AMC DINE-IN Berkshire 8 — Attraction in Wyomissing

The Death of a Local Cinema.

The first thing i’d like to note in my review is the several thousand other reviews(and images), which must be disregarded. As, this location has had a change of ownership, and no longer looks or feels the same.

Fox Theaters, or as it is now known as “AMC DINE-IN Berkshire 8” has died, and in its place a lifeless, soulless, husk of the building still stands. And don’t get me wrong the theater is still 100% operational, they still show movies, and they still offer popcorn and other theater staples. However this is no longer a “local” theater, this is now an AMC hold your applause.

Fox theaters for the last decade plus has been a staple for the greater berks area, providing some of the best atmosphere you can find anywhere in the area, and unfortunately the previous owner Mr. Fox himself sold the establishment to the soulless suits at AMC and they’ve rebranded. But oh no, you thought AMC would come in and just slap their logo on the perfectly functioning theater? God no, AMC came in and completely destroyed every ounce of character and atmosphere at this theater. They’ve put up line dividers sprawled throughout the open floor plan, advertisement at every turn, theater rewards cards, popcorn to take home, TVs which just play advertisement, and much more!

So if you thought this theater looked like a cozy fun environment for your family and friends to enjoy the latest in cinema, just know, No not a single picture up as of Dec 2023 is accurate. There is no open floor plan, and the bar is gone, and has been for the better part of a year. (Oh and the menu is incorrect.)

Yes, AMC decided they would come in and completely destroy everything this location had established to squeeze every little last drop of profit out of this location, attempting to maximize the operations of the theater itself.

In return they’ve

-completely changed and replaced the entire original “Fox Kitchen” menu -removed the theater banners from above the concessions counter (replacing them with TVs which are far too high to see while in the unsightly lines created by dividers within the open floor plan) -removed the easy to see menus behind the concessions counter -completely changed and replaced the candy and concessions menu -removed the easy to understand TV indicators for your theaters -removed the bar (as of 2023)

And much more!

Oh! And if you thought that was bad, yes they still haven’t changed the broken deteriorating seating, and yes, theaters 2-8 are still in awful quality, and still have poor screens with only one isle on the right side of each theater, meaning you have to pass about 10+ chairs of people if you’re sitting anywhere but the corner seat.

AMC has come in and completely stifled out any last ember of

Personality, character, ambiance, and even visual appeal to this location.

I mean honestly it’s almost impressive that you could have taken an already existing theater, and ruin it this bad.

Oh sorry did you think I was done? Nope

So sure Fox wasn’t the cheapest theater, that was obvious, but I mean the ambiance really made up for the frozen Sysco branded food (which was pretty good IMO)

So SURELY… SURELY AMC Din- what was it called again oh right sorry it’s so forgettable and corporate, AMC Dine in 8 surely they couldn’t be any more expensive right?

Wrong, yeah their entire menu is about $2-5 dollars more expensive than Fox Theaters menu, for every entree.

Don’t believe me? They’ve still got the menu up on their website! And no online menu for AMC Dine in 8 (probably because it’s so absurdly expensive!

So yeah, please do yourself, do your wallet, do the greater berks community, and do AMC Dine in 8 a favor, like the sad old family dog which has recently gone senile, let it die. Let AMC Dine in 8 die. Due to the predatory advertisement and price gouging, let their hubris kill this location if it isn’t already.

TL;DR I wish I would’ve given this theater a 0, the ownership has changed and for the severely worse, DO NOT visit...

Edit since last visit: I have to add a star back since my last visit. A couple things have changed for the best. I never mentioned them in my initial review because others already had and knew it would probably get better over time.

I did recently have to drop a couple stars off my review of this theater. The reason is well there are multiple. The first is the fact they had two movies on different months advertised as coming soon i really wanted to see yet did not show then at all. I did not even get a response to the e-mail about the first movie. The second one did not even acknowledge the fact it was advertised as coming soon to that location and very well should have been shown.

The second reason is they stopped allowing tickets a month in advance. I really liked that! I like to plan ahead and really loved that they once supported that. I have homes in multiple states so i have to plan things out more than most people.

The final reason thus far is the Ftx showings are very limited and some movies i want to see never have showings on it. I have not been there since Guardians 2 at this point. I wanted to get Zombieland 2 Ftx tickets mid Sep now there finally available but in a tiny theater compared to the Ftx i only watch on Ftx there. I have my own theater room at home so i want imax or a very large screen when going out.

Good food good craft Beer reclining chairs wait this is a theater rite? You betcha and EVERY theater should take notes from here. I can't even pain free sit through a movie at so called normal theaters...

I personally liked the movie theater better before all the "changes"...the reclining seats are a MUST for me now and I love being able to reserve my seat in advance and avoid having to go early to try to get a good seat... Why I don't like the "new" additions- 1-I don't like that there is a mini "bar" in the lobby. I personally don't drink and don't relish sitting next to someone who is downing alcohol during the movie...takes some of the "family friendliness" from the movie theater 2-I don't care for the permanent trays on every reclining chair. It would be nice if they folded up and went out of view when not in use. If you are not eating you can push them away from you but they are still in your "space" and just seems to take some of the roominess away from leg space, etc. Also, if you have to get up to go to the restroom it's a little more cumbersome trying to finagle around your tray, etc. to get out and in. 3- I think that there will be more "smells" in the theatre when full with people eating burgers and pizza and drinking alcohol, etc. This may not be a problem for some but we have people in our family who are sensitive to smells and this just makes the theater more "smelly" than usual with just popcorn and soda. All that said, it is "different" ...and everyone has their own preferences over what they like in a movie theater experience. These are just mine. I'm just hoping that the cost of all these "extras" which I don't need or want won't affect my...