SIFF Cinema Downtown

I visted this theater in 2005 and had an excellent experience. The renovation was superb; the lobby reminded me a bit of the United Nations/JFK Airport International Style, bland but clean, with blue tile thoughout.

I was happy to see a lovely pale purple curtain covering the screen, rather than pre-show advertising. The curtain opened to reveal a tremendous screen, which seemed to go from floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall. The manager later told me that the Cinerama screen is folded up behind this screen, and is ready to be reassembled whenever a Cinerama feature is presented, such as How the West Was Won, which screened a while back.

The auditorium seems to be done in a post-modern atmospheric style, including twinkling lights that go out when the feature starts. The orchestra level seats were comfortable rocking ones. I sat in the balcony (because I could!) where the seats didn’t rock, except, oddly, in the front row, which thus provided a good view of the ceiling and a not-so-great view of the screen.

Needless to say, the presentation was first-rate, with a bright, clear picture and crystal clear sound.

The locals really seem to love this theatre, especially since it was spared from the wrecking ball. I join them in their support.

(While in Seattle I also visted and have commented upon the Paramount, the 5th Avenue, the Egyptian, the Colisuem and the Meridian.)

Let me give my thoughts about today’s presentation of West Side Story. First off, it played on the big screen. :)

It looked great through the whole thing. The audio was totally a different story. Completely off during the sequence where Tony and Maria see each other for the first time at the school dance (and their ballet together). Same for the entire rumble sequence. Both are key scenes in the movie. Along with another 10 or 12 short outages throughout (15-60 seconds each). I will say a few people got up and left, and I’m sure they asked for refunds. To the Cinerama’s credit, they met everyone when they left the auditorium and gave EVERYONE a free pass for a future visit, along with an apology for the audio problem. I was impressed. Class act, Greg Wood!

@ Bill – the extra instruments are helped a lot by the addition of the two extra front speakers – wish more ‘newer’ musicals were mixed as such – resurrect SDDS 8-channel sound !!

Enjoy it, Greg. The soundtrack uses the original 1961 stereo music mix that was just recently rediscovered, and you really can hear the difference. Everything sounds clearer, you’ll notice instruments you never heard before – it really was a great show!

I attended six movies at the 70mm festival, from Thursday 10/6 through Saturday 10/8. “The Sound of Music” was a good print, but there were terrible problems with the soundtrack. The entire opening of the film played silent, up until near the end of Julie Andrews' title song. From then on, the sound would intermittently cut out, most unfortunately during “My Favorite Things” all the way into the middle of “Do Re Mi”. It happened about 6 or 7 times. The theater was clearly embarrassed by all this and offered refunds. Later that night, “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines” played perfectly. Looked like a new print too.

The next three I saw, “West Side Story”, “Lawrence of Arabia” and “Cleopatra”, were also excellent prints, and the shows went off without a hitch. “Lawrence” was a Friday night sell-out. My final show was “2001” on Saturday, a near sell-out. This print was a little more beat up than the others, but I’m sure it’s gotten the most use over the last few years.

If I had to pick one show that stood out above all the others, I’d go with “West Side Story”. It’s been a favorite of mine since I was 8 years old, but I’d never seen it on that scale before, the way it was designed to be seen. I waited 50 years to see it in 70mm, and thanks to the Seattle Cinerama that dream was realized. Well worth the trip from New Jersey.

Seattle is a really cool city, too. The Space Needle and the Monorail are 49 years old, but they still look like the future to me. The theater itself has the same effect: built in the ‘60s, but looks like a vision of the future.

Saw “This is Cinerama” this past Sunday. Wow. Had to close the eyes more than once. :)

“This is Cinerama” and “How the West Was Won” in glorious three-strip Cinerama as well as a feast 0f 70mm delights will all be part of the Big Screen Film Festival to be presented September 30-Oct. 16, 2011. More information here: http://seattlecinerama.com/coming-soon/

Most likely you saw it at the Casino Theatre in London; this was London’s longest running Cinerama house. It is only a bout two very short blocks away from Shaftsbury Avenue, also close to the Palace Theatre on Charing Cross. The Casino is now the Prince Edward Theatre and is used for musicals and plays. Its page ( which many links to pictures over the years) here on CT is:
/theaters/2497/ There is also more information here: http://cinerama.topcities.com/ctcasino.htm.

Cinerama (in one form or another) was also located at the Royalty (Peacock), London Coliseum, and the London Astoria theatres in London, but for much shorter runs. All of these have pages here on CT.

Giles, I did not get a chance to see African Queen or Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but I did see Close Encounters at the Cinerama in the same format and it looked and sounded impressive. Regarding your reply to Chris on January 19, read my post above. The “regular” screen at the Seattle Cinerama is not nearly as deeply curved as the screen at the Arclight Cinerama. There appears to be no major issues with DP presentations at Seattle.

ah-hah, essentially the same problem, but the image on the curved screen at the Cinerama isn’t? that’s odd.

Giles, the regular screen used at the Seattle Cinerama is not the deeply curved screen shown in the photo above. Since the theater’s restoration in 1999, a slightly curved 70 foot wide screen has been placed in front of the true Cinerama screen and is used for all screenings except periodic 70MM and Cinerama festivals when the “flat” screen is dismantled. I have not been there since digital has been introduced, but I’m assuming everything is fine.

Speaking of 70MM and Cinerama festivals, the new independent operator has stated that there will be festivals in 2011. When they’re announced, I’ll be sure to post. It’s been a few years since Cinerama has been projected on the giant curved screen.

the reason I ask is that I find it odd that both the Seattle and Uptown screen feature Christie DLP digital projector systems yet one of the two (the latter) is having problems both in it’s screen size and required brightness for projected 3D imagery.

more on the sound, I think it’s a new system, but honestly it didn’t sound any different to me. The surround speakers looked the same…and sounded the same as the ones from the major remodel 10 years ago. And that’s not a complaint at all!