Movie Palaces: It's a shame we settle for Multiplexes (1 Viewer)

[Bill Huelbig]

To John again: There's a beautifully restored Cinerama theater in Seattle. Too bad I live so far away from it.
http://www.seattlecinerama.com/
--Bill

 

[Aaron Croft]

The Seattle Cinerama is an incredible theater.

I had the pleasure of seeing LOTR there a few weeks ago on a midnight show. It get's sold out days in advance for any of the earlier shows.

Plus it is in downtown Seattle, and tends to attract a more mature, respectful crowd.

The show I saw was sold out, and I don't think I ever heard even one person whispering the whole movie.

If you live in Seattle, you HAVE to check this theater out.

-Aaron

 

[David Lawson]

I believe there was a Cinerama in Dayton which shuttered its doors a year or two ago. I found out about it too late, unfortunately. :frowning:

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Ahhh! The good old days! In the '60's I got to see the projection booth in the Fox in San Francisco (Market & Van Ness). We got into the elevator and got off on the 10th floor! Something to think about!

Glenn

 

[Neil N]

There's this real old movie theater in my town, The Rivoli. It's like 80 years old. The sound isn't great, the picture is a little dim, but they have a real cool layout. The front like 60 feet of the theater has a slight incline, and has long tables and chairs, kinda like college lecture hall style tables. There there's the regular stadium seating, and above the stadium seating is the balcony.
The cool thing is, they serve pizza, beer, and mixed drinks at this place. And on Sundays they show football games.

AaronP,
It sure sounds like you're talking about The Rivoli in La Crosse, WI. Man I used to love going there for a midnight showing. Great margaritas Maybe not quite the experience some are talking about as far as the sound and such, but much more memorable and enjoyable than a mega-plex. Somehow I doubt "Happy Gilmore" would stick in my memory as much if I'd seen it at the mall instead.

 

[Jason Whyte]

Glad to hear the Seattle Cinerama has been mentioned a few times. I've been meaning to come down to the city for a few days and check that theater out for sure. I haven't been to Seattle since 1997 when the theater was pre-renovation, owned by Cineplex Odeon, yet I was STILL blown away by the experience.
There are some incredible shots of the theater here:
http://www.onscreen.org/cinerama3.htm

 

[Ross Williams]

The first two theaters in the link that Jason provided are the two best theaters I've ever been to. The Cinerama is an amazing experience; incredibly large screen, great sound and usually good crowds. I go as often as possible. I see pretty much every movie they show.

The Pleasant Hill theater is right near where my Grandma lives. Many of my first film memories lay in that place. It's pretty run down now, but it's still leaps and bounds above your average theater. (I've played a lot of video games in the Starcade too.)

 

[RolandL]

There were seven movies filmed in the three-strip Cinerama film format and over 200 Cinerama theatres (not all open at the same time) in the world. I have pictures of some of the theatres on my web site - Link Removed Most of the Cinerama theatres have been torn down or multiplexed.

 

[Brian Kidd]

I had the pleasure of seeing HTWWW several times at the New Neon in Dayton. Full Cinerama was truly a miracle to behold. Sigh.

As for movie palaces, the Ohio Theater in Columbus, OH and the Byrd in Richmond, VA are well worth checking out, if you're in those areas. When I lived in Richmond, the Byrd charged $2.00. You got a Wurlitzer organ concert, a WB cartoon and a feature. All in a completely restored movie palace where the Ushers and Usherettes wore formals. You can't beat it. I also had the pleasure of attending a showing of a brand new print of the restored A STAR IS BORN from 1955 at the Ohio. It was unreal. The best way to preserve these old places is to VISIT THEM! When people stop going, they'll be torn down. We'll never see their like again, I guarantee you.

 

[Stephen_Dar]

The Chinese is a fun old time theater, but I must say the sound there is pretty crappy. I am on board with the general thinking that old theaters are a lot of fun and the new multiplexes can suck, but often the older theaters are a compromise.

The strange thing I've found in L.A. is that the theaters really aren't that great, and in fact there is no single show piece theater suitable for things like premieres. They use the Chinese mainly I suspect because of tradition and the fact that the balcony is actually a bunch of private boxes where the stars can sit at premieres without having to mingle. The really odd thing here is that when films do advance release in NY/LA, the theater they use here is almost always one of the Century City theaters, which frankly suck. The only reason we can see for this is because these theaters are right next to Beverly Hills, so it must be a matter of convience or something for those who attend from nearby (you do see a lot of stars at those theaters, for those coming from out of town who are interested).

My advice if you come to visit L.A. - try to attend the special screenings in places like the Academy theater down on Wilshire. I saw a screening of all the short films that won academy awards in 2000 at this theater a few months back, its a new theater but in the old tradition of having huge, plush seats, nice clean carpeting under your feet, and of course no food allowed. That was an experience, and if you hunt around on the net or in local papers you can get tickets to that stuff easily. Here, like everywhere, people hardly ever turn up for special events, showings of older films and such, the crowds just stick to the multiplexes. This is interesting because in L.A. if you show up to a special screening there's a good chance the film's director will be there too to talk about it - last year went to a showing of Tora Tora Tora in the Alex theater Glendale (great live action theater, does movies only rarely) and the director was there. Very cool, and not too crowded. So, out of towners, I suggest you look for this sort of stuff.