Fellow Guilford students and faculty, in the dawn of this new semester, I encourage you to set aside your seasonal strife and indulge in your taste for the classic jollies of a trip to the movies. For a night, I’d like you to step out of not just this campus but this reality, and immerse yourself in another all by simply buying a ticket.

Perhaps, as you accept this challenge, you’ll choose to explore the unique, local venue that is the Carousel Cinemas. After some notable twists and turns on Battleground Ave., I pulled into the Cinemas’ parking lot to find that it was almost completely full, even in the mid-afternoon. It was not clear to me why it has developed such a fan-base from the fairly average façade of the theater. My question was soon answered.

I found that the Cinemas, with the ease and elegance of a competent business, both satisfies your carnal longing for quality films and even satiates your pre-movie munchies.

Tony Fernandez, the promotions director of the Cinemas, explained that they serve everything from hotdogs and beer, to cakes by Ganache and wine by the glass, all from the Cinemas’s Bistro Lounge.

Judging by the friendly and lavish atmosphere of the theater-restaurant hybrid, the Carousel was built to provide the ultimate movie-going adventure for their customers.

“The main appeal of the Carousel is that we’re independent, family owned,” Fernandez said. I was relieved to find that it was rooted locally in Greensboro and not just another giant company monopolizing the region’s theaters.

Fernandez went on to tell me about the Thursday Night Cheap Beer and a Movie Series, a film series geared towards college students. On these nights, admission is $4 and beer is $1.50 at either a 7:30 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. showing of a feature film. This lends students the opportunity to enjoy an affordable night of entertainment.

On the Cinemas’ website, you can check out the times and prices for feature films or browse the site’s listings of “independent and foreign films that wouldn’t see the light of day in most Triad theaters.” Boasting a medley of alternative and mainstream flicks, including screenings of work from local filmmakers, the Cinemas stands out from its competitors.

If I’ve successfully convinced you, I might recommend “127 Hours” or “True Grit,” or go ahead and ask some of your peers for advice. Some other screenings available at Carousel right now are “Love & Other Drugs,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway and “Summer Wars,” an animated film from Japan.