Post your city's best movie theaters

[Hector]

I know both MegoScott and Hardy Girl been there.

The Paramount and the Grand Lake theaters in Oakland, Ca, are awesome, they both have live organs (it's usually played only on weekends)...the Paramount was featured in the movie 'Tucker' with Jeff Bridges...that place even has a bar...yes...a bar, lol.

Paramount theater (symphonies, concerts, ballet, and old movie classics):

http://www.paramounttheatre.com/

Check out both these pictures, they are too big to post (it does not allow for hot linking, but when you get to the page, click on the pictures to blow them up, the first picture is of the sadly neglected Fox theater), the Paramount is spectacular...

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://fourthstreetlofts.com/blog/images/paramount_lobby_sample_1_4000.jpg&imgrefurl=http://fourthstreetlofts.com/archives/2006_04.html&h=1241&w=4000&sz=786&hl=en&start=29&um=1&tbnid=ZkygNObAcQJQuM:&tbnh=47&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dparamount%2Btheater%26start%3D21%26ndsp%3D21%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26newwindow%3D1%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramount_Theater_%28Oakland%2C_California%29

The Grand Lake theater is not as spectacular as the Paramount, but it's still a beautiful old school movie theater:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Lake_Theater

They use the Grand Lake to post a lot of political stuff now, lol:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/grand-lake

They sure don't make them like that anymore.

[cjefferys]

Wow, all those interior shots are absolutely gorgeous. I love seeing pics of old school theatres like that. Sadly, I've never seen a movie in a place that looks as cool as those ones, but I would love to.

[toys2cool]

wow that last one's a movie theater? darn nothing like that here in Miami,we do have one that looks like an Egyptian pyramid

[jessica]

I watched Planet of the Apes at the Paramount a few years back in the early 90s. It was spectacular!

I watched the horrible reimagination of The Planet of the Apes at the Grand Lake Theater. Too bad the movie was horrible, but it was a great experience. I love old theaters.

Anybody been to York Theater in SF? That's a cute old theater I used to haunt in my high school years. I remember seeing a bunch of old samurai movies there and a lot of Kurosawa films.

And the Castro Theater is also very beautiful. The last movie I watched there was the sold out Flamenco movie (that didn't have subtitles but I enjoyed it anyway).

[megoscott]

The Castro theater in San Francisco is another great one, but nothing beats the neon of the Grand Lake. The Grand Lake is right down the street from me. I catch the bus in front of it every morning. It photographs very well, it's a little run down, but they do their best with it. I wanted to see Blade Runner there, I hope it's still playing this weekend.

I've never seen movies at the Paramount, just concerts. It's stunningly restored.

The old ones are great, but there's something to be said for the new ultra high tech stadium seating places they have now. The new ArcLight (?) in LA is pretty darn cool, but you are getting up to $15 tickets nowadays.

[HardyGirl]

Yeah, the architecture of the Grand Lake's main theatre is cool. Very old and elegant as if some old time live shows were featured there. (I don't know the history, for all I know, there were!) I really love the ORGAN. (see Hector's pic above) When they used to play the latest Star Trek movies there, it was an event. People would turn out in costume, and right before the movie started, a guy would play the Star Trek TNG theme on the organ. Awesome stuff!

BTW...Hector, Scott or Jessica...have any of you been to the Parkway since it turned into a dinner theatre? I remember the old days when it showed nothing but horror flicks, and you only had to be 14 years old to get into an R rated spook film!

[PCofmisfittoys]

alabama doesn't have any good theaters..lol. maybe the IMAX at the Space/rocket center.

[theantiquetiger]

All the old, great theaters have closed down here in Baton Rouge years ago. There was the Paramount downtown Baton Rouge that closed in the 70's. I never saw a movie there.

Then there was (is) the Varsity Theater just 50 feet outside LSU gates. it had been around for many years. I did see a few old sci-fi movies and cult classics there, i.e. Time Machine, Planet Time Forgot, Rocky Horror, etc. it is now a night club and a great venue for some of the newest live music. They had atleast kept the motif in the style of an old 50's movie theater.

[jessica]

Hardy Girl,

I grew up in San Francisco and have only moved to the East Bay in 1998, so I am not familiar with the Parkway Theater. But I do remember going to the Alhambra Theater many many years ago--it was also very beautiful. I think it was closed in 1998 and is sadly a gym now. You should google some photos of that theater. It was incredible.

Jessica.

[Hector]

Yeah, the architecture of the Grand Lake's main theatre is cool. Very old and elegant as if some old time live shows were featured there. (I don't know the history, for all I know, there were!) I really love the ORGAN. (see Hector's pic above) When they used to play the latest Star Trek movies there, it was an event. People would turn out in costume, and right before the movie started, a guy would play the Star Trek TNG theme on the organ. Awesome stuff!

BTW...Hector, Scott or Jessica...have any of you been to the Parkway since it turned into a dinner theatre? I remember the old days when it showed nothing but horror flicks, and you only had to be 14 years old to get into an R rated spook film!

Wow, Jessica is another Bay Area member?

Cool!

Yes, I've gone to the Parkway theater since I was a kid.

Yes, it used to be a horror feature type of theater (Incredible Melting Man, etc...), lol, ah, the good old days.

It's now (like you said), a movie theater where you can now sit on a couch/table, order pizza and beer, not too shabby, lol.

While I was in junior high (Westlake)...we used to go to Downtown, and check out the Roxie theater for blackxplotation flicks (like Super Fly and Cleopatra Jones)...and the LUX theater for the triple, yes, triple, kung fu movies (Master of the Flying Guillotine, etc...), lol...those were the days.

[RG]

The Palace Theater Built in 1935 with a nice art deco style ... it has a 40 foot screen. Seats about 400 people with dolby surround sound. It the best in the small town of Silverton Oregon ... of course it's the only one in Silverton, but still it's pretty cool with all the history it has.

[megoscott]

The Parkway has the Baby Brigade night on Mondays---the whole place is full of parents and screaming babies. Can't wait...

[Hector]

I 'll make sure to avoid Mondays there, lol.

[cjefferys]

While I was in junior high (Westlake)...we used to go to Downtown, and check out the Roxie theater for blackxplotation flicks (like Super Fly and Cleopatra Jones)...and the LUX theater for the triple, yes, triple, kung fu movies (Master of the Flying Guillotine, etc...), lol...those were the days.

Now that would be awesome. I'm disappointed that I never had the chance to experience some cool movie going like that.

[HardyGirl]

While I was in junior high (Westlake)...we used to go to Downtown, and check out the Roxie theater for blackxplotation flicks (like Super Fly and Cleopatra Jones)...and the LUX theater for the triple, yes, triple, kung fu movies (Master of the Flying Guillotine, etc...), lol...those were the days.

Oh man, I remember the Roxie! One time when I was in Jr. Hi, (McChesney), me and my friend John ditched school and caught a double horror flick feature, "It Came From Within" and "It Came Without Warning". Since it was in the earlier part of the day, the place was filled w/ druggies and other, uh... undesirables. Can we say "contact high"?