Being a lover of old movie houses aka popcorn palaces, I stumbled upon these location while researching the Cleveland Park neighborhood/National Zoo part of DC.

Has anyone seen a movie there lately? Is it still a great experience, or has AMC's ownership degraded it?

Thanks!

I saw Good Night and Good Luck (Edward R. Murrow movie) there last year. It was definitely different than a typical 12 theater megaplex and ejoyed it very much, but given how fanatical some people are about it, I actually expected a bit more, but it was still a good experience and has some charm to it.

Uptown is a great big old movie house, complete with a balcony. But if you're looking for a big old ornate movie house, it's not that.

Still, it's a DC favorite that attracts a crowd for big openings - and there's something to be said about walking up to the ticket window and just saying the quantity of tickets (even if the stub prints out as "Uptown 1").

Picking up on your other threads - if the right movie is at the Uptown, I'd go for it over the Gallery Place, but I wouldn't pick the Uptown just for the Uptown's sake. You may also want to throw into the mix the Landmark E Street Cinemas for art/limited release films - it's relatively new and, while the auditoriums aren't huge, is just fine.

Gallery Place will be a bit more hip in the restaurant scene. Cleveland Park is probably better than Woodley Park restaruants, though (later relies to much on the convention trade at the nearby hotels, in my opinion).

Being a lover of old movie houses aka popcorn palaces, I stumbled upon these location while researching the Cleveland Park neighborhood/National Zoo part of DC.

Has anyone seen a movie there lately? Is it still a great experience, or has AMC's ownership degraded it?

Thanks!

The last of the "old movie houses" is no more to be found in DC. It got closed down a couple of years ago and is no more. The grand "old" theater in DC would be the Uptown theater (of which I have plenty of fond memories too :o ) but it's nothing like the "old movie houses aka popcorn palaces". More like a good movie theater with a great screen.

The last of the "old movie houses" is no more to be found in DC. It got closed down a couple of years ago and is no more.

you're thinking of, what, the former Cinema on upper Wisconsin Ave?

you're thinking of, what, the former Cinema on upper Wisconsin Ave?

I'm not thinking of Key Theater (i.e., also gone and missed for its artsy&foreign films) but of MacArthur Theater. MacArthur Theater closed, IIRC, in the spring of 1997.

The Uptown is at its best when it has a movie that makes use of its screen. Spartacus or Lawrence of Arabia aren't the same movies anywhere else. Go out of your way when they have their occasional 70mm showing of a classic. Sadly, most movies are overmatched by an iPod.

I'm not thinking of Key Theater (i.e., also gone and missed for its artsy&foreign films) but of MacArthur Theater. MacArthur Theater closed, IIRC, in the spring of 1997.

I don't remember exactly when it closed, but it is now a freaking CVS!! What an indignity for a grand old theater.

Actually, I think the (former) Biograph on M St is now a CVS too. The Georgetown theater has become a low-end jewelry store.

I am not sure what is in the former Key space nowadays. Somehow it held on after all the other art house theatres (Biograph, Georgetown, etc) were all gone.

All are missed. I am amazed whenever I go back to Providence, RI that it is able to support an art theater (Avon still there) but DC isn't.

All are missed. I am amazed whenever I go back to Providence, RI that it is able to support an art theater (Avon still there) but DC isn't.

I don't know....the films I see at the Landmark downtown, and in Bethesda, are the same I see advertised at "art houses" when I'm on the road. In this case, being part of a chain is a good thing.

We've also got the AFI Silver, which often has filmaker interviews, panel discussions, and other special offerings.

And there's no better place to see a "big" film than the Uptown. There is no better large movie house in town, in term of sound and picture quality.

And don't forget, DC also has the restored Avalon in the 5600 block of Connecticut, between the Friendship Heights and Tenley metros.


The was Avalon brought back from the dead a few years ago by local film buffs after Loews went bust, and started selling off bits and pieces of the interior. The first movie was shown there in 1923, or 1925, making it the oldest theater in DC. The facade has been restored, and the inside is modern.

The Avalon is a real non-profit independent theater with two screens, one seating only about 150 people. They show independent, foreign and art films, in addition to hits. They've also got special kids, and family shows...I think there's a weekend morning matinee series with sci-fi this summer.

True true. I guess "isn't" was the wrong word choice there. I meant that there was a period of I would guess at least a couple of years (fuzzy on dates here - that's what happens to your memory as you age) prior to the Landmarks opening, prior to the AFI being restored, and when the Avalon was still a Loews Cineplex, but after the Biograph, Key, Georgetown had all closed down.

True true. I guess "isn't" was the wrong word choice there. I meant that there was a period of I would guess at least a couple of years (fuzzy on dates here - that's what happens to your memory as you age) prior to the Landmarks opening, prior to the AFI being restored, and when the Avalon was still a Loews Cineplex, but after the Biograph, Key, Georgetown had all closed down.

yes, you are absolutely right. But there was always one, tenuously holding on, during that period. One of the Circles did it for a bit (the fuzzies are killing my brain, too), maybe also what had been the Roth "Grasshopper" in silver spring---their smaller theater there, not the regular one. Of course, we should probably count the old AFI at the KenCen, too---before it moved to Silver Spring.

Actually, I think the (former) Biograph on M St is now a CVS too.

Indeed it is. That CVS has b/w pics in the windows of the old theater. Sad.

The Uptown is at its best when it has a movie that makes use of its screen. Spartacus or Lawrence of Arabia aren't the same movies anywhere else. Go out of your way when they have their occasional 70mm showing of a classic.

^