I work at a movie theater.

And personally? To be in the tickets booth, and see young girls, teenagers, adult women, coming in to see Barbie,

the most highlighter pink outfits, some of them coming in with the dolls they’re dressed as, laughing to each other, cheering for each other,

to see the men they’re coming to see it with, dressed in pink, cheering them on, taking their pictures with smiles and cheers in the lobby at the photo op

touches something so deep in me

I can’t say any nuances of the movie that haven’t already been said, but like, fuck man, love is so deep and so kind and to be able to see glimpses of it from behind my little ticket desk makes me a little less nihilistic.

Vincent Price at the opening of The Tingler (1959)

And it's usually teenagers.

Edwards Cinemas - Irvine Spectrum & Ontario Palace locations (Opened 1995 & 1997, respectively)

Built at the height of the 'Decoplex' style in the 1990s, which harkened back to the glamour of the Art Deco movie palaces of the 1920s & 30s, while updating the look with postmodern influences, new technologies, and materials.

Designed by Perkowitz + Ruth Architects

Images sourced from the book, 'Entertainment Destinations' by Martin Pegler & the website of the engineering firm for both theatres, TILDIN Engineering

Leicester Square Theatre in the 80s

Source: Flickr/Dusashenka

Margot Robbie dedicating the first ever Golden Globe award for cinematic and box office achievement—for Barbie (2023)—to everyone that dressed up to see the film in theaters.

Sometimes I think I'm funny.

A woman crying in a movie theater

Lisa Larsen, Life, Mar 1, 1954

I hate Scott Cawthon, but this is hilarious

A friend and I hopped the fence at my local airport so we could both sneak into a movie theater that was also at the airport. The only movie they were screening was Jimmy Neutron.

/ Wayne Miller, In a Movie Theater, USA, 1958

Retratos fantasmas (Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2023)

AMC Studio 30 Theatre - Houston, TX (1997)

"What the design attempts to do in the 110,000 sq. ft. space is simulate a movie studio backlot and the soundstage where guests become part of the action, and the experience "rekindles the magic and memory of movie going."

Elements from sound stages and studio road cases make up the central lobby space along with a guest service desk. Images of Hollywood's glamorous stars of the past add enchantment to the balcony walls. The space is divided into three themed areas that "transport guests into fantastic worlds of Animation, Action/Adventure and Cyberspace." The food concession stands within each area carries through the theme; "Fizz, Sizzle, Pop"; Wildebeest Feast"; and "Quantum Bits." The 30 auditoria are located off the soundstage lobby and within the various themed areas.

The architecture seems to come alive in the Animation area. The space is designed to resemble an animation cel: "flat, two-dimensional, cartoon-like graphics are outlined with black lines, filled with color and applied on an exaggerated scale." The Fizz, Sizzle, Pop concession's identity and blimp directional signs seem to float in a blue sky with flat, cut-out clouds. The setting for Action/ Adventure recalls a rainforest with heavy hanging leaves, bamboo and rock "carved" directional signs. The custom wall covering features petroglyphs of cave people carrying popcorn, megaphones and movie cameras. The fiber optic eyes peering from behind the leaves in the Wildebeest Feast stand change color. They also appear above rock outcroppings down the corridor. Patrons are invited to explore an abstract, futuristic world in Cyberspace where the floor and ceiling are the same color and brushed aluminum columns rise partway to the ceiling. To create the illusion of "endless space." custom light fixtures project beams of light along the walls and backlit graphic images have neon edges. Various colored lights and a high-tech fluorescent green/orange acrylic sign help to define the Quantum Bits concession area in Cyberspace."

Designed by Kiku Obata & Co.

Scanned from the book, Entertainment Destinations by Martin Pegler (2000)