"Captain Marvel"

After an interplanetary mishap, Starforce agent Brie Larson falls through space and lands in a Blockbuster video store in North Hollywood's Valley Plaza Shopping Center in "Captain Marvel" (Walt Disney Studios, 2019). Out the window it's the neon of the Valley Plaza Theatres on Bellingham Ave., just south of Victory Blvd.

The planet we call earth is known to Brie as C-53. When one of the characters is asked if she's visited, she responds: "Yes. It's a real shithole." The film, directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, also features Samuel L. Jackson, Annette Bening, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn, Lashana Lynch and Clark Gregg. The cinematography was by Ben Davis. Thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor Midnight Moon for noting the appearance of the theatres in the film.

 

 

 

Brie approaches mall security officer Barry Curtis and after silence on his part asks "Do you understand me? Is my universal translator not working?" She gives him her name and ID data and asks if he's in charge of security for this district. He says: "Sort of. The movie theatre's got their own guy." She's lost contact with her team and wants to know where there's communications gear. He points to the nearby Radio Shack. 

 

 

 

We have the theatres in the background again the next morning when S.H.I.E.L.D. security agent Clark Gregg approaches the car and asks if he's the guy who called this in. Barry nods and points to the Radio Shack where Brie has been working to try to fix her communicator. 

 

After Brie gets away from the agents and there's a scuffle with another alien, Clark and senior agent Samuel L. Jackson get in the car to give chase. At least Samuel THINKS he's getting in the car with Clark. 

We get our last look at the theatres when Clark phones in to say "I'm still here at Blockbuster. Where is everybody?" It's then that Samuel realizes he's been driving around with a shapeshifting alien in the car. 

For more about this six screen complex see the page about the Valley Plaza Theatres on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It opened in 1976 and closed for good in 2020.

On IMDb: "Captain Marvel"