lThe (arc)light of my life

I am in totally in love. I have been taken hostage by the wonder and beauty that is the ArcLight Cinema, "where movie lovers belong." Not only are the sound and screen perfectly designed, the popcorn is to die for. The lobby boasts a cafe with a full service bar and restaurant, a bookstore, and celebrity photographs exclusive to the walls of ArcLight. And don't get me started on The Dome, a feat of design that includes a screen big enough to put all the IMAXs in the world to shame. And despite ArcLight's eclectic schedule of obscure independents, classic revivals, and current commercial releases, each and every screening is given a warm introduction (a la Ragtag).

What does this mean for my budget? It means oh shit. To put this in perspective, I have seen three movies today alone (the appropriately NC-17 The Dreamers, Best Director nominee City of God, and piece-of-shit 50 First Dates). But hey, that's what savings and unemployment are for.

Things only get better. In March, as part of the AFI's top 100 movies celebration, ArcLight will be screening Casablanca, The Graduate, Apocalypse Now, Network, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and other classics. It's enough of a dream come true to almost make me forget why I moved out here.