Best theaters in cities to view movies?
 

I get increasingly frustrated with the quality (sound / video) of theaters here in the Portland, Oregon area and was wondering if there is a sight out on the net that "rates" theaters in terms of sound systems.

I've went to the Evergreen theater here & they'll say it's dolby 5.1 or THX and then I get into the theater and it's totally mono, with no surround. I complain to the theater mgr & he boosts the volume! I confront him again and he admits they're having problems.

How can I find whether a theater is a good theater other than spending $$ "sampling" my immediate area.

Sorry if off-topic, tried a search on this forum but couldn't find any threads.

Tman

in DC, the uptown

Tried the Lucasfilm THX™ Theatre Locator [thx.com] yet?

Great topic. I would like to hear some good theater sugestions in the Chicago area, preferably the Nothern suburbs since I don't go to the movies often enough to make a comparison. Usually I go to the AMC Randhurst or AMC Barrington, which seem to be pretty good quality.

Best Theaters in Knoxville, TN:

Overall:
Regal West Towne Mall 9

Best Sound:
Carmike Wynnsong 16

How good are the Regals in Knoxville? Just asking because I used to work for them and that is their corporate office town.

1. Uptown
2. Cinema
3. Avalon (if all goes to plan will reopen at the end of January 2003)
4. Mazza Galleria (Screen 1, 2,4)
5. Loews Georgetown (Screen 2)
6. Loews Pentegon (Screen 2: 8-Channel SDDS)
7. Landmark Bethesda (finally, seeing subtitled movies in the comfort of stadium seating and no heads to block the screen)

The Regal in East Towne Mall is good, it has stadium seating and all digital sound.

The Regal in West Towne Mall is very good, stadium seating w/ really comfortable seats, all digital sound, parking garage connected to theater.

The "Art House" Regal as it is known doesn't have stadium seating, so that sucks, but it makes up for that by playing the art house type movies we wouldn't otherwise get to see.

I don't like the Farragut Regal theater as it doesn't have stadium seating, has only a couple screens equipped w/ dolby digital, un comfortable seating.

I just wish we had a Regal IMAX screen. How long does it take Regal to build one in its own freaking home-town. The closest one is in Nashville. Thats like 2 to 2.5 hours away.
Oh well Regal West Towne is great and that will have to do for now.

In the Seattle area, there are plenty of cool theaters. It just depends on what you are looking for.

The Cinerama, hands down, is the coolest theater I've ever been to. Just don't try going to one of the blockbuster movies on opening night. Besides the blockbusters, occasionaly they will run cult/classic/old blockbusters for awhile. They played the whole Indiana Jones triology about two years ago.

If you want stadium seating there's the Bellevue Galleria, Pacific Parkplace, Bella Bottega, Parkplace Cinemas, etc, etc ... there' s basically no shortage of the run-of-the-mill stadium seating megaplexs. But as far as the picture and sound quality between these different theaters, I couldn't tell you.

Personally, I like the "art house" theaters in the area. The Egyptians midnight movies are always great. And I love the small screens and the intimate atmosphere of the theaters in the U-District (the Metro ... and I forgot the name of the other one).

All Seattlelites, please chip in. I think we are spoiled as far as movie theaters go.

DC folk, how's that new theatre in Georgetown?

In Dallas my favorite theaters (for a mix of the setting, ambiance, and actual projection and sound) are The Magnolia and The Angelika. Both are pretty top notch theaters.

I don't go to the theater (any theater) very often, but when I do go it's usually to the Cinerama. I saw Apocalypse Now Redux, Lawrence of Arabia, and the digital version of Attack of the Clones there. All were outstanding. Best theater I've ever been to also.

beat me to it! i loooove the uptown!!!

havent been yet, drive by all the time and its always packed. will hopefully make it soon.

Has anyone ever seen a movie (like Star Wars II or Beauty and the Beast) that was shown at an IMAX? If so, is it really better than watching at a regular theater?

In Michigan.

STAR THEATER OF SOUTHFIELD (Not only is the bigges Star theater in the United States, but it is by far the most artisticly designed one as well. The outside if glamorous and the inside is like a metropolis of movie designs. Not to mention the sound and video, which is top notch as well.)

BIRMINGHAM PALLADIUM (Great exterior and interior design. Not as huge as the star, but has a very rich feel to it, as if your a million bucks richer for just walking in. They also offer special meals for premeir movies. Steak, chicken and so on. Of course that cost more.)

amc theaters in owings mills.