After 35 years the Eastgate Theatre shuts its doors

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The Eastgate, Oregon's largest movie theater, closes its doors for good. And it's all your fault.

BY DAVID WALKER
dwalker@wweek.com

By the time you read this, the Eastgate Theatre will be closed. That may not seem like a big deal to some of you. After all, the Eastgate was just another movie theater in a city with too many theaters. It was located out on Southeast 82nd Avenue, just north of Division Street; getting in and out of the tiny parking lot was always a nightmare; and with only three screens, there was never a huge selection of movies playing. So what's to mourn, right?

Still, attention must finally be paid to the Eastgate's passing, and not just because it was the first theater I went to after moving to Portland over two decades ago. In comparison to other cinematic venues in this fair city, the Eastgate's virtues might not have been obvious. It didn't have the grand history of the Hollywood, the tacky, ornate beauty of the original Fox or the sleaze appeal of the long-defunct old Broadway. But what the Eastgate did have was the biggest screen and largest auditorium in the state of Oregon. It wasn't much to look at from the outside, but from the inside, the 1,300-seat main screening hall of the Eastgate was the type of theater in which movies like Star Wars were meant to be seen. It was the sort of place where the spectacle of film could be viewed in all its grandeur.

The Eastgate was run by Regal Cinemas, the Tennessee-based theater chain that has managed to work itself into a $2 billion debt. The closure of the Eastgate is in keeping with Regal's plan to close what may amount to 30 percent of its screens in an effort to save money. The rationale is that with only three screens to choose from, the Eastgate was no longer a viable player in the competitive world of multiplex theaters. I guess Regal booking a film like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in two auditoriums at Lloyd Cinemas--both of which combined are still smaller than the Eastgate--makes prudent business sense. Who cares about watching a movie in a big auditorium with a huge screen, when we can watch the same film in several auditoriums with screens slightly larger than a big-screen television?

The closing of the Eastgate, however, is symptomatic of a greater problem. No, I'm not talking about the fact that Regal Cinema sucks. We already know that--the bathrooms are always dirty, the concessions overpriced and the films out of focus. What I'm talking about is the way movie audiences are accorded no respect as consumers. The worst part is that we have been active participants as our rights as viewers have been diminished.

The Eastgate didn't close because it only had three screens and couldn't compete with other theaters--it closed because people chose to go see the same films that played at the Eastgate at other theaters with smaller auditoriums, and then complained when they didn't get a decent seat. These are the same people who complain when the mom 'n' pop video store on the corner closes, while they continue to rent movies at the Blockbuster three miles away. These are the same people who complain there are no good movies out there, but continue to pay to see the crap churned out by Hollywood.

No one is forcing any of you to watch the movies you watch in the theaters you watch them in, or rent from the heartless corporate video stores that promote censorship. But you do it anyway. And then the good theaters with the big screens, and the cool video stores that carry the unrated version of Re-Animator, go out of business.

As consumers of film we have rights and responsibilities. We determine what movies are made. The first three days of a film's release are the most important. Studios decide how long a movie will stay in theaters and whether or not there will be a sequel based on the box-office returns from the opening weekend. Anyone ever wonder why Keanu Reeves keeps making movies? It's because enough people keep going to see his films on opening weekend.

If you don't want Hollywood to release garbage like Saving Silverman, make sure you don't go see it--especially on opening weekend. You think Warner Bros. doesn't know 3,000 Miles to Graceland is total crap? Those guys know it, and they don't care! They're banking on the fact that all the Kevin Costner fans will go see it regardless of how bad it looks. Film companies regularly sell the public chocolate pudding, hoping no one will complain that it is actually dog poop.

It's time to tell Hollywood you're tired of being fed crap masquerading as film. Don't give your money to the studios on opening weekend, if at all. And on the flip side, if there are films or filmmakers you want to support, go early. Go to the theater that makes the moviegoing experience fun--not the one that has the most screens. Rent from the video store that offers the best selection of videos--not the most copies of one title. Let your money do the talking for you.