Uptown Theatre
3426 Connecticut Avenue NW,
Washington,
DC
20008
3426 Connecticut Avenue NW,
Washington,
DC
20008
60 people
favorited this theater
Showing 226 - 250 of 587 comments
well aptly John Carter didn’t last that long here, ‘Hunger Games’ opens 12am tonight.
@bigjoe: the Seattle Cinerama, the Ziegfeld – Baltimore’s Senator used to be until the recent news of the updates and adding a second screen.
There are several in the Los Angeles area: The Vista, Regent, Village, Bruin, and Gardena. The Cinerama Dome is still intact, although a large cinema complex has been built onto it.
Hello To My Fellow Posters- i came across this website a year ago and was hooked from the get go. so i set up a project for myself- find as many grand old movie theaters or palaces to use the popular term that have not been gutted for retail space, were never a 2nd/3rd run or grind house, never showed porn, never used as a radio or t.v. studio, never converted to a concert hall or performing art center and were never twined, tri-plexed or if large enough quaded but and this is a big BUT has stayed in more or less their original state,design/condition as 1st run movie theater since the day it opened. thru my searching so far i have only found this theater and Grauman’s Chinese in Hollywood. they can’t be the only ones in the entire country can they? anyone know of other ones still operating as 1st run theaters?
given ‘John Carter’ is a scope (2.35) film, wide screen movies always look great and suitable on the Uptown screen – no black borders above and below the movie as on an IMAX (or IMAX-lite) screen.
Hmmm. It is interesting to note that the same film is playing at the AMC Georgetown 14 nearby, in IMAX-lite. I’m assuming their IMAX-lite install is the same as the others..I haven’t been to the Georgetown 14 in years.
I noticed that in yesterday’s Post that ‘John Carter’ is being presented in both 2D and 3D – an Uptown first, giving it’s patron’s a choice in which visual version to see/pay for.
Like others, I stopped getting updates from CinemaTreasures after the update so I missed a few. As for the 35/70 projectors…Starting in 1954, the Uptown did have Norelco Todd/Ao projectors, which were replaced (relocated to the Cinema-7 theatre in Baileys Crossroads, VA), once 3-strip Cinerama was replaced by single strip (Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World), the Century “Cinerama” projectors were used until the end of film projection at the Uptown. I have not been in the theatre since 2005 so I do not know their disposition. AMC does not own the theatre nor the equipment so I don’t know what there obligation is on the disposal or retention of the fixed assets of the theatre.
-Steve
Scarey that AMC owns this theater you know how they are about small theaters that are not multiplexes.
question: does the theater sound system still have the center left, and center right speakers in place or were they removed?
from what I understand the projection flaw you noted Howard is that digital projection systems (on the whole) have not worked out the kinks of being projected onto a curved screen, the imperfection is also noted at the Arclight Dome in LA – so until someone at DCI (Digital Cinema Inititive) can figure on how to digitally manipulate the image from the projector to the screen and now bow at the corners on large curved screens, the problem isn’t going to go away immediately.
Saw Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol on Tuesday late afternoon, a nice crowd. Curtain hasn’t been used for a year or two because the motor is broke. Movie isn’t being projected on top & lower corner sections, a very minor effect but one that should be corrected. Christie 4 k dual projectors are used. The surround sound is astonishingly good!
personally I’m a bit annoyed that since ‘Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol’ is being presented on nearly every specialty large screen in and around Washington, AMC feels so compelled to book it here, when really Spielberg’s ‘Adventures of TinTin’ deserves to be experienced on the largest screen possible.
Hello I’m currently working on a book about the film 2001: A Space Odyssey and am looking for photos and programs/newspaper clippings etc from each city in which the film premiered in originally in 1968. If you saw the film in it’s initial run in the theater have a good memory of your experience, I’d love to interview you about seeing it. To date I have interviewed over 20 people that have worked on the film, and several close members in the Kubrick camp as well. If you can help please email me at
8K is closest to 70mm. 35mm is around 3.5K Personally I don’t see how 8K works on 2K systems since there are more pixels on the former than the 2K can actually produce, but that’s how it’s being shown at Seattle’s Cinerama. 4K can and does work for 70mm features, but really 6K, at the least, is adaquate to retain the resolution and clarity of 65mm photography.
What is an 8k restoration equivalent of? 35mm? 70 mm? Can 2k or 4k projectors adequately show the 8k restoration?
Happy 75th Uptown…on Oct 29th.
the only person that’s been commenting on the Uptown has been little ol' me :) Would it kill AMC to book and show the DCP of ‘Ben Hur’(recent 8K restoration) that was shown at the NYFF and Seattle Cinerama.
Ever since the redesign I have not received ANY updates to any comments but never really investigated why. I just figured maybe people weren’t commenting, but now I see they have and I’ve missed out!
Speaking of Ghostbusters, I was there for their 1984 70mm booking and distinctly remember being ‘scared’ as were many in the audience during the library scene. The camera was locked on a seemingly innocent and homely looking old librarian, until the close up and turn to the camera to SHHHHH. Then the old librarian turns skeletal and accompanying subwoofer..sound fx that scared the **** out of us. Very cool and memorable scene and experience.
I really really do not understand why AMC can’t book the alternate programming that other theaters seem to get – the biggest head scratcher is that the rerelease digital presentation of ‘Ghostbusters’ should be on the huge Uptown screen, since well, it’s initial DC engagement was here … and in 70mm no less.
apparently after an email to corporate and a response from the manager of the Uptown, a Christie techie came out and fixed the aspect ratio problem – thank you!
Apparently ‘Scream 4’ is opening tomorrow – oh, wow, a horror movie on the Uptown screen – I’m siked!
so I saw ‘Source Code’ this evening, and I have say, again it was a mixed bag. During the trailers, the lower left of the screen was displaying a double image and out of focus, thankfully for the main feature it was corrected. But… for a 1.85 film, the framing was all off, the credits at the beginning were barely there, and only a few instances where heads at the top of the screen were slightly cropped off – this never happened for 35mm prints. Audio at a moment near the end lowered in volume unexplainably. On the plus side the image was consistently sharp, as was the light output – if the projector had displayed the 1.85 aspect ratio, it would have looked great
was the Norelco projector ever replaced? I didn’t think so… til now. As for the ‘non-aligned edges of the image’ this is also a problem on the curved Cinerama Dome screen in LA, it’s a problem in that DCI digital projection specifications never has had to address an image (and modify it) on a curved theater screen.
unfortunately the current 3D film now at the Uptown is the craptacular ‘Sanctum’ that’s been getting alot of negative reviews – I have no plans on seeing this, guess I’ll wait for the next film at the Uptown. Considering alot of the films that are being shown on IMAX screens are scope films (2.35) I’d favour seeing them here on the Uptown’s wide screen than paying extra for a screen that adds black borders above and below the image.
That is awful they removed the 35/70mm projector..what was it…the Norelco one? I can’t believe it. So no more 2001 in 70mm or 70mm anything? I’d like to think this is just a bad dream. I do not want to resign myself to think that 70mm is only going to be seen at the AFI Silver and their smallish 40 ft screen.
4K DP?! Hmm. Hopefully by the next 3D DP booking, the kinks will have been worked out. As I stated before, the bargain matinee price is very reasonable considering what IMAX-lite is for a screen thats about the same size.
given it’s the dead of winter, the number of showings per day has decreased dramatically, a four and seven showing only, just this week they added a 10pm showing. Unfortunately, given the fact the theatre added a DLP unit, the choice or implementation of ‘alternative programming’ has yet to booked at this theatre – the one off ‘Carmen 3D’ would be ideal.