Bond on Bond
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A Bond film playing near Bond Street.milo farineau -
The Regal may have cost about $11 million to build.milo farineau
The grand opening film at the biggest and most luxurious movie theater in Charlottesville was Skyfall, the newest movie in the James Bond spy series; and, appropriately, the box office faces Bond Street. The Regal Stadium 14 celebrated its opening on Friday, November 9 with this film on multiple screens including its three-and-half-story high Imax cinema. While crowds were big, the weekend didn't go off without a hitch as the theater was evacuated on Sunday evening the 11th of November around 6:30 after a fire alarm sounded. According to one moviegoer, an employee suggested the issue may have resulted from a smoky popcorn machine or from a fire alarm prank. Evacuated customers were permitted back into the theater after about 30 minutes and were told they could use their ticket stubs to gain admission to a future show. A reporter's next-day phone call to the theater management did not reveal any additional information.
–last updated Monday, November 12 at 1:20pm
15 comments
With only the theater and one store open, parking was horrendous today. The parking under the theater is hard to find and other areas are small and oddly arranged. Very, very poor planning. Businesses will struggle to survive as people will give up trying to find a place to park. Oddly it will be just like hunting for parking downtown.
Very strange indeed, because one of the main advantages suburban malls have is suppose to be hassle free parking. And one would think that the planners would have made this a priority.
Ohh Nancy you have soo much to learn...
Not sure if either of you have ever noticed those large concrete parking facilities they have dtown. As far as planning goes I think they did a great job they got you suckers in there did'nt they?
Parking has to be free to count. God forbid anyone have to pay to park, especially downtown. It always makes me laugh when folks complain about there not being enough parking downtown, while I've never seen either parking structure completely full.
Welcome to Downtown Chicago. That will be $18 for your first half hour.
Chicago sold its parking meters to foreign investors. Wait until we do that with our water supply.
I'm not sure if its still true, but as of a couple of years ago, the operators of the large parking garage on Water Street told me that it had never been full - ever. And people still complain that there is no place to park downtown.
People are just so tied to the idea that they should be able to park for free right in front of their destination. I go to Barracks Road with the understanding that I may have to walk up to 100 yards to the door (gasp!) and thats fine with me. It might even do me some good.
Cool theater. Nice big screens and lots of them. Sound was good too, even in the awful location of our last-minute-full-theater seats.Yeah, parking was a hassle. It was also the first Sat. night and the place isn't even finished yet. I'll be back for sure.
People were messy though. Unbelievable how much stuff people dumped on the floors. Didn't help that the garbage cans were all full though.
LG-The large surface lots have been fulled on many occasions- however the parking garages are rarely ever close to full. Check out the top floor of Water Street garage for one of the great free views of Charlottesville. That's where a Sky Bar should be!
The show was good. But the "Imax" part was a junior version of the real thing. If you want to see "real" Imax, you'll need to go the the big city for it. The Ethyl Theatre in Richmond, with it's spherical screen, is a fair approximation. Otherwise, cut to the chase an go to the Smithsonian for Imax.
That said, if BOND is what you want, then Regal's' screening is pretty darn good. Even if you are close to the screen, and on the side, you'll quickly accommodate the visual presentation and put yourself in the center. Sound is another thing. Very loud. And loud not just because of the volume but also, I suspect, because of cheap theatre speakers. E-V "Voice of the Theatre," these ain't. Deal with it.
But back to the movie. The critics, such as Eberts, haven't misled you. We have, here, a "Grown up Bond," a man who is very much what the predominately male viewers wish to be. Yeah, we're not as good as we once were, but we can be as good once as we ever were. Or so we think.
Totally enjoyable; spend the money.
As to parking, it IS a bit strange. The planners and architects have feebly attempted to produce a kind of village, with SOME parking along the streets. But nearby there is a vast parking lot as one might expect at the mall. The village presentation is a fake as you will immediately discern. In terms of urban planning, this is a total fail. I have the uneasy sensation that C'ville is a kind of test bed to try out concepts before they are dumped onto others. "See what we did in Charlottesville?"
Spare me.
But, it is what it is, so just figure it out and deal with it.
I miss Semenole 4!
I thought the parking was easy but once the movie let out and everyone left at the same time it was bad. And no stop light to get back on the main road. I guess the free Skyfall tee shirt made up for it.
Went to try it out on Monday, I think parking will be an issue once the shops open up. I didn't see the expansive parking lot mentioned before. The lot behind the stores is not that big. Sound from the other theaters was a distraction. Not impressed with the place at all. Zeus in Fishersville will continue to get my business.