Friday, November 2, 2007

A Landmark addition to downtown

With seven screens, a full-service bar and leather recliners, the new Landmark Theatres Harbor East is about to turn Baltimore’s movie-watching scene on its ear. Whether suburban cineplex fans or denizens of art house fare at The Charles, the new player in town is going to offer something Baltimore residents haven’t had for a long time: Choice.

Sure, you can argue that there are plenty of screens in and around the city -- that the three dogs on the block can do the job. But if those are your arguments, then you obviously haven’t been to the Landmark yet.

I went Tuesday night, and let me tell you the place is nice. It’s a tad smaller than I imagined it would be, but I, for one, can do without monster movie theaters with 25 screens showing Spiderman on eight screens, Harry Potter on 11 and the Saw movies on the remaining six.

Plus, chances are you’ll avoid the bane of this moviegoer’s existence: Teenagers. You can bet that at the Landmark you aren’t going to have teenagers shouting and talking through the movies, giggling inappropriately, playing video games in the lobby and sneaking into R-rated movies.

Nope, this is adult entertainment without the stigma. For me, Landmark is worth the drive in from the county on a Friday night. That doesn’t mean I’ll always by-pass the old stand-bys though.

How about you? Do you plan on staying loyal to The Charles and the Senator or are you going to keep hitting the local cineplex? Is Landmark the place for you? Or are you like me and you’re going to keep going to them all?

— LOUIS LLOVIO, Daily Record Business Writer

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