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With the arrival of a new year, it’s time to look back on the year that was in Orange County cinema:

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The Movie Experience at the Anaheim Garden Walk/Cinema Fusion – Veteran Southern California chain, Sanborn/SoCal/The Movie Experience, returned to the Orange County market with an equally branding challenged cinema, across from the Disneyland resort. Offering an IMAX screen and “adults only” theatre option, along with retro “Googie” decor, the Movie Experience at the Anaheim Garden Walk/Cinema Fusion holds a great deal of promise as an alternative to standard megaplex faire. However, rather typical of this chain, the theatre also suffers from a host of logistical issues. Time will tell if this cinema finds it’s niche or suffers the same fate as the “here today, gone tomorrow” Cinemaland. 

 

 

 

Pierside Pavillion 6 – After some two decades of struggling under three different operators, Huntington Beach’s Pierside Pavilion was closed. Left in turn key condition, the cinema could easily be reopened on short notice, but no suitors have stepped up to take on the challenge of this unique location yet.  

 

South Coast Plaza Theatres – March saw a low point in Orange County cinema, with the demolition of the South Coast Plaza theatres. Once standing as an area landmark and the cornerstone of the “Westwood of Orange County”, these cinemas were an area favorite for over thirty years. After having been shuttered, following Edwards’ bankruptcy, many held out the hope that at least one of the buildings would be saved for use as a theatre. Unfortunately, after a decade of languishing in obscurity, the complex was razed to make way for yet another Costa Mesa office building.

 

Mann Theatres – With Regency Theatre taking over the Niguel 8, Mann has officially exited the Orange County market, after a thirty-five year run in the county. Once having, somewhat notoriously, taken over the classic palaces of Fox West Coast/National General and having built four venues of their own, Mann was, for a time, a county heavyweight. However, much like their overall chain, the company has drifted out of significance over the ensuing years.     

 

 

Port Theatre – After sitting vacant for a decade and facing an announced meeting with the wrecking ball, Corona Del Mar’s Port theatre was saved at the last minute. While no concrete opening date has been made public, renovation is currently underway to convert the Port in to an upscale lounge style cinema.

 

Four Star Cinema – In 2008, Garden Grove’s small, independently operated, Four Star Cinema received a much needed remodel and upgrade to digital projection. Under new ownership and re christened the “Family Four”, this theatre has made a valiant attempt to reinvent itself as a viable cinema destination.  

 

Fountain Valley Twin – While not finding new life as a cinema, the long abandoned Fountain Valley Twin was remodeled in to an Asian performing arts center this past Summer.

 

 

Fullerton 20 stabbing – Literally, like a scene right out of a horror movie, two Fullerton 20 patrons were stabbed by a deranged man, while watching the horror film “The Signal”. In August, a suspect, twenty four year old Steven Robinson Jr., was taken in to custody and charged with the crime.

 

Krikorian Buena Park robbery – Covered in an earlier post, Krikorian’s Buena Park location fell victim to a creative criminal, who managed to clean out the theatre’s safe through posing as a Buena Park police detective. Unlike standard theatre robberies, which usually involve a degree of force, this criminal not only talked his way in to the office, but actually convinced the theatre’s manager to open the safe and reveal facility security equipment. To date, no suspect has been named in the robbery.

 

 

Newspaper print adds – A sign of the times, Cinemark/Century theatres dropped their daily block advertisements in the Orange County Register and scaled back the Los Angeles Times to a small “see city listings” note. Other major operators have significantly downsized from their once full page adds and Regal Entertainment Group has announced plans to drop print advertising in the near future.

 

Digital projection – To date, only four Orange County theatres currently offer all digital projection, but, with the development of a digital cooperative between the industry’s “big three” (covered in an earlier post), there are promises that we’ll be seeing far more digital screens in the near future. Additionally, studios are beginning to pick up on the latest cinematic gimmick, digital 3-D, with Dreamworks announcing that all of their animated releases will be made available in the format this year. Whether any of this will live up to the “digital revolution” or industry “turning point” hype remains to be seen.

 

And, there you have Orange County’s 2008 cinema scene in a nutshell. There have certainly been more eventful years, and those that were far less. Personally, I view the year as the beginning of a transition period for both the industry and county scene. Much like the country at large, cinema is looking to find it’s place in a rapidly changing world.