Dome on the Range

April 28, 2002

I got hideously bored today and decided to pay a visit to the newly renovated Cineramadome. I was a bit skeptical of the whole thing, as the old Cineramadome was one of my favorite old LA theaters, and the idea of it renovation mostly made me think it was going to become just another multiplex. Of course, now it is no longer the Cineramadome, but the Arclight Cinemas complex, a fourteen theater monstrosity that includes the original Cineramadome as its featured screen. Basically, they renovated the old dome and attached another multiplex, a giant parking structure and made it all nice and yuppie like.

Like the Bridge Theater, the idea is to have a higher-rent movie going experience, with assigned seating and nice theaters, as well as bar/restaurant/gift shop on site while you wait. The Bridge is a pretty nice place, but the Arclight just blows it out of the water. All the amenities are a step above, and the Cineramadome is just perfect. They were able to tune up the projection, sound and presentation without harming the quirky retro vibe of the dome. The familiar honeycomb pattern is still there under the geodesic dome, and the gorgeous curved 86 foot screen remains, tightened up considerably without nearly as much projection distortion as there once was. The theater is also once again prepared to project 3-strip Cinerama, one of the few theaters in the country to be able to do so. Of course, the tickets are now $14 a pop, $11 for “members (a free point accrual system with easy signup). Even with the extra expense, it’s probably worth it on a crowded Friday or Saturday premiere to get assigned seating and ditch the long wait lines. The main problem is that there is nothing to do around the Dome really, except for meandering around the equally gargantuan Amoeba Records.

I caught Fellowship of the Ring and it was easily the nicest presentation I’ve seen any theater pull off in a while, with a pristine print. Spider-Man was already sold out for next week, but I’ll probably try and get back soon. Just when I was getting used to going inside smaller theaters, something comes along to remind you that small multiplexes are completely missing the point of the movies.

Posted in Moving Pictures