Chicago’s Best Movie Theatres
There is a perfect movie theatre for everyone in Chicago. While they all carry their respective pros and cons, many of them also tailor to particular tastes, whether you’re a fan of mainstream or independent films.
AMC River East 21 at 322 E. Illinois St. has all the makings of a great movie-going experience. The sound is amazing and comes from all directions.
The stadium seating gives you a plethora of seating options, with very few intolerable viewing arrangements. Even the seats on the very end don’t inhibit your viewing experience all that much. Broken and squeaking chairs are very rare, and there are always seats in the main walkway reserved for handicapped movie-goers.
If you’re there on opening night of a big movie, you will definitely wait in a long line, but the lobby is large enough to keep the lines somewhat comfortable while you wait. Every part of the theatre is handicapped accessible, with both elevators and escalators available to get you where you want to go.
The theatres themselves are reasonably clean. Even on opening nights spilled sodas and popcorn are usually cleaned up or kept to a minimum. This is especially impressive considering that they have just about every category of movie food at their concession stand, from popcorn & ice cream to nachos and hot dogs.
The biggest problem is parking. It can be so frustrating that you’re better off shelling out money for a cab. AMC River East is located, obviously, right by the river and there is virtually no street parking. What little you’ll find is generally permit parking and ticketed ruthlessly.
They have an indoor parking garage with validated rates that are still a tad high, and more reasonable rates at the outdoor parking lot across the street. The outdoor lot, however, has a tendency to charge $20 and over when the movie runs over three hours. They claim you have 4 hours to park there and still qualify for their $8 rate with a validated movie ticket, but a new three hour movie (plus twenty minutes of car commercials) that requires you to get tickets and get in line an hour beforehand makes their deal seem more like a slap in the face.
The bottom line is, if you want to experience what is arguably the nicest movie theatre in Chicago, you better be ready to cab it over there. You can reach the AMC River East 21 at 847-765-7262.
The Landmark Century Cinema on 2828 North Clark Street in the Century Mall is an independent film fan’s dream come true. It is a top notch Chicago movie theatre, with high quality sound and stadium seating showing some of the best in new art films and other limited releases.
They also have a parking lot that is reasonably priced with validation, which gives you a chance to check out the Century Mall either before or after the film.
Typically, theatres that specialize in independent films are small, dark, and dingy and run their films on sub par equipment. Let’s face it, sometimes these details add to the appeal of the independent film experience, but it is nice to see such a pumped up movie theatre show its love for underground films. You can reach the Landmark Century Cinema at 773-509-4949.
If you’re from Chicago, then you probably know that the VicTheatre is a nice, cozy and intimate place for concerts. What you may have never experienced, however, is Brew and View at the Vic Theatre located at 3145 North Sheffield.
Yes, by ‘Brew and View’, they mean that they are a movie theatre with a wide range of beer – and yes, you can get wasted while watching an eclectic mix of second run films for an unbeatable $5 admission charge.
The Showtime’s go from as early as 8:00 pm to as late as the occasional midnight showings. Finding a parking space is a difficult task, and while there are pay lots in the area, public transportation is the best route. You can reach the Brew and View at 312-618-VIEW.
The Music Box Theatre wins my stamp of approval, if for no other reason, because they are the only theatre (to my knowledge) that has played my favorite film, Brazil, on the big screen.
Bringing older films to the big screen is not all they do, but it is certainly their defining characteristic. Whether it’s classic Christmas films during the month of December or a marathon of Orson Welles flicks, they always pick their films well.
The Music Box and the Brew and View are not the cleanest or best maintained theatres in the city, but their architecture is more than enough to make up for this.
It also doesn’t hurt that the theatre’s convenient location on 3733 N. Southport can actually from time to time offer a little street parking. You can reach the Music Box Theatre at 773-871-6604.
