What Independent Theatres do you see Foreign/'Art House' films?

[Giles]

I was just curious to hear from you all what local independent theatres are in your city/town that you frequent that showcase foreign/indie films

Here in DC area, there is

- Visions Bar and Bistro
- The Avalon
- American Film Institute: Silver Theatre (Silver Spring, MD) and National Theatre (Kennedy Center)
- Cinema Arts Theatre (Fairfax Virigina)
- Goethe-Institute (showcasing German cinema)

Museums:
- National Gallery of Art
- Hirshorn
- Freer

Library of Congress - Mary Pickford Theatre

National chains:
Landmark Bethesda (downtown Lincoln Square theatre is planned by Christmas of this year, if not by early 2004)

Cineplex Odeon Dupont, Outer Circle, Shirlington (VA)

Yours?

[sundog]

Chicago

Gene Siskel Film Center (run by the Art Institute of Chicago)
Definitely the tops in terms of programs and consistency of presentation. They even serve beer at the theater. In addition to numerous programs like Iranian, Asian, Asian American, European, Indian film festivals, they run a lot of older films and retrospectives as well.

Facets Cinematheque
Great, varied programs and picking up what the larger theaters won't touch, or presenting films before they have distribution.

Music Box Theatre
Generally the more publicized foreign and non-mainstream films. They have nice varied weekend matinees. It's a nice old theater, but their presentations are usually fair to poor.

Landmark's Century Centre
Very nice, comfortable theaters that run, like the Music Box, the most popular films of this niche.

Pipers Alley
A lot of smaller films will play here for a week or two before opening wider in the area. Every once in a while they'll get an exclusive picture. Decent theater.

Esquire
For some reason this place gets a lot of Asian fare that won't play anywhere else. Recently I saw the fine Millenium Actress there, so it deserves some props.

Northwestern University Block Cinema
University of Chicago DOC films
Mostly undistributed films or older stuff with some creative programs. Ticket prices ranging from 2 to 6 dollars.

Chicago Filmmakers
I've never seen a film there but they get a lot of the abstract stuff. Unfortunately they had a Brakhage retrospective that I couldn't make.

[Crocker Jarmen]

Back in High School, I was a forty minute drive from Toronto, so me and friends were constantly going up there to check out movies that were never going to play in our home town, or older films at revival theaters, or to catch something at the Film Festival. I loved the Bloor, and would always sit up in the balcony.

Here in Regina, they have an art theater at the local library. It is better than nothing but it is hands down the worst theater in town. Uncomfortible seats and a pretty small screen, primitive sound system. All of which I could overlook but it has the worst theater-goers in the city. You'd think that a person who'd take the trouble to come there to see the weekly 'B&W Gay Cowboy's Eating Pudding subtitled in Swahali' would be interested in watching the movie. Instead they talk-talk-talk through the entire thing. Mostly to let everyone know that they are experts in the art of Cinema. 'Ah ha, that's clearly a reference to Tarkovski's third opus, with it's skillful mis en scene filtered through a Marxist lens'. What abunch of losers. And they get really offended when you ask them to shut up. Blah.

[PixyJunket]

Dallas we have the Landmark Inwood and the VERY nice Angelica.

[Jackskeleton]

Los Angeles:
Nuart (http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/LosAngeles/NuartTheatre.htm)

:)

[Giles]

Originally posted by PixyJunket
Dallas we have the Landmark Inwood and the VERY nice Angelica.

Isn't there also a Magnolia Theatre?

[Pants]

Souther California Region:

Nuart (see above)

American Cinemateque at the Egyptian Theater- just down from the Chinese and El Capitan, this non-profit is like the Gene Siskel center or the Film Forum. All the best traveling retrospectives, lease events, and their own festivals. Powel and Presburger retrospectives, nitrate festivals, 3-D film festival, film noir film festival, anime film festival... bottom line this place rules

Los Angeles County Museum of Art - ocassionally scores some great programs including Terry Gilliam in person

New Beverly - Last and greatest revival house in LA

Bay Theatre in Seal Beach - great revivals of popular films from the past (comming soon The Wolf Man with LC, jr.)

University 6 near UCI campus - First run art house with some of the worst presentation in the world. Bad sound, framed improperly. The place charges a fortune and gives the least. Total suck a thon, but sometimes it's the only place to see these films.

Lido Newport Beach - old theater from 1939, first run art house, their screen sucks.

[chente]

San Diego

Hillcrest Theater - affiliated with the Ken below but a much nicer theater. Shows current run Independant movies rather than classics. There are about 6 screens all showing independant or foreign movies at any given time. For example it showed Whale Rider.

Ken Theater- Older no-frills theater with a monthly calander that shows a wide variety of movies, mostly cult/classic movies. For example this is the theater that ran a Kurosawa film festival and also recently screened The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Museum of Photographic arts - Smaller, comfortable, apparantly digital projection theater. They often run movies that were recently released on DVD but not always. For example I recently saw Cabaret and All that Jazz. They also sometimes have themes. The current theme is surrealism in movies. The current calander includes several Brunuel movies and will be showing Polanski's Repulsion on Halloween night. I like this theater a lot as it located in Balboa Park and is adjacent to the very good restaurant there (Prado). It makes a nice date to have dinner at the Prado on the terrace and then pop over to the theater for a double feature of something good.

[Geofferson]

Minneapolis: Landmark Uptown and Lagoon theatres

[PixyJunket]

Originally posted by Giles
Isn't there also a Magnolia Theatre? Crap, how did I forget that one? I just went there last month.

[Damfino]

Las Vegas: Village Square

Los Angeles: The Nuart (This was a 2nd home for me when I lived in LA)

San Francisco: The Castro (If you've never seen a silent movie in a real silent era theater, this is the place to go)

[Pants]

Originally posted by chente

Museum of Photographic arts - Smaller, comfortable, apparantly digital projection theater. They often run movies that were recently released on DVD but not always. For example I recently saw Cabaret and All that Jazz. They also sometimes have themes. The current theme is surrealism in movies. The current calander includes several Brunuel movies and will be showing Polanski's Repulsion on Halloween night. I like this theater a lot as it located in Balboa Park and is adjacent to the very good restaurant there (Prado). It makes a nice date to have dinner at the Prado on the terrace and then pop over to the theater for a double feature of something good. thanks for the advice, I have a second home down there, but didn't know about this theater. They're showing Godard's Week End around Thanksgiving...I'm there.

[harpo787]

South Florida

The closest thing I've found to a movie that will play indie and/or foreign flicks thus far has been Sunrise Cinemas. Only found it just recently, and I've only seen one flick there (and a mainstream one at that: School of Rock). The S.C. near me has small theaters, and the sound was sort of quiet, but at least the crowd was too.

www.sunrisecinemas.com

Anyone else in S. Florida know of anything else?

[wendersfan]

The Wexner Center Film & Video Theater on the OSU campus. Once in a while I'll see a movie at either the Drexel Theater or the Drexel Grandview, but most of the movies they show are too mainstream for my tastes.

[rkndkn]

Honolulu:

Varsity Theatre ( 2 screens. Closing soon)
Art House at Restaurant Row (8 screens)

Occasionally a screen or 2:

Signature Dole Cannery Theatres (Hawaii International Film Festival there 10/30 - 11/9.)

[majorjoe23]

When in Tampa: The Tampa Theatre, it's freakin' amazing.

In Des Moines: The Fleur, followed by the Varsity, followed by the Sierra. If a film is at the Fleur and Varsity though, I'll pick the Varsity, I like to support single screen theaters.

[chente]

Originally posted by Damfino

San Francisco: The Castro (If you've never seen a silent movie in a real silent era theater, this is the place to go)

The Castro is great. I saw Metropolis there with the score by the Club Foot Orchestra. Definitely a highlight!

[ArtyC]

Civic Litttle Theater

[garmonbozia]

well here in Philadelphia, there are the 3 Ritz Theaters in the Old City area of center city.......and I also go to The Bala Theater in Bala Cynwyd.

[LiquidSky]

Originally posted by Jackskeleton
Los Angeles:
Nuart (http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/LosAngeles/NuartTheatre.htm)

:)

I lived in Los Angeles for college (1984-1988) and the Nuart was my second home. That is where I saw "Eraserhead" and "Freaks" for the first time....and countless other cool films: "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls", all the John Waters films, the Bogart/Bacall films, etc.

Here in Nashville, we have The Belcourt and The Green Hills Cinema (a cineplex that devotes three of it's smaller auditoriums to indie and foreign films).

[FantasticVSDoom]

In Orlando there is the Enzian, which also hosts the Florida Film Festival each year in the early summer. On that note, does anyone know of any art house theatres in the Ocala/Gainesville area? Just moved there and not to familiar yet.

[Iron Chef]

Madison, WI

The Orpheum

Westgate

Hilldale

The UW Union

[SPiRAL]

Pasadena, Ca :

Laemmle's Playhouse 7
Academy 6
Rialto


Hollywood, Ca :

Sunset 5

[ftsoh]

Not much choice in Baltimore area:
The Charles and The Senator

[Bobby Shalom]

Originally posted by Geofferson
Minneapolis: Landmark Uptown and Lagoon theatres

So here in Minneapolis, Landmark has tried to monopolize the art house scene. Besides the two mentioned above, they also have the Edina Theater, playing Miramax type "indy" and foreign films.

Mush more interesting fare can be seen at The U Film Society, over at the Bell museum. Run by Al Milgrom (sp?) a local legend here in Minnesota.

Also there's the Oak Street Cinema, which does many fine retrospectives - old hollywood, and foreign films. Great place to see a film.

[Samuel]

In New Jersey there's Montgomery Cinemas RT. 202 Belle Mead. Although it's a long drive for me it's worth it to see some independent and foriegn films that don't play anywhere else in the state.