Kew Gardens Cinemas
81-05 Lefferts Boulevard,
Kew Gardens,
NY
11415
81-05 Lefferts Boulevard,
Kew Gardens,
NY
11415
17 people
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Showing 101 - 113 of 113 comments
Yes it is
I first knew this theater as the Austin, when it was porno, and wonder why NYC shut it down. I am very glad it has been reborn as the five-plex Kew Gardens Cinemas. I have passed by there and have seen it in its new form, but have yet to see a film there. I, too, hope it survives as the mini-Angelika cinema of Queens.
Christmas of 1968 the Austin was playing “West Side Story"
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I can’t remember, but I did notice that the display ads for SUMMER OF LOVE and HEIGHTS did not list the Kew Gardens Cinema. I saw both of those films yesterday for $5.50 each, which is a terrific bargain. In fact, I have the Times in front of me now and there is a display ad for HEIGHTS and it lists only the Paris and UA 14th St. as the theatres where it is playing.
I paid $10.75 to see ME AND YOU & EVERYONE WE KNOW at IFC and that is coming out to KG, where I could have seen it for $5.50. And I know City Cinemas Village East charges $10.75. Until I found this site I would have never patronized the Kew Gardens Cinemas. I am going to wait — there is usually a lag between the time art films open in Manhattan and make their way to Kew Gardens — to see these films to take advantage of the low ticket prices at KG. $5.50 is a steal.
I am surprised to learn that this theatre was a porno house since this is such as upscale neighborhood. I was walking down some of the side streets back and forth to the subway and there are some beautiful single-family homes.
Responding, hardbop, to your posting from this past May 14th – I wonder if the ads you saw at the time for ‘Dear Frankie’ and ‘Look at Me’ listed any other outer-borough theatres where either of those films were showing. I think the reason theatres outside of Manhattan are left out of such ads comes down to the discretion of the individual theatre owners (each owner has to pay for their theatre(s) to be listed in display ads or movie clocks) or the amount of ad space the distributor of a film is willing to pay for.
Great theatre when it was the Austin. Low admission price and double features. One of the few theatres to have a life after being a porno house. The Austin along with the nearby Cinemart are examples of theatres that are more viable today than 25 years ago. High real estate values and a sophisticated populace priced out of Manhattan have made these theatres up-scale and first-run.
No, CaptRon they are back with the “stupid topping.” No real butter on the popcorn.
Interesting booking this week. DEAR FRANKIE has popped back after. This one closed a month ago or so and I thought it was dead and gone. In fact, this fill is like Freddie Krueger. It keeps closing and then popping back up in a first run house. Now, I’ll get another chance to see it.
Another thing I noticed is that the listings in ads in the Times for the theatres where the advertised movie is playing often exclude this cinema. I don’t think, for example, the Times ad lists LOOK AT ME, which is playing here.
Instead of making the trek into Manhattan from Astoria to attend an art house ‘plex, I made the trek out to Kew Gardens on Saturday and caught a film at the Kew Gardens Cinema. I had never been there before and agree it is a delightful place to see a movie. It is clearly a labor of love for the people who own and/or run the theatre. What a difference between watching a film in a venue like this and those depersonalized mega-plexes. You can tell there isn’t too much distance distance between the owners/operators and the theatre. It is real personalized with old magazine posters on the wall and just a genuine nice vibe in the place.
It is easy on the pocketbook too. The first screening on Saturday was at a friendly $5.50 and I would have paid $10.25 or $10.50 to see the movie in Manhattan. Good bargains weekdays as well. I’ll be patronizing this place more often.
It’s open and thriving, I am here almost once a week.
I remember constantly passing this theater when it went porno on the way to visit my grandmother (I was four at the time, you perverts!). My grandparents actually went to a showing of the X-rated Snow White and the Seven Dwarves thinking it was the Walt Disney version!
20 years later, my now-wife and I moved to Kew Gardens, just down the street from this theater. I can definitely attest that it is one of the best theaters in New York. They have the buckets of popcorn and, at least when I was there, they actually had REAL butter, not this stupid “topping”. We saw a lot of great movies there, like “Being John Malkovich” and “Almost Famous.” I sincerely hope that it’s still open.
I was there last night and auditorium one (which is the orchestra closest to the original screen) has been converted to stadium seating. They also enlarged the screen but foolishly got rid of the curtains. The curtains were only really used at the end of the night, since they run slides of advertising and trivia.
this is the best theatre in Queens