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Entertainment Weekly Names Top 10 Theaters
posted by
kateymac01
on
August 16, 2005 at 8:44 am
In the Aug. 8 edition of Entertainment Weekly, the magazine named its ‘Top 10’ theaters in the United States.
No. 1 on the list was the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas.
Also making the grade (in no particular order):
• The Kennedy School in Portland, OR
• The Muvico Paradise 24 in Davie, FL
• The Oriental in Milwaukee, WI
• The Castro in San Francisco, CA
• The Senator in Baltimore, MD
• The Film Forum in New York, NY
• The ArcLight in Hollywood, CA
• Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, CA
• Cable Car Cinema in Providence, RI
Comments (13)
Would the rodent present for an 11:15 a.m. screening past Sunday at
The Muvico Paradise 24 in Davie, FL. agree?
I would think Grauman’s Chinese should be rated above the Film Forum
Did EW actually visit all these places and rate them in all their aspects? The Cable Car Cinema in Providence, for example, is appealingly funky but has projection that is infuriatingly inept.
EW had comments about each theater — what made in unique, why it was a good movie-viewing experience, what the theater is doing right. The listings were a sidebar to a story about why people aren’t going to the movies.
Having been to only one of these theaters (Grauman’s Chinese), I cannot speak to whether this is a good list or not. Other than for historical value, I’m not sure I’d put Grauman’s Chinese on the list. It’s expensive, super-crowded. It’s become a typical megaplex. That was disappointing to me.
Not mentioned on the list is Seattle’s Cinerama, which is a pretty charming moviegoing experience. I was actually surprised that it was left off.
Film Forum? How about the Quad? Good Grief!
If you look at the list closely, I think you’ll find that EW tried to list a cinema that fulfills its niche well (Muvico for the ultimate megaplex, Film Forum for repertory programming etc). That being said…
It is a crime that the Seattle Cinerama is not on the list. The Dome in Hollywood is all well and good, but Seattle’s Cinerama wins hands down. While the Dome features a more standard 120 degree curved screen, the Seattle Cinerama features a true 148 degree curved screen, as originally developed by Cinerama Inc. Seattle’s Cinerama has also showcased more Cinerama film revivals, not only just “How the West Was Won” and “This is Cinerama”, but much rarer screenings of “Cinerama Search for Paradise,” “Cinerama’s Seven Wonders of the World,” and rarest of all, a one-time screening of Cinemiracle’s “Windjammer,” a print shipped from Australia of all places (BTW, the print was horribly faded, but who cares?).
Cinestudio in Hartford, CT should be on any top movie theatres list.
Are posts vanishing? I could swear I posted a comment about this yesterday?
The Castro Thetare is my neighborhood theatre. Not quite familiar with some on the list but just wanted to say that it is a 1920’s movie palace, still in pretty good condition and not part of a multi/mega plex. And still doing pretty good business.
The Coolidge Corner in Brookline, Massachusetts belongs here…on an expanded list, perhaps. 10 is too short a list. I would add the illustrious Brattle in Cambridge as well. Getting back to the Cable Car Cinema in Providence that I commented on above. Providence’s Avon Cinema is way better, for programming, projection, and environment. Believe me. Just because the Cable Car has overpriced pastry and ratty couches, that doesn’t make it better.
Okay, the news post has the article a bit out of context. I believe the EW article had the headline “Ten Theaters that Do it Right,” or something to that effect. They make little mention of showmanship or theater features.
As for our local Senator, it is a nice theater, but my experience there watching “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” was less than, um, stellar. The sound was rather muted and the picture ran off the screen, which was very, very disappointing, since I Caravan-ned (Dodge) 6 of my friends and relatives and travel some 40 miles (one way), on opening weekend, to experience this disappointing presentation.
Another sore point is the forum on this theater’s website is quite censored..almost draconian to any submission of theater criticism in any manner, no matter how thoughtfully and constructively presented. Also, any long discussion on the experiences of superior digital projection over the Senator’s film projection is also either edited or not posted at all. Now, “War of the Worlds” was another experience entirely. Watching that film there pretty much erased my bad memories of ‘Sith,’ but when I tried to post the contrasting film event experiences, with a positive note on the Senator’s redemption, it was not posted either.
The Muvico Paradise 24 in Davie, FL
is notorious for switching auditoriums when they are not selling alot of seats in the bigger theaters.
I purposely buy my tickets a few hours in advance and I choose the time when the movie on the bigger screens.
On many occassions I get there only to find a different movie in the auditorium on my ticket, and I’ve been relocated to a smaller screen.
Management doesn’t care, they’ve said to me, “We’re a business, we need to fill our seats as best possible"
Screams of poor customer service to me.
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