Another list of things long gone - Part III
Today there is a miasma of big stores, upscale eating establishments and much more sitting in a parking lot where there was once South Bay Bowl. Also on that land was the Redondo Beach Cinema 3. First it was three theaters in three separate buildings, then they turned one into a twin complex, then they made one a triplex. Two of the three were torn down but the triplex stayed in operation until three or four years ago. I remember being in the L.A. area for the weekend and staying at my mom's old house in Redondo and seeing "Rocky IV" at this theater. I saw a few last showings of movies there when I worked at South Bay Bowl.
Not too far to the South was the Old Towne Mall where there was a Mann 6 theater. Loved that place. It was always packed on weekend evenings. I saw a bunch of movies here and this was another theater that had a really good video arcade nearby. In those days it was an indoor mall. Today it is strictly an outdoor shopping center, and it has what may be the largest gym for MMA that I've ever seen. Until April of 2010, I went to this location often as I taught tax classes at the H&R office in the Southernmost portion of the center.
At the Del Amo Fashion Center, the original theater that I remember was the United Artists Cinema. It was a fourplex that added two theaters later on. The theaters weren't much but the concessions were pretty cheap and it was never too crowded. Plus there was a ton of parking in that part of the mall if you knew where to park. It died out when...
The Mann 9 opened in a large building in one of the parking lot complexes at DAFC. Big auditoriums, with stadium seating. I remember taking a date there to see "The Firm" (maybe it was another Grisham movie) and because she was so late we had the choice of sitting in the front row which I hate, or standing in the back of the auditorium throughout the film. I chose to stand. Hate front rows that are that close to the screen. Now it's a big L.A. Fitness center.
The Krikorian Peninsula Cinema 9 stands out in my mind because I remember going to a foreign language film there in the 1990s.
In Burbank, the AMC 14 was replaced by the AMC 16 right across the street, which is still open and doing well today. In fact it was at the AMC 16 that I saw "Fahrenheit 9/11" on opening weekend. I also remember seeing "Star Wars: Episode I" for a third or fourth time at the old, torn down 14 theater complex, because it had the only "digital" version of the film around.
Saw several films in the early 1990s at the Pacific Triplex on Hollywood Boulevard. It was damaged in the 1994 earthquake.
Can't remember the name of the theater that used to be on La Brea, to the South of Pink's Hot Dogs, but I definitely remember the last movie I saw there. It was "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", one half of what is undoubtedly the most "eclectic" double-feature in the history of movie-going. My friend and I went from this to a showing of "Dude, Where's My Car" at the now closed Hollywood Galaxy theater on Hollywood Boulevard.
Speaking of Hollywood Boulevard, what will probably be forever known as "Grauman's Chinese Theater" in my mind is slated to undergo renovation this coming September, to create the world's largest IMAX screen, or so I've read. I remember seeing "The Lion King" there at an invited guest screening before it opened to the public, and remarking to my companion that the whole idea had probably been ripped off from the old TV show "Kimba the White Lion". I didn't know that one of the authors of the screenplay was sitting in front of us, but she glared at me after I said that. Ooops.
Went to a few films in the late 1970s at the old Pan-Pacific Theater, because in late 1976 I moved in with my dad and it was much closer than some of the theaters I'd been going to. It's long gone.
In the 4th and final installment of this series, the theaters I went to outside of SoCal that are now gone.
Not too far to the South was the Old Towne Mall where there was a Mann 6 theater. Loved that place. It was always packed on weekend evenings. I saw a bunch of movies here and this was another theater that had a really good video arcade nearby. In those days it was an indoor mall. Today it is strictly an outdoor shopping center, and it has what may be the largest gym for MMA that I've ever seen. Until April of 2010, I went to this location often as I taught tax classes at the H&R office in the Southernmost portion of the center.
At the Del Amo Fashion Center, the original theater that I remember was the United Artists Cinema. It was a fourplex that added two theaters later on. The theaters weren't much but the concessions were pretty cheap and it was never too crowded. Plus there was a ton of parking in that part of the mall if you knew where to park. It died out when...
The Mann 9 opened in a large building in one of the parking lot complexes at DAFC. Big auditoriums, with stadium seating. I remember taking a date there to see "The Firm" (maybe it was another Grisham movie) and because she was so late we had the choice of sitting in the front row which I hate, or standing in the back of the auditorium throughout the film. I chose to stand. Hate front rows that are that close to the screen. Now it's a big L.A. Fitness center.
The Krikorian Peninsula Cinema 9 stands out in my mind because I remember going to a foreign language film there in the 1990s.
In Burbank, the AMC 14 was replaced by the AMC 16 right across the street, which is still open and doing well today. In fact it was at the AMC 16 that I saw "Fahrenheit 9/11" on opening weekend. I also remember seeing "Star Wars: Episode I" for a third or fourth time at the old, torn down 14 theater complex, because it had the only "digital" version of the film around.
Saw several films in the early 1990s at the Pacific Triplex on Hollywood Boulevard. It was damaged in the 1994 earthquake.
Can't remember the name of the theater that used to be on La Brea, to the South of Pink's Hot Dogs, but I definitely remember the last movie I saw there. It was "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", one half of what is undoubtedly the most "eclectic" double-feature in the history of movie-going. My friend and I went from this to a showing of "Dude, Where's My Car" at the now closed Hollywood Galaxy theater on Hollywood Boulevard.
Speaking of Hollywood Boulevard, what will probably be forever known as "Grauman's Chinese Theater" in my mind is slated to undergo renovation this coming September, to create the world's largest IMAX screen, or so I've read. I remember seeing "The Lion King" there at an invited guest screening before it opened to the public, and remarking to my companion that the whole idea had probably been ripped off from the old TV show "Kimba the White Lion". I didn't know that one of the authors of the screenplay was sitting in front of us, but she glared at me after I said that. Ooops.
Went to a few films in the late 1970s at the old Pan-Pacific Theater, because in late 1976 I moved in with my dad and it was much closer than some of the theaters I'd been going to. It's long gone.
In the 4th and final installment of this series, the theaters I went to outside of SoCal that are now gone.
posted by me at 12:10 PM
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