Cinema Beyond the Multiplex
All this movie talk got me thinking about the wonderful film resources that we have in the area. I know that I don't head off to see movies all that often, but when I do, I don't want to be constantly disappointed by the mediocre output of today's Hollywood as put on display last night.
The past twenty years have been a roller-coaster ride for movie theatres in DC. I can recall the distant closings of the great Biograph and the Key theatre's in Georgetown, and the more recent closings of the Outer Circle and Vision's. But thankfully in the past few years there has been a revival of screens showing independent films though out DC.
The Landmark Theaters in Bethesda and E Street have been godsends for contemporary independent films especially for those who are Metro dependent. If you have the wheels, the Avalon Theater in Chevy Chase has been beautifully refurbished and shows smaller indie films under its muraled ceiling. For those lover's of classic cinema, the American Film Institute's Silver out in Silver Spring is the home of old movies in the area.
This post seems to have wandered far from my original intent, which was to promote some of the less well known screens in DC, but all of the aforementioned theaters are well deserving too. Perhaps less independent than all of those theaters, all of the major cultural centers in DC have their own theaters and play a wide range of movies, often in thematic series. The Library of Congress has the Mary Pickford Theater , the National Archives has the McGowan Theater (where I should note that I saw the very emotional and Oscar winning documentary Born Into Brothels on Sunday afternoon), the National Gallery shows movies in the East Wing theater, and the Smithsonian has an array of theater's including at the Freer Gallery and the Hirshhorn Gallery. While you can't always get exactly what you want, these screenings are all free to the public (However in most cases, you do need to reserve tickets in advance.
Just looking at the schedules for this post, I see the Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is playing on March 8th at the Pickford, the Black Maria Film Festival (Shorts) at the Hirshhorn on March 12th, and Ping-Pong at the Freer in late April. Time to get my film on!
The past twenty years have been a roller-coaster ride for movie theatres in DC. I can recall the distant closings of the great Biograph and the Key theatre's in Georgetown, and the more recent closings of the Outer Circle and Vision's. But thankfully in the past few years there has been a revival of screens showing independent films though out DC.
The Landmark Theaters in Bethesda and E Street have been godsends for contemporary independent films especially for those who are Metro dependent. If you have the wheels, the Avalon Theater in Chevy Chase has been beautifully refurbished and shows smaller indie films under its muraled ceiling. For those lover's of classic cinema, the American Film Institute's Silver out in Silver Spring is the home of old movies in the area.
This post seems to have wandered far from my original intent, which was to promote some of the less well known screens in DC, but all of the aforementioned theaters are well deserving too. Perhaps less independent than all of those theaters, all of the major cultural centers in DC have their own theaters and play a wide range of movies, often in thematic series. The Library of Congress has the Mary Pickford Theater , the National Archives has the McGowan Theater (where I should note that I saw the very emotional and Oscar winning documentary Born Into Brothels on Sunday afternoon), the National Gallery shows movies in the East Wing theater, and the Smithsonian has an array of theater's including at the Freer Gallery and the Hirshhorn Gallery. While you can't always get exactly what you want, these screenings are all free to the public (However in most cases, you do need to reserve tickets in advance.
Just looking at the schedules for this post, I see the Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is playing on March 8th at the Pickford, the Black Maria Film Festival (Shorts) at the Hirshhorn on March 12th, and Ping-Pong at the Freer in late April. Time to get my film on!
posted by Fletch at
12:45 PM
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