Lumiere Theatre Closing -- C'est La Vie

You really can't have a much better San Francisco evening than hopping on a cable car, hopping off for the five-spice chicken at Cordon Bleu ("the best chicken you will have outside of Vietnam"), and finishing it off with a movie at the Lumiere.

Long may the Cordon Bleu and cable cars shine on, but, after this weekend, the lights go out at the Lumiere. Landmark Theatres publicist Steve Indig says that the cinema has lost its lease and could not come to terms on a new one. He adds that the theater's staff will, if they want, have opportunities to work at other Landmark cinemas. But they won't be showing you depressing independent films next door to the best chicken you will have outside of Vietnam. Like so many of the movies the theater showed, it will not have a happy ending.

Of course, not every movie screened at the Lumiere was a downer. The King of Kong was one of the most delightful films you'll ever see, all the more so because it's populated by characters torn from a Christopher Guest faux-documentary -- but is a real documentary.


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Meanwhile, Angel-A had a near fairy tale ending. The character played by diminutive comedian Jemel Debbouze marries a statuesque angel. This would appear implausible -- until one considers Debbouze's real-life marital situation.

In any event, Angel-A was one of the worst movies your humble narrator has ever seen. It left me walking out of the theater feeling bitter and angry and disoriented.

Exactly like I feel now. Au revoir, Lumiere. Au revoir.

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