comment #1

MPNeeb says ...

I go with @$$holes. But then, as a San Diego resident, I'm naturally cheesed off at Mann.
Their San Diego pull-out left the local movie going experience a shambles.
We lost two of the big theaters and a handful of multiplexes.
I suspect they'll be in bankruptcy in a matter of years.

comment #2

breadlymoore says ...

See the wonderful documentary "Preserve Me a Seat" you'll find out why Mann didn't want word of this to get out.

comment #3

Edward Havens says ...

The reason is right there in the article, people. Rising real estate costs.

And since when did any theatre company make a big splash about a theatre closing? Did Clearview make a big hullabaloo when they were being evicted from the Beekman space in New York City two years ago? Did Pacific blare the trumpets when they closed the Hollywood Pacific in 1994? The answer in these cases, and practically every other, is no. Hell no. That only happens in very rare cases, and usually only for independently-owned art houses where the owners are looking for one last bit of press.

comment #4

Chris Willman says ...

Edward: Before, you said, "So far, not one of you has come even remotely close to the true reason why the National is being shuttered. (No, I am not going to tell you why, suffice to say I am close enough to the situation to know why.)" But now you tell us the most obvious reason really is the real one? Well, there go all those asbestos conspiracy theories other readers were trying to come up...

I will be there tonight for the last show. How will we Jeff Wels readers recognize each other, someone asked in the other thread? My guess is, it'll be fairly easy, by virtue of being the only ones there.

I only wish "Zodiac" were still playing. That would have been a great closer for this theater.

comment #5

Chris Willman says ...

Wells, that is.

Oh, and Pacific never really "closed" the Pacific in 1994. An earthquake did. They just conveniently never reopened. (Trivia question: What Allison Anders movie was playing the main auditorium at the time?)

Not that your main point doesn't stand: Chains rarely give advance notice of theater closings. One welcome exception was when Metropolitan announced the closing of the Orpheum, downtown. A few of us hearty souls showed up for the final showing of "Emperor's New Groove" with subtitulos en espanol, and someone even brought a cake. Meanwhile, there was one lone Spanish-speaking family there that had no idea they'd showed up for the theater's farewell as a movie palace.

comment #6

Mr. Peel says ...

The last film to play the Pacific was Mi Vida Loca. The last film I ever saw there was Guarding Tess. I'm going tonight, but it's gonna have to be for the 7:20 show. Sorry, but I have to get up early.

comment #7

Edward Havens says ...

If it were the most obvious reason, why did not a single person voice it? Because everyone wants to damn Mann for the closing, spinning wild conspiracy theories, instead of thinking things out rationally. But that's what happens when outsiders who don't see the numbers act based on emotion instead of logic.

But then, I haven't been to the National since Star Trek VI played there in December 1991. I liked the theatre, but living in Hollywood and working in Santa Monica, I always had other, more convenient choices, where I didn't get gouged for parking.

comment #8

The Hoyk says ...

Well, I'm going tonight. And I have a novel idea for avoiding getting gouged on parking.

I'll find a free space elsewhere, and walk to the theatre. I hear it's a great way to get a little exercise too.

comment #9

Craig Kennedy says ...

I'm planning on going, though I'm not exactly compelled to see Shooter again. I suppose that's not the point.

comment #10

D.Z. says ...

Edward: "The reason is right there in the article, people. Rising real estate costs."

Yeah, that kind of thing is really screwing the poor and working-class Angelenos who have no rent control.

Hoyk: "I'll find a free space elsewhere, and walk to the theatre. I hear it's a great way to get a little exercise too."

Why pay for walking that far, when you can do it for free during the Marathon?

comment #11

MPNeeb says ...

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=56550704&blogID=255605429&MyToken=fd80bd27-2289-4d3f-936b-7700c1c2f0b7

Final thoughts on the National.

comment #12

Craig Kennedy says ...

Well said MPNeeb.

...and that, as they say, is that. Has anyone heard what's going to happen in that space now? Was anyone from HE there besides The Hoyk?

comment #13

Chris Willman says ...

I was there for the final show, taking lots of pictures, as were a fair number of the other 35 or so people in attendancd. A theater employee was saying the rumor was offices and condos--a mixed use development, in other words.

comment #14

Craig Kennedy says ...

I was there, camera in hand. Some people actually showed up just to see the movie. One guy asked me why everyone was taking pictures and was surprised when I told him.

I guess "mixed use" is somewhat preferable to a parking lot or a strip mall, but the whole thing is still pretty sad.