A great article in NATO's former magazine, In Focus, covers the problems and prospects for alcohol service in the cinema.

Meanwhile, Fox Business Channel interviews yours truly about luxury cinema:

And Fox News talks with us about alcohol service:

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A Stanford Business School study makes the case that higher concession prices subsidize cheaper ticket prices, making movies more affordable for those who would not be buying concessions anyway.

"The theater owner has two choices. He can make money through admission tickets. Or he can make money through concessions," said UCSC economist Ricard Gil. "If he wants to make money on the ticket, that may deter a lot of people from coming in.

"So instead he charges a higher total price on people who are willing to pay for the whole movie experience," said Gil, an enthusiastic consumer of both movies and snacks. "And he's able to charge a lower price for the guy who can barely afford it."

So next time you're annoyed by somebody slurping his soda a little noisily, or munching his popcorn a bit too crunchily, cut him a little slack. He helped buy your ticket

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The L.A. Times features it in an article about movie theaters luring back patrons with luxury, alcohol and adults-only seating. This isn't an entirely new trend, NATO's former magazine covered the trend of alcohol service and cinema eateries (also here) in 2005 and 2006.

What seems to be catching on is the added intangible of an adults-only policy required by alcohol service.

From the Times article:

"This is a little bit of heaven," said Tricia Holman, who works for a technology firm and lives in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Ill. For a $15 ticket on a weekend evening, she said, it's "just me, my husband and the big screen. And no teenagers."

In an attempt to entice grown-ups back to the nation's movie theaters, Florida-based Muvico opened the luxury Rosemont 18 in this Chicago suburb just east of O'Hare International Airport. The theater has a clear goal: to cater to those weary of watching films accompanied by a soundtrack of fussy babies and gossiping teens.

One screen is entirely dedicated to customers old enough to buy a cocktail. Five other screens have all-ages seats on the ground level -- and separate, adults-only balconies reached through the bar inside the theater. Customers can lounge on love seats, eat gourmet concessions such as filet-mignon mini-burgers and sip alcoholic drinks during the movie.

Not all movie-goers are thrilled with the idea:

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