Hollywood Theater Tyler Texas
Every time I drive by Hollywood I am always surprised that there are cars there. Honestly, I am shocked that they are still in business. The theater used to be the popular place to go see a movie. Maybe that is because at one time it was the only theater. I remember the first time I walked into Hollywood theater as a young child. I was blown away by the large screen in the lobby and the colorful carpet. The screens used to be the largest I had seen. And the quality of film was great. Sadly nothing has changed.
As all the other theaters have changed to using digital projectors, Hollywood Theaters still uses the old film. The movies get sent to the theater in about five different reels of film. The projectionist puts the film together into one really large reel by using a strong tape. This process can be pretty easy but it is also easy to make a mistake. If you ever have been to the theater and all of a sudden the film turns upside down, whoever had put together the film, taped the reels wrong and did not match up the pictures on the reels. Also you may have been to the theater and the film jumps and all a sudden you can only see the top part of the movie because it is not centered, this is a very common mistake that is made. In-between reels the projectionist left a small gap. Even the smallest mistake in taping can make the movie messed up. But it is not very hard to correct these mistakes, it is just time consuming. When using digital movies these annoying mistakes do not happen and it makes the movie so much more enjoyable. Digital movies are so clear and you do not have to worry about complaining to a manager that your movie screen is just white.
One of the first things that you do when you walk into the theater is spend twenty dollars on popcorn, drinks, and candy. If you are spending so much money on snacks you want to get the best for your money. At one point the theater’s snack counter had the customer scoop the butter for your popcorn with a giant spoon out of an open hot container. This is in no way clean or sanitary.
Although there are a lot of issues at Hollywood Theater, my biggest issue is the nasty seats. The last time I had thought about going there I was about to bring trash bags to sit on. Usually the lights are really dim so that you can not see what you are about to sit in. The seats look like they are covered in a black tar. Every time I have gone to see a movie here I feel like I have to go home and take a shower and I can not enjoy the movie. The only thing that the employees do between show times is throw trash away and sometimes do a quick sweep. The floor is always sticky and the whole place has a weird smell.
At Hollywood Theater you can not enjoy your movie. You are paying all this money to feel frustrated and grossed out. Hollywood needs to get their chairs cleaned and their employees need to learn how to mop the floor. I may one day return to the theater if they start showing movies using digital projectors, and when they learn how to clean, but for now I will stick to going to the other two theaters in Tyler.