Landmark's Piedmont Theatre — Local services in Oakland

The Piedmont Theatre is, without a doubt, the most archaic, rundown, and miserable excuse for a movie theater I have ever stepped foot in. From the second I walked in, I knew I had made a huge mistake. The place looks like it hasn’t been updated since the early 1900s—except not in a charming, nostalgic way, but in a depressing, “should’ve been condemned years ago” kind of way. Let’s start with the seats. I don’t know who designed them, but I guarantee they were thinking more about medieval torture devices than audience comfort. Lumpy, rock-hard, and covered in decades of questionable stains, these seats made me more uncomfortable than the movie itself. I spent half the time shifting around, trying to find a position that didn’t make my spine scream in agony. Then there’s the smell it’s like walking into an attic that’s been sealed shut for 50 years. A mix of mildew, stale popcorn, and the unmistakable stench of neglect. I literally had to breathe through my sleeve at some points because the mustiness was so overwhelming. Ever heard of air circulation? Clearly, the Piedmont Theatre hasn’t. Now, let’s talk about the screen and sound. The screen was dim, unevenly lit, and had a weird grainy quality that made me wonder if I had accidentally walked into a museum showcasing ancient cinema technology. The sound? A muffled, crackling mess that made every spoken word sound like it was coming from an old timey radio station struggling to pick up a signal. Explosions in the movie sounded like someone popping bubble wrap in the distance. The dialogue was so unclear that I had to rely on subtitles (which, by the way, were partially cut off by the poorly adjusted screen size). Don’t even get me started on the atmosphere. The place is eerily quiet—not in a peaceful way, but in a "we haven’t had a full audience since 1985" kind of way. The staff seemed just as lifeless as the theater itself, moving at the pace of someone who had given up long ago. No enthusiasm, no customer service, just a blank stare that screamed, “I don’t get paid enough to care.” Oh, and the prices? I paid the same amount I would at a modern, high-quality theater, only to be treated to an experience that felt more like a haunted house than a movie-going event. Where is this money going? Certainly not into any sort of improvement. I left the theater feeling like I had just escaped a time warp—a journey back to an era when comfort, technology, and hygiene were mere suggestions rather than necessities. I wouldn’t come back here if they paid me to. Honestly, if this theater doesn’t get a full-scale renovation soon, it needs to be shut down for the sake of public...

Yesterday, as I was walking past the Peidmont Theater, I noticed a movie that I had wanted to see was playing at this small gem of a theater--"Where the Crawdads Sing". My partner somehow had the same idea, and so we went.

Peidmont Theater isn't as fancy as the Grand Lake Theater, but it still has it's own old fashioned style. There are 3 different screens. They keep the place clean and orderly.

We happened to go on a Tuesday night--tickets only $7 each. The seats were comfortable. The staff was friendly.

There are a lot of places to eat in the neighborhood or you can easily drive to other...

This theater is awesome. Really small but they pack a big buttery-popcorn-smelling punch that can lure you in if you’re walking by.

The location is awesome being right across the street from Lush and the staff are all super helpful.

On Saturdays they do giveaways and we won a poster for the movie we were watching! Honestly even if we didn’t win, still probably give this place the good ol’ five star review treatment based on my experience.

The movies they show tend to be lesser known and perhaps a bit more challenging, but overall it’s a great time watching...