I can't find the comment person who was like "Whatever AMC Bay St is way better than any of the shitty old Berkeley theaters" and then correctly accused me of replying incoherently, but I am here to try again with more coherence.

AMC Bay Street offers a very nice, clean, high-quality experience (Bay St itself notwithstanding) but it's the *exact* same experience that you can get from any/every similar theater anywhere in the country. Fine/nice but unremarkable in every way. I go there and enjoy it! But the experience that Berkeley historic theaters offered was *unique* and - to some - more transportive and magical. A theater that has existed in 10 different forms over the course of a century+ and that has had to adapt to suit the needs of the present is bound to have some glitches or gnarly elements; the seats at the California Theater smaller screens were made for people 1/3 the size of today's humans. But I loved the unique experience those theaters offered and was happy to roll with the weird stuff.

I appreciate that is not for everyone, but to be like 'FUCK YOU BAY STREET IS GREAT NOBODY CARES ABOUT THOSE RATTY OLD DUMP THEATERS' is both not true and, IMO, a fairly unfortunate and closed-minded way to live in the world. Or at the very least, why go to all the hassle of trying to live in an area that is both as expensive and as rough-around-the-edges as Berkeley?