Agreed. Hopefully the new owners are more aggressive in their bookings than Mann was (who I think just didn’t care any longer).
But separate from the bookings, the thing they have the most control over (and the thing Mann REALLY let lapse) is creating a better experience overall. Arclight’s motto is “Where Movie Lovers Belong.” The last few years, The Chinese’s seemed to be “You’re Probably Not Doing Anything Else, Right.” They need more of the former and less of the latter. Movie lovers are loyal. Tourists… not so much.
That’s nice to hear Segask. They didn’t do that for the Thursday midnight show. Although they also didn’t have a pre-show video presentation. Hopefully the new owners are taking a cue from the Arclight playbook and are going to attempt to class the place up (which seems odd to say considering it’s the world-famous Chinese). The sad truth is, in addition to the horrible bookings from the last few years, The Chinese has been attracting (intentional or not) a “lower class” of movie-goer. Too many talkers, teens, cell phoners… you know, tourists. I can go to a Saturday night 8:00 show in the Dome and almost always have a great experience. Saturday at The Chinese is an almost guaranteed recipe for a disruptive disaster. I would absolutely rather see Harry Potter DH2 at The Chinese over The Dome if I knew the audience could keep it together. I think there are others out there who have all but abandoned The Chinese because the environment there has become so low-class in the last few years.
Now if they could also add on-line reserved seating- that would be a whole new world of awesome.
Let us not ignore the fact that the sale also includes the adjacent 6-plex. I can’t imagine taking over both Grauman’s AND the 6-plex if you only want to convert Grauman’s to a nightclub. Perhaps they’ll convert the 6-plex to a nightclub and I wouldn’t loose a moment’s sleep if they did.
Also… Grauman’s is a cultural landmark so I’m not sure how easily or extensively it could be converted into a nightclub. Obviously they COULD do it, I just don’t know what additional hoops and accommodations would have to be gone through to make it actually happen and if it would be worth it or not to the new owners. Nightclubs in Hollywood are about as stable and longstanding as most of the marriages in this town.
A major problem with the Chinese is that Mann has no interest in catering to the hardcore moviegoer anymore. Frankly, I don’t want the knuckleheads milling around Hollywood Blvd to start buying tickets to the Chinese. The tourists can’t (and won’t) keep the Chinese afloat. I want Mann to start utilizing the Chinese as a competitor to Arclight Hollywood and The El Capitan (which is what it really is). Mann’s so busy trying to get out of the movie business that their only plan of attack is to pull in a few stragglers off the street. They’re just lazy now and it’s the reason they’re on the ropes with the Chinese. They need to look at what makes the El Capitan, the Dome and the additional Arclight theaters so appealing to locals that the locals will travel from all over the metro area and the Valley to see films there. I’ve already got my midnight tickets to Tron at the El Capitan on the 16th of December. The Chinese has become more of an impulse buy. I’ll see something there now, but I probably won’t decide until the day (often times because they won’t even tell you what’s playing there until a few days beforehand). With Due Date, I’ll probably hit that over at the Village because the Chinese will probably end up being about 70% tourists who had nothing better to do. Mann has been working hard to relinquish the Chinese’s ‘event’ identity.It’s sad because I love the Chinese, but I no longer love “going” to the Chinese.
CapnRob,
The fire at the Continental happened during the run of Return of the Jedi in 83. The Cooper was the only theater in Denver to open both Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. Return of the Jedi opened at both the Cooper and Continental.
Brad… 15, your right. I always think of the 14 as the total number and not just the new screens.
But you didn’t really read what I wrote. I said regardless of the technical merits of The Dome. I was speaking of the pure Arclight experience. Not the movie viewing experience, but the overall experience (which I assume you agree with since you have nothing but praise for Arclight otherwise).
Now imagine if they took all of the best from the Arclight experience and utilized it at The Village and Bruin? I hope Regency treats The Village and The Bruin better than other theaters because they are.
segask,
Not that I don’t totally love the outright doom and gloom you’re pontificating (and before the change has even taken place, no less), but I’m hopeful that Regency might be a bit more aggressive than Mann has been for the past decade. Mann spent the first decade of the new millennium letting their once great dynasty wither away one closure and demolition at a time. The worst part is Mann operates a great many of the Cinema Treasures this site is devoted to and they singlehandedly put almost all of them in danger. While I think that there are things that have happened that were outside Mann’s control, I think an overriding lack of enthusiasm and aggression on Mann’s part were directly responsible for the slow hemorrhaging they have seemed content to allow. I’ll provide a pair of examples…
Los Angeles has a handful of theaters that people are willing to go out of their way for… The Dome, The Chinese, The Village, The Bruin, The Vista (and a list that used to include The Festival and The National). Yet The Village would almost always mirror the showings over at The Dome or Grauman’s leaving several films without a premiere screen engagement. The Chinese and The Village are both theaters I would enjoy seeing a movie at. Why make me decide between them rather than giving me an option at both? Now I know that the reason for this is because those films are typically the most popular, but if something’s playing at The Village and also at The Dome, I’m more inclined to drive the extra 20 or so minutes to hit The Dome. Which brings us to point number 2-
Regardless of what anyone thinks of the technical pros and cons of the Cinerama Dome, I don’t think very many could dispute that it is probably the greatest movie experience in Los Angeles: reserved seating purchased with no service charge online, no on-screen advertising, great presentation (movie props and costumes in the lobby, the curtains always operate as part of the show), excellent staff, exciting alternative programming (Cinerama presentations, great Q&As), and a generally well-mannered, enthusiastic crowd. Mann took all the things people loved most about the Arclight experience and implemented NONE OF IT (and they had the better part of a decade to do so). Arclight took moviegoing and classed it up for a new era. Mann stuck to the same old rigid theatrical dogma that served them well in the 80s… except it’s no longer the 80s. Think about it- In late 2001, Mann added 6 adjacent screens to Grauman’s. A few months later, Arclight reopened The Dome with 13 additional adjacent screens. Which one of those two theaters was more forward thinking and which on is currently reaping the benefit?
As the market changed… Mann didn’t, plain and simple and that’s why they were losing money.
Now I do think there needs to be some kind of move over complex built in Westwood. The closing of all of those old screens (again, mostly Mann it seems) needs to be replenished somehow. It may not be possible behind The Bruin, but I know there’s space available on Gayley and Lindbrook (both east and west side of the street- which could put a complex right on Wilshire). Unless the studios suddenly stop demanding a film play for more than a week, it’s gonna be a necessity.
But I believe Regency knows the financials for these theaters (they wouldn’t have taken then over if they didn’t) and are prepared to work hard to make The Village and The Bruin the flagships of their organization (probably with an eventual eye towards The Chinese as well). But if anyone from Regency is actually reading this… Don’t simply continue to run these houses same old same old as the classics they are (and how Mann ran them) but rather give people reasons to return time and time again.
How about an ‘Enhanced Theater Experience’ where people in the audience don’t talk or text and generally know how to be civilized and behaved. AMC theaters seem to be the worst at attracting a courteous moviegoer. That would be worth paying extra for.
That rendering does appear to be the Campus West in Ft Collins, although the carport/drive-through wasn’t located to the right (which would have been Elizabeth St). In that drawing, the carport/drive-through would be in the center of the image in front of the theater. It makes some sense that they confused it with being in Boulder because the Campus West was pretty much adjacent to the Colorado State University campus (not the University of Colorado, which is Boulder). It was a nice little theater and probably had the best presentation in Ft Collins for many, many years. Saw The Living Daylights, Die Hard 1&2, The Abyss, War of the Roses and many others there. There was a second, smaller screen added at a certain point that was pretty much identical to the set up at the Cooper/Cooper Cameo in Denver. Maybe the carport/drive-through was relocated when the second screen was added.
The theater has definitely been demolished. I was in Ft Collins for an afternoon last summer and there is no longer any trace of it.
Hit the Thursday midnight and Avatar looked amazing. The screen was bright and colorful and the movie was beautiful to look at. They were using high tech electronic glasses, not the polarized plastic jobs you get at the El Capitan and everywhere else (I want to say they were ‘XtenD 3D’ but I don’t think that is right). The 3D was extremely effective, even near the back of the auditorium. The geometry of the screen doesn’t really change and there was one line of subtitles that was slightly cut off at the bottom of the screen (literally the word ‘no’), but I can’t say I ever found it distracting. It was a great presentation and Arclight really went out of their way to make it a great show. I was a little hesitant about how the 3D would look on that curved screen, but it looked great.
D. Packard,
I think it’s a testament to just how beloved this theater was that we’re still discussing it two years after the final showng on that massive screen. I truly, truly envy you guys that had the opportunity to experience all of Westwood during its 70s and 80s heyday. That’s what I loved so much about these theaters… that I could still approximate that feeling whenever I went there now. But I fully know it is/was nothing like being there in the day. You would just hope that the lessons learn by the National are applied to the Village/Bruin (assuming anyone actually paid attention).
It’s too bad the Cultural Heritage Commission views history strictly as a year and not via some sort of cultural impact (as their name would suggest). Maybe they can right this wrong and if that land stays vacant for more than forty years, they can hopefully declare the empty lot a landmark.
Well, Westwood residents wanted less traffic, less congestion, and over just less. They’re certainly getting their wish. A few more years and we might have several empty lots and loads of vacant storefronts. That’ll really up the property value in the neighborhood.
I saw it (1st show midnight Tuesday the 23rd)…
It was digital and it was LOOOONNGGG.
Looked great (except the subtitles at the bottom were either a) almost cut off in the center or b) showcased the geometry problems with the screen where the text appeared straight instead of following the curve of the screen).
It looked great, though, and it sounded amazing (one of the best I’ve heard in there). Michael Bay was there to introduce the show.
I went to the Chinese to see Fast & Furious (both the opening weekend Thursday midnight and Saturday night shows).
The biggest mistake Mann seems to be making with this theater (other than the bookings, obviously) is that they really seem to be going out of their way to make this theater a tourist trap. Unlike the Dome or the Village, where you really have to make an effort to go to those theaters, the Chinese grabs people off the street with nothing better to do. For the Thursday midnight, that wasn’t a problem because only people who really wanted to see the movie were on Hollywood Blvd at that time. The Saturday show was another story entirely with families and yapping teens and crying babies all over the place! Just a really horrible experience. The majesty and the experience of the Chinese is essentially wasted on these people who would be just as happy in a 100 seat AMC auditorium.
After spending so much time with the Arclight and the Dome, the Chinese is really starting to become a disappointment. Mann should be spending more time trying to improve the overall experience for people who make a point to go to the Chinese and less time worrying about pulling people in from the courtyard who are going to see a movie there once and then never come back. The tourists come and go, but the movie-lovers are what has kept that theater successful for decades.
Sadly, it’s a shadow of how mighty it once was. I wish Mann would just get out of the movie business already and let someone else (preferably Pacific) put some muscle behind it.
I was just thinking about this theater today because it’s been about a year now since they destroyed it. As many have seen, the lot still sits empty a year later with no sign of development.
Given the economy now, I have to wonder how long that property will now sit abandoned, with no investor wanting fund development of the site. Seeing as how the loss of the National under the Mann lease seemed to be all about, according to Mann, “unrealistic rent,” was the National just under victim of the spiraling greed of the real estate explosion? Given how real estate and the economy in general has been bottoming out, I have to wonder…
Was The National unnecessarily demolished?
It seems to me (and of course I don’t know the whole story) that the owners of the land realized everyone seemed to be making a killing on their real estate investments and decided they wanted in on that as well. When Mann’s lease came up for renewal, they (from the sound of it) came to Mann with terms that Mann saw as an “unrealistic” jump from the increases they had been accustomed to negotiating. Mann decides it can’t operate profitably with those terms, the theater closes, and the landlords cavalierly hack away at a piece of Westwood’s history so to quickly make room for one of the countless faceless businesses/building that populate anywhere USA (only to seemingly get F’d in the A when they can’t one of those faceless bodies to occupy and pay for that corner – I’m sure investors would never ask things like, “How long was that Hollywood Video across the street there before they closed?”)
Now I’m not saying that the landlords don’t have every right to try and charge fair market value for the use of their property. They certainly do. But sometimes being profitable isn’t always about how much money you can make today. Sometimes you need to be in the business of relationships. The National had occupied that corner for nearly 40 years. It was a Westwood landmark (even if a group of politicians didn’t see it as such). It had contributed income for a myriad of Westwood businesses (how many dinners were sold at countless restaurants by National patrons in the village for a night out?). The city made money from parking fees of movie-goers… the list goes on. And it stood with one purpose… to show movies. It should have been allowed to remain as such so long as it wasn’t unprofitable for the landlords. They should have made a little extra effort to consider the theater’s importance historically and its future potential.
If this is the way it really happened (and I don’t know if it is or not, just a theory) then I can only hope that the property has become a huge financial burden for the landlords over the last year and in their singular quest to make an extra dollar they’re wishing they’d never have let The National go…
That would be a sweet slice of karma.
And the hits just keep on rolling (over to the Dome). Quantum of Solace is now on sale at Arclight. So in a single year, the Chinese has managed to lose Indiana Jones, Batman, and now James Bond. If the Chinese manages to lose Star Trek and Harry Potter next summer, it might be time to panic (although I’m sure they’ll have no trouble snagging Land of the Lost and Final Destination 4).
Then it’s already being run better than it was by Mann.
Oh really? I walked out for (literally) 60 seconds right at midnight so I obviously missed it.
Agreed. Hopefully the new owners are more aggressive in their bookings than Mann was (who I think just didn’t care any longer).
But separate from the bookings, the thing they have the most control over (and the thing Mann REALLY let lapse) is creating a better experience overall. Arclight’s motto is “Where Movie Lovers Belong.” The last few years, The Chinese’s seemed to be “You’re Probably Not Doing Anything Else, Right.” They need more of the former and less of the latter. Movie lovers are loyal. Tourists… not so much.
That’s nice to hear Segask. They didn’t do that for the Thursday midnight show. Although they also didn’t have a pre-show video presentation. Hopefully the new owners are taking a cue from the Arclight playbook and are going to attempt to class the place up (which seems odd to say considering it’s the world-famous Chinese). The sad truth is, in addition to the horrible bookings from the last few years, The Chinese has been attracting (intentional or not) a “lower class” of movie-goer. Too many talkers, teens, cell phoners… you know, tourists. I can go to a Saturday night 8:00 show in the Dome and almost always have a great experience. Saturday at The Chinese is an almost guaranteed recipe for a disruptive disaster. I would absolutely rather see Harry Potter DH2 at The Chinese over The Dome if I knew the audience could keep it together. I think there are others out there who have all but abandoned The Chinese because the environment there has become so low-class in the last few years.
Now if they could also add on-line reserved seating- that would be a whole new world of awesome.
A decent sized, happy crowd for the midnight X-Men show. Was good to see a line on Hollywood Blvd for the first time in I don’t remember how long.
Let us not ignore the fact that the sale also includes the adjacent 6-plex. I can’t imagine taking over both Grauman’s AND the 6-plex if you only want to convert Grauman’s to a nightclub. Perhaps they’ll convert the 6-plex to a nightclub and I wouldn’t loose a moment’s sleep if they did.
Also… Grauman’s is a cultural landmark so I’m not sure how easily or extensively it could be converted into a nightclub. Obviously they COULD do it, I just don’t know what additional hoops and accommodations would have to be gone through to make it actually happen and if it would be worth it or not to the new owners. Nightclubs in Hollywood are about as stable and longstanding as most of the marriages in this town.
A major problem with the Chinese is that Mann has no interest in catering to the hardcore moviegoer anymore. Frankly, I don’t want the knuckleheads milling around Hollywood Blvd to start buying tickets to the Chinese. The tourists can’t (and won’t) keep the Chinese afloat. I want Mann to start utilizing the Chinese as a competitor to Arclight Hollywood and The El Capitan (which is what it really is). Mann’s so busy trying to get out of the movie business that their only plan of attack is to pull in a few stragglers off the street. They’re just lazy now and it’s the reason they’re on the ropes with the Chinese. They need to look at what makes the El Capitan, the Dome and the additional Arclight theaters so appealing to locals that the locals will travel from all over the metro area and the Valley to see films there. I’ve already got my midnight tickets to Tron at the El Capitan on the 16th of December. The Chinese has become more of an impulse buy. I’ll see something there now, but I probably won’t decide until the day (often times because they won’t even tell you what’s playing there until a few days beforehand). With Due Date, I’ll probably hit that over at the Village because the Chinese will probably end up being about 70% tourists who had nothing better to do. Mann has been working hard to relinquish the Chinese’s ‘event’ identity.It’s sad because I love the Chinese, but I no longer love “going” to the Chinese.
It’s funny, but that May 2010 pic that monika just posted looks almost exactly like the 1981 pic posted on April 27, 09 by Lost Memory.
CapnRob,
The fire at the Continental happened during the run of Return of the Jedi in 83. The Cooper was the only theater in Denver to open both Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. Return of the Jedi opened at both the Cooper and Continental.
That’s more like it-
Regency Village and Regency Bruin sound just fine to me. It’ll certainly look better on a marquee than:
“Theater Closed- Thank you for you patronage.”
Brad… 15, your right. I always think of the 14 as the total number and not just the new screens.
But you didn’t really read what I wrote. I said regardless of the technical merits of The Dome. I was speaking of the pure Arclight experience. Not the movie viewing experience, but the overall experience (which I assume you agree with since you have nothing but praise for Arclight otherwise).
Now imagine if they took all of the best from the Arclight experience and utilized it at The Village and Bruin? I hope Regency treats The Village and The Bruin better than other theaters because they are.
segask,
Not that I don’t totally love the outright doom and gloom you’re pontificating (and before the change has even taken place, no less), but I’m hopeful that Regency might be a bit more aggressive than Mann has been for the past decade. Mann spent the first decade of the new millennium letting their once great dynasty wither away one closure and demolition at a time. The worst part is Mann operates a great many of the Cinema Treasures this site is devoted to and they singlehandedly put almost all of them in danger. While I think that there are things that have happened that were outside Mann’s control, I think an overriding lack of enthusiasm and aggression on Mann’s part were directly responsible for the slow hemorrhaging they have seemed content to allow. I’ll provide a pair of examples…
Los Angeles has a handful of theaters that people are willing to go out of their way for… The Dome, The Chinese, The Village, The Bruin, The Vista (and a list that used to include The Festival and The National). Yet The Village would almost always mirror the showings over at The Dome or Grauman’s leaving several films without a premiere screen engagement. The Chinese and The Village are both theaters I would enjoy seeing a movie at. Why make me decide between them rather than giving me an option at both? Now I know that the reason for this is because those films are typically the most popular, but if something’s playing at The Village and also at The Dome, I’m more inclined to drive the extra 20 or so minutes to hit The Dome. Which brings us to point number 2-
Regardless of what anyone thinks of the technical pros and cons of the Cinerama Dome, I don’t think very many could dispute that it is probably the greatest movie experience in Los Angeles: reserved seating purchased with no service charge online, no on-screen advertising, great presentation (movie props and costumes in the lobby, the curtains always operate as part of the show), excellent staff, exciting alternative programming (Cinerama presentations, great Q&As), and a generally well-mannered, enthusiastic crowd. Mann took all the things people loved most about the Arclight experience and implemented NONE OF IT (and they had the better part of a decade to do so). Arclight took moviegoing and classed it up for a new era. Mann stuck to the same old rigid theatrical dogma that served them well in the 80s… except it’s no longer the 80s. Think about it- In late 2001, Mann added 6 adjacent screens to Grauman’s. A few months later, Arclight reopened The Dome with 13 additional adjacent screens. Which one of those two theaters was more forward thinking and which on is currently reaping the benefit?
As the market changed… Mann didn’t, plain and simple and that’s why they were losing money.
Now I do think there needs to be some kind of move over complex built in Westwood. The closing of all of those old screens (again, mostly Mann it seems) needs to be replenished somehow. It may not be possible behind The Bruin, but I know there’s space available on Gayley and Lindbrook (both east and west side of the street- which could put a complex right on Wilshire). Unless the studios suddenly stop demanding a film play for more than a week, it’s gonna be a necessity.
But I believe Regency knows the financials for these theaters (they wouldn’t have taken then over if they didn’t) and are prepared to work hard to make The Village and The Bruin the flagships of their organization (probably with an eventual eye towards The Chinese as well). But if anyone from Regency is actually reading this… Don’t simply continue to run these houses same old same old as the classics they are (and how Mann ran them) but rather give people reasons to return time and time again.
How about an ‘Enhanced Theater Experience’ where people in the audience don’t talk or text and generally know how to be civilized and behaved. AMC theaters seem to be the worst at attracting a courteous moviegoer. That would be worth paying extra for.
That rendering does appear to be the Campus West in Ft Collins, although the carport/drive-through wasn’t located to the right (which would have been Elizabeth St). In that drawing, the carport/drive-through would be in the center of the image in front of the theater. It makes some sense that they confused it with being in Boulder because the Campus West was pretty much adjacent to the Colorado State University campus (not the University of Colorado, which is Boulder). It was a nice little theater and probably had the best presentation in Ft Collins for many, many years. Saw The Living Daylights, Die Hard 1&2, The Abyss, War of the Roses and many others there. There was a second, smaller screen added at a certain point that was pretty much identical to the set up at the Cooper/Cooper Cameo in Denver. Maybe the carport/drive-through was relocated when the second screen was added.
The theater has definitely been demolished. I was in Ft Collins for an afternoon last summer and there is no longer any trace of it.
And the Chinese has an aisle right down the center, which that mock up doesn’t.
Hit the Thursday midnight and Avatar looked amazing. The screen was bright and colorful and the movie was beautiful to look at. They were using high tech electronic glasses, not the polarized plastic jobs you get at the El Capitan and everywhere else (I want to say they were ‘XtenD 3D’ but I don’t think that is right). The 3D was extremely effective, even near the back of the auditorium. The geometry of the screen doesn’t really change and there was one line of subtitles that was slightly cut off at the bottom of the screen (literally the word ‘no’), but I can’t say I ever found it distracting. It was a great presentation and Arclight really went out of their way to make it a great show. I was a little hesitant about how the 3D would look on that curved screen, but it looked great.
Don’t worry, I’m sure if they fix the cross reflections and geometry distortions, you’ll have no problem finding something else to complain out,
D. Packard,
I think it’s a testament to just how beloved this theater was that we’re still discussing it two years after the final showng on that massive screen. I truly, truly envy you guys that had the opportunity to experience all of Westwood during its 70s and 80s heyday. That’s what I loved so much about these theaters… that I could still approximate that feeling whenever I went there now. But I fully know it is/was nothing like being there in the day. You would just hope that the lessons learn by the National are applied to the Village/Bruin (assuming anyone actually paid attention).
It’s too bad the Cultural Heritage Commission views history strictly as a year and not via some sort of cultural impact (as their name would suggest). Maybe they can right this wrong and if that land stays vacant for more than forty years, they can hopefully declare the empty lot a landmark.
Well, Westwood residents wanted less traffic, less congestion, and over just less. They’re certainly getting their wish. A few more years and we might have several empty lots and loads of vacant storefronts. That’ll really up the property value in the neighborhood.
I saw it (1st show midnight Tuesday the 23rd)…
It was digital and it was LOOOONNGGG.
Looked great (except the subtitles at the bottom were either a) almost cut off in the center or b) showcased the geometry problems with the screen where the text appeared straight instead of following the curve of the screen).
It looked great, though, and it sounded amazing (one of the best I’ve heard in there). Michael Bay was there to introduce the show.
I went to the Chinese to see Fast & Furious (both the opening weekend Thursday midnight and Saturday night shows).
The biggest mistake Mann seems to be making with this theater (other than the bookings, obviously) is that they really seem to be going out of their way to make this theater a tourist trap. Unlike the Dome or the Village, where you really have to make an effort to go to those theaters, the Chinese grabs people off the street with nothing better to do. For the Thursday midnight, that wasn’t a problem because only people who really wanted to see the movie were on Hollywood Blvd at that time. The Saturday show was another story entirely with families and yapping teens and crying babies all over the place! Just a really horrible experience. The majesty and the experience of the Chinese is essentially wasted on these people who would be just as happy in a 100 seat AMC auditorium.
After spending so much time with the Arclight and the Dome, the Chinese is really starting to become a disappointment. Mann should be spending more time trying to improve the overall experience for people who make a point to go to the Chinese and less time worrying about pulling people in from the courtyard who are going to see a movie there once and then never come back. The tourists come and go, but the movie-lovers are what has kept that theater successful for decades.
Sadly, it’s a shadow of how mighty it once was. I wish Mann would just get out of the movie business already and let someone else (preferably Pacific) put some muscle behind it.
I was just thinking about this theater today because it’s been about a year now since they destroyed it. As many have seen, the lot still sits empty a year later with no sign of development.
Given the economy now, I have to wonder how long that property will now sit abandoned, with no investor wanting fund development of the site. Seeing as how the loss of the National under the Mann lease seemed to be all about, according to Mann, “unrealistic rent,” was the National just under victim of the spiraling greed of the real estate explosion? Given how real estate and the economy in general has been bottoming out, I have to wonder…
Was The National unnecessarily demolished?
It seems to me (and of course I don’t know the whole story) that the owners of the land realized everyone seemed to be making a killing on their real estate investments and decided they wanted in on that as well. When Mann’s lease came up for renewal, they (from the sound of it) came to Mann with terms that Mann saw as an “unrealistic” jump from the increases they had been accustomed to negotiating. Mann decides it can’t operate profitably with those terms, the theater closes, and the landlords cavalierly hack away at a piece of Westwood’s history so to quickly make room for one of the countless faceless businesses/building that populate anywhere USA (only to seemingly get F’d in the A when they can’t one of those faceless bodies to occupy and pay for that corner – I’m sure investors would never ask things like, “How long was that Hollywood Video across the street there before they closed?”)
Now I’m not saying that the landlords don’t have every right to try and charge fair market value for the use of their property. They certainly do. But sometimes being profitable isn’t always about how much money you can make today. Sometimes you need to be in the business of relationships. The National had occupied that corner for nearly 40 years. It was a Westwood landmark (even if a group of politicians didn’t see it as such). It had contributed income for a myriad of Westwood businesses (how many dinners were sold at countless restaurants by National patrons in the village for a night out?). The city made money from parking fees of movie-goers… the list goes on. And it stood with one purpose… to show movies. It should have been allowed to remain as such so long as it wasn’t unprofitable for the landlords. They should have made a little extra effort to consider the theater’s importance historically and its future potential.
If this is the way it really happened (and I don’t know if it is or not, just a theory) then I can only hope that the property has become a huge financial burden for the landlords over the last year and in their singular quest to make an extra dollar they’re wishing they’d never have let The National go…
That would be a sweet slice of karma.
Well now we know what movie bcareful saw them prepping to shoot at the Dome from his September 19th post of 2007…
Frost/Nixon
And the hits just keep on rolling (over to the Dome). Quantum of Solace is now on sale at Arclight. So in a single year, the Chinese has managed to lose Indiana Jones, Batman, and now James Bond. If the Chinese manages to lose Star Trek and Harry Potter next summer, it might be time to panic (although I’m sure they’ll have no trouble snagging Land of the Lost and Final Destination 4).