Rooftop Movies — Local services in Northbridge

I decided to end my working week with Rooftop yoga – run by Blooming Happy Yoga (BHY) - at Rooftop Movies, followed by a screening of 'The Devil Wears Prada.'

The yoga class was well attended and was quite social too, so it’s a great way to meet new people.

I really enjoyed the yoga. Zahra (the owner of BHY) runs a really good class and gives you the option to modify or rest as needed. To me, this is the sign of a good teacher. Chair pose featured quite a bit and I can comfortably say that my legs are still feeling it a couple of days later ;-) (although I had also done yoga on Thursday night – so that might have contributed!). But seriously, the class was really enjoyable. It went for about an hour and was a great way to end the working week.

It’s a great venue and I could have sworn I saw clouds floating during the night, which is really cool for only being 6 levels up.

The staff at Rooftop Movies are really friendly and everything works well. There’s comfy beanbags to sit on during the movie, which is great. On the subject of weather, I'd bring a jumper or hire a blanket, as even if it’s warm, sometimes it can cool off.

After an hour of yoga, I had worked up quite an appetite. This brings me to one of my favourite subjects – food! I must say, at Rooftop Movies, the food options are great. With snacks including everything from popcorn and cheese twisties to sweet treats like maltesers and choc honeycomb marshmallows (yes please!) you’re spoilt for choice. Then there’s the burgers and other savoury options from ‘Benedict’s Burgerbuns.’ Whoever named the burgers has a great sense of humour. With names like the ‘Matthew Meatconaughey’ and the ‘Morgan Beefman’, you know they love what they do.

Vegans are also catered for, with the ‘vegan fox’ burger on offer, along with chips. Oh, and there’s also loaded cheeseburger chips. I happened to see these when I ordered and experienced food envy right away! They come with beef, cheese, cheese sauce, pickles and house sauce, with the option to add bacon bits. Yum!

They also do loaded cheesy bacon chips, as well as mozzarella sticks and chicken tenders. So, there’s something for everyone. I opted for the Matthew Meatconaughey, which comes with beef, lettuce, tomato, pickles (which I love) and cheese and house sauce. Naturally, I ordered chips with my burger. Getting dinner for $20 ($14 for the burger and $6 for chips) is a great deal! I really enjoyed my burger. The bun was tasty and the sauces melded with the beef, cheese and pickles really well. I washed it down with a non-alcoholic ginger beer, which was great on a warm evening. Hats off to the kitchen staff who did a great job on a really busy night!

The movie was great too. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the film. I thought it was a movie about fashion, but it ended up being so much more.

The all-star cast of Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt deliver fantastic performances. Each of their characters develops in their own way. We learn that Andy - played by the amazing Anne Hathaway - is a journalist who doesn’t fit the fashion world. Despite this, Andy gets a job at the prestigious ‘Runway Magazine’. This is a job that ‘a million girls would kill for’ - so says Nigel, played by the wonderful Stanley Tucci. Andy’s colleague Emily - played brilliantly by Emily Blunt is only too happy to point out to Andy that she doesn’t belong.

Then of course there’s Miranda Priestly, the editor of Runway Magazine, played superbly by the great Meryl Streep. We get to see that being wealthy and ‘having it all’ isn’t necessarily the easy, free ride that we want but that is sold to us as an ideal. And your fortunes in the corporate world can turn in an instant. So don’t rely on external sources for your happiness.

With that being my first impromptu movie review, I’ll sign off. In the meantime, I recommend checking out BHY's Rooftop yoga. It’s really good. And if you’re not into yoga, just head along to a movie. It’s such a great experience, you’ll definitely want to come back....

UPDATE: After being turned away, I contacted the business using the provided email and received a response the next day from the manager. He was very courteous in addressing the situation and gave us complimentary tickets to a movie we requested the following week.

So we did get to attend (a different movie) in the end. It was an enjoyable experience. I would definitely recommend sitting towards the front for better sound quality as when I talked to the back during the movie I could barely hear anything not even halfway back in the rows. We got there ~45 min early and got a 2nd row seat and the big bean-bag chairs filled up quickly. That was enough time to grab food and drinks before the movie. Pizza was just alright, fries were awesome, drinks were good, and prices were all average.

I would like to note however that upon arriving at the entrance this time, the same doorman was there and we were not checked for ID at all! He did not seem to recognize us, but we arrived alone. This further proves that he was making assumptions based on the random younger group we entered with the previous time and randomly choosing to strictly enforce rules. If they're going to enforce a rule like that, they should always do so to avoid misunderstandings and disappointment. What if that was my first experience there and I was not checked for ID, then I brought a friend along that forgot theirs and I told them don't worry about it because they don't really check? It seems like a situation that could be completely avoided with 100% consistent ID checks and adding a "bring your ID" reminder in plain sight at the top of the confirmation emails.

Overall, I'd recommend going as a something different to do downtown. It wasn't amazing, but it was entertaining and affordable! Doorman refused to let us in because I didn't know I needed to bring ID and as a visitor I tend not to bring my passport with me everywhere. He refused to even look at my partners ID to show we're plenty old enough (we're in our late 20s). Didn't seem sorry at all. I offered a scan of my passport I had on my phone, barely got the words out before he said no.

For something so stringent, you'd think they put it at the TOP of the email as the MOST IMPORTANT THING TO BRING WITH YOU. But no, it's just a tiny footnote at the bottom of the confirmation (and even then it says they MAY check ID, not WILL DEFINITELY CHECK ID).

This place was also really hard to find. If not for a huge group going before us, we wouldn't have found the SINGLE sign right next to the elevator INSIDE the parking garage that tells you to go to the 6th floor. The only other place I found this info was buried on the website. At least put a sign out on the street or include info on how to get there in the confirmation email.

I wonder how many people show up and get turned away with no refund because of poor information transparency (seriously a simple banner or highlighted info at the top of the confirmation would have solved the problem). Nice to know they really cared about our enjoyment and not just keeping our money. Thanks for...

Honestly, i wanted to love this.. i wanted to enjoy the night so much, however I ended up leaving early.

When arriving at the venue, it really is beautiful.. the atmosphere is great and the sight of burgers will make anyone's mouth water.. We ordered food at Huxtaburger and while waiting decided to grab seats. The beanbags were so uncomfortable.. you kinda feel embarrassed even fiddling with it because the people next to you will feel every movement since they're so close.

Our burgers were ready about 30 minutes later and boy was that a disappointment. The meat had no flavour, it had a weird taste of old grease (that fish and chips smell, but you can taste it) and the chips were not that great either.

Making peace with the tasteless burger, we decided to fill up in popcorn and tried to get comfortable. There was just no way, no matter how much we tried, you either had to hold your head up or lay on your back constantly feeling like you're sliding off.You try to get into the movie however you are constantly aware of how you're sitting? Not to mention people infront of you are eating so they're sitting up right and you have a view of their heads on the screen the entire time. (See photos attached)

So we left, half an hour into the movie.. decided to go home and get it on box office from the comfort of our couch.

All in all the concept if great, but the execution needs...