Uptown Theatre
3426 Connecticut Avenue NW,
Washington,
DC
20008
3426 Connecticut Avenue NW,
Washington,
DC
20008
60 people
favorited this theater
Showing 526 - 550 of 587 comments
I love going to the Uptown, but sadly, Loews seems to be killing it. I’ve heard enough about the mice that I won’t buy anything from their stands anymore or allow my friends to do so when we go. Which is getting rarer and rarer, because I have no desire to see the movies they book. (Aviator? Not a chance. The Interpreter? No thanks.) They almost didn’t get Star Wars. I really don’t think it’s going to last much longer.
Yes, they are showing it starting with a 12:01 AM show that is sold out. Since they’ve gone to a platter system, I suspect the projection qualities aren’t quite up to decent standards. I’m going to see it in DLP and then at Baltimore’s Senator Theater, then maybe the Uptown, unless someone has a post that indicates the picture and sound are bad first. My experience seeing Attack of the Clones, in ‘02, here was quite bad.
In 1977, I saw “Star Wars” at the Uptown. I wonder if they plan on showing “Revenge of the Sith”?
“ ‘2001: A Space Odyssey,’ which had its world premiere at the Uptown on April 1, 1968…and played there for 18 months or so.”
“I thought 2001 had its world premiere in the Loew’s Cinerama in NY.”
The world premiere of “2001” was on April 2, 1968. The Uptown engagement ran for 51 weeks.
The three premieres for the film’s first-week release were…
DC: April 2
NY: April 3
LA: April 4
For more about the original roadshow release of “2001” I recommend the following article/list. Be sure to click the link to the engagement list, which is page two of the article.
http://www.in70mm.com/news/2004/2001/release.htm
The person that told me that Dupont is closing in six week heard wrong.
I heard yesterday that Uptown will be opening at 6pm starting this week or next week. Also that the Dupont Theatre is closing in 6 Weeks for good.
RCDTJ, could not have said it better. Thanks.
Dave Grau (Mungo)
Norelco
Unfortunately this theater will never be the same if they continue to use non union, non professionals to run the booth. As you all have seen in these posts, the quality of presentation here is being destroyed. It will not change until the professional operators are put back in place. This is a fact. I have seen it happen for the last 10-15 years. This will continue to happen until enough people start to complain and stop going to these theaters. The theater owners do not care because people continue to go. If you are not satisfied with the presentation, demand your money back. This has to stop! Stop letting these people take advantage of the paying public.
I saw a 70mm revival of “Lawrence of Arabia” here in 2002 on that huge screen and was never as overwhelmed by that great movie as I was at that showing. That theatre and that film constituted a marriage made in heaven.
The Uptown was remodeled back in 1996 or so. The seats have higher backs and are a marked improvement from what was installed before. The sight lines are good given the enormous size of the screen. Now, I haven’t been there since Spiderman 2, so I can’t say how much worse the presentation is now. I saw Sin City in DLP and enjoyed the presentation, but the movie was so so.
I do plan on seeing Revenge of the Sith there to compare it to Baltimore’s Senator and Crown Annapolis' digital presentation of the movie. I’m sure there will be posts about this theater, again, at that time.
I like large single screen theatres for the screen size and that they can play those digital or mag soundtracks without blowing the next theatre (plex type) out. The theatres like the Uptown, Chinese, Cinerama Dome, Astor Plaza, Rivoli and the names go on. Were event type theatres, you got a Great presentations every time you went, no matter how good or bad the feature was. With the Uptown damaging some many print in a short time. I would go elsewhere, if there is a better presentation nearby.
“Sin City” is a Flat 1.85 presentation.
Well it seems to me that people are somewhat unhappy with the Uptown? I am thinking of going tonight to see ‘Sin City’ and I’ve been real excited about it. My girlfriend has misgivings because they do not have stadium seats. She says the stadium seats are more comfortable for your back. So how are the seats in terms of comfort at the Uptown? And is it even worth going if so many seem to think they’re failing in their unique qualities? I mean, could we possibly be better off going to the Georgetown Loews?
Not to mention all the outsourcing. How many times have you called an american company for customer service and someone from India picks up. How many Seven Elevens are owned and run by americans. None that I have seen. Cheap labor. That’s what it’s all about. Nothing else. It does not matter how hard you work anymore. It’s all about money. Screw the customer. Give them a free pass to come back. They will just buy more popcorn and candy.
We can all thank that peice of shit named Ronald Reagan for his union busting to help his friends in big business. I am from Pittsburgh, Pa. and look now no more steel mills, and all the people who lost thier lifelong pensions, as well as everthing else.
still the same today, gas prices are going up, companies now hire you for minimum wages (witch they refuse to raise) treat you like gabage took away overtime,and paid vacations,and if you mention union, they can fire you. I seem to remember just recently they voted themselves a cost of living raise. Where is ours?
Norelco
Well they have installed an old Kelmar automation unit and a Christie Autowind 3 platter for the manager/operators to run. They have also damaged 6 prints since the theatre went limited service. The union projectionist rate of pay at the Uptown Theatre is $12.00 an hour. During the late 90’s the union projectionist rate of pay at Pacific’s Cinerama Dome was $10.50 for the full service job. The rate of pay was based on how many screens the operator ran. So a single screen union base rate was $10.50 in Los Angeles at that time. Loews ran the Century Plaza 4 in Century City, CA., but during the last few years that the theatre was operated. Loews put the theatre on a limited service contract for projection. And the theatre had a slow death before they finally closed the theatre and the complex was razed. But when that theatre was at it’s peak, it was one of the best theatres to see a movie in. The Studios liked using it for premires and special media screens. Look at how Loews handled the Loews Astor Plaza here in New York City.
I agree with Keith, seems everyone is trying to save money, and by doing so is f—king over the public, who should matter the most. yes it is a FACT,they do not care as long as they are saving money. Go to another theatre is thier response. I also read recently where they were going to put a platter system in the old girl, that may help a little, but nothing beats a good projectionist that knows what he or she is doing.
Dave Grau (Mungo)
Norelco
Did anyone notice the double bill on 10/6/71? Around the World in 80 Days and West Side Story, now thats a long show.
“EARTHQUAKE” WITH SURROUND SOUND and “Grease”. Glad to see something remains intact in DC. Hence, a CVS is just a block away!
Big theater chains don’t care about the customers anymore. If people complain, they get a free pass to come back. When they come back, they buy more candy and soda. That’s how it works now. It’s all about the money to them. I see it happening everywhere. People can write letters and complain all they want. It will not help. That is a FACT!!!!!
The theate will lose much of its patronage, if serious problems such as those described here, are not rectified. Perhaps, there is only one tried and true way to get problems such as these fixed, before the theatre crumbles under its own weight. That way is to arrange a boycott, led by a neighboorhood group, and complete with adequate publicity identifying the reasons for the boycott. If the revenue subsequently slows, the current ownership will either have to address the concerns, or sell to a buyer who understands that listening to the patrons is what it will take to suceed.
It would be a good thing if the Uptown was taken over by Landmark or another specialty chain. I don’t think Loew’s cares about any of there single screen theatres. Start making major complaints to Loew’s concerning presentation. If this was an industry house this wouldn’t be tolerated.The large theatre chains such as Loew’s only care about the megaplex that has between 14-20 screens.brucec
If enough people write, like I did, perhaps someone will notice and make the necessary changes. Otherwise, people just won’t go there anymore. I rarely go downtown anymore to see a movie. Since they don’t have films in 70mm anymore, whats the point travelling all the way to see it in a place where management doesn’t care?
Sad to say the presentation at the grand old dame is bound to get a whole lot worse after recent developments. On Monday January 3, 2005, for the first time in its 70 year history, the theater was run without a projectionist. Loews Cineplex Entertainment announced it would begin using a “manager” to operate the all manual two projector system for the majority of the week using a projectionist only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday or as requested. The very first show under this new policy was canceled after “technical difficulties”. The up to then pristine print of Martin Scorcesse’s “Aviator” was already scratched by Friday when a projectionist returned to find damage including shutter blades scorched and warped clanging together from negligent or untrained behavior. It is disheartening to see such a treasure go to waste. The slides and advertisements (almost all mono) so ubiqutous at the multiplexes were never run at the Uptown in the past. It was considered too classy. The bookings have progressively been getting worse or duplicated at one of the chains nearby multiplexes thereby marginalizing this classic theater as with so many like it around the country. Still it routinely outgrosses many of the largest multiplexes due to it’s large seating capacity and reputation for impressive presentation. Will we forget the grandeur of film in such a jewel case? Or just painfully put up with a steady deterioration until we no longer remember its majesty.
Keith
The commercials are actually a chain-wide phenomenon with Loew’s so I wouldn’t fault the Uptown specifically for that problem. As for the sound on Spiderman 2: this is one of two films I have ever seen at the Uptown (my first was Star Wars in 1977 as I am a life-time DC resident) where the presentation was less than perfect. The other was the awful remake of Godzilla with Matthew Brodrick several years ago.
Please, give the Uptown another chance. She is a grand old dame of a theater.
I had the privilege of revisiting the Uptown to see the midnight opening of Spiderman 2. It has been a year since I’ve been to this theater and was looking forward to being enveloped by the big screen that this gem has to offer.
The single most irritating item about watching a movie at this theater is the constant stream of commercials. While I have not been to another Loews/Cineplex theater to confirm whether it is an isolated incident, the commercials just keep coming and were in bad quality and were not even in stereo.
While the picture was good, the sound was not. As mentioned, the commercials and previews were not played in stereo. The sound, for the most part was very tinny and muddled. It was centered but some of the dialog was almost intelligible. The only time that the sound came alive was during the fusion reaction scenes with Doc Ock. You could feel the theater come alive at that time. It was like the picture played in mono and was only turned on towards the middle and end of it.
I did contact customer service at Loews/Cineplex and received an Email response from an intern, who stated that they apologized for the commercials and that the chain has to show them to compensate for the “$20M salaries that stars are demanding…” There was no response as to the rather disappointing sound presentation.
Will this second bad experience hinder me from going back to the Uptown? I don’t know. But I will think twice before travelling downtown again. I think our suburban theaters have better sound presentation and picture, albeit in a smaller and less grand setting.