The Stanford Theatre

Today's Soccer blog can be found below.

On Monday, I wrote about Palo Alto's Stanford Theatre. Indeed, the place is a landmark of the Bay Area film community. I wanted to share some pictures now:

Recently, much has been said about declining movie ticket sales. There has been even more furor recently over Disney's alleged plan to simultaneously release their films in theatres and on DVD. It's sad that the public no longer wants to see films on the big screen (half the experience of seeing a film in my opinion), but it's also understandable. Home entertainment and DVD quality have improved exponentially in the last ten years. Couple this with terrible theatre experiences (obnoxious audiences, tiny screens, and less than stellar service), and what you have are declining ticket sales. I don't buy the argument that films have been bad either. The fact that audiences gravitated towards movies like "The Dukes of Hazzard" and "The Fantastic Four" this summer (even with competition from above-average summer films like "Revenge of the Sith," "Batman Begins," and "War of the Worlds") is proof that the Hollywood formula is more successful than ever.

No, the problem can only be resolved by reclaiming the theatre experience. Loews is bringing back the double feature, and other theatre chains are working effortlessly to ensure that they install digital visual and audio equipment, as well as providing new and various ammenities to film-goers. These are steps in the right direction. To understand what Hollywood and the movie-theatre once was, you need look no further than the Stanford Theatre. That is a real movie experience.