When the corporate team conceptualized the ArcLight, we're certain one said, "It's not a cinema, it's an experience." And, for better or worse, that's what they created. For better: There's an actual bar with actual drink-drinks. It's assigned seating, but patrons choose their seats. And the butter's real.

The price: Fourteen freaking dollars on a weekend evening. The price is high partly because of the ArcLight extras, like ushers introducing the movies. Many have grumbled that Grauman's Chinese, just a few blocks away, doesn't charge extra for its extras (handprints in the cement, stunning decor, actual history). But at the ArcLight, screens are large, the sound is great, and all 14 theaters have stadium seating. The people-watching is prime at this always-mobbed location, and special events like premieres and festivals up the already-high shot at a quality celeb-spotting. And it's always worth seeing a movie at the Cinerama Dome, Hollywood's famous geodesic-domed cinema, which is on the same property as the ArcLight—especially if the wide, curved screen is playing a classic like Lawrence of Arabia. It's an experience you just can't get anywhere else.