Galaxy 8

When the Galaxy first opened, it was awesome to have a theater that was new and state of the art, for the time anyway. And it was convenient to have a theater in town rather than driving to one of the cinemas in Dublin. Saw many, many movies here with friends and family, lots of great memories. The last movie I saw here was Austin Powers 2 in June of 1999, back when matinees only cost $4. I’m sad to hear it’s been demolished. Despite competition from the new theater in Dublin, the Galaxy might still be around if it had had stadium seating. Seems like someone tall always sat in one of the rows in front forcing you to move or try to watch the movie with their head in the way.

I remember when my cousin, who is now 14, was considered old enough (about 5) by his parents to go to a movie, I had planned to take him to see the re-release of “Star Wars,” at Oakland’s Grand Lake, so even though he would clearly be growing up in an era of megaplexes and home entertainment, he could look back and remember seeing his very first movie in a grand old theater. His parents, my older cousin and her husband, forgot that this was my plan, and took him to see it at the Galaxy. He later made the very logical (for a 5-year-old) observation that it made sense to see the movie at the Galaxy, since the movie itself took place “…in a galaxy far, far away.”

A few weeks later, it was plain to them that one viewing of this movie was not going to satisfy him, so for his second time seeing it, we made it a family trip and all went to the Grand Lake, where he was indeed taken with the look of the place.