The Steep Seats The Spokane Valley 12 Cinemas Offer Rooms With A View, Not To Mention Stunning Effects

The Sony guy walked completely around me.

No big deal, right? I mean, all he did was walk in a big circle. Yet I was so impressed that I couldn’t help but laugh.

And here’s why: He wasn’t really there.

He was just a recorded voice emanating from the Sony digital surround-sound system set up in one of the individual houses of the new Spokane Valley 12 Cinemas.

By now, some area film fans already have some idea of what this new Act III theater complex will offer when it officially opens to the public on Friday. The rest of you are invited to tonight’s ongoing grand-opening celebration - featuring free popcorn and drinks - which begins at 6.

But during a sneak preview on Monday afternoon, I learned this much: the Spokane Valley 12 is the area’s most advanced movie theater.

“If you’ve never been out of town to visit any of the theaters in the bigger metropolitan cities,” said Act III district manager Chuck Caraway, “be prepared for something like you’ve never seen before.”

Caraway has reason to be proud.

The construction of the Spokane Valley 12 began in February. On Monday afternoon, they were working hard to complete the last-minute preparations.

In the darkened interior, the air conditioning offered a pleasant contrast to the 90-degree temperatures baking cars in the stadium-sized parking lot out front. Workers were still painting walls, adjusting doors, manipulating electrical outlets and running film trailers to check projection and sound equipment.

Yet the glass-enclosed lobby held few secrets. It isn’t as ample or even as fancily furnished as, say, the lobby of the Newport Highway Cinemas. But neon lights do highlight the four-window ticket booth, and the concession stand does offer three more stations than does the Newport Highway.

The ticket booth is located inside the lobby, a rarity for Spokane. But the lack of interior space poses a familiar problem: lines of any length will force potential ticket buyers outside, which will be even more of a problem in frigid January than it is in sultry August.

Caraway hopes that problem will be alleviated by intelligent scheduling.

“We’re going to bring in two, three or four prints of each movie,” he says, “making sure that if you’re late for one, you’re early for the next one.”

(That’s bound to be a disappointment for movie fans who had hoped the complex would show more different types of films rather than more prints of the same few blockbusters.)

True to its name, the Spokane Valley 12 comprises a dozen individual houses. The smallest holds about 109 seats, the biggest 270 (making its total seating capacity of approximately 2,200, some 300 less than the Newport Highway 8).

Each house is equipped to handle any of the top three digital sound systems now in use - Sony, Dolby and DTS - and the quality is rated “THX certified.” In layman’s terms, that simply means the system meets a standard set by the gurus of Hollywood sound.

What that meant specifically on Monday was that, from my seat mid-row center, I could hear footsteps move around me as clearly as if someone actually were there.

Further, it meant that the sound effects of a tropical rainforest convinced me that I actually was IN a rainforest instead of sitting in front of one.

Later, during a trailer for the Ray Liotta movie “Turbulence,” it meant that the sound was so - well, intense is a good word - that I thought my ears were going to bleed.

“The sound technicians are working on the sound levels,” Caraway said with a smile.

Which was his way of reassuring me that during public performances, sound levels would be set lower. No need for earplugs.

Each house has been built like a box, Caraway explained, with eight-inch-thick, concrete block walls that feature added sound insulation clear to the ceiling. The design is to prevent sound from “bleeding over” from one house to the next.

Probably the most publicized aspect to the new complex is its seating arrangement, which is set up in the graduated “StadiumRiser” style. This means that, beginning at the front of the house, each succeeding row rests a full seven inches higher than the one in front.

Because each house is wider than it is deep, and because no house is gigantic, each seat ends up offering a full, uninterrupted view of the screen.

Unless, of course, Shawn Kemp chooses to sit in front of you.

The seats themselves make an impressive sight, a deep blue contrast to the red curtains that line each house’s side walls and stage (and act as further sound-dampeners). Each boasts an individual cup holder, and there is additional space between rows so that the people - you know who you are - who insist on barging in at the last moment will be less likely to step on your toes.

Seat comfort, though, is up for debate. Hardly plush, the sturdily built seats feel firm, to the point of hardness, a fact that Caraway explains by saying, “They’re brand new. They haven’t had 100,000 people sit in them.”

Good point. Regardless, I stand 6-feet-1, and the seats that I tried out stopped just below my shoulders. They don’t rock like the seats at the Lyons Ave., and there are no high-backed chairs such as are found at the Newport Highway, North Division and East Sprague.

At the same time, they are a definite improvement on the plastic-backed seats that the Lincoln Heights Cinemas uses.

Besides, the view is so good you might not even notice.

Less imaginative is the selection of treats offered by the concession stand. With the possible exception of nachos, the Spokane Valley 12 won’t offer much that you can’t already get at other area theaters. Popcorn, candy and ice cream is standard fare (and, typical of all Act III Theatres, no outside food is allowed).

As for the restrooms, gender equity reigns. The women’s room is equipped with 17 stalls, three of which feature handicapped access. Compare that to the four-urinal, five-stall men’s room, and you understand Caraway’s attitude when he says, “You know, in the old days women truly did get shortchanged.” No longer.

So, the question remains: Does the Spokane Valley 12 live up to everything its pre-opening ads have promised?

In the most important areas, it seems to. The only way to know for sure, though, will be to see how the complex holds up. Especially on busy days. And over time.

“There’s a higher level of expectations that we expect to bring our customers,” Caraway said. “This truly is a state-of-the art theater. And I hope to make it evident. I don’t just want to brag about it. I want people to come see it and let them be the judge.”

Try to stop them.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo