AMC Loews Broadway 4 Bernie Wednesday, 5/30/12, 7:00 pm

Price: $11.50 Concessions: None. Audience: 14 people, in a theater that seats about 180. Trailers/advertising: Trailers for Rock of Ages, Moonrise Kingdom, The Intouchables, Hysteria, and a Madagascar-themed “silence your phone” ad. Projection: Digital

How is it that there are three AMC theaters within a two-block span of the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica? When I pictured this theater in my mind, I think I was actually thinking about a different AMC theater, one that’s actually only a block away, and across the street from yet another one. Strange. Anyway, a record-time trip on the freeway and into a parking garage set me up with enough time to try the new Santa Monica outpost of the beloved Loteria Grill, where I had some tasty mole tacos (and spotted legendary Teutonic creepy guy Udo Kier).

I’m not sure if I’ve been to this theater before; the only time would have been during my first trip to L.A. in 2001, when I saw Pearl Harbor on opening day (?), but I think I’ve been through this before and determined that it was another theater on the Promenade. Anyway, this theater was fine, with the look inside of a run-down multiplex with crummy projection but in fact outfitted with decent digital projection, which seems to be what happened overnight last year to every theater around.

I enjoyed the film a lot, and I’m not sure why it didn’t do better. Linklater is always entertaining, and I think Jack Black had one of his better roles here. The interviews of the citizens of the town made the film much more interesting than a traditional retelling might have.