while i love the bruin and want to support more 1-screen theatres, if you had to choose between either— go to the dome. that’s where i saw it and it looked and sounded awesome.
re: the midnight shows, does anyone know if this is effective immediately? a bunch of friends and i were planning on seeing Goodfellas tonight!
re: the best sound system. my vote goes for the westwood village/national/bruin (NOT the mann festival), grauman’s chinese, or the arclight cinerama dome.
I saw Oceans Thirteen at this theatre today, and unfortunately there was a problem with the sound. Every 7 or 8 seconds, there was a small electrical buzzing through the center channel. Not noticable too much in the louder scenes, but in the quieter ones, it was distracting! I notified the people who worked there and unfortunately their reply was “the tech is up north”… as in “we can’t fix this.” I almost went to see this at the Century 15, but went to the Festival to support these slowly dying 1 screen theatres in westwood. If they can’t get their presentation up to par, that’s a real shame…
They’re also playing this great documentary about the world of 1980’s arcade games at the National called Chasing Ghosts. It’s a really fun movie, and will be that much more fun at such an awesomely dated-looking theatre.
D. Packard— FYI Earthquake is actually screening in Sensurround later this month in Westwood at the UCLA James Bridges Theatre as part of the LA Film Fest.
I unfortunately only made it to one film here before it was torn down. Terrible film (Below), great theatre. I remember not actually believing that a theatre existed there— it was on the bottom floor of the most corporate and stoic building complex imaginable, and parking was impossible to figure out. I was expecting the worst— but couldn’t believe how enormous the place was. I would have seen more films here if I had known… The screens and auditoriums rivaled the size of the westwood screens.
In addition— there was another 3 or 4 plex just around the corner from this theatre that is not on this site. They never shared the same movies— the other theatre was this big beige box of a place. I remember seeing Cabin Boy there after it got a three and a half star in the Boston Globe. huh?
This was one of the only theatres in the area to play Pulp Fiction. I remember seeing it on senior discount day – it was practially sold out; a sea of white hair. There were many walkouts throughout, but at the point when Myron gets his brains blown out in the back of the car, literally half the audience got up and left.
This was where I saw almost every movie as a kid. It’s how I remember seeing movies. In fact, watching Back to the Future here when I was 5 years old is what caused me to want to become a filmmaker. It started out as a 2-plex, and boomed into a 12 plex. I think at some point, they may have even twinned some of the theatres into a 13 or 14 plex.
I remember the walls had these little holes all over the sides, and I would have nightmares of tons of spaghetti coming out of it and drowning me. The theatre closed after the nearby North Attleboro showcase opened with all digital sound and larger screens. But it’s the quintessential 1980’s multiplex. Sticky floors, red carpet, lots of kids, moviehopping…
Weird bit of trivia— it was also one of the only theatres in memory to play the film “It Runs in the Family.” The unofficial sequel to A Christmas Story.
In the early and mid-90’s I remember driving extra lengths to go to this theatre. They were one of the few theatres in the area to have those special strobe lights installed for the Twister and Lost World trailers. When they went off I had no idea what was happening— boy was it effective! They also sold taco bell at the concession stand which was extra awesome back then. Sad to hear that it’s gotten worse…
The Apple!!!! (I would give my left arm to see this at the National)
Troll 2
Goonies
Over the Top
Lazerblast
Cloak and Dagger
Cool as Ice
House of the Dead
Teen Wolf Too
They Live
Jaws 3-D
Pod People
Zotz!
Explorers
Schindler’s List
screw 70mm, how about 150mm? they should develop new filmmaking technologies just for this occasion. should i start a petition? August 19th 2008 will be the 25th anniversary of YOR— that gives us just over a year to turn this dream into a reality.
Back when it was a 14 screener, I remember that certain films would open there before anywhere else. I remember fighting traffic just so I could see Celebrity, Being John Malkovitch, or American Beauty before everyone else. The theatre itself was nothing special; a few auditoriums were larger than others… but if you wanted to movie hop, and the two films you wanted to see were on the smaller screened wing of the theatre, it was incredibly easy to do so. The new 15 screen theatre is not quite as easy, depending on the time of day you are trying to hop… though the theatre in absolutely pristine. If only they had reserved seats I’d go there more often…
Funny story— Last time I went there I ran into Bruce Willis. After seeing him ooze testosterone in the Live Free or Die Hard trailer, it was kind of weird watching him walk into the theatre to see Waitress.
I remember driving from Orange County to see movies at this theatre before they’d be completely gone. It’s definitely improved over the years… I remember seeing Happiness on an insanely tiny screen with crappy sound there, and a few years later having a pristine projection of Rasing Victor Vargas. Glad to hear they’re renovating it even more!
One of the best screenings I’ve ever been to was at the Bruin. For the Thursday sneak of Snakes on a Plane, someone brought two huge trash bags full of rubber snakes, and would throw them throughout the audience at the appropriate times during the movie. There was constant hissing as well. And when Sam finally exclaimed his classic line (“I want these mf snakes of this mf plane”), there was literally a standing ovation. You couldn’t even hear him finish his line because everyone was cheering at the top of their lungs. Cinematic experiences like that are truly priceless.
It’s great that LA now has a 2nd run arthouse theatre. Whenever I’d miss something great, I’d have to drive out to Pasadena to see it at the Academy 6. This theatre also seems to get some random programming too— when the Kingdom of Heaven directors cut came out, it only played at this theatre. Strange.
I think it’s actually kind of incredible that a theatre this crappy can still stay in business in los angeles of all places. How they can charge full price for 2nd run films is beyond me. The first and last time i went to this theatre was to see Mean Creek. In an auditorium of maybe 40-50 seats and with a screen maybe 8 feet wide. But the kicker is that they were projecting it in the wrong aspect ratio— they had the masking set to 2.35, and in closeups everyone’s heads (and eyes) were getting cut off. It was a Thursday PM screening, so I can only imagine that it was projected this way for the entire week. When I went to complain, they actually didn’t know what the words “aspect ratio” meant, but at least they fixed it.
I remember going here once in college to see the movie Cube. I remember quite clearly how insane it was with how deep the theatre went. Especially when there are only 6 people in the audience, it’s just so bizarre. It was an overall odd experience, because I don’t think that particular film played anywhere else. Weird movie in a weird theatre.
while i love the bruin and want to support more 1-screen theatres, if you had to choose between either— go to the dome. that’s where i saw it and it looked and sounded awesome.
re: the midnight shows, does anyone know if this is effective immediately? a bunch of friends and i were planning on seeing Goodfellas tonight!
re: the best sound system. my vote goes for the westwood village/national/bruin (NOT the mann festival), grauman’s chinese, or the arclight cinerama dome.
I saw Oceans Thirteen at this theatre today, and unfortunately there was a problem with the sound. Every 7 or 8 seconds, there was a small electrical buzzing through the center channel. Not noticable too much in the louder scenes, but in the quieter ones, it was distracting! I notified the people who worked there and unfortunately their reply was “the tech is up north”… as in “we can’t fix this.” I almost went to see this at the Century 15, but went to the Festival to support these slowly dying 1 screen theatres in westwood. If they can’t get their presentation up to par, that’s a real shame…
That is so awesome.
They’re also playing this great documentary about the world of 1980’s arcade games at the National called Chasing Ghosts. It’s a really fun movie, and will be that much more fun at such an awesomely dated-looking theatre.
D. Packard— FYI Earthquake is actually screening in Sensurround later this month in Westwood at the UCLA James Bridges Theatre as part of the LA Film Fest.
…especially YOR.
They’re building a luxury apartment complex over there now. I think it’s called The Palazzo; it actually takes up both sides of the street.
I unfortunately only made it to one film here before it was torn down. Terrible film (Below), great theatre. I remember not actually believing that a theatre existed there— it was on the bottom floor of the most corporate and stoic building complex imaginable, and parking was impossible to figure out. I was expecting the worst— but couldn’t believe how enormous the place was. I would have seen more films here if I had known… The screens and auditoriums rivaled the size of the westwood screens.
In addition— there was another 3 or 4 plex just around the corner from this theatre that is not on this site. They never shared the same movies— the other theatre was this big beige box of a place. I remember seeing Cabin Boy there after it got a three and a half star in the Boston Globe. huh?
This was one of the only theatres in the area to play Pulp Fiction. I remember seeing it on senior discount day – it was practially sold out; a sea of white hair. There were many walkouts throughout, but at the point when Myron gets his brains blown out in the back of the car, literally half the audience got up and left.
This was where I saw almost every movie as a kid. It’s how I remember seeing movies. In fact, watching Back to the Future here when I was 5 years old is what caused me to want to become a filmmaker. It started out as a 2-plex, and boomed into a 12 plex. I think at some point, they may have even twinned some of the theatres into a 13 or 14 plex.
I remember the walls had these little holes all over the sides, and I would have nightmares of tons of spaghetti coming out of it and drowning me. The theatre closed after the nearby North Attleboro showcase opened with all digital sound and larger screens. But it’s the quintessential 1980’s multiplex. Sticky floors, red carpet, lots of kids, moviehopping…
Weird bit of trivia— it was also one of the only theatres in memory to play the film “It Runs in the Family.” The unofficial sequel to A Christmas Story.
I remember this theatre as having the most cheery and energetic of phone messages to get the times of the movies that played there.
In the early and mid-90’s I remember driving extra lengths to go to this theatre. They were one of the few theatres in the area to have those special strobe lights installed for the Twister and Lost World trailers. When they went off I had no idea what was happening— boy was it effective! They also sold taco bell at the concession stand which was extra awesome back then. Sad to hear that it’s gotten worse…
oh… and how could I forget the Swayze classic Red Dawn…
The Apple!!!! (I would give my left arm to see this at the National)
Troll 2
Goonies
Over the Top
Lazerblast
Cloak and Dagger
Cool as Ice
House of the Dead
Teen Wolf Too
They Live
Jaws 3-D
Pod People
Zotz!
Explorers
Schindler’s List
…all of these in 150mm please.
screw 70mm, how about 150mm? they should develop new filmmaking technologies just for this occasion. should i start a petition? August 19th 2008 will be the 25th anniversary of YOR— that gives us just over a year to turn this dream into a reality.
oh that’s awesome to hear.
if you bring back midnight shows… i think all of us would agree that YOR would be a superb choice.
“Help me cut the choice meats.”
Back when it was a 14 screener, I remember that certain films would open there before anywhere else. I remember fighting traffic just so I could see Celebrity, Being John Malkovitch, or American Beauty before everyone else. The theatre itself was nothing special; a few auditoriums were larger than others… but if you wanted to movie hop, and the two films you wanted to see were on the smaller screened wing of the theatre, it was incredibly easy to do so. The new 15 screen theatre is not quite as easy, depending on the time of day you are trying to hop… though the theatre in absolutely pristine. If only they had reserved seats I’d go there more often…
Funny story— Last time I went there I ran into Bruce Willis. After seeing him ooze testosterone in the Live Free or Die Hard trailer, it was kind of weird watching him walk into the theatre to see Waitress.
I remember driving from Orange County to see movies at this theatre before they’d be completely gone. It’s definitely improved over the years… I remember seeing Happiness on an insanely tiny screen with crappy sound there, and a few years later having a pristine projection of Rasing Victor Vargas. Glad to hear they’re renovating it even more!
One of the best screenings I’ve ever been to was at the Bruin. For the Thursday sneak of Snakes on a Plane, someone brought two huge trash bags full of rubber snakes, and would throw them throughout the audience at the appropriate times during the movie. There was constant hissing as well. And when Sam finally exclaimed his classic line (“I want these mf snakes of this mf plane”), there was literally a standing ovation. You couldn’t even hear him finish his line because everyone was cheering at the top of their lungs. Cinematic experiences like that are truly priceless.
Oh— and Heather Graham was there too. How random!
It’s great that LA now has a 2nd run arthouse theatre. Whenever I’d miss something great, I’d have to drive out to Pasadena to see it at the Academy 6. This theatre also seems to get some random programming too— when the Kingdom of Heaven directors cut came out, it only played at this theatre. Strange.
I think it’s actually kind of incredible that a theatre this crappy can still stay in business in los angeles of all places. How they can charge full price for 2nd run films is beyond me. The first and last time i went to this theatre was to see Mean Creek. In an auditorium of maybe 40-50 seats and with a screen maybe 8 feet wide. But the kicker is that they were projecting it in the wrong aspect ratio— they had the masking set to 2.35, and in closeups everyone’s heads (and eyes) were getting cut off. It was a Thursday PM screening, so I can only imagine that it was projected this way for the entire week. When I went to complain, they actually didn’t know what the words “aspect ratio” meant, but at least they fixed it.
I love this theatre— i recently saw Donnie Darko and this theatre was used in that as well (the characters are watching Evil Dead).
I remember going here once in college to see the movie Cube. I remember quite clearly how insane it was with how deep the theatre went. Especially when there are only 6 people in the audience, it’s just so bizarre. It was an overall odd experience, because I don’t think that particular film played anywhere else. Weird movie in a weird theatre.