Who You Gonna Call? To Save a Theater, Jason Reitman

I've learned the iconic Fox in Westwood will soon be owned by the Oscar-nominated 'Juno' helmer

Jason Reitman (second from left) is photographed at the premier of Juno in 2007 at the Fox. (Kevin Winter)

“I remember going in the mid-seventies and the Village always loomed largest of any theater in my life,” author Bret Easton Ellis tells me. He evangelizes the Fox Village Theater in Westwood Village in his most recent novel, The Shards. “I love the old school ambiance and the restrooms that haven’t been touched since the 1930s and the bare-boned concession stands, and I’m very grateful they refurbished the seats. The first film I saw there was Paper Moon with my parents and sister; it was a matinee and it was packed. I actually don’t remember a time in the seventies and eighties when it wasn’t near sold out or at least damn crowded. On a Friday or Saturday — [Westwood] was the red-hot center of youth culture in Southern California. Every teen was out in Westwood.”

In recent years, Westwood Village’s theaters and business have faded but now, The Ankler has learned, the Fox, at least, is about to have its second wind.