Big Cinemas Manhattan
239 East 59th Street,
New York,
NY
10022
239 East 59th Street,
New York,
NY
10022
6 people
favorited this theater
The 59th Street East Cinema, originally called the D.W. Griffith Theatre, was an art house theater located in midtown Manhattan. It belonged to a cluster of single, twin, and triplex movie theaters; all of which were within two blocks of each other.
One of many subterranean venues around the city, this single screen theater was reached through a small entrance that originates on 59th Street. The entrance continued past a modest concession area and then ended at a staircase, descending to theater level.
In 2000, the theater was one of the few theaters to show a director’s cut of Luc Besson’s “The Big Blue”.
The theater closed in late-2003, but reopened in July of 2004 as the 300-seat ImaginAsian Theatre, featuring first-run Asian films, live events, satellite-fed broadcasts (such as sporting events), and exhibitions. The theater not only offers the traditional popcorn, but has a cafe serving Asian snacks, beverages, as well as internet access. The theater’s first offering was hosting the 27th Asian-American International Film Festival.
By 2010, it had been renamed Big Cinemas Manhattan, and is operated by Phoenix Big Cinemas.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 67 comments)
Renewing link.
Kiss of the Spider Woman
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Here is a nice photo of the ImaginAsian. The zip code should be changed to 10022 so Google will map the address correctly.
Confirming it was the Cine Malibu as early as March 1970, as per this NY Times review of a French movie (rated GP, the equivalent at the time of PG)
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And by May of that year, the Cine Malibu was showing the art porn film “I Am Curious (Blue)”, per this NY Magazine listing
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And here is the whole history. It opened as the DW Griffith in 1962, was the Cine Malibu from 1969-1977, and more
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Interesting file but not correct. This opened as the Cine Malibu in 1969.
The 1962 D.W Griffith was actually the Bijou in Times Square, not this one.
In 1973 the Cine Malibu was a Walter Reade Theatre.
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This theater will now be known as BIG Cinemas Manhattan, as it has been acquired by India’s largest cinema chain; story here: View link
Big Cinemas Manhattan website:
http://us.bigcinemas.com/cinemas.asp?cid=1009