‘Like the grand old theaters’

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, March 24, 2005

LYNNWOOD – The big, comfy seats.

The legroom that won’t have you scrunching up into a pretzel each time someone walks by.

The stadium seating that lets you breathe easy even when the hot-dog-on-a-stick guy sneaks into the theater on his lunch break and forgets to take off his hat as he sits in front of you.

Dan Bates / The Herald A spacious lobby greets visitors to the new Loews Theatres at Alderwood mall. The 16 auditoriums have 4,000 plush, oversized reclining seats with unobstructed sightlines of the screens.

It’s all at the new Loews Theatres at Alderwood mall, which opens 16 screens today.

But the new delights don’t come without a price. The $9.50 Friday and Saturday night tickets makes it the most expensive movie house in Snohomish County.

The admission cost is $9.25 Sunday through Thursday nights, and $6.50 before 5 p.m. and for moviegoers 62 and older.

A sneak preview this week got The Herald and a couple of readers inside to check out the new digs.

“The impression just blows you away,” said Gary Hatle, 60, of Everett. “It’s like the grand old theaters.”

The thought of watching the new Steven Spielberg production of “War of the Worlds” this summer on one of the complex’s 67-foot screens was one Hatle couldn’t help but get excited about – even if the film will be playing closer to his home.

“I want the best picture, best sound and best seating,” he said. “This is probably tops as far as all the comforts.”

Rachel Bowen agreed. The 30-year-old Everett resident said the amenities would be worth the extra dollar or so more than she would spend elsewhere.

“When I’m paying that kind of money, I don’t want my feet sticking to the floor,” she said. “I want to feel like I’m getting my money’s worth.”

Perhaps the best news that comes with the county’s newest 16 screens is that Snohomish County residents could get earlier access to less mainstream films such as “Hotel Rwanda,” which have been immediately available only in Seattle in the past.

Loews bigwigs in town for the unveiling said with more screens available, it is likely the new theater could show some “arthouse-type” films in its smaller auditoriums.

For example, the theater will be the only one in the county showing the independent film “Millions,” which was in only 19 theaters in the nation last weekend. It will add “The Ballad of Jack and Rose” next week, Loews film buyer Rich Boynton said.

“That’s very cool for the north end, because now we won’t have to trek all the way into Seattle,” Bowen said.

Although Loews owns and operates nine theaters in the area, including the Grand Cinemas at Alderwood, this is the first one the company has built rather than bought.

The 80,000-square-foot complex may look like a big-box store from a distance, but the front of the building screams Hollywood, with oversized movie posters on the walls and dual staircases and escalators leading up to the lobby.

The ticket booths are inside, so you won’t have to wait in the cold and rain. The 16 auditoriums seat a total of 4,000 people, including two large 500-seat rooms and two 400-seat rooms. The rest of the rooms seat 150 to 270 people.

Each auditorium features stadium-style seating that puts each row 18 inches higher than the one in front of it, with plush, rocking chairs. The armrests, with cup holders on their ends, fold down, and there is 48 inches from the back of your seat to the back of the one in front of you, leaving plenty of legroom.

With as many as 4,000 people inside the building at once, there could be lines at the two men’s and women’s restrooms, but there also are two unisex family restrooms for parents with young children.

There is a 350-space parking garage under the theater, and another 1,800 parking spaces nearby at the mall.

“When I go to the movies, I want it to be an event,” Bowen said. “It feels like Loews is going back to that 1940s style of making it a true moviegoing experience.”

Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.

Opening weekend

Moviegoers are invited to participate in opening-weekend activities at the new Loews Theatres at Alderwood mall. Giveaways include the “Enormo-Sound Sweepstakes,” in which winners receive a state-of-the-art home sound system and a 5-foot LoveSac chair.

Movie listings for the new Loews Theatres at Alderwood, and other theaters in the area, are on Page 12 of today’s A&E section.