In a recent issue of Entertainment Weekly, there was an article about interesting movie theaters across the country. They profiled one multiplex in L.A. that is supposed to be very modern and state of the art–I think it started with “A”. I tried ew.com with no success. Anyone know which one I’m talking about? And do I have to take out a second mortgage to buy tickets? I’m going there next weekend and need to know. Thanx!
I believe that would be the Arc light. Of course, The Bridge is nice, too. From what I’ve heard. Never actually been.
I’m intrigued to learn how you’re going there if you don’t know where “there” is. 
Behold: The Arclight. The first time I went, I was warned that tickets are $11. And today I found out that my local theater charges $10, so the Arclight is definitely worth the premium. It really is a great theater; you’ll enjoy it.
As Campion notes, the cinema you refer to is, in fact, Arclight Cinemas. It’s at 6360 W. Sunset, about 6 blocks west of the Sunset exit off of the 101, or a block down from the Hollywood and Vine station on the Metro Red Line. It is, most certainly, the best cinema in Los Angeles, and perhaps the world. For your $11 you get big, comfy reserved seating (to which you are escorted by a real live usher), premium sound and picture quality, and best of all, no gorram commercials. I happily go to The Arclight whenever they’re showing a film I want to see. (They also run several series including an AFI 100 Years, 100 Movies series that shows a lot of great classics.)
A few points of note:
[ul]
[li]Although parking is no longer free, it is $2 for four hours with validation (at the front desk or ticket booth) in the parking structure behind the cinema. Turn south on Vine and come around the back. This is much better than parking on the street, as you get to avoid the homeless, former child stars, and WB sitcom veterans panhandling for money.[/li][li]It’s generally easier (IMHO) to buy your tickets from the kiosks outside the cinema (in the open area that leads to the parking structure). The kiosks used to be voiced by the same guy who did the “Johnny Cab” voice in Total Recall which never failed to crack me up but they changed that about a year ago. [/li][li]There’s a cafe in the atrium of the cinema, which I would describe as “Hollywood Typical”, i.e. descent but somewhat overpriced. It’s not a bad place to get a salad or a sandwich, and I’ve not found anyplace within walking distance that is really any better, but be advised that it’s not going to be the taste sensation of the century.[/li][li]Ameoba Records is just next door–it claims to be the largest used music store in the world; I don’t know if that’s true, but they certainly do have a good selection and it’s a great way to kill an hour before a show. It’s also a good place for people watching.[/li][li]If you drive east down Sunset (after you pass the World Headquarters of the Church of Scientology) and come to the junction of Hillhurst, Hollywood, and Sunset, you’ll see the Good Luck Bar, which is my favorite haunt in the Los Feliz area (though shamefully I haven’t been there in weeks.) [/li][li]If you turn north on Vermont before you get to that intersection, you’ll head toward Fred 62, my favorite all-night diner in LA. (Much better than Cantors, IMHO). Tell Dena I said high. You’ll also pass The Dresden on the way up, which features Marty and Elaine with their [in]famous jazz cover of the BeeGee’s “Stayin’ Alive” as featured in Swingers. Go further north–at the corner of Hillhurst and Los Feliz–and you’ll see the Derby (which always seems to be full of pretentious assholes, so I give it a pass.) [/li][li]While this has nothing to do with the price of rice in China, I once had the experience of seeing a movie in The Arclight which featured incidental exteriors of The Arclight, which is always a slightly disconcernting experience. Ah, Hollywood. It isn’t nearly as glamorous as the studios would like you to think, but shine some klieg lights on it and fill it up with lovely young debs and it looks like someplace appealing as long as you can keep the homeless drug addicts out.[/li][/ul]
What movie are you going to see, anyway?
Stranger
I watched “Mission Impossible III” there a few weeks ago. The theater sound, projection and seats in the Dome were great. The film itself was so-so.
The men’s room at the Arclight is where Ron Jeremy and I urinated side by side.
My wife and I live in Westwood, which is home to about a dozen theaters including several grand old movie palaces. But when we go to the movies we drive halfway across town to go to the Arclight. THAT’S how much better it is.
Let me add that the drive to the Arclight from the westside SUCKS.
I used to live in LA…is this theater located in that wonderful Dome theater on Sunset? Cool building, and hope this is the one as I always hoped they wouldn’t tear the building down.
And $11 sounds like a deal if you don’t have to put up with those damned commercials!
When Pacific Theatres’ Cinerama Dome near Sunset and Vine closed in 2000 after serving moviegoers for nearly 40 years, I feared that demolition was soon to come- as Los Angeles is not a town known for preserving it’s historical buildings.
In fact, it did look for a while like it would be torn down. Thankfully a plan was devised to make the Dome theatre the centerpiece for a new multiplex that was built behind it- that multiplex along with the refurbished Dome makes up the Arclight.
By the way, $11.00 is the matinee price. Evenings and weekends the price is $14.00.
But they have real butter for the popcorn.
And, it’s worth mentioning a second time, I got to pee next to Ron Jeremy.
So the Dome IS the Arclight after all! Hoorah!
Slight hijjack, but is the Silent Theater still open on Fairfax? There was that whole murder of the owner thing going on back then, and wonder if it is still open, showing all those great silent films.
And there used to be an organization that was gathering money to preserve old movie houses in the LA area…they saved a couple downtown.
A few years after the murder it re-opened with a new owner. For the first year after the re-opening, it was great! But after a while it went downhill.
The new owner had actually never seen a silent film at the time he bought the theater (with his mother’s money). He intended to use the theatre for something else, but as he also acquired about half of the original theater’s film library, he decided to go with the silent movie theater idea.
He hired much of the old staff, and relied heavily on some true afficianados as he put together each week’s program. Some objected to his launching of “Talkie Tuesday” (which still generally did not show films later than the 30’s), but still the theater became a wonderful tribute to the silent era.
After about a year, however, the businessman that he was deep down started looking at the huge crowds that came for Charlie Chaplin and compared them to the small handful of people who came for Mary Pickford, then he went to an almost exclusively Comedy program- all too frequently repeating films that had just recently been shown.
For the first year, he would play Chaplin or Keaton on the weekends but during the week the program would feature all kinds of wonderful silent classics. The audience was small, but very loyal.
This loyal regular audience felt cheated when the weekly programs became overly focused on Comedies, and the core regulars were rather insulted when in an interview with local indie press (in a story about the great success of the theater) he praised himself for exposing new audiences to silent film and he belittled the long-time die hard fans, basically writing them off as nerds and film snobs and complaining that they bring their own food rather than buy at the snack bar.
It didn’t take long before the lack of variation in the weekly programs killed interest in the theater. Coupled with the alienation of the regulars, this resulted in the theater only being open on the weekends (playing comedies), being no financial improvment over the practice of treating the regulars well during the week, then bring in the crowdpleasing films for the weekend.
After a while, the marquee outside the theatre would less frequently advertise an actual film, but would instead read “Book Your Next Event Here”.
It is still open (somehow), but it’s to the point now that it isn’t even open every weekend. They show films “sometimes”. I don’t know what’s going on there the rest of the time.
Me, when I want to see old films on the big screen I like to go to The New Beverly Cinema on Beverly Blvd. near LaBrea. They even occasionally have silents, and it is always a double feature, it’s run by true film buffs, and they love their regular visitors.
Thanks for the update, bienville!
However, to be fair, the Silent Movie theater wasn’t exactly doing blockbuster business while the (murdered) original owner was alive. I believe reports at the time suggested he was close to bankruptcy, which made his ineptly staged murder by the hustler/lover trying to get a quick inheritance of the theater seem all that more pointless and tragic.
Thanks for all the info, everyone!
To answer your question, Stranger , probably “Over the Hedge”. Would like to have seen “Da Vinci” in digital, but I’ve already seen it.
Perusing the Arclight’s site, I noticed they have a bar. I also gleaned that, in certain theaters, you can actually take your drink into the movie. Any info on this?
Yes. . .
And thank you for asking about this theater. My husband and I had never heard of it (and he works in the movie biz in Hollyweird!), and now that we know about it, we’re going to go there this weekend. Reserved seating is how movies are sold in Demark where he’s from, so we’re thrilled to know we can get that perk here now, too! And no commercials! Yay!
Everyone’s already thrown in their praise, but I’m going to pile on anyway.
Jakeline and I drive from deep San Gabriel Valley to the Arclight once or twice a month to meet up with friends and catch a flick. The drive can take anywhere from 30 minute to an hour from our house, but it is continually worth it.
We have a huge AMC 30 down the street from us, but God forbid we should want to go see a movie on its premiere night there. Let’s see: stand in line an hour early, fight obnoxious teenagers for a half-assed seat, and pray that the “ushers” actually check in once in a while to make sure that pure anarchy hasn’t broken out (or to make sure the correct film is actually playing), or pay just a touch more, purchase our exact seat locations online well beforehand, show up 10 minutes early without any stress before, during or after, and enjoy quality cinema. Pretty easy choice.
The first movie at the Arclight (I had been to the Cineramadome as a kid, so the remodeling was a trip) was the re-release of Amadeus. We were pretty well in love instantly. Apologies if someone has already said this, but one of the great things about the theaters is that you can sit in the very front row, and if the screen were to fall forward, it would not hit you. Can you think of any other theaters where you would volunteer to sit in front?
As was also mentioned, the continuing AFI series of films being shown during the week give you the rare opportunity to catch classic films on the big screen, or to see more current films shown where the director or someone else significant to the film is there for a Q&A afterward. For example, we have, in the past year, seen Dr. Strangelove and Jaws there, and next week we’re going to be there for Airplane! More recent fair I’ve been to with Q&A sessions included 50 First Dates, where Drew Barrymore (swoon) was there to talk with the audience, and A History of Violence.
Finally, since Stranger On A Train did such a great job of pointing out his favorite hang outs in the area, I have to point out two of mine. Most obvious is the world famous (in my mind) Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles (the original!), which is a mere three-block walk east on Sunset from the theater. If you haven’t had it, just…trust me, go. I will personally offer you a money-back guarantee. You heard it here first, folks. Lastly, about three blocks west of the theater is a great little pub called The Cat & Fiddle. I recommend both highly.
Enjoy the show!
Upon re-read, I am very ashamed of all the grammatical and spelling errors in the prior post. I just got so darned excited talking about the Arclight. Forgive me, y’all. :wally