I’m planning to see Spartacus as I’ve only seen one film at the Paramount, a documentary. It’s a great venue for theater (saw Aladdin there last weekend) and I’m really looking forward to seeing a real movie in that setting.
Well, as a movie-goer in Bloomington from 1993-1998, I can confirm that Kerasotes sucked from a consumer standpoint. The mall theater was a dump, slimy floors projection problems, etc. But I have fond memories of seeing Jurassic Park there my second night in town, and of Toy Story a few years later. The Indiana was my favorite place, but of course Kerasotes closed it down, leaving us with the run-down Von Lee. It looks like there are more options now and the Indiana has been restored. The mall cinema is no loss…perhaps someone will restore the Princess someday too?
Such fond memories of this place! I recall standing in line during the first week of Star Wars and paying the “special” price of $2.50, a buck more than usual, to get in. Many great films there when I was a teen: Quest for Fire, Raiders, Platoon, The Mission. In the early 1980s it was the best place to take a special date because it was big, clean, and “fancy,” especially compared to the crappy Moyer theaters in the malls. I always wanted to sit in the loges but the balcony wasn’t bad. I’m delighted to see it’s been restored and will look forward to visiting sometime in the future when I make it back to Oregon again.
I think I remember seeing the film Sasquatch, The Legend of Bigfoot here in 1976…but the IMDB says that film didn’t open until 1977, when I had left North Bend. Coos County was really into bigfoot in the 70s though, with “sitings” in the area regularly, so perhaps it wasome other film. Does anyone know if the Little Theater screened films in 1976? And if so, did they screen something about Bigfoot? Most of the other films I remember from that period (Grizzly Adams, King Kong, many Disney titles) I know I saw at the Egyptian but I’m 99% certainly this bigfoot film was at the LTOTB.
Ah, I fondly remember the Capitol at the place “not quite as good as the Elsinore.” I saw Star Wars, Raiders, Platoon, The Mission, etc. at the Elsinore. What I remember most from the Capitol was “Gremlins.” Still, sad to see it’s now gone.
When Moyer (“Act III”) took over in 1985 the Rio was in poor repair. Under their management it got much worse, turned into a second-run theater, and was empty most nights. During high school I remember seeing films like “Johnny Dangerously” and “Runaway” there on double dates- and we’d be the only four people a the screening. Seats were broken and the place in general disrepair, typical of the Moyer operations of the 1980s (their Salem theaters were dumps too). The Motor-Vu drive in was in similar condition, but the $5/carload price made it much more popular with my friends…we mostly went to the “Fox” as it was called after 1985 with a sense of irony. I’m delighted to see it being kept up now and showing first-run movies. Congrats to the owners!
The Rio (now Fox) was my hometown theater from 1976-1986, when I graduated from high school. When Don Wernli still owned it (<1985) it was well kept and played mostly what I recall as “B” movies. I remember seeing “The Great White Bullafo,” “Orca,” and “Gray Lady Down” there in the late 70s. They made a big deal out of “The Late Great Planet Earth” in 1979. But my fondest memories were of Halloween screenings, when they’d show a cartoon before a kids feature and every child got a free bag of candy on the way in. Tickets, if I recall correctly, were just $1 for kids. Dallas was a small town then and in the 70s parents routinely dropped kids as young as 8 off at the Rio for weekend matinees and pre-teens were always much of the audience for PG evening showings.
I’m planning to see Spartacus as I’ve only seen one film at the Paramount, a documentary. It’s a great venue for theater (saw Aladdin there last weekend) and I’m really looking forward to seeing a real movie in that setting.
Well, as a movie-goer in Bloomington from 1993-1998, I can confirm that Kerasotes sucked from a consumer standpoint. The mall theater was a dump, slimy floors projection problems, etc. But I have fond memories of seeing Jurassic Park there my second night in town, and of Toy Story a few years later. The Indiana was my favorite place, but of course Kerasotes closed it down, leaving us with the run-down Von Lee. It looks like there are more options now and the Indiana has been restored. The mall cinema is no loss…perhaps someone will restore the Princess someday too?
Such fond memories of this place! I recall standing in line during the first week of Star Wars and paying the “special” price of $2.50, a buck more than usual, to get in. Many great films there when I was a teen: Quest for Fire, Raiders, Platoon, The Mission. In the early 1980s it was the best place to take a special date because it was big, clean, and “fancy,” especially compared to the crappy Moyer theaters in the malls. I always wanted to sit in the loges but the balcony wasn’t bad. I’m delighted to see it’s been restored and will look forward to visiting sometime in the future when I make it back to Oregon again.
I think I remember seeing the film Sasquatch, The Legend of Bigfoot here in 1976…but the IMDB says that film didn’t open until 1977, when I had left North Bend. Coos County was really into bigfoot in the 70s though, with “sitings” in the area regularly, so perhaps it wasome other film. Does anyone know if the Little Theater screened films in 1976? And if so, did they screen something about Bigfoot? Most of the other films I remember from that period (Grizzly Adams, King Kong, many Disney titles) I know I saw at the Egyptian but I’m 99% certainly this bigfoot film was at the LTOTB.
Ah, I fondly remember the Capitol at the place “not quite as good as the Elsinore.” I saw Star Wars, Raiders, Platoon, The Mission, etc. at the Elsinore. What I remember most from the Capitol was “Gremlins.” Still, sad to see it’s now gone.
When Moyer (“Act III”) took over in 1985 the Rio was in poor repair. Under their management it got much worse, turned into a second-run theater, and was empty most nights. During high school I remember seeing films like “Johnny Dangerously” and “Runaway” there on double dates- and we’d be the only four people a the screening. Seats were broken and the place in general disrepair, typical of the Moyer operations of the 1980s (their Salem theaters were dumps too). The Motor-Vu drive in was in similar condition, but the $5/carload price made it much more popular with my friends…we mostly went to the “Fox” as it was called after 1985 with a sense of irony. I’m delighted to see it being kept up now and showing first-run movies. Congrats to the owners!
The Rio (now Fox) was my hometown theater from 1976-1986, when I graduated from high school. When Don Wernli still owned it (<1985) it was well kept and played mostly what I recall as “B” movies. I remember seeing “The Great White Bullafo,” “Orca,” and “Gray Lady Down” there in the late 70s. They made a big deal out of “The Late Great Planet Earth” in 1979. But my fondest memories were of Halloween screenings, when they’d show a cartoon before a kids feature and every child got a free bag of candy on the way in. Tickets, if I recall correctly, were just $1 for kids. Dallas was a small town then and in the 70s parents routinely dropped kids as young as 8 off at the Rio for weekend matinees and pre-teens were always much of the audience for PG evening showings.