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Before I moved within walking distance of the ArcLight Hollywood and its Cinerama Dome, I wasn’t that fussy about where I went to see a movie.
All I needed was a big screen, popcorn and a box of Milk Duds (which I eat only at the movies, even though they stick to my teeth because they take so long to chew that if I slowly dole them out, I can make them last until the lights come back on).
The ArcLight Hollywood raised the bar for me. It spoiled me for anywhere else.
I join the legions left bereft by the recent announcement from the owner of Pacific Theatres and ArcLight Cinemas that, after a long pandemic shutdown, it will not reopen any of its locations. Not its mall theaters. Not any of the ArcLights. Not even the flagship in Hollywood.
Why ArcLight Hollywood Was More Than a Movie Theater A quiet and empty Cinerama Dome of the ArcLight Cinemas (Photo by Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Photo: Jay L. Clendenin/LA Times via Getty Images
On Monday, Deadline reported that ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theaters would close down permanently. Quickly, filmmakers, fans, and former employees took to Twitter to publicly mourn the loss, with reactions ranging from stand-alone expletives to sorrow to denial and also some priceless remembrances.
While Pacific and ArcLight theaters were far from the first or most tragic casualties of the coronavirus pandemic, the closings still delivered an unexpected blow to movie fans. ArcLight Hollywood employees who had been laid off when the theater shut down last March had, as recently as a month ago, been told by management that the theater planned to reopen when doing so became profitable once more. So when employees learned o
Oh no. ArcLight Hollywood is my favorite place to see movies. https://t.co/krBTcbDNEG
Devastating. Too many losses to process. It’s just too much… At some point when I’m less upset, I’ll tell you guys a funny story about my first time meeting Quentin Tarantino in the lobby of Hollywood Arclight. https://t.co/cFypJxEk4L Well this sucks. Every single person who worked at the Arclight loved movies, and you felt it. Sending love to every usher, manager and projectionist who rocked that blue shirt and made it such a special place.
We’ve all been on bad dates to the Arclight where you’re watching a Greta Gerwig movie & the guy doesn’t like it bc he knows Greta is more talented than him and also would never date him and you had the realization you can’t date this kind of guy anymore, so SAVE THE ARCLIGHT
The two brands operated more than 300 screens in California, including the coveted Cinerama Dome in Hollywood.
In a blow for California moviegoers and those in Los Angeles in particular the ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres are closing all of their locations for good after seeing their business decimated by the pandemic.
ArcLight s stable includes the prized Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. The Dome, built in 1963, is the crown jewel of the small theater complex constructed in more recent years.
ArcLight Hollywood is a bastion for both first-run movies and independent titles and, at one time, was one of the first L.A. cinemas to offer high-end food. It has also been a favorite site place to stage premieres of indie titles and smaller studio titles, and is beloved by many cinephiles.
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The Closure of Arclight Cinemas Has L.A. Movie Lovers in Mourning - and Asking, Can It Be Saved?
It s difficult to overstate how central the Arclight had become to L.A. film culture.
Adam B. Vary, provided by
April 12, 2021
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The news that the Arclight Cinemasare closing permanently part of the larger closure that includes Pacific Theaters in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the film industry, and the greater Los Angeles community, like a shockwave.
Filmmaker John August was one of the first to tweet about the news: “Oh no. ArcLight Hollywood is my favorite place to see movies.”