the skunks of los feliz
1.09.2005
Cami and I swam down Vermont today, to catch The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou at the Los Feliz 3. The movie was great, but then, I enjoy Wes Anderson movies (some do not, and more power to them).
The 3 itself, is, well, the 3. Don't get me wrong, it's great to have a theater within walking distance, especially when a drenching rain is relentlessly falling and you're sharing one extremely unreliable umbrella with your significant other.
It has other highpoints, as well. The matinee prices can't be beat. The programming is usually very good. Concessions are cheap. And (not to belabor the point), it's very close.
But the 3 does have very real shortcomings, and I'm in the mood to pick some nits. So, in no particular order, here are my top peeves with the LF3:
- An overly clock-bound staff. Got to the theater 20 minutes before the show and think you're going to be getting in out of the pouring rain? Wrong. The box office opens 10 minutes before the show, and not a moment before. The staff seems to take perverse pleasure in standing around the concession stand and watching would-be patrons watch them do nothing.
- Warm bottled water (I know, I know, but i did say these were nits). Throw those things in the fridge, people. Tepid water is just not refreshing, especially at $2.50 a pop.
- That funky smell in the back theater. What the hell is that stench? And can nothing truly be done about this everpresent olfactory offense?
- The leaky roof. Not a problem, unless you find yourself in a seat directly below one of the roof's numerous holes, and it's raining. Which it was today.
- That broken chair in the theater just to the right of the concession stand. That thing has been unceremoniously collapsing under the weight of theater-goers since (at least) The Mummy Returns.
And there they are, my LF3 Peeves. Regardless of whether they are ever rectified, we'll be back. It's just too close, too convenient, and too Los Feliz to abandon.
But seriously: chill the bottled water.
Please.
The 3 itself, is, well, the 3. Don't get me wrong, it's great to have a theater within walking distance, especially when a drenching rain is relentlessly falling and you're sharing one extremely unreliable umbrella with your significant other.
It has other highpoints, as well. The matinee prices can't be beat. The programming is usually very good. Concessions are cheap. And (not to belabor the point), it's very close.
But the 3 does have very real shortcomings, and I'm in the mood to pick some nits. So, in no particular order, here are my top peeves with the LF3:
- An overly clock-bound staff. Got to the theater 20 minutes before the show and think you're going to be getting in out of the pouring rain? Wrong. The box office opens 10 minutes before the show, and not a moment before. The staff seems to take perverse pleasure in standing around the concession stand and watching would-be patrons watch them do nothing.
- Warm bottled water (I know, I know, but i did say these were nits). Throw those things in the fridge, people. Tepid water is just not refreshing, especially at $2.50 a pop.
- That funky smell in the back theater. What the hell is that stench? And can nothing truly be done about this everpresent olfactory offense?
- The leaky roof. Not a problem, unless you find yourself in a seat directly below one of the roof's numerous holes, and it's raining. Which it was today.
- That broken chair in the theater just to the right of the concession stand. That thing has been unceremoniously collapsing under the weight of theater-goers since (at least) The Mummy Returns.
And there they are, my LF3 Peeves. Regardless of whether they are ever rectified, we'll be back. It's just too close, too convenient, and too Los Feliz to abandon.
But seriously: chill the bottled water.
Please.
Comments:
I knew there was something I was forgetting: tiny screens!
Thank you for pointing that out. In the best of all possible worlds, ownership would retool the 3 as a single screen theater, restoring it to it's former glory (not unlike the same company's Vista Theater), complete with a big, unstained screen.
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Thank you for pointing that out. In the best of all possible worlds, ownership would retool the 3 as a single screen theater, restoring it to it's former glory (not unlike the same company's Vista Theater), complete with a big, unstained screen.
