Beyond the blockbusters

During the summer months, there are two kinds of moviegoers: those who rally to see “Cars,” “The Omen” and other seasonal blockbusters, and those who slump on their couches at home and wait for Oscar season to begin in the fall.

Around central Orange County, however, there’s an alternative for the second group. For those who would rather view an art-house treasure than a $200-million shoot-’em-up, the area offers some of the best places in the Southland to catch documentaries, foreign films, revivals and those other obscure movies that end up on critics’ 10-best lists.

Newport Beach is already a mecca for independent cinema through its annual film festival. Year-round, however, movie buffs can see the lesser-known gems at the Regency Lido Theatre in Balboa, the Edwards University cinema at UC Irvine, the South Coast Village (technically in Santa Ana, but right across the street from South Coast Plaza) and even the Orange County Museum of Art, which will screen entries from the Newport Beach Film Festival this summer.

Of course, those small-scale films don’t always stay hidden forever. “Crash,” which premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival last year, went on to win the Best Picture Oscar.

The UCI complex, located in the University Village, features six screens and cozy, red-curtained theaters. So far this month, Al Gore’s environmental documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” has been the hot ticket, taking up two of the screens. Richard Linklater’s “A Scanner Darkly,” starring Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder, is coming soon.

The Regency Lido Theatre, which houses the annual festival, is certainly the most eye-catching of Newport-Mesa’s art-house cinemas. Built in 1938, the building features a marquee, a balcony, an actual box office ? and a powder room for women attendees, designed at the request of former Corona del Mar resident Bette Davis. On the wall of the powder room is a poster of the first movie to play at the Lido: Davis’ “Jezebel.”dpt.14-sac-lido-2-BPhotoInfoDP1RROLR20060614j0mkb9nc(LA)dpt.14-sac-lido-1-BPhotoInfoDP1RROKL20060614j0mkarncPHOTOS BY DON LEACH(LA)The Lido Theatre draws a few kids to the concession stand for popcorn before a movie.