Best THX moments in the cinema

[Woochifer]

Thanks for the input and pics Woochifer. Now that I live in LA I have had a chance to visit alot of the theaters talked about here.

The Westwood Village when I watched The Departed had poor acoustics as you mentioned and a very harsh sound with no sub bass to really speak of. Maybe it has not been balanced and EQ'd in a while, but I was not impressed with the sound. It was a DLP presentation and looked great though.

I've now seen two movies at the Village with DLP, and I much prefer the film projection. For whatever reason, the digital projection looks darker than the film projection. The Village has a great screen, so even a dark DLP image looks good, but compared to what I had grown accustomed to at that theater, it simply didn't measure up. (Keep in mind that when I lived around there, the majority of movies showing at the Village were in 70mm)

The Village sound system was something to behold right after the Village got its THX certification. As maligned as Bose is on this board, the Village (and the National) used to use the 802 monitors as the surrounds. And I actually liked that tonality better than the generic JBL surrounds that they currently use. I never thought that the Village sound system was harsh (you want harsh, try the Chinese), but that might also depend on where you sit. Up in the balcony, I thought that the imaging from the screen speakers better blended with the surrounds. I've only been to the Village twice since they removed the CV subwoofer array from the front of the auditorium, and you're right in that the sub-bass does not have nearly the impact that it had before.

I know that the Village has updated the sound system at least twice since the initial THX installation, and sadly, it seems that it becomes more and more like a generic THX setup each time.

Tried to watch Lady In The Water at the Bruin but walked out and asked for a refund due to the light being out of focus and very dim. Not even close to 16fl. There was also a very noticeable shutter ghost. I brought the issues to the managements attention but have not been back since. The sound was good but nothing close to the Arclight.

I watched Clerks 2 at The National, which was ok but nothing special. Light was dim and not focused well. Good sound but could not really judge it completely due to the movie.

The Westwood theaters are good places IMO to watch movies but don't even come close to the Arclight.

I have not been to the Bruin in years. I've heard that the management has done a poor job at maintaining that theater, which is too bad. Along with the Village, National, and AVCO, the Bruin was one of the early THX installations. It differed somewhat from the Village and National in that it used acoustic suspension Boston Acoustics speakers as the surrounds. It did not have the gutteral bass impact that the Village had, or the top to bottom excellence of the AVCO, but I loved the tonality of the surrounds at the Bruin.

The National helped catapult Westwood Village to prominence as a moviegoing destination when it premiered The Exorcist and had an exclusive engagement for months. It was the last single screen theater to be built in L.A.

While I think the Arclight's attention to detail is second to none, I still enjoy going to the Westwood theaters, because there's still something to be said for a good old single-screen movie theater, especially ones that have been refitted with decent sound systems. Just within a five-minute walk, Westwood Village has seven single-screen movie theaters, and to me, that's something worth supporting. I never realized how unique that was until I visited other cities and found how difficult it is to keep a single-screen theater afloat. I mean, Manhattan is now down to ONE single-screen movie theater (the Ziegfeld), and it goes dark for weeks at a time.

The Arclight is the be all end all. They get it right every time. Perfect light with perfect sound. Never watched a movie that started out of frame or have I seen a scratch on any print. You get exactly what the director wanted you to see and hear. I have now watched probably 50 movies if not more there. I am now working with one of the old projectionists and will be getting a tour in the next couple of weeks. Can't wait for this.

On a side note. Klipsch is making all the speakers for John Allen's HPS 4000 systems now. I think he has used various manufactures but Klipsch is the current one.

Post some more pics if you have them.

Enjoy the tour!

As much as I like the Arclight, it still has a multiplex feel to it, and the grand old Cinerama Dome has its own compromises. Oh well, I guess if I had my druthers, I would do all of my movie viewing at the Cary Grant Theater (the dubbing theater on the Columbia Studio lot where I have gone for a couple of movie previews), but alas I can't just walk up to the door and buy a ticket there!