Commentary: Cinema closing is another bad sign

Neighbors in Laguna Beach are upset and disappointed that the Laguna South Coast Cinemas has closed (“Historic theater goes dark,” Sept. 4).

I am as well, but I also know that these closures are happening across the world as big multiplexes in malls pull customers away from neighborhood theaters.

This profit-motivated change is tragic. Where will I take my grandchildren on a Saturday to see the latest Pixar film? Will I have to fight a half-hour or more of traffic to get to Newport or Aliso Viejo? Has the theater gone, just like Bill Thomas’ camera store, the nurseries and other local services? Probably.

I’ll miss those times when Barbara and I would stroll downtown on a Sunday night and impulsively buy a ticket to watch the second half of a new blockbuster. Of course, the seats were uncomfortable, the projection and sound was C-plus at best, and the ambiance, well, what ambience?

But the staff was welcoming and friendly — a down-home local Laguna experience. We’ll all miss that.

Of course, the Laguna cinema has been losing money for decades. Edwards couldn’t profit so it bailed out in 2001. The owner, a wonderful Lagunatic, has tried her best. Regency Theatres helped out, but the times were changing, so it had to throw in the towel as well.

If only there were a way to keep the cinema alive in Laguna. In future years, it may take even longer to drive to the mall cinemas. Is a 45-minute drive worth the film experience? Will the locally run neighborhood cinema we all have loved die completely? I hope not.

I love Laguna as it’s been, and I hate that we’re losing our local services, our trees and our focus on being an artist’s community.

GREG MACGILLIVRAY is a Laguna Beach resident and a documentary filmmaker.