Dont be THAT Theater

At a Movie Theater Not So Far, Far Away
'Stars Wars' fans camp at Grauman's Chinese six weeks before 'Episode III' is set to premiere somewhere else.
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"The movie they are salivating to see, "Star Wars: Episode III, Revenge of the Sith," sixth in the "Star Wars" series to be released, is set to open several blocks away at ArcLight Cinemas on Sunset Boulevard.

But it's all a misunderstanding, say the "Star Wars" campers, one of whom came from Ohio and another from Australia. The two dozen fans at the site at midday Thursday said they just wanted the premiere switched to Grauman's. After all, they said, the first movie to be made in the series, 1977's "Star Wars," premiered there.

Moreover, they don't like ArcLight's assigned seating and prefer Grauman's THX-certified sound system to the Dolby at the other theater."

Now let's be honest. Not opening Episode 3 at the Chinese Theater in downtown LA? The Arclight sound can't hang with bajillion year old Grauman's? What's the world coming to. Not too long ago, I had a little crush on te arclight and all it's fanciness. Around the same time, I think I thought of the Chinese Theater as a cheesy tourist attraction and nothing more. And thnen I saw a movie there. And was blown away by the experience. Mann's Chinese is everything that's right about movie watching - amazingly high fidelity experience, deep auditorium, big crowd, and a whole lot of history. The arclight, I later realized, is everything that's wrong with going to the movies -- Inflated prices, gimmicky extras, gaudy LA real estate, and no regard for the grand traditions of moviegoing (like going early to wait in line and fighting for non-assigned seats).

And now they're locking the fan's out of the place where they actually want to subject themselves to Lucas's latest atrocity. No respect these days, I tell ya.