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>AT THE MOVIES

In this darkened corner …

From screen to popcorn tub, the Landmark and ArcLight ready for battle.

By Chris Lee
Times Staff Writer

May 24, 2007

From screen to popcorn tub, the Landmark and ArcLight do battle. Ask anyone who has ever whiled away a few hours in a darkened auditorium at Hollywood's ArcLight Cinemas: Not all movie theaters are created equal.

Unveiled in 2002, the ArcLight multiplex almost single-handedly shifted the Southland's moviegoing paradigm. With its assigned seating and grown-up attitude toward alcohol — the theater was the first in California to allow booze inside its auditoriums — the movie palace billed itself as "Los Angeles' premier film experience," boasting a high-end snack bar, the best screens and most comfortable seats in town.

But now a rival upscale multiplex on the Westside, the Landmark, has put the ArcLight in its crosshairs and is out to challenge just about every innovation that has made the theater an Angeleno institution. Think of it as the ArcLight on steroids; if everything turns out as planned, the Landmark could explode notions of what a "specialized" (don't say "art house") movie theater can be, providing a cultural outing that's closer in spirit to a night at the theater than simply catching a movie.

"We're looking for an adult crowd," said Ted Mundorff, chief operating officer of the Landmark's parent company, the national Landmark Theatres chain. "We don't put video games in the lobby. We want a discerning moviegoer who appreciates cinema, who wants to see it in a mature atmosphere."

Construction on the $20-million, 12-theater complex, scheduled to open June 1 at the intersection of Westwood and Pico boulevards across from the Westside Pavilion, wasn't complete when a reporter toured the site this week. But Landmark executives remain insistent that the scope and thrust of the finished project — namely, its commitment to environmentalism, cutting-edge screen and sound technology, high design and even gourmet hot dog toppings — will go beyond anything comparable at the city's other luxury movie halls, the Grove and the Bridge among them.

With that in mind, and in the spirit of good fun, we make some preliminary comparisons between the upstart Landmark and its still mighty inspiration, the ArcLight.

Viewed a certain way, the Landmark's concession stand exists as a microcosm of the theater's commitment to putting millennial topspin on the quotidian "night at the movies" experience — right down to the "junk" food.

Take the pretzels. In place of the heat-lamped twists of once-frozen dough that movie fans have come to expect (and in some instances, love, despite themselves), the theater offers mahogany-colored beauties imported fresh from La Brea Bakery and served warm with an array of artisanal mustards such as raspberry wasabi. Cost: $4 for a long pretzel stick versus the usual $3.50 or so.

The Landmark's Hebrew National hot dogs? Maybe not so much of a stretch. But they are wrapped in a La Brea Bakery bun to be topped with locally made, handcrafted pickle relish. "It's not what you'd necessarily expect to find in a movie theater," said Rita Meno, Landmark Theatres' director of concessions and retail sales. "When you walk in, it's important that you know it's different here."

But then, you wouldn't necessarily expect to find the popcorn popped in sunflower oil and served with — gasp! — real butter, the Alternative Baking Co. vegan cookies, the Peet's Coffee or the low-carb pizzas courtesy of Pizza Rustica, a mini-chain of restaurants voted Los Angeles' pizza "hot spot" by the Wall Street Journal. The theater will even offer all-natural Yogurberry frozen yogurt, an up-and-coming rival to the cultishly popular Pinkberry fro-yo franchise (Yogurberry claims to have more viable yogurt cultures, if you care about that kind of stuff). In addition, a veritable United Nations of hard-to-find premium snacks is there for the scarfing — most notably, chocolate Tim Tam biscuits imported from Australia, among the most addictive in the world.

Although none of it is engineered to chisel waistlines, the goodies are easy on the conscience. Many items are organic and self-consciously top-shelf — the "culinary" soft drink at the Landmark, Dry Soda, will be served in Champagne flutes — and created by small-scale "indie" purveyors, most of them local. And all the snacks are priced to be competitive with the de rigueur movie markup you get on a $7 box of Red Vines (which will also be available, along with Junior Mints, so relax).

"We're cognizant of how things were grown, where they were made, how many calories they have, if people had to die for us to get them," Meno says with a laugh. "Our audiences tend to be very informed customers. And people in L.A. are very discerning."

Bottom line: After a taste test of nearly all the offerings, the Landmark wins the snack battle. (Sorry ArcLight: Those apple-chicken sausages just don't compare.) Furthermore, the stand's exotic offerings are available to everyone, not (Tim Tam fanatics, take note) just ticket buyers.

Advantage: Landmark.

Rethinking the contents of the Landmark's concession stand is only the opening salvo, however. Almost every component of the traditional movie outing has been somehow tweaked or otherwise deconstructed to contribute to an overall luxe experience. (At $11 a ticket, even for reserved seating, prices remain on par with the nearby Westfield Century City's AMC 15 theater admission as well as the ArcLight's weekday prices; on Friday and Saturday evenings, tickets there shoot up to $14.)

Pass beneath an oddly sloped patch of ceiling, an architectural holdover from the pitched stadium seating in the auditorium above it, and the moviegoer observes a small retail area offering specialized books, DVDs and CDs — indie filmmaker memoirs, "Director's Series" music video compilations, Criterion Collection movies and the like. These have been selected to appeal to the discerning cinéaste, with an eye toward broadening the cultural effect of the film he or she may have just seen inside the theater. Well thought out and practical (and a far cry from the ArcLight's generalized Hollywood curio and tchotchke shop-cum-magazine stand).

In the customer satisfaction and amenities department, the new theater owes a debt to its Hollywood forebear: the concierge, the absence of commercials before films, allowing alcohol inside the theater and a dedicated staff to ensure high sound quality — these are all ArcLight innovations.

And speaking of booze: Earlier this week, a layer of fine dust coated the louvered wooden screen separating the lobby from the Landmark Lounge — a warm walnut and stone oasis. Neither the love seats nor its sectionals had arrived during our inspection, but even without them the bar's ambience was preferable to that of the ArcLight, which can feel like an airport waiting room even under the best of circumstances. According to bar manager Nino Chaddah, the Landmark's 250-seat boîte will be decidedly "non-elitist." "We're a sophisticated place for the everyday Joe," he said. "It doesn't matter how much you know about wine."

As with the concession stand, the Landmark hopes the Lounge will become a destination in its own right.

Bottom line: The Landmark's look is sleek, understated and elegant, and it gets bonus points for positioning recycling bins throughout the building. But we worry about congestion during prime show times — especially in the Landmark's retail hall, which is the only way to get to the theaters on the first level. And the Landmark's bathrooms, which had been described as super cool, were merely pedestrian (despite the club-like blue-tinted halogen lighting) and less spacious than the ArcLight's.

Advantage: Neither.

The innovations don't stop inside the Landmark's 12 auditoriums. Its leather-upholstered chairs are 26 inches wide — 3 inches wider than the industry standard — and are padded with foam designed by NASA. Each offers what theater executives insist is an unobstructed sight line. On the other hand, the two front rows in several auditoriums were at least 10 feet closer to the screen than at the ArcLight.

Fortunately, in the smaller auditoriums that's not the case. Called Living Rooms and built to accommodate up to 50 people, they're being kitted out with plush sofas and foot rests in an effort to capture that cozy, intimate, never-left-home vibe lacking at your everyday megaplex.

Then there's the parking: 3,349 spaces provided for as long as you want to stay and free of charge. Take that, ArcLight, with your $2-for-four-hours avarice!

"We're not looking for a fast dollar," Landmark executive Mundorff said. "We want to be thought of as the place where you go to see a movie."

Bottom line: We'll forgive those two rows of seats that are way too close to the screen (one of the ArcLight's greatest gifts to the moviegoing public) because of the free parking and those nifty Living Room auditoriums.

Advantage: Landmark (by a nose).

The Landmark West Los Angeles

Where: 10850 W. Pico Blvd., L.A.

When: Opens June 1

Info: (310) 470-0492, www.landmarktheatres.com

www.tickets.landmarktheatres.com
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