CURRENT:
Mondays,
February 14 Through April 4, 2005 – Times
Square Film Festival At Loews State Theatre
ONGOING:
These theaters
regularly show older, classic movies on film (not a video projection of a DVD,
for example). With the exception of
“Thursdays at Chelsea”, I have visited each venue and the sound and projection
were good every time, unless otherwise noted.
Theaters are ranked
in order of overall experience (selection of films, quality of presentation,
quality of theater, ease of experience – i.e. distance from “central” Manhattan
and do you need to be there well in advance).
Walter Reade Theatre – Lincoln Center
Arguably the best
screen/theater in the city, and that includes the first-run houses and
cineplexes.
Loews 34th Street: Fan
Favorites
A first-run theater
that shows old and new classics once a week.
State-of-the-art cineplex.
American Museum of the Moving Image
Worth the trek to
Queens. Shows sell out or are empty,
and there’s no way to predict (this is the case with many of these theaters.)
Another excellent
theater. In the basement of the
renovated museum.
Basic cineplex-type
screen within the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Opera House complex. Great selection of classics, above-average
presentation. A bit of a schlep to get
to, but it’s better than Film Forum.
An odd space, but an
excellent experience once the lights dim.
Perfect sound and picture, albeit on a medium-size screen.
Limited number of
good (for viewing, that is – the cushions are fine) seats, so arrive an hour
early for all shows. Sound and screens
have apparently been restored and the selection is much more mainstream and the
staff friendlier than in the 1990s.
Sunshine Theatre (scroll down to “Sunshine at Midnight”)
Midnight shows
only. Sound was problematic one time a
couple of years back, but has been fine on all subsequent visits.
I have not been to
this multiplex in years and have never seen an older film there.
Nearby movie
palaces! (I have not been to either,
but they look great.)
Loew’s Jersey Theatre in Jersey City, NJ
Lafayette
Theatre in Suffern, NY