Comments from MaximusAarg

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MaximusAarg
MaximusAarg commented about Uptown Theatre on Jul 10, 2006 at 11:13 pm

I grew up in DC and whenever I’m home, I’ll go to the Uptown no matter what they are playing. I remember the frustrations when there would be a huge movie that for some reason they chose not to play (cough Titanic cough), but some of my greatest moviegoing experiences, including Vertigo, Gladiator, and all three Lord of the rings were at the Uptown.

It’s been a while since someone put up a list, so here is my rough memory of everything they have played since I first attended the theater in 1996 for Twister. I was 11.

An * means I think they played it but am not one hundred percent sure. all others are definite.

1996
Twister
Independence Day
Vertigo
Ransom
Jerry Maguire*

1997
Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
Volcano
The Lost World Jurassic Park
Contact
G.I. Jane
In & Out*
Starship Troopers
Alien Resurrection
Tomorrow Never Dies

1998
Sphere
US Marshalls
Primary Colors
Warner Brothers Festivel of Classics (THIS WAS AWESOME! A different decade every day, a different movie every showtime)
Godzilla
Armageddon
How Stella Got Her Groove Back
Rounders
Practical Magic
Meet Joe Black
You’ve Got Mail

1999
Analyze This
The Matrix
The Phantom Menace
Double Jeopardy*
Sleepy Hollow
The Green Mile

2000
Mission to Mars
U-571
Gladiator
The Perfect Storm
Casablanca/A Clockwork Orange
Lawrence of Arabia
The Exorcist
The Contendor
The Grinch
Cast Away

2001
Hannibal
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Along Came a Spider
The Mummy Returns
Pearl Harbor
A.I.
Planet ofthe Apes
Don’t Say a Word*
2001
Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone
The Fellowship of the Ring

2002
Time Machine*
Amadeus
Attack of the Clones
Road to Perdition
City by the Sea
Red Dragon
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The Two Towers

2003
Phone Booth
X2: X-men United
The Hulk
Seabiscuit
Alien
Mystic River
The Return of the King

2004
Hellboy
Van Helsing
The Day After Tomorrow
The Terminal
Spider-Man 2
Alien vs. Predator
Hero
Shark Tale
Ray
The Aviator

2005
Sin City
The Interpreter
Revenge of the Sith
Fantastic Four
The Island
March of the Penguins
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
King Kong

2006
Scary Movie 4
Mission: Impossible III
Superman Returns

Like I said, this list is in no way perfect and not completely accurate, but it I’m almost certain about most of those films.

I’m appalled to hear about the Superman Returns presenation. Snafus on an opening week at the uptown for a big movie are what will bring this theater down. The problem really is that Loews treats it like its just another theater. I remember they were not going to play Spider-mAan 2 because they wanted to bring business to the Georgetown theater, and then naturally they played it anyway when I’d already gotten tickets somewhere else. This is why people don’t go to movies anymore. If you pay 10 bucks for a ticket, your going for more than the movie, but theater owners don’t realize that. Ebert has a lot of great writings on the topic (and everyone pray that he retires quickly. Don’t boycott the theater, its still great. I remember talking on the phone 2 years ago with the current manager and he seemed like a huge film nut, so I got really encouraged.