I am a profoundly deaf woman and I really love movies. I would really love to go to the theatres more often because I enjoy it. I agree with Ken Layton above. That captioning system is very expensive. It would be better to use hand-held captioning devices, which I have seen and used. A theater could maybe purchase 10 or 20 of them and have them on hand for a deaf customer to use.
As for Giles comment, most TVs have closed captioning. If the DVD does not have it, the TV set can usually be muted and the CCs will appear. I have watched many movies this way. Unfortunately, my husband has hearing and then he has to watch a silent movie!
I went here with my husband to see “The Orphanage”. The theatre we were sitting in was tiny—indeed it seemed like nothing more than a screening room. Plus I cannot imagine anyone wanting to sit in the first few rows (no one was when we were there).
I am glad that the present owners of the Portage have been able to make a go of this place. There does seem to be a bit more work that needs to be done to the Portage. I hope that a vibrant theatre can bring back investment such as restaurants and stores to this stretch of Milwaukee Avenue.
I’ve been here for the silent movie festivals that have been here.
The new marquee on the theatre is indeed ugly! Or perhaps “minimalist” is the proper word here. I’ve been to this theatre a couple of times and it is a cramped, unpleasant place. Paul F, I saw “Life is Beautiful” here and I thought the movie was condescending, trivializing, and appalling.
This would be bad for me. I may be deaf, but I like going to the movies too. Foreign and silent films are the only ones that I can see in theatres. But on the other hand, the Music Box and the Century in Chicago appear to be doing well.
I was at this theatre only once, and that was to see “Letters From Iwo Jima”. As I pointed out on the page for the Music Box, I’m deaf but I enjoy watching movies just as much as everybody else does. I also enjoy going to the movies, but I’m limited to films with subtitles. So when this film was showing, my husband and I went out here to see it. Incidentally, it was one of the few theatres in Chicagoland that showed it.
Unfortunately, what we didn’t realize was that the first several minutes of the film are in English, with no subtitles! So my husband, who is a “hearing person” tried “signing” for me so I could follow it (I can talk and lip-read, but I mainly use American Sign Language)! No matter, the rest of the movie is in Japanese with English subtitles (whew!) and quite frankly, it is one of the best movies I have ever seen.
The theatre seems a little run-down, but it looks like they are trying to do renovations. Unfortunately, we were in one of the un-renovated auditoriums! The seats are at a weird angle to the screen and they are very unforgiving. My rear-end was sore after almost three hours of sitting there, but it was a fine film. The people that work there seem very pleasant too!
If you haven’t seen “Letters From Iwo Jima”, rent it or buy it! It is great. We bought the DVD about a week after we saw it in the theatre. I was able to put the closed-captioning on so that I could better understand the English part.
This may seem odd, but I am probably one of the (very) few deaf people posting on this site! I enjoy movies and I enjoy going to the movies just as much as “hearing people” do. They show foreign films here, which are really the only movies that I can see in a theatre.
I have also been to the Landmark Century Cinema on Clark Street, the Wilmette, and the LaGrange (my husband and I saw “Letters From Iwo Jima there). But, I love the Music Box Theatre the best out of all of these! It has a lot of charm and character and it appears to be run by people who actually like film. And it’s not cut-up like the LaGrange or the Wilmette. I recently saw a re-issue of "The 400 Blows” here and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Hi,
I am a profoundly deaf woman and I really love movies. I would really love to go to the theatres more often because I enjoy it. I agree with Ken Layton above. That captioning system is very expensive. It would be better to use hand-held captioning devices, which I have seen and used. A theater could maybe purchase 10 or 20 of them and have them on hand for a deaf customer to use.
As for Giles comment, most TVs have closed captioning. If the DVD does not have it, the TV set can usually be muted and the CCs will appear. I have watched many movies this way. Unfortunately, my husband has hearing and then he has to watch a silent movie!
I went here with my husband to see “The Orphanage”. The theatre we were sitting in was tiny—indeed it seemed like nothing more than a screening room. Plus I cannot imagine anyone wanting to sit in the first few rows (no one was when we were there).
I am glad that the present owners of the Portage have been able to make a go of this place. There does seem to be a bit more work that needs to be done to the Portage. I hope that a vibrant theatre can bring back investment such as restaurants and stores to this stretch of Milwaukee Avenue.
I’ve been here for the silent movie festivals that have been here.
The new marquee on the theatre is indeed ugly! Or perhaps “minimalist” is the proper word here. I’ve been to this theatre a couple of times and it is a cramped, unpleasant place. Paul F, I saw “Life is Beautiful” here and I thought the movie was condescending, trivializing, and appalling.
Somebody tod me that this place has been demolished and a bank put in its place. Can someone please confirm?
This would be bad for me. I may be deaf, but I like going to the movies too. Foreign and silent films are the only ones that I can see in theatres. But on the other hand, the Music Box and the Century in Chicago appear to be doing well.
I was at this theatre only once, and that was to see “Letters From Iwo Jima”. As I pointed out on the page for the Music Box, I’m deaf but I enjoy watching movies just as much as everybody else does. I also enjoy going to the movies, but I’m limited to films with subtitles. So when this film was showing, my husband and I went out here to see it. Incidentally, it was one of the few theatres in Chicagoland that showed it.
Unfortunately, what we didn’t realize was that the first several minutes of the film are in English, with no subtitles! So my husband, who is a “hearing person” tried “signing” for me so I could follow it (I can talk and lip-read, but I mainly use American Sign Language)! No matter, the rest of the movie is in Japanese with English subtitles (whew!) and quite frankly, it is one of the best movies I have ever seen.
The theatre seems a little run-down, but it looks like they are trying to do renovations. Unfortunately, we were in one of the un-renovated auditoriums! The seats are at a weird angle to the screen and they are very unforgiving. My rear-end was sore after almost three hours of sitting there, but it was a fine film. The people that work there seem very pleasant too!
If you haven’t seen “Letters From Iwo Jima”, rent it or buy it! It is great. We bought the DVD about a week after we saw it in the theatre. I was able to put the closed-captioning on so that I could better understand the English part.
This may seem odd, but I am probably one of the (very) few deaf people posting on this site! I enjoy movies and I enjoy going to the movies just as much as “hearing people” do. They show foreign films here, which are really the only movies that I can see in a theatre.
I have also been to the Landmark Century Cinema on Clark Street, the Wilmette, and the LaGrange (my husband and I saw “Letters From Iwo Jima there). But, I love the Music Box Theatre the best out of all of these! It has a lot of charm and character and it appears to be run by people who actually like film. And it’s not cut-up like the LaGrange or the Wilmette. I recently saw a re-issue of "The 400 Blows” here and thoroughly enjoyed it.