fumanstan

My favorite theater chain down for the last few years in the OC/SD area is Cinepolis. http://cinepolisusa.com/

Reserved seating, big leather reclining chairs, waiters that come to your seat at the push of a button, serves alcohol, 21+ showings, and decent food with popcorn much better then that at a normal theater.

People always raved about Arclight and having been to a couple in the LA area and the one in La Jolla, I wasn't that impressed. Except for the Atmos equipped theater when I saw Gravity.

I typically only go there for opening weekends; having an IMAX over at the Irvine Spectrum is nice too.

devilshalo

I guess it's really about the Cinerama Dome rather than the other theaters when talking about the Arclight.

Alan Smithee

Since the Cinerama dome was the inspiration for the beloved and now endangered or aborted Century dome theaters, I wanted to check it out when I was in LA last month, but they were showing Sin City: A Dame to Kill For which was in 3D and when I made it there the show about to start was only in 2D! Separate 2D showings of 3D movies are retarded. Did get to see the Chinese theater, digital IMAX wasn't entirely impressive to me. Wish I could get Quentin Tarantino to open a theater in Sacramento!

fumanstan

I went to look up the ones I've been to, and that includes Arclight Hollywood, Beach Cities, and La Jolla. Other then the reserved seating, I just don't see the big deal these days since other theater chains have surpassed that experience, at least in my opinion. Granted, i'm also not particularly anal about presentation.

Not for those of us that dislike 3D

bluetoast

Giles, thanks for the info. I went to the last of my unvisited DC theaters with the Avalon for Life Itself (not counting museum theaters), and it is kind of weird that there are really only 3 multiplexes in DC, but I'm glad we're getting some new Landmaeks and an Angelika.

By the way, have you seen this? I skimmed through it, haven't read it all but do you agree with the list? Cinema and Drafthouse being on there alongside the AFI Silver is a joke. Seats suck, food is mediocre, movie selection isn't nearly as good as the article says, and I'm pretty sure they project Blu-Rays if it's actually an older movie. Now, for comedy shows that's different, but for movies, rarely.

http://dcist.com/2014/10/the_best_th..._watch_old.php

My Other Self

The theaters here are just the usual chains. There's nothing of substance like the theatres down in LA.

joe_b

There's a historic theater the next town over that shows classic movies on occasion, but I stopped going as frequently because of this very reason. During a screening of "The Birds" about five years ago (filled with mostly hipster college students), it felt like I was watching "Airplane!" with the amount of laughter coming from the audience.

I have no theater in my town, but the nearest Cinemark is about a twenty minute drive. It's the newest in the area (built on '06) and has by far the best presentation of any theater I've been to -- mostly due to DLP projectors and brighter bulbs, which really makes a difference in color and clarity. I know Tarantino is a purist when it comes to watching an actual print being projected, but anytime I happen to see one (usually at a second run theater) it looks like garbage compared to digital -- at least with the new releases. I'm sure most of those old projectors being on their last legs doesn't help the situation.

james2025a

The Hyde Park Cinema, Leeds. Next month is its 100th anniversary. I spent some time in the projection room as one of my best mates was the projectionist there for a few years. Still has the original gas lamps in the theater and outside. Also i believe the only cinema in the UK to still have a balcony.

http://www.hydeparkpicturehouse.co.uk/

Alan Smithee

Main problem with film is that SO many of the people who ran it in the megaplexes didn't know or care enough about it to do it properly. It's easy to get right, but it's also easy to screw up. Digital is a lot more idiot-proof, just have someone competent set up the equipment and it pretty much runs itself after that. The quality of some of the later film prints, including that anti-piracy code, was pretty crappy also.

By that same logic, there should also be showings of any Jennifer Lopez movie with all scenes with her in them cut out, since I dislike her. Keep thinking about how much better "The Cell" would have been without Jennifer Lopez, so I want her taken out of that movie.

DeanoBKN

I have an Alamo Drafthouse about 30 minutes from my house. Discovered it in January. While I have yet to see a new release movie there, I must go an average of 2-3 times a month simply for their events and classic films.

I can't believe I didn't find out about this theatre sooner.

fumanstan

I always hate being in Sacramento (where my fiancee's family is) around release week of a movie I really want to see because the theaters there are so mediocre, if not poor compared to what i'm used to down here in Southern California

That's pretty fucking stupid.

Alan Smithee

Yes, it is

We'd have something if they ever decided to restore the two Century domes to their original state (as seen in my avatar on the left here), but they've been running as chopped-up abortions for more than 35 years now and word is they may be torn down pretty soon. Don't know how they've stayed in business this long in their current state. The "coolest" theater we have right now is the Crest, but as it was built in the classic era its widescreen picture isn't very big, and they don't seem to have installed any digital equipment and have been doing more live shows there than movies lately.

My Other Self

They've stayed in business because the Arden Fair UA is a relic of 1985 and the Ethan Way domes are easily the better option of the two in that area.

The Crest is a dump. The Esquire IMAX blows compared to others I've been to. The lobby is the best part, whereas the theater itself is rundown.

There's plans for a new Century theater in West Sac (which is where the Downtown Plaza location will be relocating in a couple of years) and a new theater on the site of the drive-in by Mather Field -- but that's been in limbo since I moved here in 2006.
That's accurate. There really is nothing here, and if you're a fan of film it's not a good place for that. I always go out of my way to see something in a better theater if I'm in the Bay Area or down in your neck of the woods.

fumanstan

Also has nothing to do with my logic, but whatever.

I hate those Century domes, even though they're probably the best option; they look and feel so dirty and sleezy every time I go, and we even saw a used condom once. The other theaters I go near Elk Grove are newer but lack stadium seating which sucks for packed showings.

Alan Smithee

The UA Arden actually opened in 1992 (I went the first night they were open to see Dracula), but it is quite poorly designed, with many auditoriums having an aisle down the center where the best seats would've been. (It replaced an older theater attached to the back of the mall which was even worse, but they should've gotten the newer one perfect.) Also they seem to have a policy of hiring only complete idiots. When they ran film there I NEVER saw a presentation without one problem or another, and even with digital they can't get it exactly right.

The drive-in has been slated to be replaced with a new theater and shopping center for at least 15 years now, but red tape has gotten in the way. Being a perfectionist I can't watch a movie at a drive-in, mainly because you can't get the sound right with the speakers in your car rather than behind the screen where they should be. I get the whole 'nostaglia' thing, but it's just not the right way to see a movie.

And it doesn't help that there's so many wannabe cinephiles here who actually think the fucking TOWER theater is the "best" movie theater here! Talk about a dump, and it's been split into THIRDS! The only reason it stays in business is because it gets exclusive engagements of most of the art-house stuff, which to me is all the more reason to hate it. Some also like it because it's "old", but news flash people- it wasn't chopped up into 3 crappy theaters in the 1930s, it was one BIG theater! This is what it originally looked like:


And here's a picture taken last year by the local paper when the theater "celebrated" its 75th anniversary, of the front-right portion:

"Best Theater" my ass. I live in walking distance of this place and you couldn't pay me to see a movie here, though I'd go there all the time if it was ever restored back to the way it was originally.

Giles

you finally went to the Avalon? my neighborhood theater (well, Mazza is technically the closest to me).

as for the list, here are some of my thoughts:

National Gallery of Art: the programming is up their with NYC's Film Forum - very esoteric and fascinating. However no evening screenings are a negative, although they have said in the past, they would like to do them, but it would at a cost for them to keep the museum open/staff it, hence why the majority of the screenings are afternoons and weekends only. The Theater/East Building is currently closed for renovations and wont be reopened til 2017.

Freer - great programming of a niche film industry, my only problem is that for me, I have to sit very close to the screen to read the subtitles, I can't imagine being stuck in the way back, you must have really good eye sight to read them.

E Street - no complaints, but parking midweek/nights is costly, best to use the metro. I hate the design of screen 5. Also I've only once been stuck to sit in row 1 in auditorium 1, the seats are set way too close to the screens.

AFI Silver - no complaints, although they tend to sometimes showcase some films at very odd times, if I had a day job I would have difficulty seeing a lot of what I'd like to see. The historic auditorium's screen 1 does vertical masking, so any film that is wider than 2:40 the screen doesn't expand sideways, but drops down - seeing the screen reduce to fit the 2.76 AR of 'Khartoum' (70mm) was somewhat of a letdown.

Mary Pickford: the Library of Congress used to show movies there a lot, but with the Packard Campus nearly all the screenings are now there exclusively - been meaning to do a day trip there to see a movie and what the auditorium is like.

Warner Theater: haven't been there since it's reopened/renovated. Had tix to see 'The Exorcist' with Friedkin in attendance, but that got cancelled

Goethe Institute - the auditorium is on the 'small' side but the films they show are diverse.

~

even though it's a mixed use auditorium - the National Geographic has a great screen and projection booth that can show 35mm, and DCP (+ 3D screenings).

The Avalon has stated that at some point they are going to bring back more classic movies into their scheduling as well as reinstate the family/kid movies on Saturday mornings. Wednesday evening screenings are diverse with Embassies partnering with the Avalon to showcase current (mostly) distributor-less movies. AVALON DOCS is a bi-monthly series (Wednesday evening screenings) showcasing the best in documentary film. Past, select special events have brought in various director's like Penny Marshall for a screening 'A League of Their Own' to actor's like Kevin Spacey for 'In the Wings on a World Stage'

My Other Self

I was being facetious about the year itself, but honestly I'm surprised it was built in 1992. Being from Buffalo, I'm not sure if they had them out here but our main theater chain in that area was General Cinema -- and every single one of them looked like the Arden Fair 6. That, and all of them were built in the mid to late 80s when the twin style theaters that polluted the country were being bulldozed to make way for more multi-screen venues.

If I recall, there was a 3-screen theatre on Greenback where the Sam's Club is now, as well as another Century dome-like venue where the Century on Greenback is now. I had missed the $1 theatre that was in the shopping plaza over by Birdcage that was bulldozed for the new Target plaza, but the pictures remind me of what looks like the Arden Fair.

I've only been to those domes twice, but ironically I too found a used condom on the ground in the particular theater I was in. That's one reason I've never been back.

The two in Elk Grove you're referring to are outdated. I'm surprised they're not more modern, because they can't be that old. The area they're both in are relatively (within the past 15 years or so) new, but they feel old since there's not even stadium seating.

If you are dragged to see a movie on opening weekend out here for whatever reason, I'd suggest either the Palladio in Folsom (which is the best overall theater in this metro area) or the Century Theaters in Rocklin. It used to be a Mervin's, so it's a recent build when the chain went under. Their XD theater is probably the best presentation of a film I've seen out here.

I'm not even sure if any place around here is equipped to show anything with Dolby Atmos.

Alan Smithee

The Birdcage Cinema was a General Cinema theater, and not a very good one. I visited there the last night they were open and got a box of their "policy" trailers (what they call the trailers that tell you the theater company and say 'no smoking' and all that.) They also ran the Sacramento Inn Cinema which was torn down about 10 years ago and is now just a patch of grass. Ironically General Cinema was the last chain to still have union projectionists, but that hardly mattered with the crappy equipment they had.

The UA theater on Greenback (where Sam's Club is now) had 6 screens and opened in 1986, closed in 2000. It was a pretty hi-tech theater for its time, the biggest one having THX certification and 70mm projection. UA still didn't run it very well, and they tended to get the crappier movies. The Cinedomes were OK, built in 1982 so not as big and grand as the original Centurys were, but it was still a big mistake for them to tear those down 20 years later and replace them with the cracker-box theater that's there now. Both of the Elk Grove theaters opened in 1996 (a bit before the stadium seating craze), the Century one was the first 16-screen theater in the area but of course some of them are the size of a broom closet. That replaced the State Theater behind Florin Mall, which was hands-down the WORST theater in town- originally 2 screens cut into 6, all with mono sound. That was taken over by another company as a discount theater for a while and is now a "Worship Center". Been wondering if they still have any film equipment in there.

Haven't been to the new one in Folsom but keep meaning to check it out- they advertise that they do have Dolby Atmos. I've heard the one in Rocklin is too small to be worth my time- saw a picture of it where they had the digital projectors actually mounted IN the auditoriums! Neither of these have ever had film projectors, only digital.

My Other Self

It's a very nice theater but unless you go outside of opening weekend for a movie it is an average experience. They have 3 large auditoriums, and the rest range from medium to rinky dinky. Still, the ambiance is nice and it's very clean.