Living among stars, the big screen loses appeal

Without question or debate, Los Angeles has the best movie
theaters of any city in the world. I’m not even considering
the countless home theaters of incredibly rich people in the
entertainment industry, which typically combine the quality of
theatrical image and sound with the luxury of getting to watch the
product while sprawled out on your couch.

Consider, for a moment, the assigned seating at the ArcLight,
the automated concessions at The Grove and the wonderfully gaudy
lobby at the newly renovated Century City mall theater. I’ve
never seen a movie theater anywhere else that can match the luxury
of any of those three, where the overblown ticket prices almost
seem worth it for the extra comfort you know you’ll get.

Anyone emotionally attached to the charming Westwood theaters
should try seeing a movie at any of the aforementioned Big Three.
You’ll never want to go back to the Bruin Theatre again.

It would be easy to explain the existence of not one, but three
luxury movie theaters in Los Angeles as a response to the
city’s overwhelming association with the entertainment
industry. With such a devoted interest in movies, this logic would
suggest Los Angeles deserves to watch them in luxury.

However, much like the plot twist that comes with the end of any
M. Night Shyamalan movie, this is not the case. Instead, Los
Angeles has luxury theaters because so many of its citizens are
skeptical of movies. Surrounded by Hollywood’s influence,
people in Los Angeles don’t get an escape from reality when
they go to the movies. They simply re-experience it, and if
you’re going to pay at least $10 for something that tragic,
you may as well be comfortable (Century City) or eat some
above-average popcorn (ArcLight).

My dad, who lives in San Diego, doesn’t experience movies
in the same way. He’s excited to see a movie, and the setting
in which he sees it doesn’t really matter. Without
reservation, he’ll go to the theater closest to home,
regardless of the fact that it’s a horrendous movie theater.
Going there as a kid, I distinctly remember wondering why the seats
moved back and forth like a rocking chair, doubting they were
originally built to function as such.

In Los Angeles, movies aren’t as exciting. Simply living
in the city makes you jaded to Hollywood, looking for another
reason to go to the movies ““ I routinely drive 30 to 45
minutes down Sunset Boulevard to get to the ArcLight. Add to that
mind-set the number of people who work in Hollywood, and
you’re suddenly facing a population so inundated by movies
they don’t sincerely want to go see them.

A few years ago, I attended a dinner at Mike Medavoy’s
house, during which he proudly showed off his home system. Medavoy,
best known as one of the cofounders of Orion Pictures, which put
out seven Best Picture winners, most notably “Amadeus”
(1984) and “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991), lives so
far out in the Hollywood Hills that having a home theater is
practically a necessity. It takes longer to travel the full length
of his driveway than it does for me to walk from my apartment to
the Village Theatre in Westwood.

While giving a tour of the house, Medavoy casually flipped a
light switch in the living room. The lights slowly dimmed, and a
theater-sized screen dropped from the ceiling. Surround-sound
speakers rose from the floor and a projection apparatus appeared
out of nowhere. Medavoy, though proud of his ability to show off,
said he liked the setup because he has to watch so many movies for
work. The system functions as a professional necessity; he probably
wrote it off as a business expense on his taxes.

The escapism associated with watching movies is lost on L.A.
audiences, necessitating a new reason to watch in the first place.
The chance to watch those movies in luxury fills that need in the
same way watching movies at all fills the escapist need of my dad.
Unfortunately for him, he’s facing a blurry screen and eating
stale popcorn along the way.