I used to live a few blocks down the street from this theater. If memory serves me correctly, it was twinned sometime in the late 70s. The movies I saw there were: the 1980 Star Wars reissue, 2001: A Space Odyssey (for the first time) and Clash of the Titans. I don’t think the twinned theaters had stereo as there wasn’t any noticeable surround sound from those films. I will never forget the comment that one patron said after seeing 2001 when he said “I will neer see this movie again!” I guess it was too cerebral for him. Even though the presentation was non-70mm and mono, it still had quite an impact on me. The theaters were then cut up into four theaters sometime in the mid 80s. The twinned theaters were already small to begin with but to have them halved again, seemed too much, but I suppose the economics of the time dictated such drastic measures.
The hired help at this theater does leave much to be desired. I saw Star Wars: The Attack of the Clones (‘02) there with a friend, who is physically challenged. After making a phone call to the theater to assure that we would be allowed first into the theater to make sure we had seats together and a spot where my friend could park his wheelchair, the ticket taker demanded that both of us go back to the end of the line (around the block) and wait our turn.
The film does have decent film presentation but the sound isn’t what it could be. I’m not sure if its the acoustics in the theater or just the speaker set up, itself. The Senator, in Baltimore, while having a smaller screen, does have superior sound to the Uptown, IMHO, boasting Dolby Digital Surround EX. It would be nice if the theater could be THX certified but I’ve heard that because of the curved screen, THX isn’t possible.
It is sad that this is one of the last of the single screen theaters in DC.
I remember seeing Star Trek II:The Wrath of Khan in 70mm and being awestruck by the presentation as it was the only theater in DC that had it there in that format. It was during this time, I began to enjoy seeing movies in the largest and best venues, travelling almost any distance (from MD where I lived) to the best around town. The theater was remodeled that year, becoming a triplex and adding small balconies and reopened with The Dark Crystal (also in 70mm). When I saw Brainstorm there (in ‘83), I noticed that some of the speakers were blown as when some scenes went from 35mm mono to 70mm 6-track, there was a definite crackling sound in the middle part of the theater. The Return of the Jedi (70mm) was an event as the film was sold out and Auditorium 2 (the biggest one) was filled to capacity as people oohed, ahhed, cheered and booed to what was happening on screen. Even the smaller auditoriums had decent Dolby surround sound and balconies. I saw Flashdance in '83 (for the third time) and was impressed with the surround sound and even the curtains opening for the show!
During the 90s, the theater didn’t book any 70mm event films and I stopped going there. The last film I remember seeing there was Total Recall back in ‘90. I was sad to hear that it was closing back in '97. Its too bad there wasn’t enough support to keep CVS from taking it over. I’m surprised that given the rather affluent neighborhood, there wasn’t enough financial support to keep it a local theater much like the Avalon, also in DC.
I used to live a few blocks down the street from this theater. If memory serves me correctly, it was twinned sometime in the late 70s. The movies I saw there were: the 1980 Star Wars reissue, 2001: A Space Odyssey (for the first time) and Clash of the Titans. I don’t think the twinned theaters had stereo as there wasn’t any noticeable surround sound from those films. I will never forget the comment that one patron said after seeing 2001 when he said “I will neer see this movie again!” I guess it was too cerebral for him. Even though the presentation was non-70mm and mono, it still had quite an impact on me. The theaters were then cut up into four theaters sometime in the mid 80s. The twinned theaters were already small to begin with but to have them halved again, seemed too much, but I suppose the economics of the time dictated such drastic measures.
The hired help at this theater does leave much to be desired. I saw Star Wars: The Attack of the Clones (‘02) there with a friend, who is physically challenged. After making a phone call to the theater to assure that we would be allowed first into the theater to make sure we had seats together and a spot where my friend could park his wheelchair, the ticket taker demanded that both of us go back to the end of the line (around the block) and wait our turn.
The film does have decent film presentation but the sound isn’t what it could be. I’m not sure if its the acoustics in the theater or just the speaker set up, itself. The Senator, in Baltimore, while having a smaller screen, does have superior sound to the Uptown, IMHO, boasting Dolby Digital Surround EX. It would be nice if the theater could be THX certified but I’ve heard that because of the curved screen, THX isn’t possible.
It is sad that this is one of the last of the single screen theaters in DC.
I remember seeing Star Trek II:The Wrath of Khan in 70mm and being awestruck by the presentation as it was the only theater in DC that had it there in that format. It was during this time, I began to enjoy seeing movies in the largest and best venues, travelling almost any distance (from MD where I lived) to the best around town. The theater was remodeled that year, becoming a triplex and adding small balconies and reopened with The Dark Crystal (also in 70mm). When I saw Brainstorm there (in ‘83), I noticed that some of the speakers were blown as when some scenes went from 35mm mono to 70mm 6-track, there was a definite crackling sound in the middle part of the theater. The Return of the Jedi (70mm) was an event as the film was sold out and Auditorium 2 (the biggest one) was filled to capacity as people oohed, ahhed, cheered and booed to what was happening on screen. Even the smaller auditoriums had decent Dolby surround sound and balconies. I saw Flashdance in '83 (for the third time) and was impressed with the surround sound and even the curtains opening for the show!
During the 90s, the theater didn’t book any 70mm event films and I stopped going there. The last film I remember seeing there was Total Recall back in ‘90. I was sad to hear that it was closing back in '97. Its too bad there wasn’t enough support to keep CVS from taking it over. I’m surprised that given the rather affluent neighborhood, there wasn’t enough financial support to keep it a local theater much like the Avalon, also in DC.