Although Washington cannot match Los Angeles or New York's bustling film scene, there is an impressive array of theaters to be found. Whether you're craving a big budget comic book movie with a rambunctious crowd or that somber documentary The New Yorker raved, you're bound to discover your theater niche in D.C.
Landmark E Street Cinema
WHERE: 555 11th St. N.W.
PRICE: Weekday Student Discount $8.00, General $10.00
METRO: Metro Center (red, orange and blue lines)
ATMOSPHERE: If franchise blockbusters aren’t your bag, head on down to this indie film haven. Easily the premiere art house theater in D.C., E Street Cinema showcases a diverse gamut of independent filmmaking, from the latest Herzog documentary to obscure foreign fare that will render you equipped for cocktail party schmoozing. Apart from its steep weekend ticket prices, the theater’s sole drawback is the lack of other attractions around E Street, save for ESPN Zone, which probably wouldn’t complement the whole art-house-theatre experience very well. With these arty films comes an even artier atmosphere at the theater, which you can see in the concession stands’ selection of wine, espresso and imported beer and chocolate. This certainly isn’t your nachos-and-Slurpee crowd.
TYPICAL FILM FARE: Indie, documentaries and foreign films.
Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema
WHERE: 7235 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, Md.
PRICE: Weekday Student Discount $8.00, General $10.00
METRO: Bethesda (red line)
ATMOSPHERE: Nestled amid downtown Bethesda’s restaurants and boutiques, Bethesda Row is essentially E Street’s charmingly less pretentious sister theater. This theater fuses the comfortable familiarity of a multiplex with a top-notch selection of films. Although it may not boast the same eclectic lineup one would find at E Street, Bethesda Row plays independent films that receive the most buzz. Bethesda residents and Maryland suburbanite patrons typically make the crowd feel a little bit older, since most of the obnoxious high school teens are at the Bethesda Regal Theater up the street. When all is said and done, Bethesda Row offers the genuine night-out-at-the-movies experience that neither its art house nor its multiplex contemporaries can match.
TYPICAL FILM FARE: Mainstream indie – think “Juno” and “No Country for Old Men.”
Regal Gallery Place Stadium 14
WHERE: 707 Seventh St. N.W.
PRICE: Student Discount $8.50
METRO: Gallery Place-Chinatown (red, yellow and green lines)
ATMOSPHERE: This theater is everything that Gallery Place-Chinatown is: big, loud and commercial. Located on top of a slew of chain Asian food restaurants and Lucky Strike Bowling, the Gallery Place Regal offers quite the movie-going experience. Audiences tend to be more rambunctious than ones one would find at a Landmark theater, which can be both a good and bad thing. The best films to see at Gallery Place are ones that require audience participation. This theater is great for comedies and big budget blockbusters where contagious laughter is as necessary as a formulaic plot and predictable ending.
TYPICAL FILM FARE: Blockbusters galore.
AMC Loews Uptown
WHERE: 3426 Connecticut Ave. N.W.
PRICE: General $10.50
METRO: Cleveland Park (red line)
ATMOSPHERE: Although Landmark Theatres might boast a more modern and satisfying experience, the Loews Uptown is as old school as one can get in D.C. The Loews Uptown showcases one film at a time in its one enormous theater, which has a balcony that channels a movie-going tradition long since forgotten. Apart from a few bars and restaurants, Cleveland Park is by and large dead at night, but a late night show at the Loews Uptown serves as a perfect follow up to dinner in nearby Adams Morgan. The theater generally shows films that slay their box office competitors and demand to be seen on a large screen.
TYPICAL FILM FARE: Generally well-reviewed epics, i.e. “The Dark Knight” and “Grindhouse.”
AMC Mazza Gallerie
WHERE: 5300 Wisconsin Ave. N.W.
PRICE: General $8.50
METRO: Friendship Heights (red line)
ATMOSPHERE: Located atop a shopping mall, the AMC Mazza Gallerie may not be the most exotic theater, but what it lacks in character it compensates in convenience, as it’s the closest theater to AU. A short 30-bus ride down Wisconsin, the AMC Mazza Gallerie is the perfect destination for a spontaneous afternoon matinee. While the surrounding area certainly isn’t a hub for D.C. culture, there are plenty of places to grab some post-show food or window shop at Friendship Heights’ array of outlandishly expensive stores.
TYPICAL FILM FARE: Standard multiplex lineup with the occasional indie flick.
Regal Bethesda
WHERE: 7272 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, Md.
PRICE: Student Discount $8.00
METRO: Bethesda (red line)
ATMOSPHERE: While audiences down the street at Bethesda Row might make one feel young, audiences at Regal Bethesda will make one feel ancient. Each weekend night, the Regal Bethesda becomes quite the hot spot for local high schoolers. As with Regal Gallery Place, one shouldn’t anticipate a quiet, laidback night at the movies at the Regal Bethesda. Expect sticky floors, ringing cell phones and loud teen posses fleeing the theater for group bathroom trips every 15 minutes. While that may not sound like the ideal movie-going ambiance, it’s ideal for those mindless blockbuster hits that’ll rot your brain, but will also entertain – especially after a brutal week of schoolwork.
TYPICAL FILM FARE: Mainstream studio.
AMC Loews Georgetown 14
WHERE: 3111 K St. N.W.
PRICE: General $10.00
METRO: Take the 30 bus down Wisconsin avenue
ATMOSPHERE: After dinner or shopping, the AMC Loews Georgetown is a perfect fit. Sited across the street from the newly renovated waterfront, the AMC Loews Georgetown has a chic charm. As it's the sole movie theater in Georgetown, films tend to sell out rather quickly, especially on weekends. Around the Oscar race, the theater tends to attain the largest competitors, lending it some seasonal indie credibility, yet throughout the rest of the year, it generally houses mainstream selections.
TYPICAL FILM FARE: Mainstream with indie cameos around the Oscars.
