The advent of DVD has decimated box office takings to a degree applicable to no other single event since the debut of television. Theatre owners have devised ever more creative ways to attract those vital 'bums on seats', and the newly-opened Landmark Theatre in West Hollywood, a 12-screen multiplex, embodies their latest weapon; The 'Rec-room experience.'Three separate screens are outfitted with leather sofas, love-seats, comfy chairs, and even side tables, arranged just as you'd like them in your own home. Landmark call it "Living Room," and it's a huge hit. Tickets are around $11, and the Theatre also boasts what could be the most fat-laden concession stands in human history – Arrayed before the unsuspecting patron are more examples of artery clogging, gourmet sugar than the human mind should ever be expected to conceive. And if the average calorie count doesn't kill you, the prices might.
And this 'comfy cinema' is a uniquely American experience. Cineplex, the largest movie distributor in Canada, has refused to even consider the idea. But they are planning to open bars in each of their major venues, for 'adults only' screenings. And what a charming image that creates; 150 drunken, hairy Canadians belching their way through Porkys 15. Coming soon to a theatre near you? Mercifully, no.
At least...not yet.
Faced with eviscerating competition from a home-video market worth over $20-billion a year a year, the defining purpose of the 'comfy chair' concept is to make us all feel that going to the movies is just like being at home. Except, at home you don't usually have to share the couch with complete strangers.
But there's still a snag; If it's so much like being at home...why would people need to go out??
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