I love going to the movies. When I was small, my family would go to one of those 1920's era movie houses, the Alcazar in Bell, though it was approaching it's final days. For a big treat, we would head to Cerritos Mall, or Lakewood Center (which showed cartoons before the feature), which were both multiplexes. Though I didn't realize it at the time, the Alcazar had the bigger screen and better movie experience. The multiplexes at the mall just seemed more modern.
My point, though, was even with the advent of video, I still liked heading to the movie house. There's something communal in sitting in the dark and watching with others, and sometimes, that shared experience highlights something otherwise missed. I once saw Casablanca with a sold out crowd at the Orpheum, and jokes that I didn't realize were there in the previous 10 times I'd seen the film were suddenly pretty funny. Comedy and action films especially lose something at home and just need to be seen with other people.
Movies for two at $9 each isn't too bad, but to take a family gets pretty expensive. Then, there's popcorn-I love movie popcorn-drinks, maybe some candy, and it becomes cost prohibitive to see many films at all.
At $3 all the time, the Buenaventura 6 is just awesome-no other way to describe it. $6 for freshly made popcorn, with a free refill, and $1 hot dogs, and I'll go see any kiddie, romantic comedy, chick flick film that comes out. I'll pretty much see anything that shows up there that even remotely catches my fancy. The theatre has large screens, friendly staff, pretty good sound and is generally pretty clean. Enough of a crowd goes so that you get that sense of communal experience, but generally not so many that you feel crowded. There always seems to be a lot of staff around, too, which I think makes for a pretty safe movie experience. I've always been able to sneak in a soda and drinks for the kids, so I can generally get any configuration of my family in the door and filled with popcorn for under $20. They even show the occasional 3-D film for just $2 more.
In the trade, it would be called a "second run" theatre, meaning that you won't see a film here until it's been out a few weeks. Still, most movies open and close at the first run theaters so quickly that they end up here in literally a few weeks. I don't need to be the first to see anything anymore, and if there's something that I really need to see right away, I'll drive out to Santa Paula 7 and catch the $5.50 matinee.
I'm there almost every week, and sometimes I might go twice in the same weekend.
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