ArcLight Pasadena

The bizness! Arclight never fails, sure the price is alot higher than most other theaters (which are already overpriced as it is) but whatever — you’re paying for comfort and quality. I had a small iissue with a ticket and they had no problem refunding iit — right away. Will keep coming

ArcLight is quickly becoming one of my favorite theater chains. I’ve come here to watch big movies because it has reserved seating — I’ve watched Star Wars and The Avengers here. They have pretty cool theme drinks at the bar, their popcorn is crispy and never stale (a bigger problem than one would think, REGAL!), and the seats are wide and extremely comfy. Will definitely keep coming back — gonna apply for their frequent moviegoing program!

This movie theater is ridiculous
Came in to watch. A movie at 2:35 came 10 mins after and they wouldn’t sell us tickets because
Of people’s privacy wtf!!! I’ll take my money somewhere else this place will shut down just like the surrounding stores around I guess they don’t need my business.

This theater keeps getting better and better! My husband and I have had such a great experience at ArcLight because of the great and friendly staff that make you feel wonderful. Vatche made our theater experience awesome. He was so friendly and knowledgeable. Thank you for the world class customer service Vatche!!!

Date nights with Mrs. Picante are few and far between… Not because she isn’t crazy about me or anything… It’s just the whole three kids/​full time educators/​too many pets/​act of God stuff impedes on our otherwise consequence-​free existence [insert sarcastic eye roll and heavy sigh here.]. All that to say, when we get a chance to act like kid-​less newlyweds, we’re looking to minimize drama and maximize enjoyment.
Truth be told, I love movies but I hate movie dates– you can’t talk or connect with someone while watching a movie. No, thinking you have serious game by timing your grab for the popcorn bucket so your hands touch amidst the oily contents therein doesn’t count. What, are you 14??? Is it 1989???
But when you’ve got a few clicks on the old ’ life odometer with someone special, and the kids are dropped off at the grandparents’ house, a little quiet time holding hands in the dark and delving into the scripted tales of on-​screen millionaires has its place. As movie theatres go, the Arclight Pasadena is pretty good for the casual married dater: assigned seats means when your daughter can’t find her shoes or your baby has a diaper catastrophe at the last minute before the babysitter takes over, you’re not stressed out that you’ll be too late to get a good seat. Moreover, the availability of adult beverages at this theatre softens the edges a bit, and helps you realize that having a cold beer in a movie theatre no longer involved standing outside a 7-​Eleven waiting for someone with a loose interpretation of «contributing to the delinquency of a minor» to hook you and your friends up for a nominal gratuity… Not that I ever did that sort of miscreant thing.
Sure it costs a little more to see a movie here. But for reasons previously explained, along with the potential that the pricing model here will potentially keep hoodlums and minors away, it’s worth it.
In college, I had a theatre marketing internship with Buena Vista Pictures (that’s Disney, Mildred). During that time, I visited literally hundreds of movie theatres. From a layout perspective, this one is probably second quartile… The lobby area is counterintuitive, with a bizarre retail area that looks like a delivery truck for Daiso Japan got lost and accidentally left a few boxes here. One sheets and standees are minimal… Not a big deal, but I sorta enjoy seeing what movies are coming without consulting IMDB. I guess I’m old fashioned like that.
The concession counter can’t be missed, and the hallways to the screening rooms are pretty straightforward.
The ratio of films ending at roughly the same time and the number of restrooms could use improvement, but there’s probably not a whole lot that can be done about that. With plenty of restaurants nearby, you’re better off making a run for it sometimes.
Parking in the Paseo can be validated at the theatre down to a paltry $ 2 for four hours. The theatre is a bit of a hike from the nearest Gold Line station (at Memorial Park) but the walk takes you right past a King Taco. So that’s an option, too.
For what it’s worth, having the occasional child-​free evening with the Mrs. doesn’t always have to be well-​defined. But when the meter is running on a phone call from my mom that my youngest son just threw up a chewed blue crayon and no one can seem to find the yellow or red ones… Well, Arclight gets my thanks for efficiency, multiple screens and start times, and the promise that in about 20 years, hopefully the crumb crunchers will be off to college and career… And I can take my sweet time with my sweetie pie.

Extremely rude and condescending employees, especially given the price of admission. Facility is in a shopping mall, you know, where people shop, but you can’t bring your purchases in. It’s on a major thoroughfare, right off the Metro, in a car-​alternative district, but people who take public transit or walk AND shop at the Paseo are not welcome at the theatre. Given who’s more likely to take public transit, one could detect a huge whiff of discrimination there. Did I say huge whiff? I meant atomic-​level stink bomb. And the rudeness. For a theatre that likes to sell their *experience,* I’m amazed that their staff is so unprofessional and the theatre itself is so ill equipped and unwilling to accommodate customers from a variety of «walks» of life. Fortunately, there are other options to choose from. ArcLight won’t be getting my money any more.

Loved how you can buy tickets online as well as choose your seating! Prices are a bit more expensive, but the seats are MUCH more comfy.
I also liked how they had an employee introduce the movie as well as how long it would be. 3D glasses were good quality as well.
Theaters are nice and comfortable as far as how many people are able to sit inside.
Might be my new theater of choice!

Beautiful place right in the beautiful downtown Pasadena. Comfortable seating and a nice ambience.
My «low» rating is because of the worker. My friend and I originally came here because we wanted to watch Spotlight. It turns out that the website we got movie times from was inaccurate. Okay fine, so we watched a different movie. But the workers was so rude about it! Like, dude, have some courtesy! I’ll be back, but I hope I don’t see the same worker there!

I absolutely hate hate hate hate HATE the new ticket-​buying kiosks. Instead of an actual human being there to help facilitate your transaction, you have to muddle through a really terrible-​designed interface to buy your tickets. The touch screen is poorly made, and it takes forever for it to recognize what button you’re trying to push. That makes is all kinds of fun and games when you have to punch in your membership ID and password.
It’s the most impersonal piece of shit thing I’ve dealt with in a while, and I’m sad to see it at Arclight. What makes this theater so special is the customer service. Why would you take that out of the ticket-​buying experience? Maybe they’re assuming most people buy their tickets online. Maybe, but for those who don’t, this is an awful experience. And I doubt it’s any more efficient than an actual human since punching in five bajillion keystrokes is inherently slower than saying, «Two tickets for Creed at 4:45.» Anyway, I hope they get rid of these God awful machines.

Someone great once said, «Good things come to those who wait»…
* * Don’t ask who…, I’m just the messenger. * *
ArcLight, ladies and gents– is —TRULY— the exception to this ^ archaic method of thinking.
Offering reserved seats at premium fares has clearly provided consumers a method around the madness.
#relief
Located on Colorado in the lovely town of Passuh’dee’nuh, sits this plush cinema, affording an undeniable resolution to theater congestion while providing a higher end experience than both AMC and Edwards.
The result of paying a tat’ more for tickets is a complete minimization of one’s need for prescription drugs as upon arriving,…having previously purchased your seating, movie goers are enabled to arrive «stress free» 5 minutes before their movie begins while manifesting an absolute sense of confidence and entitlement simply because:
* SHOULD you walk in to someone sitting in your seat —- YOU CAN SIMPLY POINT YOUR INDEX FINGER AS YOU GIVE THEM THE BOOT!!!
From top to bottom, what I like about this particular ArcLight as opposed to say, the additional locations in Hollywood or in El Segundo/​Manhattan Beach would be the crowd generated as a whole.
As we’re all aware, different locations tend to spawn different demographics.
That stated, allow me to expound on how NO ONE WANTS TO PAY PREMIUM PRICING for something and NOT obtain the best «bang for their buck»!
Well …this ArcLight has managed to cover all bases!
The location itself, seems to partition an «older» and more «polished» crowd.
There’s nothing like paying $ 20+ for reserved seating only to plop down and have your 2 hour movie interrupted by 90 minutes of wailing from a nearby infant. Hence this theater’s «21 and over» screening nights!
Lord have mercy, yes!!!
This experience ^ is all the more worse when the parents of said unhappy child, sit idly and obliviously while texting and talking, as if to say, «Yea. We know we’re horrible parents. Go ahead and contact CPS. It’s „OUR“ movie night!»
(sighs)… Okay. Enough venting.
To further highlight this theater’s attributes, seating is comfortable — make that, EXTREMELY comfortable… and said comfort is only intensified by the beacon of hope served by way of the bar as guests enter the establishment.
—– NOTHING says, «Welcome to ArcLight» — Pasadena better than sippin’ a ‘Manhattan’ or downing a ‘Long Island’.
Take my word for it: Car owners purchase specific makes and models for varied reasons «special» to them.
Going to ArcLight, as I see it, is the very difference in upgrading from a Hyundai to a Porsche (…okay, perhaps that’s a bit of a stretch), but with much overdo reverence to Porsche: Once you’ve undergone the ArcLight experience — THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE.
All in all, if you’re interested in dressing like a Power Ranger while taking «selfies» from the DMV-​reminiscent lines just to enter and talk your way through the movie… perhaps this isn’t the place for you!
Should your interests lie in obtaining «peace of mind» as you luxuriate in the fruits of what your monies have purchased you…
ArcLight is definitely YOUR PLACE!!!

This ArcLight location is on the second floor of the Paseo Colorado shopping center near Yard House. I am going to break this up into three parts: the bar, the snacks, the theater.
The bar is located as you enter the theater to the left. It is separated from the main theater lobby my a glass fence. It has a few tables and a full bar in the back. They have a specialty cocktail menu ($ 11) as well as a full bar. They serve coffee from this area as well. So the service here is horrible. I told my cousin what I wanted from the bar and wandered off to find the restrooms. When I returned, no one had even greeted him. He had been standing at the bar and no one even acknowledged his presence. It was not busy, and they were not understaffed. When I returned, we both stood there for a while without any of the three staff members willing to look at us or say a single word to us. One seemed to be making something, but the other two were not working on anything they were talking. Finally they took pity on us and decided to take out order. The delivery of the drinks was slow as well. 2 draft beers and one specialty cocktail from their menu took much longer than it should have. (The ArcLight Hollywood was tasty though. It was super sweet and tasted like candy. I could only have one or I probably would need an insulin shot.)
The snacks. The water was $ 4 or $ 4.50 for a small bottle of acqua panna. I know concession stands are pricey but at my normal theater it costs that price but the water bottle is regular old Dasani but it is Huge! The popcorn however was perfectly buttered. It was consistent thought the entire large tub. Good job on that!
The theater. Sigh. This may be a victim of my expectations. I was picturing something else that is not what they have here, so I was a little disappointed. I was expecting the big comfy leather reclining chairs that are the big trend these days. The seats were slightly bigger than normal movie theater seating and were comfortable, but they did not recline. The seat location was chosen when we bought the tickets so we could relax and not have to rush into the theater to get a good spot. The picture and the sound was clear and that is really important in a theater.

Not worth the $ 16.50 admission price.
Very nice, clean theater, no question there, but $ 16.50 for a movie is just wrong. The only perk is you get a guy who briefly introduces the movie before it starts.
The seats are hard. If you lean your head back again the head“rest” you’ll bet a good jolt of hard plastic on the back of your noggin. I’ve had coach class airline seats that were much more comfortable than these theater seats.
The ticket guy said they validate parking for up to four hours, but it was actually just two hours, so it was $ 2 to park, not bad, but $ 2 more than I thought I’d have to pay.
There’s no reason to pay these prices. No movie is worth that much to watch in a theater. They knock off $ 2 on Monday and Tuesday all day and Saturdays before 6 pm. Why they don’t have afternoon matinée prices on other days is plain silly. If they did, maybe they’d have more than ten people in a theater on a Thursday afternoon.
The bathroom was very clean and modern with nice fixtures, so they’ve got that going for them I guess.
Also, they don’t play a ton of trailers and commercials before the main attraction starts. Maybe they should so they can sell more stuff and reduce the ticket prices.

I have some mixed feelings about this place. The line to get tickets was sort of chaotic. I noticed these self serve machines to my left which could have been for anything, but avoiding the hot mess of a line was my goal. When I went to the self service touchscreens, they were definitely not user friendly. For instance, when I inputed all my movie selections and quantities, it didn’t prompt me to swipe my credit card. I just instinctively swiped thinking it was the next step. Not so great of a system if you ask me. Also, another thing it asked me was whether I was a member of their rewards program, but of course, there wasn’t information about this at the counter. At least the employees here were really nice as one of my friends was running late and left their ticket with the ticket collector.
So one tidbit I found out was that they do not allow people to enter the theater 10 minutes after the previews even with a ticket, so make sure you arrive on time. The movie theater was pretty nice. The best part is really the assigned seating. It is really good especially when you have a larger group and can reserve the seating in advance so that your group can sit all together. We sat in the back of the theater. Even with back row seats, the view and sound were still pretty good. It also appears as though you can also purchase alcohol, but I would advise against that as you don’t want to fall asleep watching a movie as the room is dark. Make sure to validate your parking ticket at one of the self service ticket validation machines located in the paid area of the movie theater.

This is feedback for management of ArcLight Pasadena. I went to the movies with my friend last Wednesday. I was running late because my Lyft driver canceled my ride, and I had to wait for the new one so my friend, who is not an ArcLight member, purchased tickets without me. I have membership with the Arclight so we came to the counter after the movie to see if they can reimburse us $ 2 for our tickets (Arclight members get $ 1 off movie tickets). The girl at the counter, Sarah, said she couldn’t do it. We asked her several times if there was anything she could do but Sarah declined. She showed no emotion or remorse. She just kept repeating same lines over and over again.
I have years and years of customer service experience. I have also worked in movie theaters for free as a volunteer during busy and overcrowded film festivals. I have dealt with all kinds of customer-​related situations, so let me tell you something. ArcLight wouldn’t get poorer if Sarah gave us $ 2 back. Movie theaters make most profits from their concessions sales anyways. And we wouldn’t get richer either. However by giving us $ 2 back, Sarah, who is essentially a brand representative of the Arclight, would show her appreciation of us as loyal customers. In the end, we chose to spend our $ 32 ($ 16 movie ticket) at the Arclight rather than AMC, Laemmle’s, or any other movie theater chain in Los Angeles, most of which are less expensive than the Arclight.
I have to add that Arclight Theaters are not that much superior to other movie theaters anymore. They used to be great but their quality has declined over the years. They are not as clean and customer service sometimes is borderline rude. To sum it up, I don’t give a damn about $ 2 but I do care about the way I get treated as a customer. Looks like for the Arclight, customer satisfaction is not a priority.

Proximity to my apartment is reason #1 I go to this particular movie theater, reason #2 is that I get to pick my seat, reason #3 goes to being able to drink adult beverages in the theater without having to sneak them in like a 15-​year-​old, and reason #4, which is a new discovery and one that might permanently replace candy and popcorn as the go-​to snack during these cinematic adventures: FRESHLY BAKED COOKIES at the bar (same one slinging the adult beverages). Soft, gooey, chewy, and BIG. This bad boy ranks in my top 5 chocolate chip cookies in the greater LA metropolis. The best part is since it’s available at the bar, I don’t have to pay $ 16 for a crappy movie just to get my hands on one, I can just pop by whenever I have a hankering and the theater/​bar area is open!

Love arclight for its reserved seating, in-​theater alcohol, and fewer previews. Reserve online and walk straight in with barcode.
Arclight in Hollywood is bigger and nicer but I prefer coming to Pasadena because of convenience. There is no hassle, no traffic, and less crowded.
Best place to watch a movie :)

As a Pasadena local, this is favorite theater. There are four theaters on Colorado Blvd. within a mile of each other and I prefer to see films here. It is clean, the seats are ergonomically designed and they feature art throughout the halls which encompass the smaller auditoriums.
I am a bit of a popcorn snob and there is just something different about the quality and taste of the popcorn at Arclight locations that is rivaled only by the popcorn offered at Disneyland.
The tickets are a bit pricey but it is worth it because of the option to reserve your seats and there seems to be less occurrence of boisterous folks talking throughout the films.
Arclight also features a series of classic films which are available to see on the big screen. Check their website for upcoming showings.
If you’re lucky and you come to an early showing during the week you just may get the theater to yourself.

The main appeal for theaters like ArcLight is definitely the reserved seating. I am one of those people who must see certain movies on the opening weekend or even opening night. Throughout the years, I got used to arriving hours before the movie would start, simply to wait in line after line and have to cross my fingers for a decent seat.
I like that ArcLight gives you the option to purchase tickets online in advance or at the automated ticket kiosks; you will be offered the «best seats available» but do have the option to change them accordingly. If you purchase tickets online, you can skip the lines and head directly to the ticket-​taker when you arrive. The seats are comfortable and a few inches wider than your standard movie theater.
Admission prices are a tad more expensive than other theaters such as AMC or Harkins. In my opinion, ArcLight is worth the drive and price when a highly anticipated and popular film is playing.
Food & drinks: the typical snacks, with the typical high prices, sold at any movie theater. Where are the Icees though?!
During Avengers: Age of Ultron opening weekend, the main parking structure was full when we arrived. The workers directed us to a nearby structure which was empty and much easier to find parking. ArcLight validates nearby parking structures, $ 2 for up to 4 hours! I recommend validating your parking ticket before the movie starts, so that you don’t have to wait in a long line after the film ends.

ArcLight actually has a cool nifty useful app so make sure to download that on your phone if you want to buy tickets. Don’t bother doing it via desktop on your phone because the system will kick you off after you enter your credit card info (it did that to us twice before we finally downloaded their app to make the purchases).
Ticket prices are reasonable and I think about the same price as a regular theater.
You gotta love Arclight in that you can RESERVE your seats beforehand plus they do NOT charge a convenience fee for reserving online. Mad props to ArcLight for kicking arse that way.
This location isn’t bad and actually validates for the parking structure next door. Not sure if the validation is for ‘x’ amount of hours though. I was it was a flat $ 2 for parking but when we left the arm went straight up without asking for payment so maybe the validation is good for 2 hours or so?
Our theater room was nice and clean. The chairs are comfortable and all the patrons that evening were cool.
Concession stands costs an arm/​leg so no surprise there. Their freshly popped popcorn tasted a bit stale and I’m not sure if they honor the ‘real butter upon request’ b/​c the butter on our popcorn tasted strange.
Free refills on drinks though!
I’d definitely come back and see another movie here. It’s hard to go back to a regular theater once you’ve been to an ArcLight.

The Arclight resides up there with housing, healthcare & education. When people fork over more cash for it, it’s not cause it’s better. It’s just to get rid of the riff raff with a few tiny perks like the drive-​thru drop-​off your kids private school provides for soccer moms in the mornings.
One of the perks here is the reserved seating. Gone are the days of fighting for a seat or ending up in the very 1^st row of the movie theater. They also have caramel popcorn & a bar! Who doesn’t like both!?! Also, no sticky floors & restrooms are always clean.
Ultimately, you’ll end up watching the same movie as everybody else, whether at the arclight or some other theater. Just as you’re still some C average student no matter what school your parents sent you to & you’ll still deal with that virus like the rest of us common folk no matter what doctor you go to.
Your Homegirl,
Violy