THis is just bad. I'm not against the theater per-se, but no one has come even close to convincing me that it's viable economically. And if it DOES fail, well, wouldn't it have been easier to knock down the old single screen building than it will be this new beast, as well as it's parasitic parking lot? The words "urban blight" come to mind.

there was a long line outside the theater this afternoon, presumably for WALL-E

I actually enjoyed the short feature.

A short, a cartoon, and a feature film all for the price of a ticket, such a deal.

The truth is that, without the extra screens, a single screen theatre the size of the Alameda would not be financially viable, and the option would have been to sub-divide the theatre into a 6 or seven screens like th UA in berkeley, (which I consider one of the worst places to see a movie in the bay area.)

I've been to a few movies at the new theater so far and am really grateful to have it in town. Obviously they put a lot of time and money into makining it beautiful and appealling physically. Though I don't generally go see films for $9.50 a pop, at least this new theater is trying to offer us a grand experience in return.

Are we better off with an empty building standing there? Don't think so. Also Park Street needs a sexy new way to attract additional shoppers to the area right now in order to support the locally-owned independent businesses there. The razzle-dazzle of the new Southshore Towne Centre and abundant free parking there could be a big drain on the Park St. community otherwise.

Let's show some support and enthusiasm.

Badger just showed me the following from the Alameda Daily News (www.alamedadailynews.com/) yesterday:

"Monday, June 30, 2008

Bad Experience for Patrons of Alameda Theater

Editor,
I went with friends Saturday to the noon matinee of "Wall-E" at the Alameda Theater. When we arrived, the box office was supposed to be open, but was unstaffed. The lines for tickets and entry were crossed so that no one could access the automatic credit card ticket machine, either.

Eventually, that was all sorted out and we were let inside. After paying nearly $40 for tickets, a bottle of water and two boxes of candy, we and several other families asked and were told we could go and watch the movie from the balcony; who wouldn't want to see it from there?

Once we were settled, another employee told us we had to move. When I asked why, I was informed by the employee that "It is too much hassle for us to allow people to sit in the balcony."

When the previews and the short began, the projector was out of focus. Someone attempted to fix it, but never quite got it right. Nevertheless, the movie started and was quite enjoyable for everyone in attendance despite the soft focus.

At one of the most crucial moments of the film, during the last reel, the projector stopped dead. For 20 minutes, the lights came up. No one from the staff said anything or acknowledged the problem; many people got frustrated and left.

Eventually, without notice, the movie restarted .... and promptly stopped again. Finally, whomever was running the projector fixed the problem (and, the focus, as well!) and the last reel played out, and then stopped again, during the credits.

At this point, it was too much; we left. I attended a showing of Indiana Jones when the theater first opened, and was disappointed then at the mismanagement of the crowds, concession and audio, but just chalked it up to first week jitters. However, at this point of operation, this sort of circus is inexcusable. Shame on the people running this joke of a cinema; you all need some management training and a competent staff. The theater itself may be beautiful, but everything else about it stinks.

We will not patronize the Alameda Theater again. As island homeowners and taxpayers, we are deeply disappointed that this white elephant was such a waste of our taxes. We will be watching our movies at home, at the Central, or other non-Alameda theaters.

Adam Gillitt"

I agree regarding the condescending bits of the propaganda reel (not to mention the nightmarishly weird talking food). I am a huge fan of old movie palaces - so I was dang glad to see this one saved (although I am still peeved about the giant parking structure). I went to see WALL-E last Monday. I think the company/management running the theater are still getting their act together but they aren't quite there yet. I'm more than a little surprised that there are still these kinds of problems and am hoping they get ironed out. Despite my other misgivings I do love that we have a movie theater on the island and that such a beautiful place was restored. I just hope the experience of seeing movies there can be brought up to the standards of the environment.

Hey All!
Relatively new to Alameda (5 months) and new to this board. I can understand the annoyance at the 15 minute documentary. It was cute the first weekend, but it gets old quick....and it is long. However, I love the theater. I am a film guy and see about 3-4 films a week (either via the theater, netflix, HBO, On Demand, etc. ) so I absolutely love having the theater so close. I always hated having to go to Emeryville or somewhere else to see a film. Plus I theater the theater is really beautiful. They need to work on their queuing system, which I'm sure they will get in time, but I think the theater is fantastic.

I wanted to hate the theatre, but after seeing a couple of movies there I just can't. In spite of the technical glitches the projectionists have been having lately too, I'm kinda glad they restored it. The lobby and main theatre are beautiful.

They could have done a better job matching the facade of the extension to the original structure, but it could have been worse.

The reason they keep having the technical glitches is because they aren't hiring union projectionists. Anybody else see the pickets? Being in the movie industry, that was really the last straw for me.
I really really wanted to like this theater. I was excited it was opening, all that. I went after the first opening weekend to find that the times on the internet and the actual showtimes were completely different, and no one seemed to have any idea what was going on. (ok, first week jitters, I can deal). Went to an upstairs theater, the floors are boomy and the acoustics aren't quite right... I may be the only person to notice that, alright. The screen in theater nine isn't hung right. That giant shiny spot in the middle of the screen? Thats cause the screen was hung incorrectly.. starting to irritate me. The bottom half of the frame was out of focus the entire film. The people with me did not notice.
Yeah I'm more picky than most. I decided to give them a shot, and have been to see four films since then. I love the fact that I can walk there. I don't love the concession employees who yammer to each other the entire time while their lines build up, the bad sound set ups and the fact that EVERY SINGLE MOVIE I have seen there has has focus/projector issues.
Lets not even get started on the idiotic planning with the parking lot pay kiosks.