Regency Theatres lost its lease at the historic Lido Theater in Newport Beach at the end of June, when a new company called Lido Live took over with promised book readings, live music performances, local philanthropic events and more in addition to movies. But Calabasas-based Regency is not packing up and leaving Orange County. It still has theaters in Santa Ana, Westminster, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, San Juan Capistrano and Laguna Niguel, where a “Summer Flashback Film Series” kicks off Thursday night with The Big Lebowski. One might say Regency abides.
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It's definitely an eclectic series Regency has dreamed up for the Regency Rancho Niguel Directors Cut Cinema, with titles ranging from the eclectic to the classic, the crowd-pleasing to the unintended racist. Guess which are which in this lineup:
July 10: The Big Lebowski
July 17: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
July 24: Grease
July 31: Casablanca
Aug. 17: Back to the Future
Aug. 14: Princess Bride
Aug. 21: Monty Python & the Holy Grail
Aug. 28: Breakfast at Tiffany's
While many of us have seen all those films, how many have seen all of them on the big screen? And in, as Regency calls it, “dynamic digital cinema?” Showtime is 7:30 p.m. for each movie, which were selected based on the feedback of “loyal Regency guests.”
“Enjoy these films the way they were meant to be appreciated 'on the big screen' with a cold beer, fine wine, artisan pizza and other great menu items,” advises Regency.
OK, how many who saw all of these on the big screen did so with cold beer, fine wine and/or artisan pizza? I don't even believe “artisan pizza” had been coined when I first caught Monty Python & the Holy Grail.
Tickets are $9 per person (not including artisan pizza, of course), and the theater is at 25471 Rancho Niguel Road, Laguna Niguel. Call (949) 831-4359 or visit www.Regencymovies.com for more information.
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.