Ianiv, thanks for the note. Passing by The Ridge the other day I noticed it was still open. So I’ve done some searching online and, from what I can tell, here’s what’s happening.

I heard or read that the owner of The Ridge bought The Park on Cambie a few months ago and that he intended to refit it modelled on The Ridge. I also see that Fifth Avenue, The Park and The Ridge have been collected under the moniker of Festival Cinemas (http://www.festivalcinemas.ca/), and on that website FAQs I read that:

“The Park, Fifth Avenue and Ridge Cinemas are now independently owned and operated by Festival Cinemas. Festival Cinemas started with the Ridge Theatre in 1978 and has operated the Vancouver East Cinema, Varsity Theatre, Starlight Cinema, Park Theatre, and Fifth Avenue Cinemas. Leonard Schein (the president of Festival Cinemas) also started the Vancouver International Film Festival. Now, Festival Cinemas operates the Fifth Avenue Cinemas, the Park Theatre and starting December 25, The Ridge Theatre.”

So we seem to have a new kingpin of indy, interesting movies in Vancouver. The Ridge website splash page now reads, “Sorry, this site is now closed” and the announcement, which appeared on the same site, now leads to a 404 error. Myself, I’m sorry for the causing any confusion.

To sum up, it seems The Ridge has been rolled into the new Festival Cinemas, which is owned by the fellow who owned The Ridge and we’ll have to wait and see what the effect is on the movies and the popcorn. I can report that as of December 19th The Ridge has new seats and the same great popcorn.