Cinepolis Chelsea Cinemas

I’ll never forget the 10th anniversary celebration of Hedda Letuce’s Thursday night movies. The film chosen for the event: “Mommie Dearest”. It was a virtual sellout and Hedda Lettuce was at her best. Of course, the audience was just as much part of the fun. A great night out at the movies!

Thank you so much for the responses. I apologize, I must be confusing this theater with another one.

The Chelsea does NOT have dinky sized screens! When built, screen sizes were announced to be nicely sized 25 to 38 feet wide for scope films. Rest assured that no auditorium here is small. My experiences have been 200 to 400 seat auditoriums, not small at all for a multiplex.

The problem with putting the line “New Print” in your advertising. Is that it is a new print but many times someone else played it before you. The studio struck a few 35mm prints for the reissues. But there are alot of poor film handlers out there.

Ugh. I was at the Gotham Comedy Club last week and could see both of the Clearview Theater buildings down the street and thought about how I had to come in one night for a Chelsea Classics showing. Finding out that the presentations are of store-bought DVD’s would certainly take the bloom off the rose for me.

DAVID: DVDs. It ain’t pretty.

The interactive screening of “Mommie Dearest” was a transformational experience…..

It was just hysterically funny, and Hedda Lettuce’s comments were priceless. There is no feeling greater than sitting in a movie theater filled with Gay men (and a lesbian or two) laughing at a campy movie – with commentary by a drag queen! This is why I’ll just never leave New York!

Do you know the new seating capcity of each screen

I went down to the “Hedda Lettuce” screening last night to catch “Harriett Craig” on the big screen. The ‘plex, as noted above, is undergoing renovations so they moved the screening from the first floor to the second floor and the screening was packed. I guess Joan Crawford is a big draw for the Chelsea Boys and is rightly a camp icon.

What was interesting is that the fifth anniversary of this weekly screening series occurs next week and they are having an “interactive” screening of “Mommie Dearest” next week and are moving it to the Chelsea West Cinemas because they are expecting a huge crowd.

I only started going to films in this series last year; I hadn’t known anything about it. But before the show the Clearview guy said they thought the series would last only a couple of months, but due to the fact that it is well attended it has lasted five years. In fact, the Clearview guy said the Hedda Lettuce screening on Thursday outdraws the rest of the complex combined for a Thursday.

My only quibble is that they don’t project the films properly. Last night the aspect ratio of HC was off so you would see Joan Crawford of Wendell Crawford with their heads cut off mid forehead. The print was also beat up and I wonder if it was 16MM, but I’m not sure. I assume Clearview doesn’t have 16MM projection facilities.

I went to see “The Notorious Bettie Page” at the Chelsea recently..I arrived a little late, just as the film was starting. The theater was already dark, and it was hard to see.

I sat down in a seat towards the back, and he seat felt different..The seats were pretty dated and in bad condition, but this seat was very plush…Since it was in a handicapped section, I thought it was some sort of experimental seat!

As my eyes adjusted to the light, I looked around, and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing – all the seats were new! I had seen the boxes and construction outside, but I thought that was all for minor cosmetic changes.

It looked like they reduced their capacity by about 10% to accommodate the new seats..Which makes sense to do since they’ve lost about 50% of their audience to other theaters..

I did go to one Hedda Lettuce event and it was fantastic. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get there on time after work…When I do remember to go, it’s a night they’re showing a film I’m not interested in..

I have many warm memories of this theater. It was one of the first real modern theaters to open..Going to the movies in New York used to be disgusting in the 70’s when I was a teenager..Long lines, crummy theaters..

Cineplex Odeon came and swept that all away, and all people did was complain because they raised the prices fifty cents or a dollar. I remember when movies went up a dollar in price Ed Koch wanted to lead a campaign to boycott them..I think that’s when they went from six to seven dollars!

…that should be a “gentleman” (singular not plural).

They have a Thursday night screening series called Chelsea Classics hosted by “Hedda Lettuce.” It is geared toward the Chelsea community, so lots of Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and camp.

I go to catch classics on the big screen. This week is FUNNY GIRL, which I caught at the Ziegfeld several years ago, and next week is FUNNY LADY, which I have never seen on the big screen.

I was there a few weeks ago and they announced the film is going to be completely renovated. The cinema won’t close, but it will be done on a floor-by-floor basis. There are three floors of cinema and it is probably overdue as the cinema where the Hedda Lettuce-hosteed screenings take place is missing chairs.