Taipei movie theaters - chat thread

I understand it all too well, unfortunately. Since we’re talking about Warners, then, according to you they do indeed market toward foreigners. So either they’re crap at marketing or they just don’t give a ****, because there’s a “segment” here that’s anything but satisfied. Or maybe they just don’t give a **** about Oriented readers. Couldn’t blame them for that, I suppose.
Taiwan – home of the phrase “Cha bu do.”

Well it wasn’t just the foreign market they were ignoring by pulling it, Chinese can’t see it either if it’s not on, so perhaps you are saying that Warner’s is a business so it should ignore it’s market??? Anyway I admitted that it’s quite likely to be not entirely Warner’s fault.

Even if Betelnut Beauty is not that good (but then it did well at Cannes) I still want to see it. I want to see as many Taiwanese film as I can and I’ve got this thing about Bin Lang girls :wink:

Bri

They do market some to foreigners. They’ve been keeping their movie directory partly in English and I think some of their services are also in English. They also participate when it comes to sponsoring foreign organized events- particularly the chamber of commerce.

They have had some management changes and their are probably busy getting ready to open their second complex (in Kaohsiung). I don’t know too many specifics about their business or their response to Betelnut Beauty over their first weekend, so its hard to guess. Who knows if they even have know about this board.

Sooner or later, they will figure it out if they’re not treating their costomers. Just depends on how their revenue numbers go. Remember they’re charging the highest rent prices on the block and if they don’t keep the customers coming in, they’ll be in deep **** .

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching a movie at Warner Village. Now I know that perhaps business isn’t as good as it use to be at Warner Village with two new first rate theaters at the Living Mall and the Breeze Center Mall, but I was so annoyed by having to watch at least 20 minutes perhaps even 30 minutes of advertising. It was so disgusting and blatent. OK, maybe I could tolerate this at a discount theater, but not Warner Village. I go to many different theaters every week, and I really like going to the Warner Village, however, the amount of advertisements they showed before the movie started was way over the top. Has anyone else noticed this. It was way more than I remember in the past and more than any other theater in Taipei new or old that I have been to before. I think they even showed the same ones over and over again. Maybe it was a mistake and the film technician ran the ads to many times.

It was so awful, I won’t go back until I know they have changed this.

Go somewhere else. Warner is no better than many other places. You pay considerably more. You have to leave via a dingy back stairwell. It has the longest queues and is sold out the most often.

Bri

Lately I’ve been going to the Cinemark movie theatre in the “Living Hell” Mall. The seats have ample legroom, the chairs recline a little, the armrests can be raised or lowered and if you buy a stored value card you can watch movies for only $250NT per person. Thursday night from 6:00 to 12:00 am is ladies night - they get in for only $190NT and they get a free soft drink. Also, the way the seats are configured, my vertically-challenged girlfriend can see clearly even when someone tall sits in front of her. :stuck_out_tongue:

I think the Living Mall has the best cinema in Taipei now. Not only can you buy tickets any time of day for the same day like Warner Village, but you can also choose the seat that you want as in Hong Kong. Very cool! Now if I could just do that online before I got there and pay for the tickets online as well, and even print them out? That wold be the ultimate.

I really agree with what you said about the vertical incline of the rows of chairs, my girlfriend can also see over the people in front of her no problem. Leg room is also the best I have seen in Taiwan. I can actually cross my legs. However, since as you mentioned the chairs are reclinable to a point, if the person in front of you reclines and you do not, it leaves inadquate leg room, unless you are on an aisle, in which case you throw one leg on either side of the seatback in front of you and then quite easily apply hair dye, shampoo or message the head of the person directly in front of you. Even with this draw back I would go back, as it isn’t really that bad.

Hey have you tried the separate VIP theater there. Try it once if you must, but I do not think it is worth it. You sit in huge leather or fake leather chairs with high backs, have a little table that folds up and in front of your seat like an elementary school desk. You are in a separate theater so it is not like some elite box seats suspended from the ceiling in the public theater where you can look down on the little people. It has a smaller screen, but doesn’t look small. Only about 40-50 seats in the theater and they have seat service. Before you enter the theater in your separate waiting area/bar you may order some food, albeit very limited choices, then they will bring it to your “table”/elementary school desk. There is also a separate VIP ticket buying area. The whole experience is a little like business class flying. Anyway, it is nice to try once.

Finally, the parking at the Living Mall is very expensive. I live in burbs and drive in and Warner Village is much more convienient for parking and cheap, although I think you get half priced parking if you go the movies at the Living Mall, and after 10:00PM the regular prices for parking are also half price.

I did try Warner Village again, and it seems that the half hour of stupid TV commercials is gone now. Maybe others complained or it was an awful thing they made us watch while the goofball movie guy picked the movie reel off the floor and rolled it up again.

Just heard read in the Taipei Times that the Core Pacific Living Mall lowered their parking prices from NT$120 to NT$50 per hour. Much more reasonable as I was reluctant to go there because of the expensive parking prices. Not anymore. I hope they still offer half price for paying customers.

the sound system in the ximending ambassador is absolutely frightening. i wouldn’t go anywhere else for an action flick. is anywhere else comparable?

I’d also like to give the big thumbs-up for the “Death Star” (Living Mall).

Where else in Taipei can you see a movie while eating the Hagendaaz icecream you bought from the neighbouring Welcome supermarket?

I recently caught a movie at Warner Village and have to say that the seats were quite uncomfortable after the 1st hour. My bloody back was aching as though I’d just done a night’s worth of bedtime aerobics.

Hoswever, I do feel that there’s a beter range of places to eat and drink at Warner than at the Death Star (e.g. Inhouse, Room 18 and Mega19). I’ve tried walking around the Death Star in search of a decent place, but wasn’t too impressed by Plush (tripped over a table on the dance floor, and felt a little uncomfortable by the large number of voyeurs).

Does anyone know of a place in the Death Star where one can get a decent meal or drink without forking out too much bugs bunny (money)?

Cheers,

The Big Babou

Is that still Taipei’s largest screen?

I’ve refused to go in there since some renovations about five years ago in which they seemed to go out of their way to make the theater even more difficult to escape from should there be a fire. The last time I saw a movie there, some clod directly behind me lit a cigarette as soon as the end titles began to roll, which didn’t help my worries. Is the Ambassador still like that?

I’ll never go to the Ambassador again.
We tried to see Spiderman there and waited one and a half hours in line. We didn’t want to see the next movie but the one after that. When we got to the ticket counter, the lady rudely told us they wouldn’t sell tickets to the later movie until all the tickets for next one were sold. They were all front row tickets so, of course, no one was buying them. When I asked what we were supposed to do she got angry at us.

Why don’t most theaters sell advance tickets?

probably is the largest as they still just have the one screen there. there are two doors up front leading directly outside, safe? i dunno.

i wouldn’t wait on line for many things much less an hour and a half for a movie, hit the 10:20 AM showing

My trip to the VIP room in the Death Star was nothing more than a pathetic attempt to impress a girl during a date. Figuring that a movie was a good idea for a “no pressure” night out, we rocked up to the ticket booth only to realise that we’d seen every movie on offer (I think this was at the time when Harry Potter was playing on nearly every screen inside… curses :? ).

The only movie we hadn’t seen was “Knockaround Boys”; the advertised poster kinda resembled “Lock, Stock…”, although I had no idea about the cast. So we duly bought our tickets and wandered in. It took me about 3 minutes to realise that the movie was another epic Vin Diesel waste of time, which ended with my offering of profound apologies to my date.

Anyway, the seats seemed a little larger, although nothing special. I don’t recall using any footrests. I’m about 190cm tall, and have had no problem using the seats in the other rooms, apart from feeling uncomfortable when sitting with peasantry… For the uninitiated, the main advantage of the vip room might be that you can buy beer and hot food from the adjoining bar. However, it’s probably better to save your money and walk downstairs to the Wellcome supermarket, buy a 6-pack or a big Haagendaz ice cream, and sneak it into the standard (non-vip) rooms.

In today’s movie listings in the Taiwan News, Cinemark (the Death Star’s theater) is promising “the best scat in town”. :shock: :laughing:

I still find the Living Mall and Breeze center cinemas are the best.

Is the new Warner Village in uptown (Tien Mou) open already?

Ditto on what Rascal said, but I think Shin-Shin (

[quote=“MiakaW”]I think Shin-Shin (

WB, Village eye exit of Taiwan exhib’n
Hong Kong’s Golden Harvest is likely buyer

By DON GROVES
Warner Bros. Intl. Cinemas has flagged its intention to quit Taiwan to focus on the high-growth markets of China, Japan and Italy…

variety.com/index.asp?layout … ID=13&cs=1

Well if this is true, it is one hell of a drag. I think that theater near the Taipei City Hall MRT stop rivals any I have seen back home. But of course, if someone else buys it the building doesn’t change. But the decor and theme of it did make me feel a litle closer to home, if you get my drift. One thing I really was high on one time I went was all the mannequins (sp?) of former Agent Smith when they were showing “The Matrix Revolutions”. That was pretty awesome. I wanted to bring one back with me. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: