The Violet Crown, Making Movie Going Classy Again

Movies have moved us and shaped our view of the world for over a hundred years. The movie going experience is engrained in us and we can remember going to certain movies like it was yesterday. For instance, I can remember going to watch Star Wars (the very first one) with my best friend on my eighth birthday. This was in January 1977, more than 39 years ago! I don't remember much else about being eight but I remember that day. Along with the movie goes the movie going experience, if you get them both right then you are in for a real treat. In this post I will describe my experience at The Violet Crown theater on 2nd Street in Austin. Before I take you there, let me take you back to look at going to the movies in Great Britain in the 1940s.

Movie Going in the Early 1940s in Britain 

Pathe News

My mother is 88 years old and I can't count the number of times she has wistfully relayed stories of going to the movies as a teenager during the Second World War. A typical movie experience in Britain in 1940 started with the newsreels. The newsreels were basically propaganda for the British public to paint a positive spin on the war and Britain's progress in defeating Germany (yes America did help out but we basically had it covered). Starting off with a trumpet fanfare and a narrator with the most British accent you have ever heard, their goal was to show that the British Empire was taking care of "Jerry".  Sample News Reel. You can just imagine British people in the early 1940s nervous and afraid having their confidence bolstered by these rousing pieces of propaganda.

After the newsreels, would come the movies. Yes, I said movies, plural. Back then you would get double features an A movie like Gone with the Wind and a B movie like Dr Cyclops. Including intermissions, you would get four hours of entertainment and you would be out in time for dinner. During the war, they only showed matinees because when it got dark all the windows had to be blacked out so that the German bombers could not easily find the big cities.

Bigger and Louder is Better

Fast forward to 2016 and the trend is bigger is better. Create the biggest possible movie screen (preferably Imax) and pack people in like sardines. Don't get me wrong, when I want to watch Star Wars or the latest James Bond Movie I look for the biggest screen I can find and I love it. These kinds of movies are made to be seen on the biggest and best screens. The problem is that there is no sense of it being a movie going experience. You turn up, buy your popcorn and watch the movie. Sometimes you want to make a night of it, feel like you are being treated like a king and immerse yourself in the act of going to a movie.

The Violet Crown

The Violet Crown Street Entrance

Step in The Violet Crown. A small chain with just three locations in Austin, Santa Fe and Charlotsville. In their about page they describe themselves as follows:

"The Violet Crown Cinema is a locally owned and operated cinema with four screens devoted to quality independent, documentary, international, and studio films." 

Now before you switch off, this isn't just weird Latvian animations like "Rocks In My Pockets" it also shows popular movies such as "The Revenant" and The "Big Short".

I went to see the Revenant in January of this year. The experience started with buying my ticket, I was able to buy a ticket on their web-site and reserve a seat. There is nothing more nerve wracking for a Brit than not knowing where you are going to sit and heaven forbid if you are going to get a seat. That is why the Brits invented queues (lines) and why they lead the world in the art of polite queuing. Knowing where I was going to sit a week before I went to the movies allowed me to focus on my my life rather than pitching a tent outside the movie theater to make sure I was first in line.

Come the evening of the movie and we walked over to 2nd street an hour and a half before the movie started. The one thing worse than not knowing where you are going to sit for a movie is being late! This allowed for a quick happy hour at Lambert's and then a relaxed stroll to the movie theater itself. We didn't eat at the theater but you can get anything from tacos to hot dogs or even a salad. I had thought maybe there was a law against green foods at movie theaters but apparently there is not. Anyway, we sat and a relaxed glass of wine where we discussed our expectations for the upcoming movie.

The Main Event

Five minutes before the movie started we were alerted to go over to the screen showing our movie. We dutifully filed over and found quickly our seat as I had already studied the seating chart and the locations of our seats (you can't be too careful). This was the point of my second pleasant surprise. Within five minutes, everyone had come into the movie theater and were seated with phones off before the previews even started. At most movie theaters they have to show threats of ejection and public shaming to get people people to settle down. It was as if the class of the establishment rubbed off on the people attending as well. It was just as well everyone got settled quickly, within 10 minutes of the scheduled start time, the movie actually started. Imagine that, a movie actually starting with ten minutes of the advertised time, no muss, no fuss and no commercials (yes you read that right, no commercials).

As the movie got underway the pleasant surprises kept coming. Not once did the back of my chair get kicked, not once! I really cannot remember the last time that happened to me. I am six foot three inches and go through extreme contortions at most movie theaters to make sure I don't kick the back of the seat in front of me. As this article (link: https://www.the-newshub.com/film-and-tv/why-we-need-to-bring-back-movie-theatre-etiquette-asap) from The News Hub describes, unfortunately not everyone has movie going etiquette. It seems, however, that The Violet Crown attracts people that do have movie going etiquette. Silence was indeed golden, phones were off and there was no talking. This all leads to a sense of relaxation that you can only otherwise achieve when watching movies in your own living room (assuming the kids are asleep and the neighbors are quiet). I really can't stress enough just how much better the movie going experience is under these conditions.

The seats were comfortable, not exceptional but comfortable. There was plenty of leg room and I didn't feel like I was watching the movie with a couple of thousand roaches just waiting for me to leave. You know the feeling you get in some movie theaters, when you just don't want to touch anything for fear of sticking to it.

At The Violet Crown, once you were in the actual movie theater the focus shifted to the movie (where it should be). I love the Alamo Draft House and watching movies there is great fun, but you just don't feel like the movie is the heart and sole of the event. With waiters passing up and down the isle and and the added stress of trying to figure out the tip in the dark, you lose focus on the movie itself. Tipping is stressful enough for Brits without having to do it in the dark.

So how did the Revenant fit The Violet Crown? Although it is a big expansive Western, it felt like the best place to experience Hugh Glass's titanic struggles with nature and the nation of people he and his fellow invaders were trying to displace. Without the distraction from frills and other people you can connect with movies like this on another level. I really believe I like the Revenant as much as I do because I watched it at The Violet Crown.

The End

If you have not been to The Violet Crown, then you really should. Different movies are suited to different movie theaters, so choose well. If you really want to immerse yourself in the story and the heart of a movie, then I suggest The Violet Crown. If you want to be awed by the immensity of space or feel your bones shake in an explosion, then go to your nearest Imax.