New lobby furniture, new 35mm projector, new sound system: The Loft's spiffier, but it's still, sometimes, il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. Like the 1966 spaghetti Western that also got a remake recently, the Loft sports some good, some bad and some ugly. We don't care. We love the Loft's dedication to independent cinema, foreign movies, documentaries and local film debuts-no matter how quirky, boring or banal. We love that it's independently owned and not a cookie-cutter cineplex. We love that they haven't yet divided the original theater into little bowling alleys. We love that they play Rocky Horror at midnight. For all that, we put up with the occasional lack of AC in the upstairs theater, the raw cement stairs and the distracted cashiers.

Runners up:

2. Century Park Place 20, 5870 E. Broadway Blvd., 747-7200

3. Century El Con 20, 3601 E. Broadway Blvd., 202-3343

Unclear on the concept: HBO, one vote