Photo Courtesy of Pinterest
As a movie lover, there is no better feeling than a theater full of people who are fully engaged in the movie along with you. Since I have an AMC pass, the majority of the movies I watch in theater I see at an AMC. However, there is a special feeling inside a single screen theater that brings some of the old-school magic back to a movie.
The magic starts the second you step into one of these movie houses. There is a certain intimacy between everyone who works there and those that you are experiencing the movie with. Everyone has come to see the same thing and while the movie is playing the workers are often watching the movie alongside you. They will get up with you if you need anything from the snack bar, but overall everyone is there to be fully engaged in the same film. You could even say it feels like the experience is a bit tailored to you. The employees working the theater know how many people have bought tickets and have the leisure of making sure everyone is in their seats and ready for the movie before they start rolling it.
At home in San Diego, I have seen a handful of movies at the La Paloma Theater in Encinitas. The theater has about 100 seats and is positioned near the train tracks. The building is so old that every time a train passes the whole theater shakes and rumbles. While the sound system wasn’t the best prepared for the Dune soundtrack’s bass, it was still an experience within its own to be in that theater. Even though it may not have the recliners and iMax screens, the La Paloma has still been some of my favorite movie-going experiences. Since it isn’t a franchised theater, there are new and old films alike. Here you can feel the community come together as if we were all transported back in time together.
Being that many of the single screen theaters have been around for some time, their history may be the best part about them. Seeing a movie in one of these theaters takes you back to when movies had the awe of the crowd. In recent years, many movie houses have been struck by the shift to streaming or lower foot traffic. The ones that have stuck around have managed to do so by the irreplaceable experience they provide.
If you want to experience a single screen theater, here are some that are located in Los Angeles. While many of them are historic, they have all been delicately restored and managed to maintain the original charm. Considering LA is the city of stars, they are a bit more fantastical than the La Paloma, but they all carry the same love and attentiveness that a movie experience deserves.
New Beverly Cinema, From Fight Club to Lilo & Stitch to All the President’s Men, the New Beverly Cinema garners lines of fans every day of the week.
Regency Bruin - Westwood Village, The next two theaters sit on opposite corners of each other and host some of the most anticipated films premieres. The Bruin theater is a star of its own and was featured in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood!
Fox Westwood Village Theatre, And the Fox is featured in Fool’s Paradise!
El Capitan Theatre, For any Disney fans, this is the perfect single screen theater to catch the newest Pixar film, or on special occasion, see a nostalgic Disney film.
Egyptian Theatre, Recently restored and operating under Netflix, the Egyptian Theatre is a great experience for a variety of new Netflix releases and older films featured on their streaming service.
Comments