Lancaster may be a little out of the way for Buffalo filmgoers, but if you prefer to see new movies with the best possible presentation, you’re going to start spending some time there. Flix Theaters has just finished a floor-to-ceiling renovation that makes it the most state-of-the-art screening venue in Western New York.

The locally owned chain Dipson Theaters, which acquired Flix a few years ago, completely gutted and rebuilt all 10 rooms. Each now features stadium seating with leather high-back seats. All of the projection equipment has been replaced with new digital technology (including four 3D rooms) that are as good as anything I’ve seen in New York, Los Angeles, or Toronto.

Flix also has something you won’t find in any of these cities: a room with D-BOX seating. D-BOX motion code uses a motion-generating system to send signals to theater seats synchronized to the action on the movie screen. In other words, your seat moves along with whatever you’re watching.

D-BOX presentations represent between 300 and 600 hours of labor by a team of technicians capable of programming movements as subtle as 20 milliliters—half the width of a human hair. Programmers come primarily from musical backgrounds, and work with the filmmakers from the dailies in order to have enough time to make the thousands of movement cues needed by the time a film arrives in theaters. The goal is to add texture to sound and image as a way of more fully immersing the viewer in the film experience.

Bear in mind that the state-of-the-art isn’t cheap: A D-BOX seat will cost you an extra $8 on top of the standard ticket charge, so if it’s a 3D film, you can be looking at nearly $20 per seat.

For those of you who would rather watch movies at home, you can get always get a home D-BOX system installed—at $11,000 per seat. (That’s the equivalent of 550 $20 tickets.)

Other improvements at Flix include a concession stand designed to eliminate long lines by making some aspects self-service while adding new items like personal-sized pizzas to the traditional offerings. There is also a party room that can be rented out for birthdays and other gatherings.

If yours is the kind of family that only goes to the movies once at year during the holidays, you’ll find it worth the trip. Tickets can be purchased online at www.dipsontheatres.com —and they’re cheaper than most other first run movie theaters!

—m. faust