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I am new to the Seattle area, and used to have a regular dentist that I saw at least once a year....
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I am new to the Seattle area, and used to have a regular dentist that I saw at least once a year. I have been reluctant to seek out a new dentist because I have a lot of dental anxiety. As a child, I had terrible experience at the dentist and since then, it has been very difficult for me to find a dentist that I can trust. Since I moved almost 2years ago now, I just couldn't put my teeth off any longer! I was told about Oak Tree Dental by a friend, and what a great friend she is! When I came in the office on the first day, I already felt at ease by the clean, comfortable lobby and staff. Everything was so well organized and put together. My insurance was already obtained and they had a CLEAR understanding of how it worked. Once I finished with my x-rays and exam, they had a clear outline of what needed to be done and why. Very thorough! I thought for sure that I would have to bill my insurance for my visit that day. No other dental offices that I have been to have time to bill that many insurance companies, let alone keep track of that many plans. But they told me not to worry, and that they would bill them for me, I couldnt believe it. I couldnt have asked for more.
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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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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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Metro Cinemas
Category:
Movie Theaters
4500 9th NE
Seattle,
Washington 98105
It says something when I can see an art film and the latest SNL flop in the same theater. I try to...
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It says something when I can see an art film and the latest SNL flop in the same theater. I try to only go to Landmark Theatres if I can, but I like knowing that I can also indulge my poor cinema tastes if I want to without going to a bigger theatre. I don't need huge screens and my favorite is the theater with the baby room...sometimes friends go in there and we talk through the whole movie...it's great!
It's blocks away from two other Landmark theaters so I can see most worthwhile movies that are playing, all within a 5 block radius. They have a multi-pack that makes the movies cheaper Sun-Thurs.
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The Neptune Theatre
Category:
Movie Theaters
1303 N.E. 45th at Brooklyn Avenue
Seattle,
Washington 98105
(206) 781-5755
I really like this theatre because it offers more than the average theatre does. The staff are...
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I really like this theatre because it offers more than the average theatre does. The staff are really nice, not like the other movie theatres where people have worked there too long and are burnt out. The staff there dress up for different movie releases and they have a good time. The theatre is never too crowded and I really enjoy the sounds and arts there.
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Columbia City Cinema
Category:
Movie Theaters
4816 Rainier Ave S
Seattle,
Washington 98118
(206) 721-3156
This is a beautiful, homey, single-screen theater that plays all the major movies - first run -...
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This is a beautiful, homey, single-screen theater that plays all the major movies - first run - but without the noise, ads, neon and inflated prices of the major cineplexes. But, beyond that, there is something truly "real" about Columbia City theater. It is a community theater and it is common to find neighbors and friends sitting on the big comfy couches in the lobby and forgetting that they came to see a film. A truly family-friendly place, we can take our daughter there without having to run into mass-media cheezy advertising that can make a trip to the movies feel like such an emotional hassle. We love this theater and go to see EVERYTHING they show, whether we want to see it or not, just to support it.
As a bonus, there are a handful of great little shops and restaurants popping up in Columbia City. Before or after a film, you can dine at any number of restaurants, shop in a handful of unique boutiques..... At this rate, Columbia City will be the next Ballard..... If you live int he South End, you already know about this gem of a theater. If not, it's worth the trip.
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Majestic Bay Theatre
Category:
Movie Theaters
2044 NW Market St
Seattle,
Washington 98101
(206) 781-2229
The Majestic Bay is a new, state-of-the-art tribute to the original Bay (1915) with one huge...
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The Majestic Bay is a new, state-of-the-art tribute to the original Bay (1915) with one huge screen downstairs and two normal ones upstairs.
It is a great neighborhood cinema and is centrally located in Ballard (on Market Street).
Than Bros Pho is right across the street and Ben & Jerry's is next door - perfect for those who like to eat before and after a movie.
La Carta de Oaxaca (excellent) and good Thai, Tex-Mex, Indian, and other restaurants are also within five minutes walk.
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Cinerama
Category:
Movie Theaters
2100 4th Ave, Seattle
Seattle,
Washington 98101
(206) 441-3653
Hands down. There is no comparison to this theatre and it's MEGA HUGE screen. My first movie...
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Hands down. There is no comparison to this theatre and it's MEGA HUGE screen. My first movie here was Star Wars in 1977, then Grease in 1978. I still fondly remember them and the many movies that I've seen there since then. There's a reason that this is an old Seattle favorite - this is the way that movies used to be watched, and the way they come out best on-screen. For big Hollywood blockbusters, this is the ONLY place in the universe to see those movies. Thank God Paul Allen bought it and is renovating it!
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Pacific Place Cinema
Category:
Movie Theaters
600 Pine St Ste 400
Seattle,
Washington 98101
(206) 652-2404
My husband and I generally prefer either foreign or independent films, but on the rare occasion we...
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My husband and I generally prefer either foreign or independent films, but on the rare occasion we want to see something mainstream, we head to Pacific Place. I love that they have parking on-site (uncommon for downtown!), and the theaters are large and comfortable. Though my interactions with them have been limited, the staff is always friendly and accommodating.
Another plus is the many good restaurants on the same level of the mall, so you can really make a nice date night.
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