AmStar Oxford by Santikos — Attraction in Oxford

Went to see Captain America: Brave New World on March 4th, 2025 at the 1:00 showing in Auditorium 5 with my father, and I thought everything was going to go smoothly, when all of a sudden, there was a POWER OUTAGE right in the scene (spoiler alert) where Captain America and Falcon were in the limo on the way to the White House! The screen went dark and the emergency lights came on. I thought for a moment that this was some emergency drill that the mall was conducting, but it wasn't! A couple of minutes later, the emergency lights shut off and I overheard from the other people in the auditorium that they just talked to the management and they told them it would be 5 to 10 minutes because they had to restart the movie manually. We were considering leaving and asking for a refund, but about 5 minutes later, the movie came back on and went back to a previous scene before the power outage hit - just to make sure that no one missed a thing. I reclined my seat, hoping things were going to be fine now. However, I was wrong. When we got to the scene (another spoiler alert) where Cap was meeting President Ross (played by Harrison Ford) in the Oval Office, it happened again! This time, I REALLY was considering leaving and asking for a refund. Well, I got my wish when the overhead fluorescent lights in the auditorium came on, and someone from theatre management came in with a clipboard and told us due to technical issues from high winds and brownouts in the Oxford area, they would be issuing digital passes. I filled out our information to receive them, and we just left. Evidently, incidents like this happen most often at this theatre, according to management. My day was RUINED! I NEVER expected this to happen today when I woke up! This was the FIRST TIME this has EVER happened to me in my OWN LIFE!

I will give theatre management credit for handling the situation perfectly, and offering us free passes. Shout out to everyone involved in...

Good Intentions...but... We visited this theater for the first time since they updated their theaters to the recliners. The recliners ARE very nice, and there's PLENTY of leg room now. We even laughed at how much repeat business they'll get because people were so comfortable that they fell asleep during films!

However, You MUST now pick your seats while standing at the ticket booth. I wasn't expecting this and felt really pressured to insta-understand the layout of the theater while others waited in line behind me. In my efforts to make uneducated decisions quickly I asked "When did this become so complicated?" and the ticket agent replied, "it's not that complicated" (not exactly a helpful response). Well.. it IS a little complicated (and a wee bit stressful). Usually, we make decisions about theater seating based on angle of the screen visible to the available seats, the proximity of families with large groups of children, where the exit signs are glowing, proximity to the exit ramp, etc. None of which can be determined by looking at a flat seat map on computer screen while a long line of other movie-goers wait behind you.

I do like the recliners, but i'm not a fan of having to blindly choose one before seeing it. (i know, i know... people do it on airplanes all the time...but there's always a flight attendant on-hand AND i'm not necessarily attempting to stay awake the...

This theater was recently bought out by Santikos and somehow became a worse experience in the process. What follows is a list of unfortunate changes and mysterious steps backwards in quality:

They refuse to accept cash as payment, forcing you to use a card for any transaction (even the concessions).

The marquee screens no longer are used showing what movie is being played in a given theater.

The once fresh nachos that were served with hot cheese and pickles peppers are now pre-packaged stale chips with cold, unappetizing cheese.

After the theater was renovated, the previous management offered complimentary food delivery service directly to your seat; not anymore. If you want pizza, you’d better get there early and wait on it to cook.

Even the screens themselves aren’t used to their fullest. For some reason, movies don’t fill the entire screen!

This theater used to feature a small arcade…not anymore. They’ve just covered up that area with movie promotional (like so much of this mall, empty stores hidden behind “art).

This is the only theater in Oxford, maybe they feel like they don’t need a higher standard…but they do. Pell City isn’t far away and their theater features a bowling alley, huge arcade, ropes course, and a movie theater with food delivery service! Or you can just go here...