Last night I had an opportunity to go see a movie screening at Glenwood Arts Theater 3707 West 95th St, Leawood, KS 66206.  It was my first time ever being there, so I didn’t know what to expect.  I had actually never heard of it.  As we were driving there, my friend thought it was at another location.  Come to find it, it had JUST moved to Leawood from Overland Park about two weeks ago, so it was a good think Google had updated their directions already because I just asked “Siri” to find Glenwood Arts Theater Leawood, Kansas.  As we were already running late, it could have been a disastrous!

My phone was telling us we had arrived, but there was NOTHING resembling a movie theater.  I was familiar with this shopping center because I go there at least once or twice a year with my mom so she can get her S.A.S. shoes when she is down visiting.  I’ve been in the ACE store.  I could not imagine where there was a movie theater.  After some discussion and looking at the sign, which did indicate there was a movie theater, we decided to go in the main doors and look around.

The minute we opened the doors, we knew we were close because you could smell the popcorn.  There is NOTHING like the smell of movie theater popcorn.  We went down the stairs and saw the entrance.  I am hoping they plan on marking it better for people to find, but, in talking to some of the other attendees, they remember going there as a child, so perhaps it is not marked to keep those who are not from the area away!

The theater had an old style charm about it.  You could tell it was not new at all.  The seats, while comfortable, were extremely narrow and leaned back quite a bit, whether you wanted to lean back or not.  The aisles were quite close together, so if someone was walking down the aisle behind you, it was very easy for you to get bumped with their hand or their coat.  One lady managed to hit my head at least three times trying to get to her seat!  Normally I would just lean forward, but remember what I was saying about the seats?  It was almost impossible to get away without actually leaning all the way forward in the seat, which I did after the second hit, but she still managed to connect with her coat one final time before passing and me leaning.

Because we were late, we ended up sitting up front.  Normally, in newer movie theaters, I would hate it, because it’s too close.  In this one, it was OK.  Perhaps it was due to leaning so far back!  Seriously though, it wasn’t bad, I was able to see the whole movie without feeling like I was IN the movie.

I went to get popcorn and have to commend the theater on the experience.  The two gentlemen behind the counter were extremely friendly.  They worked together.  They joked around with the customers.  It truly made me feel like I had gone back in time.  The prices were average, for a large popcorn and large drink, it was about $10, too much? Yes.  Normal pricing for a movie theater?  I would say so.  The nice thing is, the popcorn was good.  I cannot say what they do differently than the bigger theaters, other than it was popped fresh and the ingredients were put in all separate instead of a package?  I’m not sure, but even my friend commented on the taste of the popcorn.  They didn’t skimp on the butter either.  When you ask for extra butter, they give it to you.

My real complaint, other than the seats but I could live with them, was the sound from the other theaters.  When it was a quiet moment in our movie, you could hear the sounds from the other ones pretty bad.  At one point, before I realized it wasn’t our movie, I was trying to listen because I thought I was missing something.  I understand it is an older theater and the sound in newer movies probably overpower the walls, but it was a little distracting at first.

Overall, I would go see a movie there again, I loved the charm of the theater, you felt like you had walked back in time a little.  I wouldn’t make it my “go to” Movie Theater though.