Thanks for all the help. I'm adjusting my mind to the idea of a really dark ceiling and trying to imagine how the room will look when the room isn't being used as a "theater". I probably should have said in my original post that this our general rec room and will probably also act as the grandchildrens' "dorm" at some point. This room also has two windows and a glass door to a porch. I was planning on using white plantation shutters in the rest of the house and I don't think the white plantation shutters will work well for light control. Since these windows will be very visible from the street do you think it's important to keep the window treatments uniform or can I do something different on these windows from the rest of the house? I'm definitely way out of my comfort zone on this and any help will be appreciated.

HGTV often implies that crown molding needs to "pop", but I think you may need to decide what's more important to you: showing off the molding, or making your ceilings appear as high as possible. Low contrast, letting the moldings blend with the wall, will make the ceilings appear somewhat higher. Painting the molding in a contrast will shorten the ceilings by however deep the molding is (a few inches?), and draws attention to your 8' ceilings. I have 7.5' ceilings at the sides of my living room & kitchen that peak to 8' in the center. I painted the molding in the same matte color I used on the wall, and I love it. The molding doesn't disappear, it still adds architectural interest, a more finished feel to the room, but the ceilings appear much higher than they did when the molding was dark. Using the same color in a higher sheen could be an option, too, since it would allow the molding to blend slightly with the wall but make it show up more than if the sheen were as low as the wall. Martha Stewart has a lot of trim matching walls in her homes, but possibly with a higher sheen. Here is a link that might be useful: Martha Stewart's Homes

How about a really dark color? Or else cherry on top (whipped cream optional LOL) and make transition to white back at the walls (same profile)? Someone else has thread about transitioning CM color but I haven't seen any replies to that.

PPG's Delicate White. Can get a decent color match from BenM and SW. Also White Picket fence from Dunn Edwards; this one looks better with 3 coats but the color is worth it IMO.