Forget Popcorn, Try a Martini With Your Movie

Many of the most enduring movie characters are synonymous with the beverages they drink—think of James Bond ordering a martini, or the Big Lebowski's White Russians—so it seems only fitting that cinema offers "21+" programming, where cinema-goers can order a beer, a cocktail or a glass of wine at the theater's bar, and then take it in with them to watch the movie.

The screenings all take place in the 211-seat theater next to the ArcLight's full bar. Currently playing until Sept. 15 is Our Idiot Brother, the latest Paul Rudd offering that hit theaters on Aug. 27, and Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star, a comedy about the Los Angeles porn industry.

ArcLight bartender Gregory Gilmore said that audience members often seem to select beverages in line with the movie they're about to see. In the case of the 21+ screenings for Sex and the City and its sequel, Gilmore was prepared.

"We had jugs of Cosmos," he said.

For Bridesmaids earlier this summer, Gilmore said that some movie watchers had dressed up in old bridesmaid dresses and ordered Champagne. For Bottle Shock, a film about the Napa Valley wine business, people ordered bottles of white and red to take into the theater with them. For The Hangover, people drank "everything," according to Gilmore, "but mostly beer."

For the movie schedule, click on the ArcLight website.

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