One Week Left: The Mighty Coronet Theater in San Francisco set to close - Beyond Tiki

M martiki Official Mixologist http://www.smugglerscovesf.com Joined: Mar 29, 2002 Posts: 3059	M martiki Posted posted on Mon, Feb 14, 2005 1:46 PM After a slight reprieve, The Coronet will live for another week, at least. Looks like $1000000 Baby is making good money, so they're milking it. The loss of this theater is such a tragedy. It was where we went for the "big" movies when I was growing up, and it was my neighborhood movie house when I lived at 7th and Geary for eight years. I have such good memories of seeing a lot of amazing films there. I remember the SW Special Edition re-releases there, full of long lines of geeks. So many geeks packed in to the theatre and would sit and watch them over and over in a row, that the place had the worst case of geek-stink I have ever smelled. Or as melintur calls it, "gamer butt". It lasted for literally YEARS after those movies, only to be refreshed when Episode 1 made it's debut. I can still smell lingering traces of it today, believe it or not. Beyond my memories, it has been a neighborhood icon for 56 years. The interior, while certainly not on par with the Paramount or the Castro, is beautiful, with striking painting of royal scenes on the walls. The recessed area behind the candy counter (where the bathrooms are) used to have a large semi-circular couch and a projection television built into the wall. In the early 50s, before home TVs were common, neighbors used to gather there to watch the big news of the day- free of charge. The sign is a classic, and I always laugh when some of the neon goes out, and it becomes the more urban sounding " 'Ronet". And yes, it was one of 25 screens that Star Wars opened on in 1977. I have heard that Lucas still sneaks in once in a while for a movie there. There was no chance to save it- it sold quietly to the Institue for Aging in 2000 before anyone could stop it. SF has now lost almost FORTY movie houses since 1980, including the once stunning Alhambra and Alexandria. Hard to complain about building low cost senior housing, but couldn't it have gone somewhere else? I think it's ironic that neighborhood seniors who no doubt fond memories of the place will have to watch the wrecking ball rip into it to make room or their new digs. Such a sad and stupid loss. Someone has suggested that Lucas ought to rent the place from the Institute just long long enough to put Episode III in there in May. That really would be a perfect bookend to the Coronet. I'm not holding my breath. So Bay Area people: Get over to the Coronet this week for one last visit. Take in the atmosphere and remember the good ol' days, since as far as single screen movie houses are concerned, they're almost over. Plus Million Dollar Baby is a good film, so you'll enjoy that, too. It won't cheer you up, though.

After a slight reprieve, The Coronet will live for another week, at least. Looks like $1000000 Baby is making good money, so they're milking it.

The loss of this theater is such a tragedy. It was where we went for the "big" movies when I was growing up, and it was my neighborhood movie house when I lived at 7th and Geary for eight years. I have such good memories of seeing a lot of amazing films there. I remember the SW Special Edition re-releases there, full of long lines of geeks. So many geeks packed in to the theatre and would sit and watch them over and over in a row, that the place had the worst case of geek-stink I have ever smelled. Or as melintur calls it, "gamer butt". It lasted for literally YEARS after those movies, only to be refreshed when Episode 1 made it's debut. I can still smell lingering traces of it today, believe it or not.

Beyond my memories, it has been a neighborhood icon for 56 years. The interior, while certainly not on par with the Paramount or the Castro, is beautiful, with striking painting of royal scenes on the walls. The recessed area behind the candy counter (where the bathrooms are) used to have a large semi-circular couch and a projection television built into the wall. In the early 50s, before home TVs were common, neighbors used to gather there to watch the big news of the day- free of charge. The sign is a classic, and I always laugh when some of the neon goes out, and it becomes the more urban sounding " 'Ronet".

And yes, it was one of 25 screens that Star Wars opened on in 1977. I have heard that Lucas still sneaks in once in a while for a movie there.

There was no chance to save it- it sold quietly to the Institue for Aging in 2000 before anyone could stop it. SF has now lost almost FORTY movie houses since 1980, including the once stunning Alhambra and Alexandria. Hard to complain about building low cost senior housing, but couldn't it have gone somewhere else? I think it's ironic that neighborhood seniors who no doubt fond memories of the place will have to watch the wrecking ball rip into it to make room or their new digs. Such a sad and stupid loss.

Someone has suggested that Lucas ought to rent the place from the Institute just long long enough to put Episode III in there in May. That really would be a perfect bookend to the Coronet. I'm not holding my breath.

So Bay Area people: Get over to the Coronet this week for one last visit. Take in the atmosphere and remember the good ol' days, since as far as single screen movie houses are concerned, they're almost over. Plus Million Dollar Baby is a good film, so you'll enjoy that, too. It won't cheer you up, though.