I recently moved to the area of Westgate AMC and, even though it's not the closest, I thought I would give it a try. It's probably one of the most beautifully laid out and convenient movie houses I've been in. And for the first several visits, I didn't have too much of a bad experience. In fact, the only thing wrong was the ticket machines outside were down - apparently, I've heard that happens a lot, if they've ever worked.

This last trip was just plain bad. I went to see Piranha 3D and the 3D screen was fairly small, especially for a wide release on opening night. The 3D was off a bit, but then that might be this old person's eyes; I could see shadows and lines behind some of the target objects.

I arrived 45 minutes early and I mistakenly thought I would be too late to get a good seat for a 6:30 PM showing. By all means, I was approximately 30 minutes too early. They booked the showings way too close. The previous showing's credits ran until about 6:10, and then they, as always, took their time to clean out the theater. Once in, finally, the theatre was almost pitch black aside from dim lights on the staircases. The Pre-Show countdown, which I normally despise, would've been welcome, if just for some light. Well, that's why God made cell phones.

Upon finally sitting, there were two soda pop cans in the two cup holders - way to go, clean-up crew. I literally saw 7 people leave the theatre when that showing ended. Cleaning up should've been quick so you can continue your discussion about who's ID you'd use to go out that night.

But I digress, the soda pop cans were obviously not sold by the world's slowest concession employees. I just moved them over and the lights finally came on a bit roughly 7 minutes before the show. Typically, I hate when people have their cell phones lit up in the theatre, as they always want to hold them up high so the entire rest of the theatre gets the pleasure of the bright light while they babble on their ancient MySpace account. But, in this case, it's understandable as no one could see anything.

Question, and I've always wanted to ask this, are the employees at the concession stand told to go as slow...as...possible? Fine, I know they're not - I'm a former AMC employee and I wasn't. Although, the pennies they generously give in the paychecks might not put the right fire under them. But seriously, it's already an insult that we have to pay about $13 just for one popcorn and one soda, but they add the salt, on the wound, that is, by making us wait 20 minutes in a line of 3 people.

By God, I wish someone would open a concession stand with somewhat good deals - yeah, I know that's how they get their money, blah, blah, and I wish someone would open at least an express lane. "Two Items or Less Lane! No Children!" Heaven.

Really, movies are still relevant, even in a down economy. Perhaps you should hire less and pay more. I'm sure the one guy at the box office would've appreciated that.