cinelog.org

Yesterday, I posted on AMC Mainplace being the first Orange County theatre to break the $6 ticket barrier. Following a quick bit of research, I ran across some additional “controversial” ground this venue broke in the county.   In August of 1988, Mainplace held the Orange County exclusive engagement for “The Last Temptation of Christ”. The film’s religiously controversial subject […]

This weekend marks the twenty first anniversary of the Mainplace 6 in Santa Ana. The theatre’s September 25, 1987 opening marked a significant leap forward in multiplex design, exemplifying the movement away from generic “shoebox” cinemas, and was part of, then operator, AMC’s second push in to Southern California. On a more novel note, Mainplace 6 also […]

September holds a rather dubious place in the history of Orange County drive-ins, as four of the county’s outdoor cinemas were closed during this month; the previously outlined Mission Drive-In (9/8/85), the La Habra Drive-In (9/10/89), the Orange Drive-In (9/11/94), and the Stadium Drive-In (9/12/96).   Here is a quick look at the drive-ins that have come and gone in Orange […]

Today marks the twenty third anniversary of San Juan Capistrano’s Mission Drive-In closure. At one time, Orange County featured eleven drive-ins, but, by the late nineties, all had fallen victim to the economics of skyrocketing property values and a declining interest in the viewing format. The Mission, which was the eighth drive-in to open in Orange County and the fourth to close, on September 8, 1985, […]

In the fall of 1996, Edwards Theatres Circuit Inc. operated some 560 screens, at 90 locations. The, then debt free company, pulled in estimated revenues of $170 million and had a two year plan to spend $200 million on expanding the chain. The notoriously competitive company had all but formally declared war on industry giant AMC; via […]