choosing your moviegoing experience

Friday, July 23, 2004, at 04:36AM

By Eric Richardson

Today The Bourne Supremecy comes out, and D4, Magilla, and I will be going to see it. The debate yesterday was about where to go. On one end of the spectrum you have the cheap theaters, like the downtown Laemmle Grande. On the other end are the high-end experiences, like ArcLight or the Director's Halls at The Bridge. In the middle are the decent but not all that special screens like the theater at The Grove, the one at Universal Citywalk, etc.

The difference between high- and low-end is significant. Basically $6.50 vs. $15. But the difference between middle- and high-end isn't really all that defined. You could go pay $12 a pop at the Grove, or pony up the $3 more and get a better movie experience at the ArcLight. Therefore, my argument is that the middle theatres are a bit pointless. I see choosing a lesser screen to save $6 or more, but I can't see doing it to save $3.

The end-result was deciding that a good screen really is nicer. ArcLight's website is failing to connect to anything resembling show times, though, so the choice between Dome and Director's Hall has yet to be made.