Cinemark Playa Vista and XD

Comfy seats that recline and waiters that bring you great food and drinks. Just plain great

Really glad this place opened across from Home Depot! It’s convenient, close, and PARKING IS FREE!
You can hit up CVS downstairs for some reasonably priced candy and snacks if they’ll fit in your purse (or man bag) or under your coat (nobody’s going to ask if you’re fat or have a growth).
Was super happy one late night when I was seriously worried I wouldn’t make it through the show to find that they sell Starbucks coffee inside! It was pretty legit and soooo appreciated. They have a good assortment of different drinks and food items. Not your typical AMC.
I give this place 5 stars because you can’t really blame them for:
1. How ridiculously expensive movie tickets have become these days (2 XD tickets = $ 39!)…or can you? XD sounded good though. You notice the difference.
2. The rude, annoying guy behind you that doesn’t seem to realize when he repeatedly kicks the seat in front of him it is highly irritating to the person in that seat who paid a butt load to be there right now. (Tell them to stop. I always do.) Raise your kids better please parents. Do you really want to have raised «That Guy»?
3. The couple who thinks they are enjoying a Netflix or Amazon Prime movie in the comfort of their own home and forget they are out in public so when they comment through the whole movie it pisses everybody else off. Please shut up at the movies.
And 4… turn off your phones and don’t use them during the movie. If you are known to do this… you are definitely «That Guy». Nobody likes you right now.

First, if ease of parking is a priority then this is not the place. It’s a hot mess. The spaces and lanes are way too narrow. I would expect a lot of minor accidents and car dents in this lot. Good luck finding your way in and out the first time. Theatre is clean and new. Not the roomiest seats. Space between rows is quite narrow. If you like your seat kicked from the rear then this is your theatre. Three stars for the «new theatre smell.»

Came here for the first time last weekend because we had a gift card (thank you!).
This theater is in an outdoor-​type mall like Century City’s AMC Theater.
Parking is confusing. Moreover, no signages to direct you where the theater is. There are directories but they are dead. And this theater has been open almost a year now.
The good part is that staff members are nice and the seats are nice too (and that’s just their regular seats not their luxury recliners – did not try that).The regular seats rock a bit and are very comfortable. Definitely more comfortable than the nearby AMC-Marina-Marketplace’s «rocking» seats.
The price? We were charged $ 14.50 each for a Saturday-​evening showing (of «The Hateful Eight»). But I noticed just now that they have «VIP» rates of $ 19.50 each. I don’t know what that is – must be a different auditorium than we were in. But the $ 14.50 was in a good auditorium.
They have reserved seating which you can also buy online. We bought ours at their website (as opposed to Fandango’s) and the service charge was waived because we paid with a gift card. (I don’t know if Fandango does that too.)
BTW, parking is free unlike Century City and Santa Monica. That helps. So if you don’t have an AMC rewards card and you’ve figured out the parking, I recommend this place.

Bar service is not that flash — maybe it was an off night!
cool spot for movies

I rarely go to the movies, so if I do I like the option of reserving my seats. Well, low and behold I did all that and still ended up in the wrong theatre! Yup I needed up at Howard Hughes with my friends calling me and telling that they are at the balcony waiting for me– wrong balcony — well shoot I’m the one with the ticket confirmation and receipt. No wonder the kiosk would not print them — luckily I was able to take a photo of everything and shoot my friends a text of the bar codes which they were able to print at this theatre — yay technology!
UPSIDE;
Concierge services where I picked up my ticket, since my buddies went in the theatre as I had to drive up the street. Other pluses include free parking and yep this theatre is pretty new so everything is clean, nice and fancy.
DOWNSIDE:
Wow tickets at this place are so much more than other places. Yeah I don’t normally go to movies but I did binge over the holiday and grabbed a few flicks at Century City, Regal DTLA and Westside pavilion and this was by far the most expensive movie theatre.

Still has that brand new smell!
Wont hype this place up too much because I want it to smell new for a long time.
I love the convenience of pre selecting our seats on line for this theater and not have to waste an hour plus just to secure a decent seat. The chairs are leather recliners (at least our theater was and Im guessing they all are) and the sound system/​screen quality is outstanding. The price of popcorn and drink is still outrageous but that seems to be the norm nowadays.
If you want to go big on your movie outing… you can!
Looks like this theater also offers a VIP section with nothing held back. Reclining seats with foot rests and swivel trays. Plus access to your own restaurant and full bar for the ultimate viewing experience (see the pics that others have posted). Ill have to do that up next so I can follow up on this review.
Overall my 1^st visit here was perfect. No long wait. Got the tickets through fandango app and walked right in and enjoyed the show. Completely hassle free.
Looking forward to future visits!

Nice, new and clean theater. Paid extra for the premium seating but you can’t order at the seats. You must order at the bar and then they bring it to you. Awesome theater sound quality. I got a burger and fries… both good but not mind blowing. Popcorn had a little bit of a kettle corn taste which I didn’t care for much. I also got a little tipsy off the daiquiri which surprised me since most frozen drinks like alcohol but not this one!

My first time there. My daughter wanted to go to Marina Dine In but this had a movie we wanted.
We were in the Reserve level which is the balcony. You have to order your food before you sit down. (Nobody told us this.) After we sat down I went back out to order food. There were no carry out menus, we had to download the menu on our phone to decide what we wanted. I went to the counter and ordered for us both and asked to have it delivered to our seats. You get your drinks right after you order. You’re only allowed one drink (crazy) but he let me take both. Otherwise I would have had to go get my daughter to get her own drink. We got a free small popcorn.
After 45 minutes I went out to check on our order. I was told by a server that it was the next order in the kitchen. 15 minutes later my daughter’s plate arrived. Still another 20 minutes after that and mine arrived. No water came as requested so my daughter was dying of thirst waiting for my food so we could request water.
It’s a good thing our movie was over 2 hours. The foods was actually very good. If I had been prepared for the process and the wait, our experience would have been much better.
The reclining seats were nice. We sat in the first row of the balcony. The railing cuts across the bottom part of the screen but it’s not too annoying.

Came here to watch the Star Wars movie in 3D over the weekend. My husband wanted to go to a dine-​in theater, and the AMC Dine-​In in Marina del Rey wasn’t pre-​selling tickets. We decided to try out this theater for the first time, and bought tickets for the Reserve level.
The good thing about this place is that it’s pretty new. so it looks cleaner and more modern than the AMC theater. You also get a bag of free popcorn at the Reserve level. The bad thing is that the service here is horrible, and the food quality is pretty bad.
You have to order your food ahead of time at the bar, and the servers will bring it to you. I didn’t mind this that much, but the servers couldn’t even bring us items that we requested. My husband had to get up and leave the theater to go find a server and ask for items we had asked for ahead of time.
I ordered a kale salad, which was drenched in dressing, and the chicken that came with it tasted like it came out of a can. My husband ordered a chicken sandwich protein style, and wasn’t impressed by it. The sweet potato fries were pretty good, but overall we should’ve saved our money and just stuck with the free popcorn.
The layout of the theater seems poorly designed. We sat in the first row of the Reserve seats, and the glass railing got in the way of our view of the screen.
If the service and food improved, then this would be worth going to. The seats were pretty comfortable, but I suggest sitting in the back row instead of the front if you want to avoid having your view obstructed by the glass panel (unless you have a long torso).

Enjoyed my experience. Not crowded at all. Nice and Clean. We had reserved seating with reclining seats. Ticket staff escorted us to our seats. Full
Bar available along with waiters to bring your order to your seat in the theater. The dirty martini was excellent this place has been added to my favorite theaters

NEW AND FANCY
Love going to the movies… Never gets old. I got an old soul so dinner and movies or movies and dinner is perfectly fine with me.
LA has the nicest theaters — duh this is the mecca of productions so it should be a standard. One thing I like about Playa Vista, its a rich neighborhood so everything is classier. Even their theater. We get reserved seating and can bring in the restaurant food from upstairs inside the theater. The chairs are comfy and they recline. People are courteous. Space is great.
HOWEVER, there are some flaws.
1) you can hear the sound of the other movies in your theater. It’s kind of annoying.
2) somewhat related to one, the sound is too loud our ears hurt. Also, refer back to #1
3) the past two times the the screen glitches and someone has to go out and seek help. They should have staff checking to see if the movie is playing.
This place is still myself favorite theater (besides iPic) in SoCal. And it’s so new not very much people go there so that weaves out the masses.
Jaba approved. Until the next review…

the theater itself is fine but the regulations regarding alcohol are simply ridiculous.
My wife and I found our seats and I went back out to the lobby for a couple of glasses of wine.
I was informed that I could only buy one glass… really? It’s a 3 oz. pour… and I had both our ticket stubs.
So, two trips to the counter and then you are expected to wear a green wrist band showing that you are an approved consumer of alcohol.
Sitting in a dark theater wearing our green wrist bands, we enjoyed our $ 10 for 3 oz. glasses of wine.
it’s a simple equation… you treating me like a child = I don’t ever spend money in your theater again.

The best thing about this movie theater is the Reserve section. It provides comfy spacious seats but it is costly. I enjoy being able to have food delivered to my seat and having a cocktail during my movie. I have always found the staff friendly.
Not so great is the food. Well… it is okay and should be better for the cost. I also wish the entire theater was Reserve. It feels weird being on the upper level with the normal ticket holders below. Also, I have been here twice and when I arrive at my seat it is not clean. I pay way too much money to have to track down an employee to clean off the table top.
Improvements could be made.

Very nice theater. The chairs are beyond comfortable. You literally just mold right into them… and they are very spacious. The screens are great. I would definitely come back here. The only downside, the tickets are a little more expensive than the other theaters in the area. But I guess you’re paying for quality.

This theater tries to be all things to all people, and while it doesn’t quite succeed, it’s still a very nice theater. They’re obviously trying to tap into the whole luxury cinema thing with a dine-​in option with reclining seats, etc, but it is quite spendy and the food and service are just OK, in my opinion. When I’ve gone there to just see a regular movie (albeit with reserved reclining seats) the experience was very pleasant. It’s a couple more bucks than the Cinemark in Long Beach but this is a tonier zip code, I suppose.
STEPH JUDGEMENT: Nice new theater with a variety of levels and amenities.

Having been here several times now, on weekends in particular I must revise my previous statement. It’s actually not a mad house. I’ve never seen it overly crowded. Outside of the ticket cost, this has become one of my favorite theaters.

Reviewing two parts: Bar, then the theatre.
Bar– friendly service, average prices, and average quality taste. Looking over the cocktail menu, the drinks ranged from about 9 – 12 dollars, so I tried a blackberry Mojito, which looked pretty but tasted mostly of soda water, a little watered down. My friend got the whiskey drink garnished with a citrus twist and enjoyed the taste and commented on the size being «pretty good», so we ended the drinking with a mixed result.
The Theatre we were in had very comfy chairs, which rocked back. The Leg space in front however did leave my 5’7 body feeling cramped, and needing to stretch out.
I do appreciate that in the few times I have been here, parking is very simple, and the service is friendly. Compared to other theaters these are two things I missed and began to think were a time of the past.
With other drink and food options around prior to the movie, one may consider looking elsewhere. Keep in mind you can take your drink into the theatre though, so that’s a win, no time pressure to suck it all down before enjoying your flick!

The reserved VIP seats have great customer service.
We reserved 20 seats in the balcony. The attendant offered to hand-​out the tickets to all members of our group as they arrived so I could go in and visit with my friends.
Quinton (that’s his name) said: just tell your friends to come here to the desk and give their name. He made the experience smooth and stressed-​free.
I had two tickets that were not used. He suggested I go to the cashier as I exit and they would refund my money. I did and they did!
With VIP tickets we each got a popcorn.
The sits recline and are very comfortable. There is not one bad seat in the balcony.

Love this theater. Went to see «Learning to Drive» — okay, sorta uneven, liked some of it, didn’t like other parts of it. The upstairs fancy theater with food service was packed so I went to theater 4 downstairs. It’s your normal stadium seating auditorium and was just fine for this show.
They have the BEST hot dogs here.