Went to watch a matinee showing of Harry Potter at the new Cinetopia theater in Beaverton yesterday. The theater offers three special types of seating to enhance the movie watching experience. For instance, the two giant XL theater offers the largest screen experience with up to 70 foot screen and steep stadium seating with seats that recline. Meanwhile the Living Room Theater is 21 and over so you can enjoy food and beer and wine delivered to your seat and there are live music performances before the show.
We went with the Cinetopia Movie Parlor experience, in which cushy loveseats and armchairs are offered in an even smaller space then the Living Room. Various screens on the wall projected additional images that were relevant to the movie, and you also get food and beverage service (alcohol only available in the 21+ theater).
As we approached our theater door, I was already getting excited seeing the promos along the wall in which a small portion was already playing a quick segment of the trailer at the bottom. One of the screens also turned into a Daily Prophet that had animated photos just like in the movie, though the articles were specific to hyping up the HP movie experience.
During our 45 minute wait before the movie, we got to sit in the seats and watch Yahoo Movies featurettes about the making of and promotional shots for the movie instead of the usual advertisements you would see. Who can’t help but coo and then feel something when seeing the first screen test for the first movie that includes a montage of the three main protaganists through the movies, growing up?
On a dozen screens throughout the room were moving pictures atmospheric screens with shots of various locations at Hogwarts, and other “moving paintings” that you are in line with what is mentioned in the book. For the second video you have to watch it in full screen to see the changes in the frame over the fireplace between portraits of various characters that melt into each other
Meanwhile, for popcorn they have a gourmet butter topping bar, which included the regular butter topping but also Caramel butter, Jalapeno Butter, Hazelnut Butter, and Butterbeer flavor! I tried to half Butterbeer (which was sweeter) and half Jalapeno, and then accidentally put a little too much white cheddar seasoning on top at the end. I suppose I’m used to the holes in those big seasoning jars being somewhat obstructed and only letting a little in (forever a battle I remember with Parmesan at pizza places), so was awkwardly surprised when it flowed so freely onto the top of my popcorn. Oops. O.o
If you haven’t gone yet and are a Foursquare user, don’t forget to shout Harry Potter when you check into the theater (only good for this opening weekend I think) to get a special Harry Potter badge
For a better look of what the Cinetopia theater seating looks like see below. (the website is seriously terrible – you can buy tickets and see showtimes, but even though they let you pick out seats individually for those theaters you can reserve them for, you can’t see photos of the actual theater to understand the seats and distance to screen. Ugh. Showing a simple photo of the theater, is that so hard?).
