Kabuki 8 Movie Theater

Post and Fillmore

 

While I have been known to espouse some rather violent views against multiplexes, I must admit that for all of its faults, for all of the wretched characteristics that come with the multiplex, the Kabuki as a movie theatre ain't bad.

Yes, you read that right.

Well, wait just a minute there, pardner.  There's the patented tacky carpets, the post-modern corridors, the hackneyed popcorn booths, the overpriced crusty candy, and the AMC Movietunes!  I mean, the Kabuki is notoriously stingy that they're one of the only two theatres in town not to allow their underpaid employees the decency of free movies! True. 

All true.  And I make no bones about it.  All of it is reprehensible.

But the Kabuki was built during a time when multiplexes, dare I say it, were innocent, before the studios put a Lethal Weapon 10 or a shoddy remake of a beloved Hitchcock film (Gus Van Sant gets a special spot in hell for the latter) on all of its screens.

But this is hardly a virtue nor a mea culpa to make up for the fact that the Kabuki is a multiplex.  So let's go through the list.

  1. While you may see Hollywood dribble at the Kabuki, you will also see a good deal of independent fare.
  2. Every year, the Kabuki hosts the San Francisco International Film Festival and allows such unexpected fare as the films of Im-Kwon Tek and Robert Frank to play on its THX screens.
  3. In a world of nine dollar movies (the UA theatres are getting there), the Kabuki offers the twilight special for $3.75.  On any day, you can catch anything that's playing between 4 and 6 p.m. for under four bucks.
  4. For insomniacs (like me) who absolutely have to see a movie, the Kabuki has plenty of movies playing just before the midnight hour on Fridays and Saturdays.

True, pricing and programming should not be the primary factors in gauging a movie theatre.  But these things are to be commended, even in a theatre that serves Starbuck's coffee.

Edward Champion

 

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