Century Rio 24

Century Rio 24

A film can stir certain emotions in its audience depending on the genre of the film and how well the film was produced. Although a comedy will make people feel much different than a horror film would, all movies have at least one thing in common, they provide an escape from the stress that we encounter daily. Fortunately for the film industry, stress is common in all people, providing for an industry that reaches out to everyone. One of the best ways for the film industry to reach out to its audiences is through theaters.

One of the largest and most successful movie theaters in New Mexico is Cinemark’s Century Rio 24 located west of the Pan American freeway in Albuquerque, NM. Century Rio 24 is known for having a large selection of movies with a large selection of viewing times to choose from. This is due to their many individual screens, whether they are regular showings or the top-notch XD showings. In my own personal experiences, Century Rio 24 has always had the best concession, customer service, sanitation and has always had the new movies the day they are released. The only aspect of the Century Rio 24 theaters that appears to be missing is the inclusion of more independently produced films. Movie Maker Magazine rates Albuquerque, NM as the country’s best city in which to be an independent moviemaker. With this in mind, one might expect Albuquerque’s theaters to include this genre to accommodate the independent moviemakers. With Albuquerque being the best city to produce independent films in, one would expect to find at least a couple screens dedicated to showing independent films but this is not the case.

On mytravelguide.com, a website where consumers post a review and a rating that reflects their experiences at Century Rio 24 as well as other establishments, Kat from Albuquerque, NM posts “I haven't had a single issue with their customer service, nor have I had to turn into a non pleasant person just to have my legal access rights.” Kat is a “severely disabled” woman who requires a service animal with her at all times and her experiences with customer service at Century Rio 24 were so pleasant that she felt it necessary to post a review and rate Century Rio 24 with a score of 10 out of 10. She goes on further to say that she was also impressed with how comfortable she found the seating to be. Kat’s review is a common in the sense that Century Rio 24 accommodates a great majority of customers seeking to “get away” from the stresses in their life, with the exception of those who prefer to see an independent film.

Another website that is based off of consumer reviews is Yelp.com which is similar to mytravelguide.com and Brian M. from Albuquerque, NM writes about Century Rio 24 on yelp.com, “Best theater in town. Biggest screens, best sound.” Short and to the point, Brian’s comment gives an accurate first impression of the theater. Brian went on to give Century Rio 24 four stars out of five. Brian also goes on to say how despite the experience of the theater being great, he would like more independent films to be available. This observation is common in a great majority of the consumer reviews and shows how this theater in particular is focused on the high budget films instead of allowing at least a couple of their theaters to be dedicated to audiences that have a more broad appreciation of film genres.

I went to Century Rio 24 and asked around what some of the customer’s experiences at the theater was like to see what the general audience of Century Rio 24 thought about the established movie theater. Cailin N. from Albuquerque, NM commented “I consider [Century Rio 24] to be the best theater in town as far as comfort and customer service goes, but I have always had an interest in indie films which Century Rio had never been a huge supplier of.” In Cailin’s circumstance, she found the theater to be satisfactory in every way, except she hardly went to the theater because she was never able to view independent films at this location. Instead, she is forced to go to smaller, less comfortable venues to watch the movies she likes.

Century Rio has always been able to uphold a high standard and reputation as one of the best theaters in Albuquerque due to their dedication to customer services and movie-going experience such as their XD and 3D theaters with “topnotch” sound and projections as well as the stadium seating. Outside of the theater the concessions has a wide range of snacks and even some meal items complete with a counter that serves Starbuck’s coffee. As the film industry grows in Albuquerque, Century Rio 24 has had to make some decisions on what films they want to show. Unfortunately, because of the nature of independent films, they bring in a small amount of revenue, forcing Century Rio 24, and all other theaters, to choose between either maximum profit gain or complete coverage of all audiences’ interests. The theater has chosen maximum profit gain, leaving independent filmgoers to search for their escape from a stressful work week elsewhere. What the theater management should know is that given the chance for the independent film fan base to discover the benefits of a theater dedicated to independent films in Century Rio 24, the theater could make the same, if not more money.