to infinity and beyond

Inner loop movie theater reveals renovations, future IMAX addition

The theater will celebrate the renovations with $3 tickets for Regal Crown Club members.

Majic 102.1/Facebook

This weekend, Upper Kirby movie house Regal Greenway Grand Palace will give Regal Crown Club members the opportunity to watch $3 movies in its newly renovated auditoriums.

The two-floor, Upper Kirby multiplex has been showing Hollywood blockbusters and award-winning films since its opening in October 1999, back when it was called Edwards Greenway Grand Palace. (Regal Cinemas came in and added “Regal” to the name when it merged with the now-defunct Edwards Theatres in 2002.)

Recently, the theater completed some major work on its prized, second-floor premium auditoriums. The RPX and ScreenX theaters now have recliners with swinging food trays. A new, Pepsi-sponsored 4DX theater has rumbling, rattling, mist-producing seats that’ll have movie goers feeling the action of any movie they see. Plans also include turning one of the main, upstairs auditoriums into an IMAX theater.

Much like their sister theater Regal Edwards Marq*E, the Grand has been through a heavy remodeling process. Gone are the lavish murals of early 20th-century movie stars that covered the walls. They’ve now been replaced with LCD screens showing clip packages of movies either in theaters or coming soon. The downstairs box office has been taken out and replaced with a game room. (People can pick up tickets at nearby kiosks.) And both floors have working concession stands, along with a full bar on the first floor.

“We love this theater and really wanted to continue to make it, you know, a great place for people to come and watch movies,” says Regal Cinemas regional marketing manager Rachel Lueras. “So, we’re really kind of giving it a refreshed look and feel, adding in new premium screens, redoing the seats, new panes — really kind of continuing to take special care of this theater that we love so much in the community.”

On Wednesday, July 30, the Grand officially unveiled these additions with a VIP reception, held in the second-floor lobby. Attendees later gathered in the RPX auditorium for a sneak preview of the new Liam Neeson comedy The Naked Gun. Before the screening, Majic 102.1 personality Kandi Eastman said a few amplified words to the audience about her “magic memories” of hosting movie premieres at the theater. (She even witnessed a wedding proposal there!)

Eastman then introduced Sherry Mulberry, Southern regional operations director for Regal, who gave thanks to all the Grand employees for keeping the ship afloat while other parts were getting remodeled.

“They have my heart,” said Mulberry. “It's the team and the leadership of the Regal Greenway brand, and it's all the smiling faces that you've seen in and around the theater. At Regal, we realized that no matter how fine the location or the marketing, it only works with the right operations team.”

Eastman later told the audience they can come back on Saturday and Sunday, as the theater continues its celebration with $3 movie showings. Regal film buyer Joseph Ranallo and Alzheimer’s Association chief development officer both came up with a big blank check, as Eastman explained that proceeds will be going to the Association. “We're here tonight with a blank check,” said Eastman. “However, with everyone in the room working together, there is no doubt we will be writing a large amount of this check, in support of the Alzheimer's Association.”

Movie Review

Over-the-top thriller The Housemaid revels in camp, chaos, and excess

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.

Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.

Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).

After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.

Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.

The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.

Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.

Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.

The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.

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The Housemaid is now playing in theaters.

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to infinity and beyond

Inner loop movie theater reveals renovations, future IMAX addition

Movie Review

Over-the-top thriller The Housemaid revels in camp, chaos, and excess

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