MOVING PICTURES: Coming soon to a city...

MOVING PICTURES: Coming soon to a city near you: more movie theaters. Three cinema chains--Edwards, Mann and United Artists--have approached Camarillo planners about building 10- or 12-screen movie complexes. Edwards plans a multiscreen complex in the Simi Valley Plaza. And last month, three theaters reopened at Oxnard’s Esplanade Mall. . . . But cinema owners have said hasta la vista to the county’s 123,000 Spanish-speakers. The county’s only Spanish-language theater--Teatro Boulevard in Oxnard--closed in April.

SCREAM GEMS: Speaking of movies, Arnold Schwarzenegger may be “The Last Action Hero” (F1), but he’s not the only one. Almost half of the county’s 54 movie screens are devoted to three adventure flicks: “Jurassic Park,” “Cliffhanger” and Arnold’s latest epic. . . . Which raises the question posed by the new Tina Turner bio-pic: “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”

MAC ATTACK: The frustrations of building in Ventura County must have the folks at McDonald’s fit to be fried. In Moorpark, officials welcomed McDonald’s last year, calling it “a symbol that Moorpark has arrived.” But northeast Simi Valley residents fought plans for golden arches there, and now some Thousand Oaks burghers are sizzling over a similar proposal (B4). . . . In Moorpark, McDonald’s chose a busy commercial corner, Councilman John Wozniak said. “If you do it near a residential area, it’s a tougher row to hoe.”

COMMERCIAL BRAKE: That split between Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson must be amicable, judging by their radio commercial for the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall. For almost a week after Reynolds announced the divorce, radio stations continued to run the ad, in which Reynolds praises Anderson’s shopping savvy and two women gush about her luck in marrying Reynolds. “The agency called Wednesday and told us to stop it,” said Tisha Longorio at KVEN in Ventura. . . . Sighed Bob Charney of Mosaic Advertising: “These things happen.”

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First-run movie screens in Ventura County cities:

Ventura: 17

Simi Valley: 14

Thousand Oaks: 9

Oxnard: 9

Camarillo:: 3

Fillmore: 1

Ojai: 1

Total: 54

Source: Cinema owners