Greenbelt Cinema

Giles on March 8, 2016 at 3:35 am

apparently my comments made on April 25th of last year – was sort of pointless – thankfully OGTDan’s comments on February 6th of this year here on Cinema Treasures and on Facebook corrected and described ‘Phase 2’ – I’m curious what the “upgrading … of the screen” actually means – larger?

JodarMovieFan on December 26, 2017 at 1:22 am

Finally made it to see this venue after its remodel. The lobby area is nicely redone with dark wood flooring and a nicer concession stand with some baked goods. Since I was too full from Christmas food, I just got a drink. Prices are reasonable ($9 Adult) and $4 or so for the large drink. Very reasonable, if cheap compared to the chains. Restrooms are a welcome change. They switched restrooms as the Mens room was the Women’s rest room. New fixtures and interiors are a welcome, long awaited change. No more creaking moveable commode. :D

I saw The Greatest Showman. I’m more than convinced Hugh Jackman cannot sing although he is good at pretending to. The musical numbers are good, especially the first one between young Jackman’s character and his future wife. The auditorium was filled with the sound of music and voices. While not quite inventive as Buz Luhrman’s Moulin Rouge, there are some good moments. The actress who plays the Lady with the Beard should get a Supporting Actress nod.
I know the film isn’t a straight bio but movie ‘inspired by’ it ends too abruptly after a tragic event. What is rather poignant is the fact the real Barnum & Baily circus shut down this year as this film is released.

I’m looking to seeing The Post in the upcoming weeks assuming they book it here.

JodarMovieFan on January 30, 2020 at 8:04 am

Finally made it to the original auditorium after its long period of remodeling work. You no longer buy tickets at the box office but enter inside. While this is a good way to increase concession sales, it takes forever to get into the theater if you don’t want to buy anything. Maybe there should be a kiosk to self-purchase tickets to bypass the concession counter. Or, go straight to the cashier to buy movie tickets.

The seats are nice and firm but get tiring to sit in after awhile. I suspect I am spoiled by the faux leather seats at the chains. The big screen looks wonderful as does the projection. They play a nice DP trailer and historical bit at the start of the show. There is a pictorial on the restoration but to be honest, you wouldn’t notice a whole lot of difference between the before and after the remodel. Perhaps, one can’t fully appreciate the details, or in my case, don’t have the eye for it but $250K is a lot to spend. This isn’t a criticism at all. I just figure this is what it cost to modernize and update the place.

I saw ‘Little Women’ on Christmas Day (2019) and ‘1917’ a couple of weeks ago. Both films were very good and deserve whatever accolades and awards they are likely to receive. For'1917'I sat especially close to the screen to better immerse myself into the experience. I was. I love the ‘long take’ style as you feel like you are there in real time. The group next to me snuck in cans of beer. I could hear the sounds of the tab click opening of the cans they consumed. Then the smell. Ugh. Fortunately, they were quiet and not rowdy. There were two employees to greet me but no one bothered to clean up the spilled popcorn on the floor before the start of the show. Not a good thing.

With the Chinese restaurant next door and the sandwich shop across, it would be nice to have more concession fare than the usual popcorn and bakery fare. A decent coffee making machine maybe..iced coffee..latte? Or, movie/restaurant combo special…20% off menu prices with a ticket stub? :) Or, discounted movie ticket with a $20 restaurant purchase?

I peaked into the second theater next door. It is tiny. I remember the dry cleaning place that vacated the space and can recall an enormous space that appeared to run8 adjacent to the original auditorium’s length. There is obviously more to the space than what they’ve used. Maybe they could one day open yet another, larger auditorium if the economics can support a third screen behind the screening room.

elleng0523 on September 22, 2025 at 2:02 am

The name changed to Greenbelt Cinema in 2023 to prevent confusion about whether it is a movie theater or a live theater among other things and to modernize the image. Can you change the name in the heading? Thank you.

JodarMovieFan on September 22, 2026 at 1:41 am

On Star Trek’s 60th Anniversary Day, 9-8-26, this theater had the showing of the original series episode ‘Space Seed’ and its movie sequel Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in DCP/DLP. They had a short DLP trailer to show what projection they had. I could’ve chosen to see it at a bigger screened AMC but since this theater is independent, its always nice to show support :)

The program had an intro by the show’s sponsor and theater manager, which was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, I disagreed with her assessment of how badly the first film was but to each his own. I guess being cerebral in one’s choice of Trek movie entertainment is not everyone’s cup of tea. I had forgotten they built a short staging area in front of the screen. Also, the screen had the ability to be electronically masked for the presentation format..or so I thought. My initial impression was that of curtain.

What was great was the enthusiastic audience of maybe 50..70 people who clapped, cheered, guffawed and talked back to the screen at both the tv episode and the movie.

Its interesting to observe people react to Ricardo Montalban’s performance in the tv show. My recollection was that prior to this, he was known for playing the latin lover in many movies prior. A female patron to the left of me made vocal noises to add to the Khan performance I found humorous but I wouldn’t consider distracting or annoying in anyway. This is why good movies can be enjoyed and should be in this communal way.

The movie was not the original release version but director’s edition with a few scenes added. The soundtrack wasn’t the 70mm 6 track one I vividly remember from the old KB Mac Arthur days. The Kirk Khaaaaaaaan scream didn’t travel so much from front to middle theater to rear speakers. Nor, did I experience the right rear speaker screw drop when Kirk and landing party beam down to Genesis. I heard right side, left rear drop. AI claims perhaps the sound system was not properly calibrated. No, I’m not deaf or having pre-Alzheimers. I know what I know and remember what I experienced back in 1982.

I know there is a 70mm print out there somewhere in circulation having shown on the west coast. Maybe its pinkish but AFI Silver had ‘86’s Aliens and '89’s Batman whose prints were superb and soundtrack intact, there is hope.