Ep #2: What's the best movie theater that's NOT in NYC or LA?
Chicago, Winston-Salem, Santa Ana and Buffalo weigh in.
QUICK PSA. Join me on Vulture’s Movies Fantasy League because we’re about to get a million good movies soon and I’m dying to see everyone’s ballots. Just put ‘11am Saturday’ in ‘League Name’ when you draft your ballot so we can play together! Today’s the last day, draft your ballot here.
Back to our regularly scheduled programming. I’m continuing my quest to learn more about movie theaters outside of New York City and LA so I can travel to visit them. After my first post I got tons of comments with people from different cities so this series will likely continue for a while! If you want to submit your favorite theater (in the US or elsewhere in the world), DM me:
Thanks to Michael, Emily, Paige and Jake for their wonderful contributions.
CHICAGO, IL
Name:
If you’ve ever been lucky enough to pass through Chicago, you know there’s one theater that towers above the rest: The Music Box. Built in 1929, The Music Box is a cinephile’s dream. It carries a robust schedule of new releases, old classics, 70mm showings, holiday sing-a-longs, even monthly silent movies. The ceiling of the main theater is painted dark blue like the sky, with the stage decorated like the walls of an Italian villa.
On weekends, you might even get to hear the house organist, Dennis Scott, playing onstage while the crowd shuffles into their seats. Popcorn fingers, squeaky seats, and a beautiful lightbulb-marquee piercing the night; what’s not to love. It is pure movie magic. It is, for a certain kind of person, heaven on earth.
SANTA ANA, CA
Name: Jake T (TikTok)
Occupation: Video director
In OC, we have some stunning theaters – The Lido, Big Newport – but my heart lies with the now-closed Regency South Coast Village, just off Sunflower. Every Wednesday, they screened classics for just a few bucks, and I’d often rearrange my week just to catch a relic on the big screen or check off a blind spot in the best way possible— Lawrence of Arabia, The Matrix, Singin’ in the Rain. I almost always went alone, but never felt that way—there was something about the place that made strangers feel like we were all in on the same secret. I met a longshoreman who insisted on sharing his smuggled Sour Patch Kids and an elderly man who invited me to a seafood family dinner. But what I’ll miss most is the glow of the parking lot—the marquee’s purple hum mixing with the orange sodium vapor streetlights—because at this theater, every film had a post-credit scene. And you were the protagonist, stepping into the glow of life after movie.
WINSTON-SALEM, NC
Name:
Occupation: Writer/director
My favorite theater is the one that made me want to go to film school: a/perture cinema in my hometown of Winston-Salem, NC. While this is definitely not the place I would go for the next Marvel film, it was the only place in my town I could find smaller, independent films. I remember when the non-profit cinema opened up when I was in high school and it changed the dating scene. Everyone would get a pizza at Mellow Mushroom across the street and head over to a/perture for either the hottest film of the moment, or an indie darling that most people in my small town probably hadn’t heard of, but it gave them the chance to expand their horizons.
While many people may write off small towns in the south like Winston-Salem, it has always been a town that thrives on their art scene. The non-profit relies on the community to help them cultivate independent cinema. They partner with the town’s RiverRun Film Festival to showcase some of the screenings involved. Nearby, my alma mater, UNC School of the Arts, is fostering some of the next best filmmakers and actors who would adore a chance to have their senior thesis shown on one of a/perture’s 3 screens.
One other filmmaker with the same name as I that always loves to give a/perture a shout out is Emily V. Gordon, and her husband Kumail Nanjiani. Like me, Emily grew up in the same town and when her debut film ‘The Big Sick’ was released, they bought all the tickets for a day’s screening at a/perture so that anybody that wanted to see the film could. I hope to do that for my feature film debut one day too!
BUFFALO, NY
Name: Paige Bulera (TikTok)
Occupation: Field marketing specialist, writer
Two rights, then two lefts —all it takes is a 6-minute ride, and I’m there: My favorite cinema, the Dipson Amherst Theater. I specifically remember going there with my mom to see Little Women in 2019 and sobbing hysterically in row F. When she asked me what was wrong, I couldn’t come up with the words at the time, but now I recognize that I was just elated to be there. Back in 2010, I experienced a similar emotional breakdown during a screening of Tangled, and two years prior, in 2008, for High School Musical 3. That was back when the theater still had red seats that didn’t recline, and they only served popcorn, slushies, candy, and fountain drinks at the concession stand. I was utterly shocked when I came home from a semester abroad to see it had received quite the makeover; recliners with heating and cooling settings and a tray for your food or alcoholic beverages, during a screening of Barbie with my mom in 2023. I’ve always considered this Flix theater to be a sacred place, where people come to escape and experience something communal, inspiring even. Whether you’re sitting there alone on a Tuesday afternoon to see an indie picture with an insufficient theatrical run, or stuck in the first row of a crowded theater on Christmas - you have a place there, you’re welcome, you’re wanted. Cinema is to me what therapy is to others; the theater is my office, and the movie is my shrink. Some people travel to the ends of the Earth to experience a feeling of belonging or stimulation. How lucky am I to just have to hop in my car, make two rights followed by two lefts, grab a drink, and get comfortable, and I’m there.
The Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, CA!
empire twin theatre in livingston, montana.