatres. It feels so roomy and luxurious. The theater rooms themselves, like many theatres , differ to present the newest movies in the biggest houses with the older ones in scaled-down versions. Seeing Fight Club, I was treated to the big 'un with each row of seats nicely placed above the row before them. The seats themselves are high-backed rockers with cup holders at each armrest. The slightly curved screens are beautifully lit and the sound is exceptional. There is even the extra-added nicety of a faux curtain that "drops" slightly before the movie starts. The smaller theatres are similar, just having less seats with an even more exagerrated stadium-style seating.
Park It Right Here, Baby:
While I'm sure that there are many parking lots, I still don't see how or where people would park in such a busy, densely populated high-shopping area. (You see, David and Eric use bicycles, feet, buses, and an occasional subway train to get where we need to go.)
Show Me the Money:
Amazingly, prices are comparable. A matinee is $5.75 (I think) for adults, as regular admission is $8.75 (again, I think - sorry). The Large Popcorn, 2 Large Soda David & Eric Special is actually cheaper than elsewhere at under $11. Just resolve yourself to spend x-amount of money since every store in that building is a wonderful money vaccuum - including a $9,999.95 Sony 65' HDTV.
Extras, Extras, Read All About Them:
Wow. First, the other stores. On the first floor is a Playstation store where you can play their games for free on digh-resolution monitors. There is also a Discovery (like the channel) store and a couple of restaurants, including Jillian's Bar where local sportscaster Gary Radnich airs some of his Sit Down! post-game shows. Then be sure to stop by the Sony electronics store with the above mentioned expensive t.v. and some more affordable goodies. There are also mall-style kiosks selling jewelry and the like. But, wait - there's more! Next, you can visit the Microsoft store complete with a "Communication" room where a room full of lonely people can get out and sit down at their own little station and talk to people on-line instead of just talking to each other in real life. Throw in toy stores and an arcade (Moebius) that features mainly virtual bowling on huge screens with great graphics and a bar, and you'll have to really work to remember that you're due back at work (a mistake Eric made), so just plan to take a whole day to explore the wonders.
As for the theater itself, extra foodstuffs including quesadillas and fries show an effort for customer satisfaction. The straws are extra long, something I discovered that could allow you to drink from the cup while it's in the cupholders. The large popcorn isn't huge, and the first time we went, they had no butter (a disappointment), but those are really the only gripes. The ticket machines are a stroke of genius, as long as all of the buttons are easy to read. You can explore the entire joint without being harrassed by the Man and just enjoy the entire experience. The bathrooms have those walk-away auto flush urinals - a pointer that will come in really handy for the ladies - and deco mirrors above the sensor-guided water faucets. The public phones in the hallway have ports to hook your laptops to. And again, the view from any window, along with the patio on the fourth floor, is impressive. If you want an entire day to, among other things, enjoy movies in all of their glory, please find time to get to the Metreon; a true Disneyland for techno-weenies and all-around cool guys and gals alike.
---Yahoo will lead the way---
P.S. It'll be interesting to see how this theatre stands up to high traffic over the years, as it only opened about 4 months before this was written.