I love you, DOT

I never thought it would get any better than The Strand Theatre in my hometown.  Several years ago, someone decided to renovate an old theatre located on the main street in town and turn it into a movie theatre.  The result is this really beautiful, authentic piece of usable history.  Tickets are inexpensive as the theatre plays second-run films, but it's really quite worthwhile.  The right and left sides of the theatre have bar-like seating, while the center hosts series of seats interpersed with tables.  And in the back of the theatre is a full-service kitchen, where you go to get your burgers, fries, onion rings, beer, wine, soda, pizza, chicken fingers, popcorn... I really love this theatre! 

The only other theatre I've ever been in that I love almost as much is the series of Ritz Theaters in Philadelphia, which aren't as exciting in terms of food, but they host both blockbuster films AND independent and foreign films, which is something The Strand does not.  The Ritz Theaters are also a large part of the venue for the Philadelphia Film Festival, which will always hold a very special place in my heart as I volunteered with them for many years as they transitioned from a small nothing of a festival into such a fantastic Festival, with a capital "F."  Freakin' fantastic.

BUT.  I have finally found an equal.  For different reasons, but I am in love all the same.  There is a movie theater here in Buenos Aires that actually rivals The Strand and the Ritz Theaters.  It's the Hoyt's at the DOT mall (please don't ask me to tell you what DOT stands for, I really have no idea), which is located as far away from my apartment as humanly possible of course.

Here's why it rocks my socks off:

• You buy your tickets in advance and you PICK YOUR SEATS.  That's right, folks, assigned seating.  The only other theatre I know of that does this is that crappy theatre they built at 40th and Walnut in Philadelphia for all the rich Penn kids to go waste their parents money on.  The idea is fantastic, and helps you to avoid that really irritating "The 20" or whatever other crap they're now showing prior to the movie starting.  I am the first to admit I have an undying affection for previews, but I don't like commercials, inside the making of whatever crap show is coming out on Fox or HBO or whatever, or being forced to sit through yet another actor's senseless babble about the making-of for whatever pet film they're developing.  So yeah, assigned seating: AWESOME.
• When you arrive, you get access to a VIP room, replete with it's own set of bathrooms, a full-service bar, and a really nice lounge area, where you can order food.  Which brings me directly to...
• You can order food and HAVE IT DELIVERED DIRECTLY TO YOUR SEAT.  Did you hear me, people?  FOOD.  DELIVERED.  TO.  YOUR.  SEAT.
• Okay, so if you didn't actually order popcorn or a hamburger or that Thai stirfry wok thingy when you were in the VIP room, there is a button on your chair, very much like the button near your seat on an airplane, which you can use to call an attendant to your seat.  And then you can order your super-sized popcorn with extra butter.
• And, if that's not enough for you, all the seats in the theatre are Laz-i-Boy recliners.  I am not kidding.  There are maybe 30 seats in the whole theater.  With tables.  And buttons to call attendants for seat-side service.

It was all I could do not to giggle in glee throughout the entire movie.  Or pass out, I was so comfortable.  Whichever came first, really.

If someone in the movie theater business ever combines all these ideas together - a movie theater with Laz-i-Boys, seat-side food service, assigned seating, and shows both blockbusters and independent/foreign films - I will be the happiest customer ever.  Especially if they add full-on foot massages and mani-pedi services.