Grand Lake Theater is the kind of neighbourhood movie palace that most American cities have lost. Its 1920s facade and marquee face Grand Avenue near Lake Merritt, and the interiors still carry the decorative pleasure of an era when going to the cinema was meant to feel like an occasion.
It is an easy addition to an Oakland evening: dinner on Grand or Lakeshore, a walk by the lake, then a film under ornate ceilings rather than a multiplex box. The programming is mainstream enough to be useful, but the building is the reason travellers should care.