Culver Plaza Theater to Close
We're saying good-bye to a quirky neighborhood standby.
Determined to bring more sanity and pleasure into my life, a couple of months ago I started taking Thursday nights off from my family. I’d set off to a café or a bookstore and spend the evening letting life unfold—a little like it did before kids came along. Early into this new habit, I started spending many a Thursday evening at the Culver Plaza Movie Theater.
Long before there was a Culver Pacific Multiplex downtown—or a Landmark Theater at the Westside Pavilion—there was this dinky little mom and pop movie theater on Washington Boulevard. Like so many good things in Culver City, it was unpretentious, friendly and a little bit from another time.
And yet, The Culver Plaza has undoubtedly seen better days. Unlike at other local theaters, there are no reclining leather sofas, no credit card machines and no gourmet snacks. But at $8 a ticket (and $6 for matinees), the price is always right and the variety of second-run and independent movies always interesting. In recent years, it’s even been the only place on the Westside to see Bollywood flicks on the big screen.
Despite these charms, The Culver Plaza is not for everyone. A glance at reviews on Yelp yields a sometimes hilarious overview of how different people have responded to its distinct character. Some moviegoers have thought the place was “awful” or a “dump,” complaining about problems with projection and sound. Others, like myself, have thoroughly enjoyed the low-tech ambiance, convenient parking and lack of razzle-dazzle. Not to mention those peeling murals.
And yet, in the immortal words of the film Bull Durham: “The management’s decided to make a change.”
In this case, it’s not the management of the theater, but the management of the building that’s decided The Culver Plaza’s days are numbered. Plans are in the works to convert the building into condos, and one theater employee I asked said the theater’s last show will be on Sunday. Of course, another said screens will go dark on Dec. 11, and yet another thought the theater might be open into next year.
Surprisingly—or not—the staff doesn’t seem too sad to see the place go. The loyal patrons may be another story. So if you're a fan, buy a ticket as soon as you can, check out a (somewhat) recent release and say your good-byes.
The Culver Plaza will soon be no more.
debbie elias
6:25 am on Monday, December 5, 2011
The closing of Culver Plaza Theater is a great loss not only to Culver City and its residents and moviegoers, but to filmmakers, particularly those of smaller independent films. Culver City is "allegedly" the "Heart of Screenland", yet at every turn, when a chance comes to celebrate that moniker and history, another door is slammed by developers and/or city council. There is a great need for a "second showing" house for movies that are beyond "popcorn" movies and moviegoers in the "Heart of Screenland" should not have to travel to the Laemmle, Nuart or Royal in Santa Monica or even up to The Landmark. Reasonably priced tickets and a local venue is what we need. Perhaps the property developer should put its money into refurbishing the theater and not tearing down the entire building to make way for more condos.
Dan O'Brien
12:30 pm on Monday, December 5, 2011
2 things - First, the Culver Plaza Theater is actually in LA, (another victim of our crazy serpentine city borders) so our city council has no say in its future. And second, if the theater were financially viable, I guarantee that the developer would keep it and even improve it.
deborah g
3:54 pm on Monday, December 5, 2011
the last time i was there the movie was 20 minutes late because the projectionist was working the popcorn stand! he couldn't hire a high school kid to do that?
still, it's always sad when a theater closes. makes me think of a wind blown texas town.
Donna
5:46 pm on Sunday, December 18, 2011
I'll leave a comment that reflects my true feelings as soon as I recover from the blow to my mid-section that the Culver's closing has dealt me.
JN
9:35 am on Monday, December 19, 2011
Yes, sad. But the last time I went, the scheduled 12:30 showing was canceled (they didn't know why) and an alternate movie at 12:40 was also not going to show because "it's not ready yet." At least they validated my parking. Too bad - we need more venues to see offbeat, indie, foreign, and second-run films (when all that's playing at the Pacific is the same three or four films on their dozen or so screens)...
EK
11:39 am on Thursday, December 22, 2011
I'll miss the unique charm of this place. I knew it couldn't last forever, but it was nice knowing you could show up at 7:59 PM to an 8 PM movie on a Saturday and get perfect seats. So what if the movie starts a little late? So what if they sometimes accidentally play the wrong movie (this happened to me once--the whole movie--it was part II of a movie we hadn't seen part I of, so we didn't know until the end)? So what if the seats are a little uncomfortable? So what if they forget to turn the lights on at the end? I loved it. It will be missed. (Not to mention the 25-cent, old-school Miss Pacman in the lobby.)
JN
5:13 pm on Friday, December 23, 2011
Not only is the Plaza closing, but the whole block (El Pollo Loco, Mezza, Mrs. Garcia's) is empty and a chain-link fence is up as though construction is pending. Did I miss this news? Anyone know what's going on with that location?
joan
4:02 am on Saturday, December 24, 2011
Curves is also gone. After 9yrs there how sad.
I worked out there for three 3yrs. then i worked there for 4yrs...
now i'm out of a job along with a alot of other ppl that worked in that building..
It's sad how some ppl are soooo money hungry they dont care about others. Alot of ppl are out of work because of the closing down of this property.
It's really to bad, I will forever miss it and the ppl.
I wish it no luck in the future... i hope whatever go's up fail's!!
Michael
8:31 am on Monday, December 26, 2011
Jn this guy bought the entire building for 30 million... and will be building condos with retail below.
shmarsh
10:32 pm on Saturday, December 31, 2011
The closing was a surprise, a disappointment and yet not so unexpected when considering the financial bottom line over quality that our society has embraced by those in power. I mean by this that the Culver was an independent that played quality movies over a period of time given that I could count on seeing it in a reasonable time frame. The oft stated response of "No big deal. You can see it on DVD" reminds me that movies don't seem to be understood and viewed as with enough understanding that movies are madefor theatre viewing, not necessarily for home. The latter is taking ecoonomic advantage of an unwanted change by many. Not all but by many viewers. There has to be a niche for movie houses like the Culver. Not one size fits all. Best wishes and Happy New Year to faithful movies goers Steve Marsh
Lance
5:41 pm on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
I miss the Culver Plaza theatres it is a shame they had to close the theatre where they had $6 matine shows!!! Not only wereth theatres closed but the whole building was fenced off... I hope they bring My Theatre back!!!
Seth Austin
12:51 am on Saturday, February 18, 2012
I went to the Culver Plaza for the last time about a year ago. Seeing how unkept it seemed to be, and realizing that I was sitting on 20+ year old seats which probably had never been cleaned, I resolved never to go again.
Funny, I remember when this theater was state of the art back in the early 90's. Both floors would be packed on weekends, every theater full. Culver Plaza actually elbowed out what is now The Kirk Douglas theater, which back then was a rundown movie house. This is precisely the same thing Culver Pacific has done to Culver Plaza. What goes around comes around, I suppose. Although I think days are numbered for all movie theaters. Even when I was at the Culver Pacific recently, I was scratching my head as to how they were able to stay in business. Some showings literally have just a few individuals watching the film. And these are first run major motion pictures.