Oceanside Twin
2743 Long Beach Road,
Oceanside,
NY
11572
2743 Long Beach Road,
Oceanside,
NY
11572
3 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 65 of 65 comments
It saves electricity and extends the life of the Zenon bulb, but makes the picture look like crap.
Like I said above, this was always known as a crap-ola theater even back in the 70’s when every neighborhood had a theater. The Century’s Baldwin was so much better maintained. That’s why I’m surprised that this one has remained around for so long.
And what is the benefit to the owners to have the light on the screen so dim? Does it save electricity or something?
The presentation is horrible at Oceanside. I should know, I work in the booth. All the equipment needs to be udgraded. The light on the screen is not even half the brightness it should be. The screens are wrinkled also. The place may be clean, but that does not make up for bad presentations.
They used to own the Long Beach but don’t anymore, which was torn down and rebuilt by new owners.
The Century’s Baldwin was small but pretty much the same size as the Oceanside, just better maintained. The last movie I saw at the Century’s Baldwin was “Heaven Help Us”. I hadn’t been in there for awhile and was saddened to see that it wasn’t being maintained too well. The dark paint in the auditorium was peeling, especially on the ceiling and the place just looked tired. I was surprised that it lasted as long as it did. But it still seemed to get 1st run movies right up until it closed and it attracted a crowd. The Oceanside, on the other hand, was always second run and looked it.
The difference, I think, is that the shopping area in Baldwin where the theater was located started to decline in the late 70’s/early 80’s while the area where the Oceanside is stayed fairly active. Maybe not the most attractive but it was/is used as opposed to where the Century’s Baldwin was. And it’s gotten worse since then…
I never understood why Century’s closed the Baldwin, I thought they owned the building. This was around the time they closed alot of places prior to the takeover by Almi-RKO.
When I lived on LI, this theater WAS a hellhole. When it was a single screener, it was gross. Never maintained. The kicker was that the town (Oceanside) was/is very nice so it was hard to understand why the owners managed it so poorly. But it seemed to bring people in because of the ample parking (in back) and the fact that the area had a lot of foot traffic.
When it was a single screener, one of the last movies I saw there was a lousy movie called “Rollercoaster” in Sensurround. Now, if you know this theater and it’s size, installing that system seemed foolish. They had it installed in the Green Acres but that was understandable as it was huge. But in the Oceanside?!! Anyway…the “technicians” at the theater either didn’t know how to use it or there was some kind of glitch because they couldn’t turn it off. Literally from the moment the movie began through the end, the Sensurround was on. Only intermittantly did they get it off. No one could hear the dialogue (such as it was). Twice they turned the movie off to see if they could fix it. At one point, some High School students in the audience started acting up. A girl near me went to sit in her seat and the whole back simply fell off. It was the single worst movie going experience in my life. I had always disliked that theater and favored my Century’s Baldwin much more, even as a kid.
The last movie I saw there was “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”. It was horrible. The “theater” was a shoebox, the sound was terrible and the place was disgusting. But it was packed…
Don’t they also own Long beach?
There is a large marquee that says Oceanside Theater that is over the sidewalk and can be easily seen by passing traffic. There is another smaller marquee flush against the building that gives the names of the movies playing. I’ve never seen any birthday messages.
There is nothing to be afraid of inside. There are two nondescript auditoriums, but the place is clean and the screens are clean and usually well lit.
This is a family-owned business with a friendly staff. It has a smallish lobby but a lot of one sheets advertising upcoming movies and those playing at the Bellmore and Malverne, also owned by this family.
Admission is also inexpensive and the concession stand is cheaper than the chains.
We should treasure these local houses, because we will miss them when they’re gone. I recently saw Motorcycle Diaries and Maria Full of Grace here, so I also appreciate the creative booking that sometimes occurs.
There are 2 long narrow hellish screens in this hellhole building. Trust me its not very nice inside. Be afraid, be very afraid.
RobertR: thanks for the BIG laugh! I noticed either on the marquee or somewhere near it there was a sign advertising the place for birthday parties. There is a similar kind of theater in Northern NJ in Ramsey that does the same thing. BUT…they do it much more nicely.
As for Lawrence, I don’t get it either. I did have a lot of friends from the 5 Towns and they always went to the Sunrise Multiplex. I guess schlepping all that way to a less than desirable theater was OK. There was a nice, big luxurious theater in the heart of Cedarhurst and I was surprised years ago that it closed down. Guess it’s not that important to them.
They are always taking the titles off to put up “Happy Birthday Eggbert” or whoever is having a birthday there. I was only in this theatre once and do not recall alot. It suprises me nobody else tried to open the RKO Lawrence since that whole area is under screened.
Drove by this “thing” last weekend. What’s up with the wacky marquee these days? It doesn’t tell you what’s playing, just says Oceanside Theater or something.
Is this hellhole still attracting a crowd? And how many theaters are in this place now? Smallish neighborhood theaters like this, I’ve noticed, don’t attract the attention on this board the way the big ones do. I’d just like to know if people these days like this place. Who knows? Maybe it’s really nice inside!
This was a single screen movie theater that opened in the mid to late 50’s on the site of an old car dealership on Long Beach Road. It wasn’t very big or memorable as a single screen theater but I did see a lot of movies here. It did not have a balcony. In the early 80’s it was turned into a twin. What little charm this theater might’ve had as a single theater was destroyed. The last time I was there in the early 90’s it had all the ambience of a bomb shelter. Terrible place.
it is own by the same people who owns the malverne