What's the nicest or most unusual theater you've ever been to?

[Rev. Powell]

Mine would be Coolidge Corner in Boston:





Saw THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 at midnight.

[claws]

Most unusual was a "theater" adjoined with a restaurant. No theater seats, just wooden chairs with tables. You could order a meal or beverages while the film was playing. There was also a mobile theater which was a truck turned into a theater. It would make its rounds and came to our town twice a year.

The nicest was a drive-in theater located inside a US Naval Station in Rota, Spain. The naval station also had a nice camping ground so we spend a few summer vacations there. The drive-in was a classic with a small playground underneath the screen and a concession stand with arcade video games, pool table and what not.

Other than that I don't really recall any other nice theaters. All the single screen theaters disappeared in the 1990s when multiplex theaters took over everywhere, and I'm not really a fan of those.

[Trevor]

The Il Grande Theater in Johannesburg is a good theater with the largest 3D screen in South Africa. Pity the first and so far only movie I saw there was a colossal bore.*

https://www.tsogosun.com/sunsquare-montecasino/gallery Click on the Meetings and Events pic.


*A hint: it was a super hero movie made partially in SA.  

[El Misfit]

Nicest movie theater in town is called The Broad Theater and it is a treat to go. They have probably the most comfortable seats for a small theater that I have sat in.  I've seen a few movies there since prices are $5 more than AMC, but worth it.

[Trevor]

In terms of unusual, the Labia Theatre in Cape Town is one such place: the oldest cinema in South Africa and quite an experience to view a film in a venue which still has some wooden seats.

https://www.thelabia.co.za

[lester1/2jr]

Rev-  did you ever go to Brattle theater in Cambridge?

[Alex]

Cineworld in Glasgow I guess. It holds the record for the worlds tallest cinema at 200 feet.

[Rev. Powell]

Rev-  did you ever go to Brattle theater in Cambridge?

No, I was just in Boston for the weekend. In a twist, though, the girl who suggested we go to the Coolidge now works at the Brattle.

[Rev. Powell]

In terms of unusual, the Labia Theatre in Cape Town is one such place: the oldest cinema in South Africa and quite an experience to view a film in a venue which still has some wooden seats.

https://www.thelabia.co.za

The Labia? Is it next to the Vulva? 

[Trevor]

In terms of unusual, the Labia Theatre in Cape Town is one such place: the oldest cinema in South Africa and quite an experience to view a film in a venue which still has some wooden seats.

https://www.thelabia.co.za

The Labia? Is it next to the Vulva? 

 

I was waiting for that one. 

Actually it's quite far from the Vulva: it's in Cape Town 

[RCMerchant]

The Strand in Paw Paw, MI. has been around since 1927, and where I did most of my theater viewing.
It's seen better days- but that gives it its charm. Still got the old wood and red leather seats, the velvet curtain, and a balcony. And it's still has prices under $5! $4 on Wednesday and $3 on Thursday!

[zelmo73]

I watched a couple movies here in Eugene, Oregon in November 1995 when I tried living there years ago. The Bijou Art Cinema is an old church turned into a movie house. I remember having to go out into the lobby in order to access the upper balcony seating, but I remember there not being a bad seat in the house. It had a very old school and antique atmosphere about it. I watched Casino (1995) and Toy Story (1995) in there and they were both fun experiences.

[The Burgomaster]

* Granada Theater in Malden, Massachusetts. They tore it down years ago but I went several times in the 1970s and 80s. It was one of the huge, old fashioned movie palaces that looked sort of like an opera house inside. Before my time, it had a balcony. But by the time I went there they had split the theater into two theaters - the lower level was theater #1 and what was formerly the balcony was renovated and became theater #2. Movies I saw there included:

* Dawn of the Dead / Mother's Day double feature
* On Her Majesty's Secret Service (re-release, not the original run)
* Moonraker
* Creature From the Black Lagoon / It Came From Outer Space double feature in 3-D (also re-releases)
* The Warriors / Up in Smoke double feature
* Yor, Hunter From the Future

* Parkway Plaza Theater in Chelsea, Massachusetts - one of the last porn theaters in the area. Dim and sleazy, just like something out of the movies "Hardcore" and "Taxi Driver."

* A porno theater in Boston's "Combat Zone" (red light district). I can't remember the name but it might have been "The P***ycat Theater." The Combat Zone was a stretch of a couple of blocks in Boston where all the porno theaters, stripper bars, dirty book stores and prostitutes were located. The city cleaned it up years ago and just about everything that was there got closed down. I think there are still 1 or 2 "gentlemen's clubs" in the area.

* Sack Pi-Alley in Boston. Written on the wall in the alley were several digits of Pi (3.1415926535 . . . not sure how many digits were there). It was a small theater that showed a lot of foreign films, art films, exploitation movies and mainstream movies. I saw "Make Them Die Slowly" in that theater.

[RCMerchant]

 ^ * A porno theater in Boston's "Combat Zone" (red light district). I can't remember the name but it might have been "The P***ycat Theater." The Combat Zone was a stretch of a couple of blocks in Boston where all the porno theaters, stripper bars, dirty book stores and prostitutes were located. The city cleaned it up years ago and just about everything that was there got closed down. I think there are still 1 or 2 "gentlemen's clubs" in the area.
^  

So you went in? What movie did you see?  
Down on 42nd St. in Manhattan was Gommorah.
I walked around there in 1979 and 1980. It was like another planet. I was 17.
I never had the desire to walk into any of the theaters there. I did see HALLOWEEN in an old theater in Queens! On Halloween!
I lived in the Bronx- I went to 42nd St. just to check out the freaks at night.

[ER]

When you say theater, does it have to be a movie theater?