Limited Choices for Movie Theaters in Sacramento

Display case at United Artists movie theater in Arden Fair, Sacramento.

Where are your favorite movie theaters in Sacramento? My husband refuses to go to movie theaters in Laguna or Elk Grove because they show too many commercials, which is partly why we ended up driving to Davis on Sunday to catch SPOTLIGHT. Davis is only 15 minutes from our home in Land Park. Ordinarily, we see most of our movies at the Tower Theatre in Land Park because we can easily walk there and Tower Theatre shows many of the independent movies we want to see. We can also walk downtown to the Crest Theatre, but there is not much on the screen there nowadays except for Oscar-nominated short films or old classics.

Our next choice for movie theaters in Sacramento is generally Century Downtown Plaza but they closed those theaters earlier this month due to the construction of the The Golden 1 Center and the redevelopment of the downtown mall now called Downtown Commons, aka DOCO. It was hard enough finding parking for that theater due to the construction. There was Macy’s but the parking lot was so small and cramped, even to go shopping at Macy’s meant one had to circumvent the lot several times to find a spot.

Fortunately, the new theaters at Downtown Commons are slated to open this fall with nine screens, and I can’t wait. Hey, that’s a long time to wait, between now and “sometime in fall.” That’s enough time to get pregnant and give birth, for somebody else, not me, of course. The thing I like about going to the movies downtown is the walk is far enough to burn off the calories acquired by stuffing my face with popcorn, and it is enjoyable to walk from Land Park to downtown, even though some people can’t imagine walking “so far.” What? It’s about a mile.

If we can’t find a movie we like at the Tower or Downtown, then our next choice in favorite movie theaters in Sacramento has generally been Century Stadium 14 over by ‘Bout Arden on Ethan Way. Plenty of parking, quick popcorn service, clean and spacious theaters under the domes. But now the domes are being demolished, and that complex is closed until fall as well, when a new 14 theater Century Stadium will open. It’s where we recently saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as required by federal law, my husband said. We try to stay away from Arden Fair if we can, too many kids and dumpy theaters.

What all of this means is after we watch every movie at the Tower Theatre, we will probably have to drive to Davis to see a movie in Sacramento between now and next fall. Well, we can always take the long way and drive over the beautiful Tower Bridge.

Photo: Elizabeth Weintraub