National Theatre
10925 Lindbrook Drive,
Los Angeles,
CA
90024
10925 Lindbrook Drive,
Los Angeles,
CA
90024
64 people
favorited this theater
Showing 201 - 225 of 755 comments
It’s going tobe a hole in the ground very soon. It looks like that from what those pictures.
So are they going to reuse the structure or are they in prep for tearing it all down?
WOW…That last one is pretty sad one.
wonder what’s gonna happen to the big sign? Someone have a big truck and studio to claim it?
due to the bad weather today there was a gaping hole in the covering of the north west part of the wall and in the inside all i saw was that the whole thing is gutted out. RIP National
Alan (or whoever), is there a page on this website dedicated to the UA Westwood? I can’t seem to find it. I have many fond memories of that theater, including seeing Terminator 2 on opening day there in ‘91. I still go there all the time, but now, of course, it is a CVS pharmacy. At least they kept the theater’s outer shell virtually intact.
“The National and the Plaza and the Regent and the FourPlex and the Village and the Bruin.
All within WALKING DISTANCE….”
Not to mention the U.A. Westwood (turned to the U.A. Egyptian, turned to the Odeon Westwood, turned to the Mann Festival), the U.A. Cinema Ctr. (turned to the U.A. Westwood), the Avco, and the Crest! They may not have been Mann Theaters and they may have been mostly South of Wilshire but they were still withing walking distance and part of the vibrant Westwood movie scene!
Alan Sanborn
(Former U.A. Asst. Mgr.)
My friend Chad wanted me to post this for him, Chad worked at the National in ‘88-89 during Rick Pulsipher’s stay.
The Sad Demise of Westwood Village is a glaring example of WHAT EXACTLY HAS HAPPENED TO THIS COUNTRY SINCE THE LATE 1980’s. There is a vacant apathy and unchecked greed to contend with. People simply do not congregate for fun anymore. Isolated interests, locked in cars with windows up, talking on cellphones, passing by one or more indentikit corporate eatery for a quick bite, no time, no interest, things look too old there in Westwood.
Westwood has become a poorly envisioned and managed hodgepodge of stores and shops that have virtually NO CHARACTER and this is WHAT IS HAPPENING EVERYWHERE.
What is the point of going to a GRAND CINEMA in order to see a BLAND MOVIE?
Why not wait? Why not Rent? Why not NetFlix? Why not OWN IT TODAY ON DISNEY DVD?
Westwood used to be RollerSkating Playboy Bunnies, Warren Beatty’s Heaven Can Wait Billboard up on high for a year; Bookstores, Good Restaurants, Cheap and Easy Parking, Good Films, Good Music Shops stocked with NEW RELEASES THAT MATTERED and people could care about.
NO FEAR, NO PARANOIA, NO PARKING ENFORCEMENT DRONES, NO CELLPHONES.
The National and the Plaza and the Regent and the FourPlex and the Village and the Bruin.
All within WALKING DISTANCE….
I cannot deal with going to Westwood lately, only because I did not want to see what this picture is showing. It is the end of a era. I do not know Westwood without the National. :–(
More vacant retail space?
so, the big question on everyone’s mind is…whats going up in it’s place?
Damn.
Now a days when they wreak a building, they wrap the exterior of it. It’s coming down soon.
What exactly are they doing? Wrecking or remodeling?
Wow, very sad
Thanks for posting them.
Lets go way back to the early 80’s, does anyone remember Westwood had one of the very first video stores to open called “Video 2001”, nothing but Beta rentals.
Ah, and does anyone remember Jim Litta’s little store right next to the Village called “A Touch of Hollywood” with collectables & movie posters (circa 1984/85) And of course there was a time when the “Westworld” arcade was a thriving place with cool games..the Defender machines all dominated by my high scores (999.975) in permanent memory. And when the game Marble Madness came out, Spielberg (a known Marble Madness maniac, had a game of his own at his office in Amblin) had dominated the high scores with his initials “SAS”. Well that was the rumor anyway, hehe
UCLA won the NCAA championship in Spring 1995.
And I can’t believe that would keep people away- does Boston have to worry about tourists not showing up?
No, Westwood’s problems are self-inflicted. Narrow minded landlords writing bad rental agreements and the Westwood community allowing it to happen.
As for Bookstores… Westwood had a B Dalton, a Walden a couple of independent shops and Graphitti comics. Now? They have a mystery book shop (which is pretty cool). Granted Borders killed a lot of teh business, but still…
I’ve no idea about music stores, but if one could set up shop with a decent contract, they’d do well.
Actually, the Good Earth restaurant reopened a few months ago in the huge space that used to be Madisons bar, right next to the Regent theater. Unfortuantly, it looks nearly empty everytime I pass by. As for bars, Maloneys is still there but is now called O'Haras, and the Westwood Brewing Company (formerly the Chart House circa 1992) is still around as well.
Let us all hope that the new upscale Palazzo apartment buildings that are opening across from the Expo Design Center this month will help breath some new life and business into the village.
Westwood is dead. Period. It officially died after the huge riot following UCLA winning the NCAA basketball championship in about 1993-84. Before that it was the bad vibe that followed Mardi Gras at UCLA – remember that? It was like a big carnival every year on the UCLA campus but “a bad element” (i.e gangbangers) started to attend and pretty soon it was gone. This was about 1992 I think. Not to mention City Walk and the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica took a huge chunk of the biz away from Westwood. The worst was when they closed the Hamburger Hamlet and took away a pretty nice and affordable resturant. You used to see a lot of celebs eating and smoozing there on any given night. As mentioned, no more record stores; they closed the Westwood Tower records even before they liquidated their assets when they filed Bankruptcy. No bookstores and I believe Westwood had about 3 of them at one time. All gone. Mario’s Italian Resturant is gone – replaced by a CPK – and Mario’s had been there forever. Somehow the Haagen Dazs is still hanging on along with Stan’s Donuts across from The Village. Westwood had 2 pretty cool resturants at one time: “Yesterday’s and "The Old World.” They also had a “Good Earth” resturant. All long gone. The Gap is gone and so is Copelands Sporting Goods. I think all the bars are gone too. Used to have a pint at Statton’s. Gone. And let’s not forget that once upon a time Westwood had a “Ships” Coffee Shop accross from The Avco. Yeah, I’d say Westwood is pretty much dead. And they want to convert the lot where the National was into a retail outlet?? Good luck.
Kevin Smith’s store re-located to share space with LAZERBLAZER on Pico Blvd. There are no stores to browse in Westwood any longer which is why it is no longer draws big crowds. You pretty much have to go a time it so you can see your film, maybe grab a bite to eat somewhere and leave the Village. I used to spend the day in Westwood sometimes, going to the shops, seeing a couple of films and having lunch. The more popular theatres (Century City, Santa Monica promenade, The Grove, Westside Pavilion etc) are also shopping centers.
It is indeed bizarre what’s happened to Westwood. Remember when there were four music stores there – Tower, The Wherehouse, Musicland, and Penny Lane? Now, zippo. Of course, some of that has to do with the changing nature of the music industry but there is practically no place in Westwood where I browse anymore except perhaps Aahs. Is Kevin Smith’s Secret Stash store still open? It always seemed to be closed when I was there!
Happy New Year!
Alan
Westwood got a bit too big for its own good. Back when I worked at the Village in 1981 and 82 I asked management (Mann Execs) if they worried that people may migrate elsewhere eventually to see films and shop; they laughed. Westwood Village needs to become a “Village” again. It needs to be a place you could walk around, shop, eat dinner (or lunch), see a film etc. The odd part about all this is it is not a shopping district any longer and does not draw people unless they happen to decide to see a film; or have dinner there. The Village and Bruin are landmarks but that only protects the shells of the buildings. After Mann drops the lease they could become retail spaces unless someone else takes the leases. My only wish is that Pacific Theatres has the foresight to see potential again with Westwood, and decides to “Arclight” the Village or Bruin. Soon, Westwood Village will be Movie Theatre less unless someone takes interest in it again. The National never had a chance to continue on; we are lucky to have the Village and Bruin still, even though thier days are numbered.
yea pretty soon cobwebs and tumbleweeds will be blowing thru westwood, i’d love to do a sequel to Omega Man and set it in Westwood, the Charlton Heston character sets up his secret living space inside the National
Commercial opportunities in Westwood are a dime a dozen- and after some of the rents are paid, you’re lucky to have a dime.
Granted, this is all blamed on a shooting 20 years ago which killed one person. The elderly in Santa Monica have killed more people with cars than shootings have in Westwood, but whatever.
No, whoever is running Westwood needs to be the subject of a 60 Minutes investigation. One of the nicest parts of LA and the list of established businesses that have come and gone reads like a list of Fortune 1000 companies. This place couldn’t even support a McDonalds!
Goofball rents and leasing agreements made on Bizzaro World play more than a little role in Westwoods ennui, I’d love to see THAT blamed instead of a shooting the next time I read an article about why westwood is so vacant.
“The property owner, Simms Development corp, determined to demolish this irreplaceable theatre, even turned down an offer to buy the building, Simms plans to replace the theatre with "a one-story commercial space with rooftop parking.”
Wow, that is one smart developer! A one-story commercial space with rooftop parking….hmmm, that sounds very similar to a structure just across the street and about 50 yards south of the National. The one that used to be Hollywood Video, which closed about 6 months ago and has sat dark and vacant ever since. Even the damm Gap couldn’t make it in Westwood. Retail in Westwood has been dead for years, and that particular corner is the worst since it is a block or so off the beaten path. Smart move not selling the theater, Mr. Simms! And good luck!