Forgetting Sarah Marshall at Studio Movie Grill

Every time I go to Studio Movie Grill, the theater is packed. Granted, it¹s usually a Friday or Saturday night, but even films that have been out for a while seem to draw crowds. I guess everybody just loves the idea of dinner and a movie in one-stop-shopping form.

The food isn¹t stellar, but I would consider it pretty good for a movie theater kitchen. This weekend I tried one of the specials  -- a toaster burger with cheddar, grilled onions and bacon (yum). We typically like the coconut chicken tenders, too. It¹s also tempting to go on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday nights for $8.99 all you can eat pizza.

Every time I go to Studio Movie Grill, the theater is packed. Granted, it¹s usually a Friday or Saturday night, but even films that have been out for a while seem to draw crowds. I guess everybody just loves the idea of dinner and a movie in one-stop-shopping form.

The food isn¹t stellar, but I would consider it pretty good for a movie theater kitchen. This weekend I tried one of the specials  -- a toaster burger with cheddar, grilled onions and bacon (yum). We typically like the coconut chicken tenders, too. It¹s also tempting to go on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday nights for $8.99 all you can eat pizza.

Only one thing confuses me: The dinner and a movie concept is very forward thinking, but Studio Movie Grill¹s branding and pre-movie graphics seem pretty outdated. Before we watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall this weekend, I felt like I was watching a bad PowerPoint presentation.

The movie was written by Jason Segal, who stars on one of my favorite TV shows, How I Met Your Mother. Segal is apparently a triple threat, showing off his writing, acting and musical chops in this movie ‹ he sung and played piano quite a bit, and has done so on his TV sitcom as well.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall was full of laugh-out-loud moments, mostly of the cringing and uncomfortable sexual humor sort. I laughed just as loudly along with the rest of the audience, but I have to say that more and more romantic comedies these days are pushing the envelope with this kind of material, and though it works in the theater, it doesn¹t seem to be as DVD sales friendly.

I tend to buy lots of chick flick DVDs for repeated watching. Though I realize that this movie isn¹t exactly a chick flick, it was a sweet story, but I wouldn¹t buy this movie, just because I don¹t know that I would enjoy the discomfort and crudeness time and time again.

Only one thing confuses me: The dinner and a movie concept is very forward thinking, but Studio Movie Grill¹s branding and pre-movie graphics seem pretty outdated. Before we watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall this weekend, I felt like I was watching a bad PowerPoint presentation.

The movie was written by Jason Segal, who stars on one of my favorite TV shows, How I Met Your Mother. Segal is apparently a triple threat, showing off his writing, acting and musical chops in this movie ‹ he sung and played piano quite a bit, and has done so on his TV sitcom as well.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall was full of laugh-out-loud moments, mostly of the cringing and uncomfortable sexual humor sort. I laughed just as loudly along with the rest of the audience, but I have to say that more and more romantic comedies these days are pushing the envelope with this kind of material, and though it works in the theater, it doesn¹t seem to be as DVD sales friendly.

I tend to buy lots of chick flick DVDs for repeated watching. Though I realize that this movie isn¹t exactly a chick flick, it was a sweet story, but I wouldn¹t buy this movie, just because I don¹t know that I would enjoy the discomfort and crudeness time and time again.

Comments

[Rick Wamre]

We've been to SMG a couple of times, once with our sons and once as a "date night." Generally, it has been a good experience. The all-you-can-eat pizza is OK (I say that from personal experience), the hamburger is good, but the popcorn is great: It comes with a plastic hopper of melted butter — what seems like the real stuff — so you can drizzle on as much or as little as you want.