What do you think of the new Stonefield theater?
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Allison Saunier: I'm really looking forward to going; I haven't been yet, but I'm excited for it.Hook Staff -
Casey Davenport: It's amazing, it's beautiful...the screen was huge, the sound was really great quality, it's a big step up from the other theater we have in Charlottesville.Hook Staff -
Ian Graham: It's fine, the digital projection looked good...there's nothing that really stands out about it, it's just another movie theater.Hook Staff
25 comments
The theater itself is nice, but you could be anywhere in America. Stonefield is a bland, generic, characterless big-box mall. Thanks, Albemarle Board of Supervisors, for doing so much to keep Albemarle beautiful.
I agree Dawg. The derelict baseball field and ex grocery store housing Blockbuster and Piece Goods were nowhere near the stain on the Hydraulic Road corridor that Stonefield is.
The theater is nice, but the volume is ear splittling! We saw Skyfall and my ears were ringing for hours after the movie ended. I know that some people are bringing ear plugs with them. This doesn't seem right.
@Dawg - agreed. I wish they would turn half of the failed strip mall complexes on 29 back into fields or parks.
The parking at Stonefield sucks.
So Friday I print out the Hook's C-ville movies for the showing times (they always had all of them in the past). I get home and Stonefield's didn't print out, so I figured it got cut off the printer. I go to ACAC and go to use their computer to check on line. They removed their computers as new ones are coming at the end of the month (sign says). Checked the ACAC paper rack(they only had the C-ville Weekly which gives no times to anything by a quick look. I walk downtown to get a Hook. Then I see Stonefield won't give the start times of a movie to the Hook. I gave up at that point and went to something downtown I knew the time for.
What? Regal wont give the movie start times to The Hook? Hey, if you're in C'ville then you gotta do business with the hook. Whatsa matter wit dese people?
Anyways, why is the parking/driving area in Stonefield so cramped? Did the designers make it hard to drive through there on purpose to force people park on the outskirts of the shopping area and then walk through the shopping and dining area? All the roads are very narrow. I read somewhere in Europe they decided there were less frequent and less serious encounters between man (and woman) and car when the pedestrians and vehicles were forced into the same tight space. Is that what the Stonefield designers were going for?
I think it's a cool concept to have the additional, slightly more pricey shopping and dining. I like it I guess.
This could just be one of many shopping centers in NOVA. Wish we were just a little better than that.
we bought tickets for Skyfall, but when we arrived 15 minutes before start time the only seats open were the two front rows which meant staring up at the huge screen from just a few feet away. We asked if there was another showing the same evening but it turned out to be the last one. Anyway, they gave us passes to attend another screening at a future date. Am concerned to read the comments about the volume being so high. They should know it can damage eardrums and cause permanent hearing loss
Looks like self storage units to me. Either that or the back of a distribution center.
SUCKS!!! Parking will be the downfall at Stonefiield! # stores open and already no where to park. I feel sorry for the retailers moving into this poorly planned project. Theater is cold and seating is horrible. Rows are too narrow. I've seen 3 movies and unless you get there very early you will having a difficult time sitting with your friens or family. way too many seats down in the pit in the front where you have to look straight up to see. The theater we saw Skyfall in had 60 seats in the front rows. What a waste. No thanks Charlottesville, We will continue to go to the Zeus in Waynesboro. They did it right!
The parking sucks! If the weather is bad ... forget about it!
we went on a Wed evening so the parking and seat choices were just fine. but during our film we could sometimes hear thunder and feel the bass sounds through the seating. turns out Skyfall was playing in the room next to ours. and I agree there are way too many seats down in the pit for such a huge screen. I'd have to ask for that complimentary return pass as well.
On B. Friday a handful of people with old cars, very likely to have breakdowns, could patronize Stonefield, and enjoy some real parking problems!
During it's construction I thought Stonefield would be like Reston's Town Center or a much smaller version of Richmond's Short Pump. instead we have just a big nothing. Why even bother - the Barracks Road shopping area is easier to navigate and safer, especially if you are taking kids along. Epic fail.
I can't think of much that would be worse for Chalbemarle than to have something like Reston Town Center replicated here.
Looks like someone is trying to do that on Main Street though. No Hook coverage of that yet for some reason. http://www.c-ville.com/planning-commission-approves-permit-for-an-even-b...
For those of you having trouble finding show times...
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=skyfall+movie+times+stonefield+charlottesville
Also, Fandango on your phones... don't waste paper printing out movie times!
Narrow streets mixed with pedestrians trying to make it to a movie? Cville already likes running over pedestrians, that sounds bad.
@TheDude
*@Dawg - agreed. I wish they would turn half of the failed strip mall complexes on 29 back into fields or parks* Great idea why don't you buy it?
@Cville Eye,
What about zoning laws requiring that commercial building owners raze their buildings if they sit vacant for more than 3 or 4 years? And building regulations requiring that commercial buildings be easy to repurpose or raze, precisely so that land can be recovered.
@Dawg, "...And building regulations requiring that commercial buildings be easy to repurpose or raze, precisely so that land can be recovered." I am sure repurposing would also include selling or renting the building for commercial or residential uses since the owner would most likely recoup some of his investment. I can't imagine the owner making five cents off of property used as a park, yet, since it has value, he would owe property taxes on the cleared land. Monticello was vacant for a long time. Yes, it is commercial, there's a fee). Should it have been razed and the land turned into a park? Are you suggesting that the government flex its powers of eminent domain and take the property? How many parks do you think government can support.? Governments themselves own a lot of vacated property, should all of it be turned into parkland? Should all of the vacant railroad property in the country be turned into parkland?
@Cville Eye, not a park necessarily, but agriculture, or the land could be sold. It would reduce blight.
@Dawg, maybe there's a reason why it was agricultural and then sold for some other purpose.
The food is bland. Don't order anything other than popcorn because you will have to wait while they make it.
The Skyfall movie was not shot with Imax cameras... you are paying more money for just a big screen.
The fire alarms kept going off... staff were nice but as confused as we were.
The sound level is much too loud... bring ear plugs.
Overpriced for a big box movie theater that is overrated. Don't waste your money.
Fire alarms and general confusion . . . . on one of the biggest movie-going days of the year!!
Will the Hook do a story about how they've fixed their electrical problems and replaced existing management soon?
@Johnny Blaze
The correct term is "Charlbemarle."