Winners For

Best Movie Theater

Looking to get purposefully, intentionally weird? This is your theater jam. Not playing any of the regular fare, Artists' Television Access is more about experimental celebration and new wave conceptual shenanigans. We're not totally sure what that means but point is: Shit is crazy. Definitely worth attending a screening at least once in your li...

Remember The Parkway in Oakland? This is like The Parkway, but cleaner! There are good snacks, tasty brews, and even TABLE SERVICE. You read right! Also, they have all sorts of tasty goodness to sprinkle on your popcorn. Don't get too excited, it's all legal. The best part is that you get to lounge on couches while you enjoy your feature. Now, n...

A performance space for the Burning Man/Burning Man sympathizer, this "theater" (bar with a giant screen) often shows classics, cult favorites, and hidden gems from bygone eras. It's not an evening at the multiplex but it's satisfying in a different way because you feel so damn cultured and insider-y. You are very cool and deserve that recogniti...

Alameda, city in the Bay! Take the trip to this recently refurbished 1930s art deco movie palace, which was beautifully restored and shines like the Chrysler building! It's got it all, including blockbuster movies, a few art house flicks, and local dance performances. Plus, since public transit to The Island is The Worst, you can rent a Zipcar a...

Oh, the Roxie. You host all the weirdest film festivals, a surprising amount of big stars promoting their small movies, and about half of San Francisco's truly great parties. If you're ever bored with whatever's playing everywhere else, check out the Roxie's schedule and there's probably something that'll catch your (twisted) eye. Plus, the clos...

Part of the Landmark family, the Embarcadero Center Cinema is your most reliable bet for indie movies, friendly staff, and vegan cookies. It's so San Francisco, we almost hate it. To experience true bliss/hell, catch a Wes Anderson film on opening weekend.

This gorgeous neoclassical movie house in Oakland is home to the very best/most liberal marquee in the world. The owners of the Grand Lake like to BREAK. IT. DOWN. Also, each individual theater is unique, with our favorites being the small Egyptian Revival styled one and an equally tiny Moorish styled one. We actually saw Mariah Carey's Glitter ...

It's beautiful, adorable, and smart ... it's the perfect woman! Also, it's a great place for a romantic date with that someone special, or to take yourself on a romantic date because you are that someone special. It's Landmark owned, which means art house(ish) fare, and since they don't often switch up whats playing on their solo screen, you hav...

Maybe the perfect theater? Nay, the perfect movie palace. Fantastic, varied programming, exciting special events, breathtaking interior. Built in 1922 with a Spanish Colonial Baroque façade, its 1407 seats make this the ideal location to see a movie with 1406 of your favorite friends. Or most annoying adversaries, depending on the movie/event/yo...

Not as beautiful as the Castro but they serve food and alcoholic beverages. HELLO, LOVER. Plus, add in assigned seating in crazy comfortable chairs to ensure that you get the view you deserve (the BEST view) and that's one classy cinema experience. Let's go to the movies!

While Bill Gates spends his Microsoft billions eradicating diseases and improving America's education system, Paul Allen spends his on professional sports teams, science-fiction memorabilia, and making the finest movie theater money can buy. Allen's Vulcan Inc. rescued and remodeled The Cinerama in 1999, and, after a second round of renovations ...

Dinner and a movie. It's been a classic date combo since the early days of the silver screen. You fill up on tasty food, take in a rom-com while you digest, and if all goes well, return home to get it on. But this is Miami, where all rarely goes well. Traffic sucks, you can get caught in a rainstorm at any second, and public transportation is es...

Do we need to add to what we said in previous Best of Dallas write-ups, or the People Issue love we showed for the guys behind The Texas Theatre's revival? A refresher: the so-bad-they're-good genre flicks at Tuesday Night Trash; the bar; the arthouse films you won't see anywhere else; the bar; the revival of past classics; the bar; the Oak Clif...

Reclining seats. Swing-over tray. Waitstaff that comes when you push a button. Going out to a movie has never seemed so civilized. AMC renovated and re-opened this theater in August 2011, and the experience is now first-class. Each time at the Dine-In Theater, we felt almost giddy for the first few minutes in our ultra-cushy recliner, and when w...

Being bigger isn't enough when it comes to movie theaters. Having 30 screens won't do you much good if those 30 screens are filled with lame films. That's where AMC Studio 30 beats out the competition to take this year's Best Movie Theater award. It's not only big, it has exciting, exceptional programming. The complex is home to the annual World...

Landmark's River Oaks theater is the perfect mix of environment and offerings. The historic building's interior recalls the grand movie palaces of yesteryear, although it was long ago sectioned off to allow for more screens. Parking might require a trip around the block once or twice, but it's free. The films are always popular-but-sometimes-har...

Marq*E makes our list as one of the most fun theaters to visit. True it has an unfair advantage in before/after screening options for entertainment because the complex has several restaurants and shops right out its door, but its size, variety in offerings, and more or less quiet crowds make it our number two choice for a movie-going experience....

There are a couple of reasons Sundance Cinemas Houston isn't at the top spot. It offer wonderful films including a series of festival winners not seen elsewhere in Houston, comfortable theaters, a lobby worth spending time in, an art gallery, good concession choices and the crowd it attracts is fine. That's the good stuff. The bad stuff is parki...

One of the newest theater complexes in Houston, Alamo Drafthouse/Vintage Park continues the Drafthouse tradition of offering great films and full service food options. Vintage Park management say it has a strict no talking/no texting rule, which seems to be enforced. There's more space in the theaters (the front row's placed further back than no...

We are no doubt several tax brackets south of Plaza Frontenac's target market, but we'll risk accidentally scratching some Huntleigh citizen's Range Rover for a seat at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema. Operated by the Landmark Theatre chain, champion of the oddball film, the six-screen PFC consistently showcases the strange and beautiful, eschewing m...

Sure, you can catch the latest movies on Netflix or Red Box or even On Demand, but at the Music Box Theatre, cinephiles can kick back and enjoy classic cinema (think South Pacific) alongside quirky film (we’re looking at you, The Room), all on the big screen. And not many other theaters show Mommie Dearest on Mother’s Day. Stay on top of the Mus...

A consistently top-drawer slate of current art-house films, a charming concession stand, friendly ushers, and an intermittent “classic film series” that offers the opportunity to see the old movies your grandparents loved. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is playing August 7th.

There are plenty of places to see the latest 3-D flicks and summer blockbusters, but there’s nowhere in Sacramento like the Tower Theatre. It’s the kind of historical landmark so steeped in history that a visit would be warranted even without a movie, though you’d be remiss not to stay and enjoy one of the independent productions or documentarie...

First off, you can buy beer at Cedar Lee, which is an immediate step up against any non-Cleveland-Cinemas competition. But even without the booze, Clevelanders would still flock to Cleveland Heights for its reliable selection of the finest indie and foreign films in current release. There's simply no other venue to catch most of these flicks aro...

The Enzian is more than just a theater. It’s multi-sensory cinematic experience complete with delicious food and hard liquor and the most comfortable chairs you’ll ever find at any theater. Home to the Florida Film Festival, the Enzian is regarded as one of the best cinema houses in Florida, playing a wide range of first-run indie flicks and cul...

As Austin's Alamo Drafthouse proved, an awesome indie movie theater isn't just an amenity: It's an engine that encourages tourism, spurs production, stokes interest in other arts, promotes a lively film culture and makes a neighborhood a destination. Take your pick of the blockbuster Studio Ghibli retrospective, the block-long lines for Moonrise...

Every midsize city needs its art house (or two; the Avon was a very close runner-up). Since 1976, "the theater with the couches" has been a key part of the College Hill cultural scene. We've seen everything from The Stationmaster's Wife to Carnage there. And the programming is more vital than ever: they host screenings by the Rhode Island Intern...

It's a second-run theater that shows art-house flicks and independent documentaries. A retro-vintage throwback that feels as new and shiny as a recently built suburban multiplex. A luxurious movie palace that sits on the kind of neighborhood corner usually reserved for convenience stores or walk-in pizza joints. The Riverview fills so many roles...