E Street Cinema
555 11th Street NW,
Washington,
DC
20004
555 11th Street NW,
Washington,
DC
20004
2 people
favorited this theater
The E Street Cinema is located in the Lincoln Square Building(555 11th Street, NW), with its entrance on E Street between 10th and 11th Street, one block from Metro Center Station and four blocks from the Gallery Place/Chinatown Station. The Lincoln Square Building is new, but saved many historic facades. There is an escalator and stairs to take movie patrons one level down to the theatre.
7 of the 8 auditoriums have stadium seating. They range in size from 96 seats to 260 seats. The auditoriums have Dolby Digital Sound, and at least one has Dolby Digital Surround EX. Concessions include an expresso bar and locally baked pastries, cookies, and gourmet chocolates.
This theatre was announced as early as 2001, but though the new building opened, the theatre did not open then. Like many movie theatre chains, Landmark was in bankruptcy. The E Street Cinema opened January 9, 2004. The theatre was designed by Graham Little Studio designer Brooks Graham, who designed many Landmark theatres.
Contributed by
Dave Bonan, Howard B. Haas
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Recent comments (view all 16 comments)
I think it is, I’ve never asked, but I assume it is, since Landmark and Sony did work out a deal to install Sony 4K systems to select Landmark theatres. ‘Bubble’ looked great in DP when it played awhile back. I don’t know if you know this, but one Sony 4K system is at the National Geographic auditorium – I’ve seen film there but not a DP feature – I missed it, but I assume Sony/Columbia might have given the Geo a harddisc drive of ‘Night at the Museum’ for the DC sneak peak.
For this year’s Oscar Nominated (Live Action/Animation) Showcase, they moved it from auditorium #1 to #3. For once it’s properly framed, since the DP system was off to the side and created a slight off centre image on auditorium #1 (oddly this wasn’t a problem when they presented ‘Bubble’). While the screen is not as large as #1, the image is still great. I know that movies tend to rotate alot from screen to screen at E Street, but it would be great to see an actual full length movie in digital projection (for awhile E. Street was getting some pretty shoddy looking 35mm prints. ‘There Will Be Blood’ was a disaster, in that one of the reel changes was flipped upside down AND going backwards) ‘Che’ would have been ideal to see since it was actually shot with 4K cameras.
and for the record the stadium seating auditoriums are not 7 and 8, but 1 and 4
My friend and I caught a midnight screening of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. As it turned out, the movie shown was actually an extended edition print where a similar version aired on the ABC network way back in 1981. This print was not bad for its age, which I’m presuming dates back to 1981 given when the extended cut was actually made. The only difference is that an alternate take of McCoy counselling Kirk about his fitness at command and Kirk being fitted with a EV suit were NOT in this presentation.
The film sound levels could have been increased a great deal to compensate for some of the surround drop outs. The extended version, with its ‘new’ cuts were noticeably lacking in at least the original cuts surrounds and ambient sounds, which made the sound flat.
It was interesting to note the audience attendance as that I thought there would be more ‘mature’ or seasoned viewers in attendance. It looked more like a geekdom private showing with the prevalence of the 25, or so in the audience, twentysomethings. And they were quite well behaved in that there were no snickers or cat calls during some scenes that I’ve noticed in past viewings. I’d also say there were a few viewers who were seeing this movie for the first time given their reaction to some of the scenes.
Overall, the experience was quite good given the age of this movie, almost 30 years, and the fact that the last time I’ve seen it in the DC area was way back in 1991. I hope Paramount strikes a new print of this movie, if not the Director’s Edition.
I forgot to mention the auditorium we saw it in was #6, which seems like one of the smallest of the auditoriums but with still fairly large screen. I’m guessing at least 30ft.
In regard to Giles comment above, Landmark’s web page for this cinema states (as I included in the Intro):
Eight auditoriums, seven of which feature stadium seating and wall-to-wall screens
I had the privilege to see a free screening of “Terribly Happy” a Danish film import that has received much international critical claim. Its plays like an R-rated, extended Twilight Zone or Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode on the large screen. A recently transferred cop to a small town encounters residents who are more than they appear to be… There are some interesting twists and turns and some decent acting all around. If you happen to see it playing at a theater near you, which I doubt will have a wide release, go see it.
Oops. #4 was where we were. The line to get in started at the top of the stairs, which I thought was too many. Fortunately, we all got in and there were about three rows in the front that were unoccupied. The print, itself, had scratches and projected slightly off center to the left. Where I sat and after the first ten minutes, you forgot about the imperfections in the projection.
As a member of their film club, I received an invite for two, to a free screening of ‘Mother’ a Korean film import this past Monday 3/1/10. Due to the fact they sent out more invites than seats, I didn’t get in. The fact is my friend, who works nearby was to get in line early and get the ‘red tickets’ to allow us in. There was this Asian lady, who presumably is a Landmark employee, when I wanted to meet my friend, at the head of the line, bluntly said “its not my problem” and walked off. How rude. She wouldn’t even listen to my story, much less allow me to jump the line.
Since my friend and I did not get into the screening, we paid to see the five short films nominated for Oscar. They were shown in DP in #3, which I believe is my first time in that auditorium, which supposedly has the Sony 4K system. To my eyes, I did not notice any difference with 2K, unless they were shown side by side. Each was shown flat and the DP was sharp and clear, but the transfer of the first Indian film short yielded, maybe intentionally, diagonal lines like an interference line you’d see on your home tv due to an electronic disturbance.
Of the five films, I think Kavi, the Indian film should take Oscar given its world wide subject of slavery, which is a commendable theme. You want to know what happens next to this charming kid, who dreams of becoming a cricket player and going to school, while working with his enslaved parents on a brick farm.
A few months ago, I attended the DC Shorts film festival at this place, auditorium #4. It sounded as if the woofers on the stage speakers were blown. As of January 2012, I have no word on whether they fixed it or not. Digital projection was so-so, but it may have been because of the source.
I think this place tries too hard to be like its younger brother, the Bethesda Row Cinema. Same basement approach, same style, but I dislike the layout of the auditoriums. Maybe I should see a legitimate film at this place instead of some cheap specialty engagements. Though it would be nice if Landmark could bring E Street’s extended repertoire to Bethesda Row. But then again, “Tinker, Tailor…” is playing on three screens there, but does it hurt to expand Landmark’s Capital Classics and Midnight Madness series to Bethesda?
Sorry for my arrogance. Anyways, read my username.