Houston's Nova Meyerland 8 theater, operating since 1965, is closing tomorrow:
The little theater tucked away at the back of Meyerland Plaza off the West Loop has become the latest casualty of the industry's move toward megaplexes and stadium seating. The mall's management plans to demolish the building and replace it with 55,000 square feet of new shops. Moviegoers who have enjoyed the theater since it opened in 1965 will have to go elsewhere.
The loss may be felt particularly hard by elderly residents such as [local resident Virginia] Palmer who live in the Meyerland and Bellaire areas. They say they will lose the sense of security they felt going to a place where theater manager Vincent Chow knows regulars by sight and where concession stand workers remember who likes their drinks with no ice and who doesn't want salt on their popcorn.
What, parking in another zip code and dealing with surly, sub-literate teens mumbling at you from the concession stand of the local 30-screen Googleplex aren't good enough for you? This is the big city, baby.
What's more of a drag is that the Meyerland facility was actually a fairly successful theater, at least by Nova's standards:
[Theater manager Vincent] Chow said the theater is the second most successful in the Nova chain, which has operated it for 14 months and understood coming in that the theater's days were numbered. Still, he said 250,000 people saw movies there between Thanksgiving 2002 and Thanksgiving 2003, and the cinema earned $350,000 in profit.
Not successful enough for the recently resurgent Meyerland area, however...
But Meyerland Plaza manager Brenda Bode noted that the theater owners pay less than market value in rent to the shopping center's owner and operator, Atlanta-based Ronus Properties.
"We have tried in good faith to make the cinema happen, but at the end of the day the numbers aren't there. If they were paying a market rate they would not be able to be there," said Bode, who has had her fair share of calls from theater supporters waxing nostalgic.
"It will be sort of a grieving period, but I hope people can adjust. We're not trying to let the community or shopping center die. We understand that people are interested in the shopping center and what we're doing here. We are their back-door neighbor."
When Meyerland's market value was in the toilet a decade or so ago thanks to urban decay and lack of property rentals, nobody paid much attention to the dingy little 8-screen theater back in the corner. Now that they've landed Border's and Old Navy, it's time to clean a little house.
I'll be the first to admit that I like seeing movies in a stadium theater, with full-on DTS or THX stereo sound so loud I can't hear my own thoughts, much less the running commentary of the mouth-breathing homunculus in the seat behind me. I also enjoy having 17 showtimes to choose from in a day, as well as a handy ATM for my impulse purchase of a 3-pound bag of Runts.
That said, the Nova was one of the last theaters in town where you could still regularly park within 30 feet of the entrance. For free. The staff - unlike that of any of the local AMC, Tinseltown, or Edwards monstrosities - actually acted like patrons were more than a necessary annoyance. If you ordered a drink ($1 fountain drinks and $1 regular popcorn, all day every day), you got a cup and were free to fill it with whatever mix of beverage and ice you chose. The seats, while not the Buick bucket variety common nowadays, were comfortable, and each theater had enough of a grade to the floor that your view wouldn't be obstructed unless you got stuck behind Yao Ming.
Of course, the Nova was also the only theater I ever patronized that forgot Daylight Savings Time, meaning we effectively got the first third of "From Hell" fast-forwarded for us.
Any structure in this city over ten years old might as well be the Parthenon, so it's a shame the 38-year old theater is biting the dust. And the Nova theater chain as a whole doesn't seem to be looking to healthy either, with theaters in such high traffic areas as Boaz, Alabama and Blountville, Tennessee.
As for the area's other local small theaters, the Angelika and the Landmark Greenway will probably fare just fine. They're really the only places in town to see first-run foreign and independent films, and thankfully the fourth largest city in the country is able to support a whopping six screens of such fare (nine if you count the Landmark River Oaks, which benefits from being situated next to Houston's famous twin Starbucks).
And personally, being a big shot film correspondent, I now have to wonder where they're going to hold WorldFest this year. What other theater could possibly compete with the majesty of Patrick Swayze's gala "One Last Dance" premiere?
UPDATE: Chuck, as usual, beat me to the punch with a little personal history of his own. Kudos for also using the work "Googleplex."
What a big day it was when the Schulmann 6 opened up. SIX!
Granted, theaters 5 and six were about the size of my living room, but still, SIX movie screens!
The US government subsidizes farmers (and numerous other business) that would otherwise fail if they were otherwise subject to the naked forces of capitalism. Sounds like Nova needs a better lobbiest.
Pet peeve warning ... stop reading now!
Kudos will be awarded only for the word "googolplex," lest we forget that "googol" is a number and "Google" is an Internet search engine.
Crapitola. I go to that theater all the time since it's so close to my house. The wife and I saw RotK there last week.
....actually, now that I think about it, the sound was awful, the seats were uncomfortable and the air stank. Never mind, tear that mother down and put up a Starbucks! Yeah baby!