It’s nice to see the Arclight actually giving The Godfather/The Godfather Part II a one-week run at the Dome. Too bad they couldn’t have done the same with 2001 and How the West Was Won. Even a weekend for each would have been sufficient.
Demolition has begun on this theater. I drove by today and saw just the frame left on screens I and II; a large green fence has been erected around the Plaza III and I can only assume its next, as the doors were open and it appeared they were in the proccess of gutting it. No idea what, if anything, will be going up in its place. Demo company is Ampco Construction. Sad day indeed.
Prior to its renovation in 2000, the Dome had many widescreen festivals( See Michael Coate’s comments earlier this year). Why they can’t plan new ones is anyone’s guess. I know Pacific likes to use the Dome for the week’s major releases, but committing a week or even a few weekends a year for classic screenings wouldn’t kill them. They do have 11 other screens to work with. Schedule them in mid-winter or early fall when new studio programming is light. They didn’t seem to have a problem when it was just the Dome by itself.
Happy belated b-day, Close Encounters. I caught CETK at the South Coast Plaza 3 when I was seven years old and it remains one of my favorite films. Got the new three-disc Ultimate Edition DVD for Xmas and recently screened all three versions. I prefer the Director’s Cut but did enjoy seeing both the Original Theatrical and Special Edition cuts again. I forgot how much of a let-down the Special Edition was at the end. It’s sad there wasn’t a theatrical re-release for the anniversary.
It’s nice to see “2001” screening at the Dome. Would it have killed Archlight and AFI to extend it for a weekend? It is the 40th anniversary afterall. They do have 12 other screens to showcase all the other crap. They seem to forget that the Dome is a palace that desrves to host a little royalty beyond one-night stays. The last “classic” to have an extended run(a weekend or more) was “Alien” in 2003. That’s five years ago. Prior to 2002 when it was just the Dome screen, at least a dozen classic films had extended runs every year.I’m talking week-long festivals that coexisted with current studio bookings. And they were always packed. In a span of one year, I saw Apocalypse Now, River Kwai and Close Encounters. You’ve never seen any of those films until you’ve seen them at the Dome. It’s sad that today’s generation can’t experience classic films on its concave screen beyond one night. I don’t know about you but given the choice of screening “Star Wars,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” or “Lawrence of Arabia” on my 65" TV or on the Dome screen, the Dome wins every time. Archlight prides itself on being the movie lover’s choice. It would be nice if they actually showed movies we love.
Sad to say I saw only one movie there – an advance screening of Just Cause in ‘95. Let’s just say I was more impressed with the theater than the film. Wish I had made it back before the closure. I did see Zodiac and thought it looked familiar.
I have very fond memories of the Plaza III as well – Close Encounters, Superman:The Movie, Popeye, Temple of Doom to name a few. It had a nice lobby with two 180-degree ramp entrances, one on either side of the concession stand, that always made you feel like you were entering someplace special, almost regal. You always hoped the big event movies played at either the Big Newport or the Plaza III. No other theaters in OC even came close. I basically grew up in the dark there over three decades – flicks with my mom in the 70s, school buddies in the 80s and girlfriends in the 90s. Rounders was the last film I saw there shorly before its closure in ‘98. I wish
some independent would take it over, make it special again. Movie lovers would come.
It’s nice to see the Arclight actually giving The Godfather/The Godfather Part II a one-week run at the Dome. Too bad they couldn’t have done the same with 2001 and How the West Was Won. Even a weekend for each would have been sufficient.
Indy IV really shouldn’t be a shocker since Lucasfilm’s Revenge of the Sith bypassed the Chinese and opened at the Dome in 2005.
Demolition has begun on this theater. I drove by today and saw just the frame left on screens I and II; a large green fence has been erected around the Plaza III and I can only assume its next, as the doors were open and it appeared they were in the proccess of gutting it. No idea what, if anything, will be going up in its place. Demo company is Ampco Construction. Sad day indeed.
Prior to its renovation in 2000, the Dome had many widescreen festivals( See Michael Coate’s comments earlier this year). Why they can’t plan new ones is anyone’s guess. I know Pacific likes to use the Dome for the week’s major releases, but committing a week or even a few weekends a year for classic screenings wouldn’t kill them. They do have 11 other screens to work with. Schedule them in mid-winter or early fall when new studio programming is light. They didn’t seem to have a problem when it was just the Dome by itself.
This theater has actually been a Starplex second-run veneue for many years now.
Happy belated b-day, Close Encounters. I caught CETK at the South Coast Plaza 3 when I was seven years old and it remains one of my favorite films. Got the new three-disc Ultimate Edition DVD for Xmas and recently screened all three versions. I prefer the Director’s Cut but did enjoy seeing both the Original Theatrical and Special Edition cuts again. I forgot how much of a let-down the Special Edition was at the end. It’s sad there wasn’t a theatrical re-release for the anniversary.
It’s nice to see “2001” screening at the Dome. Would it have killed Archlight and AFI to extend it for a weekend? It is the 40th anniversary afterall. They do have 12 other screens to showcase all the other crap. They seem to forget that the Dome is a palace that desrves to host a little royalty beyond one-night stays. The last “classic” to have an extended run(a weekend or more) was “Alien” in 2003. That’s five years ago. Prior to 2002 when it was just the Dome screen, at least a dozen classic films had extended runs every year.I’m talking week-long festivals that coexisted with current studio bookings. And they were always packed. In a span of one year, I saw Apocalypse Now, River Kwai and Close Encounters. You’ve never seen any of those films until you’ve seen them at the Dome. It’s sad that today’s generation can’t experience classic films on its concave screen beyond one night. I don’t know about you but given the choice of screening “Star Wars,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” or “Lawrence of Arabia” on my 65" TV or on the Dome screen, the Dome wins every time. Archlight prides itself on being the movie lover’s choice. It would be nice if they actually showed movies we love.
Sad to say I saw only one movie there – an advance screening of Just Cause in ‘95. Let’s just say I was more impressed with the theater than the film. Wish I had made it back before the closure. I did see Zodiac and thought it looked familiar.
I have very fond memories of the Plaza III as well – Close Encounters, Superman:The Movie, Popeye, Temple of Doom to name a few. It had a nice lobby with two 180-degree ramp entrances, one on either side of the concession stand, that always made you feel like you were entering someplace special, almost regal. You always hoped the big event movies played at either the Big Newport or the Plaza III. No other theaters in OC even came close. I basically grew up in the dark there over three decades – flicks with my mom in the 70s, school buddies in the 80s and girlfriends in the 90s. Rounders was the last film I saw there shorly before its closure in ‘98. I wish
some independent would take it over, make it special again. Movie lovers would come.