In Search of the Perfect Movie Theater : STARRING : Binx Bolling

In Walker Percy’s novel “The Moviegoer,” Binx Bolling goes to the movies to escape. At the movies, Binx feels at home.

But how much at home would Binx feel in the movie theaters of San Diego County? Would the theaters themselves cause Binx to feel alienated?

Would Binx be put off by the popcorn at the La Jolla Village? As with all houses owned by the Pacific Theatres chain, the popcorn is trucked in from remote locations and stored in big plastic bags until it’s put out for sale.

And why?

“Cheaper,” said the teen-ager behind the counter.

Does that preserve its freshness?

“No,” he replied. “But you can’t have everything.”

Would Binx relish the thought of a $2 double feature at the Clairemont and then gasp at the inappropriate laughter and ceaseless chatter?

Would he look forward to an art film at the newly remodeled Park Theatre, only to find he couldn’t park on crowded North Park streets? (This is one theater that may have trouble living up to its name.)

Would Binx resent the thought that large one-screen movie houses are in jeopardy in San Diego, and that multiplexes (two screens or more) are becoming as common as Big Macs? To find a really great multiplex, Binx might have to drive all the way to San Marcos, where the Edwards Cinemas’ new sixplex is a state-of-the-art showcase.

Would Binx rejoice at the news that 1987 is already the biggest box-office year in the history of the movies? Would he then be puzzled at the news that the Loma Theatre in Loma Portal may soon close, and the Cinerama in East San Diego will be carved up into several tiny theaters instead of one big one?

Like most movie fans, would Binx wonder:

Why is this happening?

Where Do Moviegoers Go?

Let’s follow the mythical Binx on his very real journey and do a check of the movie houses of San Diego County--a kind of consumer’s guide, an update of one completed four years ago.

A lot has happened in four years.

Most of it comes down to the label Big House. The ranks of the big houses--the Loma, the Cinerama, the Valley Circle and Cinema 21 in Mission Valley, the Cinema Grossmont in La Mesa--are being thinned. They are and always have been (and probably always will be) the best places to see movies. They’re the kinds of places you can most easily lose yourself, and like the truest moviegoer, feel truly at home.

Of more than two dozen people interviewed in 13 theaters, everyone said so. These findings are their findings--opinions based on the interviews.

Multiplexes are a way of life, they say. The predominant feeling: “We’d better get used to it. The damn things are here to stay.” Of course, some are better than others, and some of those weren’t around four years ago.

George Beltran, 22, is a three-times-a-week moviegoer. His favorite new theater is the seven-screen United Artists complex at Horton Plaza. Beltran, like almost everyone else, gushed over Horton Plaza.

“It’s very, very nice,” he said, on his way to the popcorn stand. “Most multiplexes have no individuality, but this one does. I like the architecture, very contemporary. It’s the type of building that may look good in 75 years.”

In the Dark With Strangers

Beltran likes the movies for the feeling they engender. He likes the feeling of sitting in the dark with strangers, in the comfort of a cool, dark space.

“Movies allow you to enjoy experiences you wouldn’t have otherwise, and probably shouldn’t have,” he said. “You get to live and feel vicariously, and be safe. The better the theater, the better the experience. Theaters in San Diego are OK, but none compare to the best in L.A.”

Beltran puts the Horton among the best of the best in San Diego. He calls its Dolby THX sound system (available on only one screen) “incomparable, outrageous, crystal clear. The first time I heard THX sound, I realized I’d never been to a movie before--I hadn’t heard one like it should be heard. I saw ‘Aliens’ here and was blown away by the sound.”

As much as he likes Horton Plaza--as much as he cares for a multiplex that “tries”--Beltran still prefers the Big House for the consummate movie experience. To hear that the Loma may close and that the Cinerama will become a multiplex is, he said, “ghastly, just ghastly.”

He isn’t the only one chomping his popcorn with clenched teeth.

Andy Friedenberg is president of the Cinema Society of San Diego. He’s especially annoyed over the fate of the Loma, which will become a mall of boutiques if a Point Loma developer follows through on previously announced plans. (The property will soon be transferred from Mann Theatres, which owns it, to local tycoon James Dromgoole.)

Friedenberg said recent Friday and Saturday night showings of “Fatal Attraction” appeared to be sellouts at the Loma.

One-Screeners Are Dying Off

“One-screen theaters are dying off,” he said, “not just in San Diego but all over the country. They’re becoming like dinosaurs, and it’s a pity, because they are the best place to see a movie. Like it or not, multiplexes are in.”

Friedenberg terms the death of such theaters a sad passing in American life. Of course, several remain open, but none are being built--from his view, virtually anywhere.

“Why is it bad?” he said. “Because you lose the advantage that motion picture theaters have typically had. You lose the big presentation. That’s bad, because televisions are getting bigger, people can now rent videos for $1, and when theater screens become smaller and smaller, and TV screens larger and larger, people will soon ask: ‘Why bother with the theater?’

“To go to a theater and see a 70-millimeter movie with 1,000 people sharing the experience--you’ll never get that at home, no matter how big your house is.”

Friedenberg senses a compromise. Of the newer multiplexes being built--such as the UA Horton Plaza and the Edwards Cinema in San Marcos--some are including a single theater that rivals (but fails to match) the Big House. Friedenberg calls it “an attempt at the best of both worlds.”

Andrew Makarushka is film critic for KYXY-FM (96.5). He calls the Horton Plaza sevenplex “the best new thing that’s happened to the movies in San Diego.” He likes the long stairway leading up to the ample lobby (that alone makes it different from most multiplexes). He also likes the early-morning weekday starts. Some screens are alive as early as 9:45 a.m.

Makarushka understands but laments the economics of theater owners preferring multiplexes to the solitude of one-screen houses. Other factors in the moviegoing experience disturb him far more than multiplexes.

“One of the primary changes the last four years is audience participation--it’s much worse,” he said. “Certain nights are just pathetic. Friday nights, that’s teen date night. Matinees are often crammed with senior citizens who openly compare the movie they’re seeing to the hits of the 1940s.

“The (Mann Theatres) Sports Arena 6 is just awful, maybe the worst in town. A strange thing happens there. Sailors go, three at a time, taking up six seats. They’re afraid to sit next to each other--I guess it threatens their masculinity. So they talk to each other from across several seats. Very bizarre.”

Occasionally Bizarre Crowds

Very bizarre is a good way to describe some movie crowds. Really weird also fits. Would anyone behave this way at live theater? (Some playgoers complain that it’s happening there too.) At recent showings, attended at random for this survey, these had the most people talking during the movie: Pacific’s Clairemont, its Sweetwater 6 in Chula Vista and the Center Cinemas in east Mission Valley.

At a showing of “The Big Easy” at AMC’s Santee Village 8, a man stood up and shouted to the man behind him: “Shut the . . . up! You have jabbered the entire time!” That side of the theater erupted in applause.

Rhonda Holmes is assistant manager of Pacific’s La Jolla Village fourplex, which had quiet, well-behaved crowds for weekend showings of “No Way Out” and “Stakeout.” Holmes said movie talkers are a problem and that the recent baby boom has led to innovative policy decisions.

Increasing numbers of breast-feeders and toddlers are coming in with Mom and Dad, sometimes to movies with R ratings (no one under 17 admitted without parent or guardian). Holmes said that, if a child makes noise (as many do), the parents get a warning, a kind of cinematic technical foul. Two technicals, as in basketball, and Mommy and Daddy are tossed out--albeit with readmission tickets for future showings . . . without the baby.

Makarushka said talkers can’t be avoided, but he urged consumers to take necessary steps to avoid the likelihood of being disturbed, annoyed or really hacked off. You should never go on $1 night, which many theaters present on Tuesdays. Makarushka calls dollar nights a disaster for sensitive moviegoers.

He added that some theaters do better than others. He suggests avoiding the rattier multiplexes, unless the movie being shown can’t be seen anywhere else.

He praised the trailers being shown that urge talkers not to. They’ve done some good, he said, but not much.

Concessions That Live Up to the Name

Concessions at many major theaters are major concessions to the moviegoing experience. Stale hot dogs and popcorn, watered-down colas, old candy--all are available for the asking. Expect to pay double the supermarket cost.

Caren Wimer, 24, of San Diego, applauded the Mann chain and the Landmark chain (which runs the Park, the Guild, the Cove and the Ken) for popping popcorn fresh and for using (or at least claiming to use) real butter. She, like many others, ranked the AMC Fashion Valley 4 as having the best popcorn.

The Pacific chain was universally condemned for popcorn that is never popped fresh, much less on the premises, and sometimes tastes stiffer than the box it came in.

“And then you have to pay $3.25 for a large box of the stuff,” said Stephanie Rotenberg, 19, a student at San Diego State University. Rotenberg considers the La Jolla Village one of the best theaters around, except for Pacific’s peculiar popcorn policy, which one executive admitted is a source of debate within the company.

Only the Landmark chain offers alternatives to the cola-candy bar syndrome. The four Landmark houses offer coffee, juice and herbal teas--beverages for people past puberty. Makarushka calls it a splendid idea. He did say, however, that such liquid looms as a symbol, depending on the theater. He said it seems uncouth to gurgle Diet Coke while those among you--especially at La Jolla’s Cove--are sipping Red Zinger or Sleepytime.

Dick Wyatt, president of San Diego-based Marsh Concessions, said food is the biggest item in the bankroll of local theaters. He said most exhibitors make little to no money off the movie being shown, even with box-office raves like “No Way Out” and “Fatal Attraction.”

Most people complain about the price of concessions, but Holmes, the assistant manager at La Jolla Village, said patrons are allowed to bring popcorn and candy from home.

They may not bring alcohol, she said, thus citing what many theater owners claim is the worst problem they face--confiscating beer and liquor bottles and curbing the disturbances that each tends to start.

Chain, Chain, Chain

As with bookstores, most movie theaters are owned by chains, major conglomerates managing houses in more than one city. Mann and Pacific are San Diego’s biggest.

Quality varies from chain to chain, theater to theater. Mann owns three of the Big Houses--the Valley Circle, Cinema 21 and, for the moment, Loma--and some of the sorrier, smaller, railway-tunnel multiplexes. University Towne Centre, Sports Arena and Plaza Bonita top this list.

Pacific owns the Cinema Grossmont (arguably the county’s best theater) as well as the Center Cinemas (one of its worst).

Edwards Cinemas owns the lavish new San Marcos theaters, as well as those at Flower Hill shopping center in Del Mar (where parking, as at many theaters, is a major problem).

AMC owns the Santee Village 8 and Wiegand Plaza 6 in Encinitas (both nice new multiplexes) and the Fashion Valley 4, which, despite its champion popcorn, is one of the smallest, most-difficult-to-maneuver-in multiplexes.

United Artists owns theaters at Glasshouse Square (a good one), Chula Vista (pretty good) Horton Plaza (getting better) and El Cajon (three out of four isn’t bad).

That just about does it. Of the independents, Chula Vista’s Fiesta Twin offers $2 double features all the time, and the College 4 sometimes plays movies (such as the cult classic “Repo Man”) that can’t be found anywhere else.

Is the Outlook Improving?

Yes, said Friedenberg, who noted that Hollywood movie companies are paying increasing attention to San Diego, especially North County. The two biggest byproducts of such improvement are more state-of-the-art multiplexes and better distribution of available films.

San Diego used to suffer because of its proximity to Los Angeles, Friedenberg said. Still, he thinks it’s sad when a movie like “My Life as a Dog” debuts here fully two years after its European release.

San Diego is often used as a test market, the experts say, so watch for sneak previews. You may be seeing them months before the rest of the country. Theater executives like San Diego, Friedenberg said, for wide-ranging demographics and for something even Binx Bolling would appreciate:

A commitment to moviegoing.

Even with all this sun, wind and sand, people still like to lose themselves at the movies, in the (relative) comfort of a cool, dark theater.

DR