$35 to go see a movie? Yikes.

So there was an article in the LA Times this past week about Australian company Village Roadshow Ltd, who are planning to open a trio of "Gold Class" movie theaters in Southern California (in Pasadena, Costa Mesa and Ontario) where admission will cost $35 a ticket.

And you don't even get free popcorn for that.

Actually, it doesn't seem like you get anything free, except I guess the ability to see a movie without the riffraff.

The theaters will be set up with seats next to tables, which limit the seats to 30-40 per theater (which probably explains the high price; most of it probably goes to the movie studio to justify opening a new movie there).

The theaters will serve posh food, but it won't be cheap. According to the article, a mushroom-and-brie pizza and a bottle of beer will run you $28. So if you want to share the pizza with a date, and get her a beer too, you've already dropped over $100, for pizza, a couple of beers and a movie.

The waiters will be black-uniformed, "stealth-like" servers who can be summoned by the touch of a button, and deliver food without disturbing anyone's movie expertise. In theory. I guess ordering is by mime. And you probably have to tip them, too.

Staffing costs will be relatively high, with as many as 30 workers, including chefs and line cooks, on duty at a time and commanding salaries as high as $100,000 a year.

They're going to have to sell a lot of overpriced food to cover that.

Supposedly this works in Australia. But really, won't anyone who can afford this prefer just having a nice expensive dinner somewhere else, and then watch a movie without having to fumble around in the dark for your lobster roll?

Is multitasking really that necessary during leisure time? And is combining dining and a movie really worth paying a $25 surcharge per ticket?

I was a theater manager for 6 years, and I think it's nuts. And doomed to failure.

I guess we'll find out. Stay tuned.