City has fun theaters to spare

Living in Atlanta, the film options are far greater than most towns and cities. So there's really no point in not taking advantage of local theaters and the plethora of films offered.

Megaplexes

First, we have our large theaters, such as the mammoth Regals and AMCs.

The closest to campus would be the Regal 16 at Atlantic Station on 17th Street. I would suggest this theater for wide-release films, simply because it's nearly brand new, located in a good place, and has fantastic seating. I'm not only referring to the stadium-seating format but the fantastically comfortable seats themselves, which you may have to fight to keep from falling asleep in.

There's a Regal 20 outside the perimeter on I-85 North, but I would only suggest visiting that one if there's a larger film that's been out for a while and Atlantic Station doesn't have it any longer.

The AMC Phipps Plaza 14 is, of course, located in Phipps Plaza Mall in Buckhead, and I would only suggest visiting this one if you're up in Buckhead anyway. They have the same, if a little smaller, selection as Atlantic Station, complete with a longer drive and older theater.

The other AMC located in Buckhead is the Backlot 6, which is only useful if you have a hankering to enjoy the novelty of being served meals in the theater. I found the practice of sitting at tables and watching others get served during a movie thoroughly distracting, but you may be enticed to check it out.

Novelties

So now, the bread and butter: the real novelties Atlanta has to offer.

First, south of Tech on Moreland Avenue is the Starlight drive-in theater. If you've never had the pleasure of a drive-in, complete with the audio played through a radio frequency, you should definitely check it out, especially for those on a date and not particularly interested in watching a film.

Next, we have the independent theaters, where I find myself most often. These theaters, consisting of the Regal 4 Tara on Cheshire Bridge, the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema on Monroe, and the Plaza Theater on Ponce de Leon, set Atlanta apart in their selection of films.

The Tara only has four theaters, yet often, they get films the other two independent film theaters do not get. After staying in Atlanta a short while, it's obvious that these three independent film theaters coordinate their film releases together, as very few films play at more than one of these locations. An intelligent move to prevent competition between these small theaters.

The Landmark has the largest selection of films, yet they often have trouble keeping up revenue, so they will round out their eight theaters occasionally with a larger-budget film to boost revenue. I'd suggest going to Atlantic Station for these larger films unless you just wish to support the Landmark name because the Landmark's screens and seating are far inferior to that of Atlantic Station. However, most of Landmark's films will be ones you cannot find anywhere else.

The Plaza on Ponce has four small theaters that will occasionally play films the other two do not, though often they will have ones that have already left the Tara. But beware, because experience has shown that this theater only takes cash. Yet probably the greatest novelty of this theater is its weekly playing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at midnight each Friday.

The only IMAX/IMAX 3-D theater that plays actual films, not nature and history ones like Fernbank, is outside the perimeter at the Mall of Georgia. For a 45-minute drive, you had better be sure that the film is worth it. Hopefully, in November, Beowulf, which is designed to be seen in IMAX 3-D, will be worth it.

Not taking advantage of these many film options while living in Atlanta would certainly be a travesty in such a year for films this hopes to be.

Be on the lookout this fall for a slew of smaller films that promise to deliver much more than you can find at the bigger theaters. Or you could just go see Superbad and laugh until you can't see straight. Either way.