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Central Cinema
Category:
Restaurants
1411 21 Avenue
Seattle,
Washington 98122
(206) 443-2001
Ever get home from work only to be greeted by flavorless left-overs and insipid network...
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Ever get home from work only to be greeted by flavorless left-overs and insipid network television; then Seattle’s Central Cinema is the place for you! Like some magical all-curing elixir, the Central Cinema is a guaranteed remedy for the “dull evening” blues. Set inconspicuously on the corner of 21st & Union, this place has everything you want in a convenient, inexpensive and entertaining evening: easy street parking, great food, beer & wine, good service, and of course, movies that entertain*. Tickets are only $5 and they have $5 pizzas and $10 pitchers during happy hour! I admit that this review is completely biased. I love this place and go there all the time and I want to make sure this place stays in business. So check it out… http://www.central-cinema.com/
*The word “entertain” may be subjective but entertain is what these movies do by anyone’s definition. They may be great, they may be terrible, and sometimes it is too close to call. Where they get their play list is a mystery. Late night commercials on IFC? Obscure corners of IMDB? One thing is for sure…you walk away with plenty of conversation and a feeling that you did something fulfilling with your evening.
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Golden Age Collectibles
Category:
Antiques & Collectibles
1501 Pike Pl Ste 429
Seattle,
Washington 98101
(206) 622-9799
This is a really nice little comic store. It’s actually more like a regular store of some other...
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This is a really nice little comic store. It’s actually more like a regular store of some other type than a comic shop—by that I mean less “specialized” products, things that would appeal to a mass audience rather than just comics readers. They carry comics, trades, toys, figures, sculptures, games, pictures (of movie stars and more), and other comics related merchandise. They have a knowledgeable and friendly staff, and it’s a truly fun place to go in.
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Frye Art Museum
Category:
Museums & Galleries
704 Terry Ave
Seattle,
Washington 98104
(206) 622-9250
Rooms of modern paintings and renaissance paintings, no admission fee to get in, and the security...
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Rooms of modern paintings and renaissance paintings, no admission fee to get in, and the security guards aren't overzealous like MOMA or SAM. They have a rotating display of a modern painter in the front "lobbys" and their permanent work in the middle, with a room in the back for a guest traveling exhibit. Specializes in paintings, not sculptures, although they do get a few guest sculptures. Give yourself a hour and you'll do fine.
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Key Arena
Category:
Sports Events
Seattle,
Washington 98104
Great atmosphere to watch a basketball game. IT was build back in the mid 90's and Is still one...
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Great atmosphere to watch a basketball game. IT was build back in the mid 90's and Is still one of the nicest courts to play on. There are lots of seats, approximately 50 thousand I think. It is locate in seattle center and provides sufficient parking to the customers. The food is alright, but pricey. They also hold concerts there. All in all, a great place to visit and catch up on the sonics. they're great this year!
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Pacific Northwest Ballet performs Jewels.
Wow, what a superb performance! Tonight we went to...
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Pacific Northwest Ballet performs Jewels.
Wow, what a superb performance! Tonight we went to see Jewels, a Balanchine choreographed set of dances set to Faure, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky.
But first, a quick side note: I like the glitter and symmetry and pretty colors, and all, but I have to say after the first 45 minutes of a traditional ballet I have had my fill. One more Nutcracker and I'll.... oh never mind.
But the new director, Peter Boal, has really done some great work with the PNB, and tonight's performance was an excellent example. The three dances, Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds, were each very different. Rubies was by far my favorite - the dancers actually looked notatall bored and were truly stretching their talents and the art.
I had heard that the old PNB set of fans ditched the ballet company when the old directors left and Boal came. Granted Boal is a mere "kid" at age 39, but he has really done something wonderful.
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Platinum Records
Category:
Music Stores
915 E Pike St
Seattle,
Washington 98122
(206) 324-8032
It's the DJ specialty shop that any dance music fan should be aware of. Heard it on C89, X104, or...
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It's the DJ specialty shop that any dance music fan should be aware of. Heard it on C89, X104, or at a club? Platinum most likely has it.
The best part about the place is that everyone who works there is a working DJ - and they have people from almost every genre of music. House, breaks, techno, trance, jungle, hip-hop, downtempo, and so on is all represented.
Competitive prices -- plus a fairly good selection of equipment as well to help you progress.
Get to know the people there and find the employees that best relate to what you're doing.
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Safeco Field
Category:
Sports Events
Seattle,
Washington 98134
OK..so maybe I'm a bit bias. I love the Seattle Mariners even when they sucked (remember the...
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OK..so maybe I'm a bit bias. I love the Seattle Mariners even when they sucked (remember the before the mid-90's). OK...they suck now, but atleast the stadium is awesome. The atmosphere is friendly, the people are nice, the food selection is great (but pricey), and the stadium itself is beaufiful. The only other stadium that I have been too that comes close is the SF Giant's stadium which reminded me of Safeco. You've gotta love it!
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Seattle Center
Category:
Amusement Parks
305 Harrison St.
Seattle,
Washington 98108
(206) 684-7200
I recently went on a date to the Seattle Center and even though we didn't have a lot in common,...
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I recently went on a date to the Seattle Center and even though we didn't have a lot in common, the Seattle Center is a place where there is always something going on. From rides, to games, to exhibits, there isn't a dull moment. It also helped to break the ice between my date and I because you really get to know someone well when you are gripping onto them on a rollar coaster! The only downfall of this area is the price. It can get a little pricey but I would definetly recommend it.
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With the passing the same day on July 30, 2007 of film-makers Ingmar Bergman and Michaelangelo...
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With the passing the same day on July 30, 2007 of film-makers Ingmar Bergman and Michaelangelo Antonioni it makes sense to remember that film both then AND now is largely a commercial enterprise targeted at the lowest common denominator: the masses largely interested in action--cheap thrills, empty spectacle, and stupefingly numbing cliches, one-liners, recycled gags, and loads of popcorn...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/movies/05scot.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/movies/12scor.html
Although I have only been there once or twice since it opened (it used to be at the Little Theater on 19th Ave. E. near St. Joseph's), I can attest to this being the least "commercial" movie theater in Seattle, with very fine, programming, including art, foreign, "independent,"experimental, documentary, and classic film.
This may one of the very few non-commercial venue for cinephiles in Seattle (Seattle Art Museum also counts, I guess)...
Hence, NO preliminary 10-15 minutes of uninterrupted cheesy, flashing, adrenaline-thumping previews, commercials, or announcements, as I recall, before a screening.
Where else could we have seen the haunting, psychologically resonant neo-Italian-realist*** film version of Gian-Carlo Menotti's opera "The Medium"--directed by Menotti himself and with a radiant young Anna-Maria Alberghetti--think of "Turn of the Screw," and "Umberto D." (or an Italian Fascist film from Rome's Cinecitta studio**** all rolled in one, set to a modernist Puccini? How they pulled this forgotten gem out of some obscure vault is an open question.
Or a few years, an exhibition/film festival/symposium
on Slovene contemporary art (attended by the Slovene ambassador)?
A strikingly original, funky space, with two very comfortable screening rooms, gallery, bar/cafe, large windows that look out onto the increasingly "in" 12th Ave. scene.
This one-of-a-kind non-profit venue clearly stands head and shoulders above the Landmark Theaters (excepting possibly the Harvard Exit, Seven Gables, and Egyptian) in its selection of not-often-seen, mostly non-commercial fare.
What about "revisiting" films by such cultural/intellectual luminaries and film-makers who have passed away recently, such as Susan Sontag ("Brother Carl,") "Duet for Cannibals"), Arthur Miller ("Playing for Time," "Misfits"), Gian-Carlo Menotti* ("The Medium"** or "Amahl and the Night Visitors," Bergman ("Cries & Whispers," "Persona," "Scenes from a Marriage"), Antonioni ("L'avventura," "Blow-Up", etc.? (Robert Altman, despite his iconic maverick status, worked within the Hollywood studio system, as far as I know).
Or "one of its own," Elia Kazan (d. 2003), controversial for his role in the blacklisting of the McCarthy era but lauded for his "Streetcar Named Desire," "On the Waterfront," "Baby Doll."
Seattle being a fairly important theater city--even though theater and cinema are in many ways antithetical media--it would also be interesting, for instance, to see a program of successful Hollywood film versions of Tennessee Williams's works (John Huston's "Night of the Iguana," Kazan's "Streetcar," the little seen "Glass Menagerie" with Gertrude Lawrence in one of her rare film roles), "Summer and Smoke" with Geraldine Page repeating the role that brought her fame in a Circle in the Square revival in New York), even though the number of bowdlerized, mediocre-or-worse versions makes up the vast majority (think of Eugene O'Neill, except for "Long Day's Journey into Night," or Arthur Miller).
Or opera-on-film...Bergman's "Magic Flute," the ca. 1987 "Carmen," etc. (Maybe they have already had an occasional opera on film, rarely "a mini-series" or in repertory, to my memory...).
[The Big Picture in Belltown used to be adventurous ("The Station Agent," the Robert McNamara documentary, "Fog of War," the documentary on the influential architect Louis Kahn, etc.). In the past year, it has turned to VERY standard Hollywood fare ("Dreamgirls," "Casino Royale") that could seen at ANY multiplex. This is a duplication of effort--the Meridian 16, that downtown rabbit-warren downtown due for demolition in the not too distant future, usually has "first dibs" on this sort of fare].
This and the Harvard Exit are my two favorite movie theaters in Seattle.
*http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/arts/music/01cnd-menotti.html?ex=1327986000&en=7ef65dc15876a946&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
** http://www.amazon.com/Menotti-Medium-Powers-Alberghetti-Schippers/dp/B00006ADF9/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_0_1/002-2763930-2716018
*** http://www.italica.rai.it/eng/cinema/cards/neorealism1.htm
****
http://www.romefile.com/culture/cinecitta.php
Also recommended:
The Warren Report, in the old Carnegie Free Library in Ballard:
http://seattle.thewarrenreport.com/default.asp
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This former Women's Century Club was the first or second art film house to open in Seattle, a...
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This former Women's Century Club was the first or second art film house to open in Seattle, a distinction it shares with the Grand Illusion in the U. District). (My sister was one of the first ushers here before she matriculated at Brown; she loved working there).
The Harvard Exit opened in ca. 1970. It was purchased eventually by the Landmark Theatre group but still operates mostly the way it has since its inception, with the addition of another movie screen.
In some ways comparable is the Seven Gables (also in the U. District), but I find the screen similar to a long train car: viewing movies there is like sitting in a tunnel and watching images flickering at the far end,,,
It is probably my favorite movie theater in Seattle for several reasons:
(1) the wonderful "living-room" style lobby with its early-mid 20th c. furniture and furnishings, all comfy; large windows with Venetian blinds, looking out across Roy to the the D.A.R. and Anhalt cottages.
Most movie theaters do NOT have a lobby/parlor of this kind. Once the movie gets out, YOU get out, too, simply because there is NOWHERE to linger--unless your idea of a good place to talk about the movie and to relax is to be next or across from a wall of pinball machines.
(2) the quality programming (which currently includes the film version of "The History Boys" and "The Queen," both outstanding British releases.
One of the first and most memorable movie moments when I saw Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Conformist" with Jean Louis-Trintignant and Dominque Sanda when it opened the flood of art house, foreign film that began at that time (at least for me) and led to the independent films that seem to carved a large niche of movie-going today.
I can't count the number of fine films I have seen here that would never have been shown at the multiplex.
The only regret that I have is that the refreshment stand has been moved from the entrance lobby into the living room, as the staff tends to be pretty obstreperous and not really aware that others might not share their sense of humor. That said, I enjoy spending a half an hour after a movie is over on a rainy afternoon and enjoying some moments of serenity--it sure beats Starbuck's for atmosphere, in my opinion.
Let's hope, perhaps against all odds, that the building is not demolished soon and a 6-story retail-with-condos-above or a multiplex cinema doesn't take its place.
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