AMC Uptown Movie Theater - Cleveland Park
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 518
AMC Uptown Movie Theater - Cleveland Park
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!
Has anyone seen a movie there lately? Is it still a great experience, or has AMC's ownership degraded it?
Thanks!
#2
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 389
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.
#3
Join Date: Apr 2003
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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).
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).
#4
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Originally Posted by hackensacknj
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!
Has anyone seen a movie there lately? Is it still a great experience, or has AMC's ownership degraded it?
Thanks!
#5
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Washington DC USA
Posts: 2,571
Originally Posted by GUWonder
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.
#6
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Originally Posted by crhptic
you're thinking of, what, the former Cinema on upper Wisconsin Ave?
#7
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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.
#8
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Washington DC USA
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
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.
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.
#9
Join Date: Feb 2000
Posts: 952
Originally Posted by crhptic
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.
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.
#10
Join Date: Feb 2001
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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.
#11
Join Date: Feb 2000
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Originally Posted by crhptic
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.
#12
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Originally Posted by crhptic
Actually, I think the (former) Biograph on M St is now a CVS too.
#13
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Originally Posted by EricH
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.