CGV Cinemas San Francisco
1000 Van Ness Avenue,
San Francisco,
CA
94109
1000 Van Ness Avenue,
San Francisco,
CA
94109
6 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 38 of 38 comments
The new IMAX screen at the Van Ness is not that big at all. Nothing like the IMAX at the AMC Metroen. It’s like what many theatres are putting in and call it the Imax Experience. Just another way AMC gets extra money. The new screen at the Van Ness is not that much larger then the screen they had. It’s hardly curved. Not much height to go tall. And they have reserved seats in the new IMAX theatre. Bad sound, they got rid or all the side surround speakers and just have two big old speaker box’s marked IMAX in the back left and right corners. Reserved seats don’t work in this IMAX auditorium as most people come in late in the dark when the previews are on or even at the start of the film and AMC has no one to help you find your seat number in the dark. And you pay extra for this IMAX screen. Most people don’t carry a flash light so If you are in your seat it is very distracting.
Burtonic: Yes, the Cadillac dealership at 1000 Van Nessas well as several others were picketed along Van Ness Ave’s Auto Row in the early 60’s over hiring policies that excluded African Americans.
hdtv267: What size screen do they use for IMAX at this theater? The Metreon has a gigantic screen (at the time it was built it was one of the largest in North America). Don’t go to this theater much as I’ve never cared for the $1.98 decorating of the auditoriums and the shopping mall cookie cutter look of the theater itself. The building and lobby (the old Cadillac showroom) are beautiful but otherwise the theaters could be anywhere.
I’ve uploaded a photo taken April 2011 when on holiday from Wales, I thought the entrance may have been a bank in it’s former life until I read the intoductory post. We saw the film Arthur starring Russell Brand. Enjoyed our evening there, sorry the photo is a bit crooked.
Is this the Cadillac showroom that was the site of a civil rights sit-in in the 1960s?
I’ve posted information and photos from a recent visit here.
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It seems this building was constructed in 1912. Some nice vintage photos and info here:
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Unfortunately, San Francisco is limited on the amount of theaters it has, so the AMC 1000 Van Ness usually plays to large crowds at all times. Its a pretty nice theater…but the presentation is not great. For example, on a recent night we went to a 10:40pm showing of a movie which didn’t finally start until 11:15pm—35 minutes after the stated starting time. There were TONS of ads and previews to the point that the audience was visibly annoyed! This will make me think twice about going back next time, but something tells me AMC/Loews couldn’t give a damn.
Who are the managers of this megaplex? I used to know most managers in the 1980s and wonder how many are still around.
I went to this theatre years ago on a trip to SF, and went again last week on another trip. My main reason for going was its future sale and possible permanent closure. When i first went here back in 99 i remember its unique layout. Here in Los Angeles our theatres are on the ground. The AMC Van Ness 14 made unusual use of a building. I agree the lobby is an unused waste and could be put to better use. Its a large empty lobby. The ticket taker is located on level 1 and you then use a series of escalators to get to your theatre. Level 2 has theatres 1-4, level 4 has theatres 5-9, and level 7 has theatres 10-14. When you get to the top there are great views of the city including City Hall and the Opera House Plaza area. When you stand by the rail around the escalators you get this awesome vertigo feeling. I found the theatre to be pleasant and this last time i had a screen on level 7, and all the way up there i kept thinking it would be a closet size theatre being way up top. I was wrong, the screen was a fairly big in size, wall to wall, and very clear. To me the worst part of visiting the AMC Van Ness 14 was the parking w/validation was $6.00 however this was the norm around SF. I hope this building remains a theatre. If not i will always have the memory of going to a movie theatre that was not the same old cookie cutter design. This theatre and 9 others are set to close and be sold by AMC as part of the merger deal. The AMC web site lists the 10 theatres affected. This also includes the AMC Kabuki 8.
When this city lost the Alhambra, the Regency’s and the Royal I had no choice but to go here.
Each visit had been frought with problems: rude, loud patrons; loooooooong commercials before the feature; my gift certificates weren’t honored on several occasions because the boxoffice worker said they couldn’t be used for most engagements (they are not PASSES, they are SAME AS CASH), the once-nice cafe shut down and too many of the theaters are too small for some showings. The box-office itself clashes with the classy interior of this gorgeous building! There was a lame restaurant nearby that looked out-of-place. The line to the box office is terrible and getting in and out of the place is an obstacle course because of all the people milling around – it gets noisy and chaotic. They ruined a great building. Had they gone with the architecture and been creative, the place could have been classy and cool. Instead it’s like a noisy mall.
The best time to go is the very first show or the very last show. Avoid Saturday and Sunday afternoons and evenings unless you want to clash with all the tough youths that appear in droves.
There is no charm to the place.
Each auditorium has garbage bins as you enter that are built into the wall so you are met with the stench of garbage each time you enter and exit each and every theater. Smells like a locker room sometimes.
I have stopped going even though I have a few un-honored gift certificates in my possession. I got tired of trying to explain policy to the kids working there.
If it closed, it’d be a distant memory.
The upper floors of this building where the movie theatres are today, were once the studios and offices of KFRC and the production center for the Don Lee/Mutual radio network.
Among the people who got their start in show business there were talkshow host/crooner Merv Griffin and Bea Benaderet. Bea was the next door neighbor on the Burns & Allen show, Kate the proprietor of the Shady Rest Hotel on Petticoat Junction, and the voice of Betty Rubble on the Flintstones.
KFRC fed programs to the Mutual radio network and to its sister station in LA, KHJ. Mutual was the network most famous for the Lone Ranger radio show.
My mother (a radio actress in the 1930s at both Don Lee/Mutual and NBC) said that there was a large studio on one floor where such bands such as Benny Goodman’s performed on a regular basis.
It is interesting to note that the former Cadillac showroom housing this megaplex was designed in the 20s by Weeks & Day, architects of a number of theatres in the Bay Area and elsewhere, including:
(Fox) Peninsula, Burlingame (demolished)
Fox Oakland (scheduled for revival)
Stanford, Palo Alto (restored)
(Fox) California, San Jose (restored)
(Loew’s) State, Los Angeles (church)
Fox, San Diego (Copley Symphony Hall)