Gateway Film Center — Attraction in Columbus

Gateway is my go-to theater as a student at Ohio State. I have been to multiple showings and always have a good time. In this post, I would like to spend time addressing the theaters accessibility and room for improvement. For accessible parking, there is a parking garage next to Gateway located 3 minutes away which makes accessing the building convenient for everyone. Gateway also has accommodations such as closed captioning and assistive listening systems available. However, one thing that I have noticed is that the theater is particularly loud. Though this is expected at a theater, it seems louder than the others I have been to. You can hear the other screening rooms next to yours at times. When you enter the gateway, there are two sets of doors. On the left side, there is a power-assisted door. When you first enter, there are large steps as well as escalators. The elevator is a bit hidden since it is not in view. It is located on your left side as you enter. Staff is very accommodating as I have overheard conversations among staff and guests concerning the assistive listening systems when I come to the theater. Once you are in the theater, there are big number signs that are well lit to indicate your screening room. The screening room door handles are considerably long, which makes opening the door accessible for persons who use wheelchairs. Though, the doors are heavier and are not power assisted. When you enter the screening room, it is very dark. In some screening rooms, you have to turn to the right or left after you enter, which could be difficult for those with visual impairments as it is not lit enough to clearly see the black wall before you turn into the room. In the screening room there is an area in the front row for those who use wheel chairs with two theater seats on both sides of the row. However this is not perfect, Gateway still acknowledges the need for wheelchair access and having additionally seating to support integration. There are steps on both sides of the seating area that are lit by the steps. Though, the theater’s lighting is still pretty dark before the movie starts, which could make it difficult for those with visual impairments who may need more light to see clearly. The steps also have a platform/landing area that could be misleading for persons with a visual impairment. Overall, Gateway is a great choice to view a movie of your choice! There is always room for improvement when it comes to making our world more accessible...

My favorite theater in Columbus. They have a nice facility with lots of niche, arthouse, and old classics showing throughout the year. These are mixed in with most of the big blockbusters as well - but they aren't a megaplex the size of a Walmart, so don't expect them to show 100% of what's new at all times.

The only issues here: it's on south campus, meaning it has lots of students in and around, especially at night. This can be a good thing, but you occasionally have to deal with crowding and drunken fools in and around the theater. The arthouse vibe also means you sometimes run into people being snobbish and rude, even during a showing. Recently, during a showing for the 45th anniversary of Alien a group of older men sat in seats reserved for others and loudly spoke pretentiously during the previews, then felt comfortable cracking jokes throughout the film. So again, it's not always he students causing issues.

Parking is easy as long as you use the garage. They validate the ticket, so it's only $2 to park if you come to see a movie. The garage is very expensive otherwise.

Other pros: staff is generally nice and knowledgeable. The membership club is a fantastic deal so long as you can see 2-3 films a month. Free showings for almost everything and discounted pricing on stuff like 3D/70mm. Free popcorn as well. We were members for years until having kids made it impossible to see movies as often as we used to.

They usually have a nice beer selection plus other food and cocktail options you won't find at other theaters.

The theater is independent and respectful of their role. You can feel good spending your money here. I was pleased to see a brief but solemn and respectful land use acknowledgment before my most recent screening. (Of course, the rude pretentious guys next to me cracked a joke...

Really want to love this place, but they consistently make it so hard..2 of the screens have had bulbs burnt out for over a year now (definitely screening room 3, and t other is either 4 or 5) so if you get seated in there you will think you're losing your vision, but you're not. The concessions are insanely high prices, and we went to see a movie yesterday and ten minutes after the movie was supposed to start when we still hang been let into the theater we were told that "we just got the movie today and we're having trouble getting it into the projection room" (it was not a 35mm showing, meaning it's a digital file so this makes no sense) and "it will be between 30 minutes to an hour before we can start the movie if you want to wait" and then 45 minutes later it became "we're just not going to be able to get the movie into the projection room today, so we'll refund you and give you a ticket to a future screening". To their credit, they did give us a free ticket to the future screening, so we got a free movie out of the deal, but that's after waiting in their lobby for about 75 minutes total for no reason. I assume they didn't have a password of some sort, or their computer broke? Who knows. But it was not shocking, unfortunately.

We wanted to sign up for their yearly movie plan where you can see a movie a week, but even after playing like $35 a month they still make you buy the ticket in person (not online), and you can't buy it until the day of the showing - unless you want to pay an extra $10 per month for the privilege of buying an advance ticket online. So for 2 of us, it would cost almost $100 a month, which is just not reasonable.

Very much want to support an independent movie theatre, but they...