AMC 16 USHERS IN ERA OF COMFORT.

Byline: PHIL ROSENTHAL 

Bridges and buildings, they open by cutting ribbons. Paintings and sculptures, they unveil. Ships are launched with a bottle of champagne across the bow.

They officially threw open the doors to Woodland Hills' new AMC Promenade 16 Theatres on Friday morning. But the real christening of the multiplex was to come sometime later, when some poor kid spilled his soda. Who ever heard of a movie theater without sticky floors?

Takes some getting used to - like new carpet, fresh paint and clean restrooms - but that's all right.

Let the executives, agents and stars yak on their cellular phones as they fight traffic over the hill about what they think the movie business is about. You and I know the answer, and it isn't nominations and gross and points.

What matters most is whether is whether the seats are comfortable, the sound is good, the popcorn is fresh and the screen is big.

In Manhattan, Sony has built a gleaming state-of-the-art showcase, a modern-day movie palace. Sure, it's a tad more luxurious than the one in Woodland Hills. But it also charges $9 a ticket and, for that kind of money, you ought to be arriving in Connecticut by the time the film ends.

You don't need marble floors to get you out of the house to see a movie. All you need is someplace with free parking that's nicer than your living room. And until IKEA starts selling love seats with cup holders, this is better than mine.

The seats at Promenade 16 are tiered, like in a ballpark, so your view of the screen isn't blocked by the person in front of you, and there's enough legroom for someone to pass by without you getting up. The seats themselves are high-backed like airline seats and their padded armrests flip up, so you can cuddle with your date or stretch out by yourself.

Plus - bless them - there are those cup holders.

In fact, the only quibble with this AMC joint - and it's a minor one - is that, in 11 of the 16 theaters, you have no choice but to enter at the front and walk upstairs to the good seats on the higher tiers, unlike traditional theaters where you enter in the back and walk down a sloping aisle.

Maybe this is good for some people because most late arrivals will have to sit up front. But I'm not crazy about having to huff and puff upstairs to get a decent view.

No one else seemed to mind at a Thursday-night benefit gala celebrating the new complex. Perhaps that's because there was a lavish spread of food, which, at movie theater prices, was worth millions.

A food court is being constructed, as the once-moribund Promenade appears to be coming back to life around the new theaters. Wolfgang Puck has set up shop by the entrance.

If nothing else, the AMC Promenade 16 multiplex already has had an impact for good. While it's offering popcorn at 16 cents for its opening weekend, the nearby 10-screen Fallbrook Mall General Cinemas has slashed its popcorn price to 10 cents through Sunday.

Anyone who has stood in line at Fallbrook knows this is a good sign.

One word of caution, though: When lifting your armrest at the Promenade, be sure to remove your soda from the cup holder. No sense christening the place any more than necessary.