Also this issue: Dark Grey Even for a Holocaust movie, The Grey Zone is bleak. -Cindy Fuchs The Wrong Song 8 Mile tells Eminem's story, but not as well as his music. -Elisa Ludwig New Continuing Screen Picks -Sam Adams Repertory Film Showtimes

November 7-13, 2002

movies

firstlook

The Bridge

by Sam Adams

“We’re just really happy it doesn’t look like a normal movie theater,” says Dayna Lee, who designed the inside of the six-screen Bridge cinema, which opens this Friday. It’s probably not the first time she’s said it, but it’s true all the same; from the burnt orange walls to the globular, brushed-steel light fixtures, walking into The Bridge feels more like checking into a swanky hotel than hanging a left at the food court. Reborn after the collapse of the Sundance Cinemas project, The Bridge -- a “cinema de lux” patterned after a similar theater in Los Angeles, and run by exhibition giant National Amusements -- offers mainstream fare in an amenity-rich environment, with an accompanying bump in ticket price. ($9 during the week; $9.75 Fri.-Sun.) Assigned seating is the law of the land, in comfy recliners with armrests that fold up for extra cuddling. A concierge at the front desk will make post-show restaurant reservations or call cabs, and a “media room” offers a half-dozen plasma screens which will show everything from coming attractions to short films by Penn students (and, hopefully, from the city’s other film programs as well). The serpentine hallway (no harsh angles here) snakes past six theaters, the largest about 240 seats, to a lounge that serves booze and snacks, and will be open in the morning for caffeine fixes. Whether or not West Philadelphians will fork over the extra couple bucks to see 8 Mile in state-of-the-art comfort remains to be seen, but as tough as it is to admit, we might need a well-maintained mainstream house even more than more arthouse screens -- although we still need those, too. And if they motivate the Riverview to, say, actually turn off the lights when they’re showing movies, then more power to ’em.

The Bridge, 40th and Walnut sts., 215-386-3300, www.thebridgecinema.com.