Variety: Angelenos are still processing their grief about the closure of the ArcLight theaters. Pacific Theatres announced on Monday that it would close all of its locations, which include the ArcLight Hollywood and the historic Cinerama Dome.
Not as well known is that the theater chain also owns the Cinerama technology.
4 comments:
The tone of the interview in this article seemed so uncaring and bland. The closure of the Cinerama Dome, ArcLight Hollywood, and all of the Pacific theaters is such a huge loss to the film industry. They're such an iconic part both of Los Angeles and the film industry in general. I did not know that Pacific theaters also owned Cinerama Technology. I hope that this development process is not lost as Pacific theater closes because it's so unique and special. It is so sad that the last theaters that can show this process are closed or closing. I think that the COVID pandemic has really negatively impacted movie theaters, which makes me so incredibly sad because they're really such special places, especially the smaller independent ones. I hope that the Cinerama Dome will be saved by someone, or the rent is lowered like the person interviewed in the article suggests. Its a registered landmark and I belive that it is so important that it is not just protected but still in operation.
The closure of Arclight theatres hit me really hard. There has been so much loss this year and I still can’t get used to it. When the news first came out, I remember seeing all of the kids from my high school posting about it and I immediately called my friends. Just like so many other kids from Los Angeles, I grew up going to arclights with my friends. There are so many memories associated with it. It was actually the last theater I went to before everything shut down and I haven't been in a movie theatre since. I know it’s just a movie theatre but it’s another thing I have to say goodbye to. Anyways, the article was really interesting. I never really knew the history of the Cinerama Dome and the three camera filming technique. The end also gave me some hope. The Cinema Dome has a chance of staying alive.
First and foremost I just need to speak my peace about Pacific Theatres having to shutter all of their locations – this is so, so sad to me. Growing up as a Los Angeles native, I essentially watched the rise and fall of Arclight Cinemas. Once Arclight locations began to pop up around the city, my friend, family, and I all took a liking to them as they tended to be less expensive, but newer and nicer, than a lot of the other local movie theatres in the area. It was only about a week or two ago that I heard the sad news that they will be shuttering all of their locations. I have so many fun memories running down the long halls with friends before settling in and watching a film together. There are obviously other theatres out there but Arclight is a sad loss, without question, especially as we seem to be approaching the end of the pandemic – it survived almost all the way through but just not quite. As for the Cinerama dome, I was simply unaware of its existence, but it seems like a really interesting and fun experience on and of itself. I cannot help but wonder what the three camera shooting technique must have been like, or what the intended purpose is… I really am not sure but would love to experience it at some point – except for the small detail that the Cinerama dome is now closed.
This was an interesting article to read because I have honestly not heard of Cinerama before, and as someone interested in cinematic history, I looked up pictures of the theaters the article is referencing in order to fully comprehend what they were talking about. I always find it engaging when universal claims about history are rebuttled against, as is the case in this article. Historians have historically dismissed Cinerama as just a fad, whilst David Strohmaier, who created a documentary on Cinerama, claimed it was a full cinematic phenomenon that lasted a span of several years. Despite never having heard of it, I would love to visit somewhere where they are using Cinerama someday, but it kind of looks like this practice may become a relic of the past soon enough. I also wonder if it is nostalgia blinding Strohmaier in his fascination with Cinerama, or if it truly does have something different and more engaging about it that IMAX cannot achieve.
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