Best Movie Theater
ArcLight Cinemas – Last last year, ArcLight Cinemas in El Segundo (formerly Pacific Theaters) unveiled a $6 million upgrade. The goal was to create a community for cinema fans, and they have succeeded. They even added café to encourage film discussions and create a local film community.
Other upgrades included increasing the sizes of the complex’s 16 screens by 30 percent; converting the auditoriums into “black boxes,” using non reflective paint on the walls and rails, and moving exit lights away from the screen; increasing the seat sizes, doubling the armrest sizes; and adding a gift shop, and an outdoor dining café with beer and wine, and soon, full liquor.
The X-band glasses for 3-D movies have optical quality lenses with electronic shutters triggered by a wireless receiver on the bridges of the glasses.
The lobby features movie exhibits and film talks will follow the movies. Next Thursday, following the 8 p.m. screening of “Waiting for Superman,” the theater will host a discussion led by the film’s director Davis Guggenheim.
Notably absent from the theaters are advertisements, in the lobby or on the screen.
“We believe in the transformation power of cinema and have striven to remove any barriers that interfere with enjoying a film,” ArcLight brand officer, a Manhattan Beach resident, said at a press conference last Thursday.
Arclight cinema: 831 South Nash Streeet, El Segundo.
Runner up: AMC Cinema, South Bay Galleria