Saved!

I haven't had near enough opportunity to see movies at the grandest of the LA movie theatres. It's about the one thing I've envied about Angelenos, that while we in New York have pretty much no place left to see a movie in grand traditional style, LA still had movie palaces showing first run movies. But since I don't live in LA, it's hard to take advantage.

So I was really happy in 2008 when the Season 1 premiere for True Blood was held in the Cinerama Dome. But the Chinese? Not yet. The Egyptian? Not yet.

Last summer, I had a chance to walk around the outside of the Village and the Bruin, 2 theatres in Westwood that have hosted many premieres, and the Village in particular was wonderful just to walk around. They are also near a really good donut store, a Whole Foods, and it turns out not a long bus ride down Wilshire from Beverly Hills. I have really been looking forward to someday finding the right movie to see.

So I got really antsy in recent months when I read that the operator of the two theatres wasn't planning to renew its leases, and hence the news in Variety this week was a pleasant surprise. Another chain, a small CA chain named Regency, is going to pick up the lease. Now, I just have to hope next time I'm in LA that the theatres are having movies I want to see (even if it requires extra credit because of the venue), which I haven't seen, at times when I can go and see them.

The lease on the Chinese is up as well, however, so it's possible if that situation is still unsettled that I'll have to try and see something there with the belief that the Westwood theatres are a little more secure.