Courtesy of the Ambler Theater FB page. When I go to the movies these days, I find myself picking the movie theater first and the movie second. Why bother to go out if you can’t sit in a plush seat facing a wide screen? Some of the older theaters are open again, their gold-leaf and brocade restored: a show all by themselves. The Ambler Theater in Philadelphia is my new favorite.
My sister lives in Philly. When I visit, we often go to the movies. “What’s at the Ambler?” It doesn’t hurt that this stadium theater — built in 1928, in a Spanish Colonial style and fully restored — is directly across the street from Deterra, an excellent wine bar. But even if it weren’t, I’d want to go there. The main auditorium offers 280 seats, still big by contemporary standards. Ambler seems like a small town, though it’s now definitely part of Philadelphia.
Last time I was in town, Judy tried to tempt me with tickets to a play, but then she mentioned that Boyhood, Richard Linklater’s story of a boy’s coming of age, filmed over twelve years of the boy actor’s (Ellar Coltrane’s) actual life, was premiering in Ambler. Nuff said.
As one reviewer of the theater noted on Yelp:
I really disliked going to the movies — large crowds, groups of loitering teens, crabby/surly employees, sticky floors, unclean bathrooms — especially if it involved going to a..."megaplex." I usually prefer to pop my Netflix choice into my large-screen computer and settle down with some knitting in the comfort of my own home.... The Ambler Theater has quickly brought me out of my little movie-viewing cave and back to the big screen....
I agree.
Now it's your turn! What's your favorite restored movie theater? And what do you love about it?
My sister lives in Philly. When I visit, we often go to the movies. “What’s at the Ambler?” It doesn’t hurt that this stadium theater — built in 1928, in a Spanish Colonial style and fully restored — is directly across the street from Deterra, an excellent wine bar. But even if it weren’t, I’d want to go there. The main auditorium offers 280 seats, still big by contemporary standards. Ambler seems like a small town, though it’s now definitely part of Philadelphia.
Last time I was in town, Judy tried to tempt me with tickets to a play, but then she mentioned that Boyhood, Richard Linklater’s story of a boy’s coming of age, filmed over twelve years of the boy actor’s (Ellar Coltrane’s) actual life, was premiering in Ambler. Nuff said.
As one reviewer of the theater noted on Yelp:
I really disliked going to the movies — large crowds, groups of loitering teens, crabby/surly employees, sticky floors, unclean bathrooms — especially if it involved going to a..."megaplex." I usually prefer to pop my Netflix choice into my large-screen computer and settle down with some knitting in the comfort of my own home.... The Ambler Theater has quickly brought me out of my little movie-viewing cave and back to the big screen....
I agree.
Now it's your turn! What's your favorite restored movie theater? And what do you love about it?
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