New Theater & Happy Feet

Friday after work, we decided to go to downtown Kalamazoo and check out the new movie theater that was opening. Unlike the other theaters around town that are in various strip malls, this one just pops up in the middle of downtown, right next to a parking garage. Actually, that's a point in its favor right there. Rather than a parking lot where during the winter, I would come out and have to clean the car of snow that has accumulated during the movie (this always seems to happen more when Melissa's sister visits), we can park in an enclosed garage (but not pay because the theater validates parking).

The screens and auditoriums were huge in relation to the others in town. The theater we were in held around 450 people, and since we were a bit early, I can even tell you that there were 36 stairs from the screen level to the top of last row of stadium seating. If you didn't want to walk that many stairs, no need to worry, there was also an elevator.

The seats were rockers and comfortable, though not made of memory foam. The concession stand even had Coke Zero on tap, giving it a huge mark in the "plus" column.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the exterior, so you'll have to settle for bad cameraphone pics from inside. (as you can see, we were a little early)

From the top row to the screen

From the screen, up.

End credits, complete with dancing penguins, as seen from our seats.

What about the movie itself? We went to see Happy Feet. The animation was impressive, and it looked good in general. The dancing penguins were cute, as one might expect, and since it was a kids' movie and had voiceover from Robin Williams, it had plenty of humor. The story dragged a bit in parts and was more than a little preachy in its moral(s), even for a childrens' movie. The voiceover cast was somewhat odd, with Nicole Kidman doing an annoying Marilyn Monroe impression, and Hugh Jackman doing a less-annoying Elvis impression as the mother and father of the hero. I'd have to give it 3 out of five stars. I liked it, but certainly didn't love it, because it felt an awful lot longer than 90 minutes.

I have one nagging question left from the movie: There were three types of penguins in the movie, Emperor Penguins, Adelie Penguins and a lone Rockhopper. Why is it that when they did voiceovers, the Adelie Penguins were Puerto Rican?