National Becomes a Statistic

(Pic by You-Are-Here.com.)

Another longrunning L.A. theatre is about to see the wrecking ball, reports Jeffrey Wells.

The Mann National in Westwood (where I saw screenings for "Austin Powers in Goldmember" and "Private Parts," among other fims) has looked stuck in the 1970s forever. Yet the house is big, and the screen even bigger -- so it will be sad to see it go.

Writes Wells:

Westwood's Mann National, a big single-screen house that once played the exclusive runs of The Godfather and The Exorcist, will close at the end of this week. This theatre has been dying for years. We live in a megaplex stadium-seating world, and sagging-at-the-heels behemoths like the National -- a once-grand showplace that still has pretty good and projection quality -- are all going to be toast sooner or later.

I mentioned the National's closing to a twentysomething L.A. woman, and she told me she'd never been there. The crowds aren't going to Westwood any more. I can let the National go but please don't tell me this is going to happen to Mann's Village also. If this is in the cards don't want to hear about it.

We're living in a multiplex world.