It’s a big weekend for the big screen in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria.
After a year-plus closure, the Arlington Theatre reopens today on upper State Street with a celebration of the movie palace’s 90th anniversary.
Today, Saturday and Sunday, you have a reason to phone home; you can watch “E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial.” Other 1980s sci-fi classics, today through Sunday, are “Ghostbusters” and “Blade Runner: The Final Cut.” Check metrotheatres.com for each day’s times.
All movies cost $5 and come with free popcorn.
What’s more, there’s free music with the theater’s iconic organ at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. No ticket is needed, and the Santa Barbara Theatre Organ Society concert’s bound to strike a chord with fans.
For more information, go to metrotheatres.com.
Up north, Regal Edwards Santa Maria is reopening at 1521 S. Bradley Road. The city’s other Regal Edwards theater (officially Regal Edwards Santa Maria & RPX) reopened earlier this month inside the Town Center mall and is known for its comfortable seats. (The RPX auditorium features a giant screen similar to an IMAX screen.)
Viewers at Regal Edwards Santa Maria, the Bradley Road theater without the RPX screen, can watch “Wonder Woman 1984,” “Judas and The Black Messiah,” “Tom & Jerry” and other movies. Upcoming films include the Disney movie “Cruella,” “F9” and “A Quiet Place Part II.”
Reopening plans include health and safety measures that comply with CinemaSafe protocol, according to a news release.
For more information, go to regmovies.com/theatre/edwards-santa-maria.
Back in Santa Barbara, Fiesta Five and Metro 4 theaters have been opened. In Goleta, Camino Real and Fairview Theatre are open.
Still closed are Santa Barbara theaters Hitchcock Cinema & Public House, known for its “art house” films (including some foreign titles), and Paseo Nuevo, where commercial and independent movies have screened.
All Santa Barbara and Goleta theaters are operated by Metro Theatres (metrotheatres.com), which offers a free rewards program.
Indoor movie theaters everywhere are requiring masks except when eating or drinking inside an auditorium.
Drive-in theaters, meanwhile, continue to show movies. For information about Hi-Way Drive-in in Santa Maria, go to playingtoday.com.
The same website announces that two indoor theaters — Plaza Park Theaters in Buellton and Movies Lompoc — will reopen soon. (The Buellton theater offers an intimate experience with small auditoriums but big screens.)
For details about Goleta’s outdoor theater, the often packed West Wind Drive-in, go to www.westwinddi.com.
Roll credits!
email: dmason@newspress.com
