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Seeing Stars: Hollywood Movie Palaces..

6360
Sunset Blvd.,
Hollywood, CA. / (323) 464-1478
In
a city filled with remarkable movie theatres, the Cinerama Dome
still stands out.
Located near the southwest corner of Sunset and Vine, the theatre is housed
in a giant, white geodesic dome. (Buckminster Fuller would be proud.) Inside
the 72 foot-high dome, the Cinerama is a circular auditorium featuring
a huge, curving screen, seating for almost 1,000, somewhat spartan decor,
an upstairs balcony, plush comfortable seats, and one of the best sound
systems extant.
The Cinerama Dome is one of
the few round movie theatres you will ever see. It was built in
1963
to present special "Cinerama" movies. Cinerama
was a wide-screen format of the early 60's, which used three separate 35mm
projectors and a vast curved screen to present realistic travelogues. It
was a huge success at first, and hundreds of domed theatres were planned,
but the wide-screen process proved too expensive, and the Cinerama
movie fad soon faded from popularity.
The Cinerama Dome, however,
remained. It now shows standard Hollywood blockbusters in standard modern
film formats; nevertheless, this is still one of the best places in town
to see a movie.
And it is also one of the most identifiable Hollywood landmarks. It's hard
to miss the giant white dome at Sunset & Vine. (It's the only
geodesic dome in the world built entirely of concrete - 316 interlocking
concrete hexagons.)
Major, star-studded movie premieres
frequently take place at the Cinerama Dome. If you'd like to watch the
stars arrive in person on the red carpet for these premieres, just check
my Calendar of Events
page for the dates and times.
When
"The Untouchables" premiered at the Cinerama Dome,
Kevin Costner refused
to see it there. He said that back when he was a lad, he had celebrated
his birthday at the Cinerama Dome, where he saw the epic western "How
the West Was Won." The actor says that it impressed him so much
that he felt his own movie might not be able to measure up to his overwhelming
childhood experience at the theatre.
(As it turns out, it seems
that "How the West was Won," never actually showed at
the Dome. Instead, it played at the old Warner Cinerama on Hollywood Blvd.
Apparently, Kevin got the two theatres mixed-up. But regardless, that Cinerama
movie experience made young Kevin a fan of Westerns, and he went on to
star in such cowboy films as "Silverado," "Dances With
Wolves" and "Wyatt Earp.")
Mind you, this is not
a theatre-in-the-round. Only the building is round. All 937 seats
face south, towards the screen. And although the screen is quite large,
it's not 360o. The current
Cinerama screen occupies perhaps a quarter of the circular wall, bending
slightly with the curve of the walls. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage
for the viewers. The large screen size enhances the viewing experience,
but it also distorts the picture somewhat; normal horizontal pans can prove
rather disorienting at times.
The best seats in the Cinerama
Dome are on the floor of the theatre, near the center. Balcony seats are
fine, but they somewhat diminish the impact of the large screen.
('Weird Al' Yankovic
says it's his favorite theatre.)
Update:
Construction on a major $70 million expansion of the Cinerama Dome
property began in mid-2000. The
theatre temporarily shut down during the new construction, but it opened
again in 2002.
The Dome has now become the
centerpiece of a three-level entertainment and retail center, featuring
14 additional ArcLight screens (in a separate building behind the existing
dome), 63,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space; a health club,
microbrewry, nightclub, a parking garage, and 26,500 square feet of office
space.
The Dome itself has been renovated;
they added new seats, with more leg room, as well as new drapes
and carpeting. There is now a gift shop for Cinerama merchandise,
When plans to rip-out the original
86-by-32 foot curved screen and replace it with a large flat screen prompted
howls of protests from the Dome's admirers, the owners backed down and
agreed to add a new Cinerama screen as well.
Best of all, they installed
three restored Cinerama projectors, and have begun to show actual Cinerama
films now and then, utilizing the full size of the giant curved screen
for the first time.
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Getting
there:
The Cinerama Dome is bordered by Sunset Boulevard, Vine Street and De Longpre
and Ivar avenues. From Hollywood & Vine, simply drive two blocks
south on Vine Street to Sunset. The theatre is located on the southwest
corner of Sunset & Vine.
Looking
for something in particular? Search the Seeing-Stars website!
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