| rev:text
| - I remember back in the day, thinking that Square One's Empire Theater was the best theater to sneakily slip into for a good movie, without having to deal with the riff-raff that you'd find at Coliseum across the street. They used to play select mainstream movies, but also slipped in some independant films, which made all the difference to me, since Coliseum and Silvercity Brampton never did. My friends and I would buy up our tickets and popcorn, and stealthily make our way past the 'No Entry' sign for the stairs, and relax in their ill-thought-out 'VIP' area that was introduced when the theater first opened. Back then they had leather couches up there, top-floor doors to 4 of the screens and NO people to annoy you! I'm not sure what that area looks like now, but I imagine they cleaned it out to deter people from heading up there and possibly sneak into movies. Best part of the 'VIP' screens? Spacious floors and reclining seats for the first few back rows! This pre-dates the new hotness of Ultra AVX by probably a decade, and just slipped under the radar. I loved it.
The little Smithee's cafe downstairs used to be a really fun stop as well. They'd have these little chalkboard movie trivia questions, and they'd give you a free coffee if you guessed right. Really fun, and I got a lot of free drinks out of them.
So yeah, I have fond memories of this place. Now I have to ask...WHAT HAPPENED?
The cafe area looks like one of those closed down diners you'd find along a highway. The seats are ripped, beat up, and uncomfortable. The movie selection has taken a page from the Brampton theater's book, and is catering mainly to a Bollywood audience, while still throwing the rest of us a movie or 2. Which brings me to the worst theater crime of all...THIN WALLS! I'm not sure how this is happening now, when it never seemed to happen years ago, but certain screens now (the last 2 times I've went) have an issue where you can hear the movie next door VERY loudly in your theater. Now, don't get me wrong. This isn't like when you got dragged to see "Shakespeare In Love", and could feel the bass and hear the gunfire next door in "Saving Private Ryan". It's way worse than that. There's nothing more mood-killing then watching a spooky ghost movie, dreading that 'a little too quiet' moment, when all of a sudden you're stuck listening to a clear-as-day goddamn Bollywood musical number. Fun fun.
This theater still has potential for future greatness. They just have to tweak their lineups, and do some much-needed repairs inside the theaters.
This place used to be the hidden diamond in the rough of Square One, now it's just their dirty little secret, haunting the back section of the mall.
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