Your favorite way to see movies at theaters (IMAX, Dolby Cinema, etc.)

I've preferred seeing movies in the IMAX theater, for the ultra-huge image. (I mean the real eight story tall IMAX screens, not the "Lie-Max" screens that are a fraction of the size.) Although in recent years, I've come to really like the Dolby Cinema theaters for their terrific projection and sound.

I do prefer the IMAX if the movie was shot for the IMAX screen, where you get the extra image at the top and bottom of the screen. Otherwise, it mostly depends on which showing has the better seats that I like open for that particular theater.

Would like to hear what others' preferences for how they like to see movies at the theater.

 

4DX. It's a physically immersive experience, especially for a movie with a lot of action. Wind and rain doesn't hurt either. There are also 3D showings in 4DX, whereas IMAX seems to have dropped 3D entirely. I'm sure they'll bring it back for Avatar 2, which will beg the question, why does 3D not matter for any movie except Avatar?

 

I have never done 4DX, thinking it was a bit gimmicky. Are there any type of films that you think the format works great for (like car chases or whatever)?

I've grown indifferent to 3D movies, and I think the general movie audiences have become less interested in 3D. Avatar was special because the 3D really enveloped you into that world and felt very multi-dimensional. But I can't remember many 3D films since then where I got something quite as special out of that, other than a sense of depth in some scenes. I also don't love how 3D darkens the image a bit with the lenses (many action films are already pretty dark to begin with).

The last movie I saw in 3D was Ang Lee's Gemini Man, which was a pretty lousy movie, but mostly shot in bright sunlight. The dark scenes were lit in a way that looked a little odd, but I think they had to do that to shoot in the high-frame rate that the movie's known for. I mainly went to see that movie in the theaters to see the high-frame rate (it was shot in 60 fps, versus 24 fps): it reduced motion blurring, so things like gun muzzle flash looked very different than what we are used to seeing.