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The Bruin in Westwood ceased operations after a Thursday screening of ‘Twisters.’ Not like the neighboring Village Theater, no A-listers have come to its rescue.
The Bruin in Westwood ceased operations after a Thursday screening of ‘Twisters.’ Not like the neighboring Village Theater, no A-listers have come to its rescue.
On a balmy Thursday night time, on the corners of Broxton and Weyburn Avenues in Westwood Village, a smattering of film lovers bathed in yellow and blue neon lights snapped images of a marquee.
They got here to pay final respects to the Fox Bruin Theater, whose 7:30 p.m. screening of Twisters could be its final, the primary time the Streamline Moderne landmark would shutter since opening its doorways in 1937.
Regency Theatres, which in 2010 swooped in to avoid wasting the film home from potential extinction, opted to not renew its lease on that 670-seat theater, nor the 1,400-seat Fox Village Theater throughout the road.
However the Village discovered a savior in director Jason Reitman, who earlier this yr led a consortium of 35 fellow filmmakers who banded collectively to buy the property, with plans to renovate it and ultimately reopen. No timeline or particulars have but been introduced on the challenge.
The Bruin, nevertheless, discovered no such guardian angel. Regardless of a loving cameo in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 movie As soon as Upon a Time in Hollywood — it’s the place Margot Robbie’s Sharon Tate takes in a displaying of Tate’s 1968 movie, The Wrecking Crew — the property has did not discover a new tenant and can sit vacant till one comes alongside.
The constructing is owned by the Margaret Skouras Martyn household, who’re “presently evaluating future alternatives” for the theater, which together with the Village was designated a Los Angeles cultural heritage monument in 1988, sparing it from the wrecking ball.
Among the many misty-eyed exterior the Bruin final night time was Hans Michael, 52, a Pasadena native who has been a daily because the Seventies, when his older brother attended close by UCLA.
“Within the ’80s, it was the date night time spot,” recalled Michael. “The Village could be packed. It was a totally completely different time. This was earlier than there have been so many leisure zones across the metropolis. It was a madhouse right here on weekends.”
The proliferation of these alternate options — and of additional distractions within the type of streaming and social media — has made the theatrical enterprise an more and more untenable problem, notably for the old school film homes which can be a lot a part of the Los Angeles cultural panorama.
For the reason that COVID-19 pandemic, L.A. has misplaced the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood (rumored to reopen in 2025) and the century-old Highland Theater in Highland Park. However streamers and filmmakers have additionally stepped as much as save historic venues just like the Vista Theatre in Los Feliz (purchased by Tarantino and reopened in November) and the Egyptian Theatre (now run by Netflix).
Contained in the Bruin, about 400 patrons confirmed up for one, closing present — this one starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones, who wouldn’t look solely misplaced within the Nineteen Thirties screwball comedies of its heyday.
Loren Blazek, 21, who sells concessions whereas pursuing a profession in cinematography, labored diligently to fill popcorn buckets. “It’s unhappy,” he mentioned, including that he’d be holding onto his uniform as a result of the workers is being reassigned to Regency’s Van Nuys outpost, a 16-screen megaplex. “However Van Nuys is nearer to my dwelling, so there’s that.”
“Usually, film theaters don’t announce once they’re shutting down,” says Andrew Gualtieri, 40, district supervisor for Regency Theatres. “However we sent an announcement to the Los Angeles Theatres Fb web page, so we received a great crowd.” The turnout earlier within the week, Gualtieri mentioned, was a fraction of that.
Gualtieri, who additionally manages the Village — the place its closing screening, the Scarlett Johansson-Channing Tatum image Fly Me to the Moon, performed to a a lot thinner viewers — isn’t feeling very optimistic about the way forward for both theater. “It may take years,” he says of Reitman’s rumored plans for an formidable renovation of the Village. Reitman didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The viewers applauded twice on the Twisters screening — as soon as when Regency Theatres title card got here up, and once more on the film’s finish, regardless of the absence of a satisfying kiss between its two leads.
As for longtime buyer Michael, the catastrophe flick was an OK sufficient technique to mark the tip of an period — “I can admire all the consequences, however I assumed it was just a little lengthy,” he mentioned — however the actual star of the night time was the theater itself.
“We made some extent of it to come back out right here to see the final displaying,” Michael mentioned. “And I’m glad we did.”
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