Best art-film house
Once again, Brookline's Coolidge Corner Theatre triumphs as the place most readers go to find the movies
that the big Hollywood studios don't dare finance. Besides first-run films such as L.I.E. and Mulholland
Drive, the Coolidge has "meet the director" events, Saturday-morning kids' programs, midnight movies that
are not necessarily any more "mature" (who knew there was a Toxic Avenger IV?), and revivals of Hollywood
classics. (Before one recent screening of All About Eve, the audience was quizzed on Bette Davis trivia.)
The theater is also home to the Spike & Mike animation festivals, the annual 24-hour Sci-Fi Marathon, the
Boston Jewish Film Festival, and last month's Short Attention Span Film Festival (59 films in 100 minutes!).
We've got to award bonus points for the Art Deco trimmings, the wide screen in the downstairs theater, and
the funky handwritten signs at the concession stand. Finally, the Coolidge has a new feature: a 45-seat
video-screening room that showcases work by local filmmakers.
North of the Charles, our readers chose the Brattle Theatre as the place to sit and gaze. The Harvard Square
landmark did a quick renovation over the summer, which means it has a new screen, repainted walls, a Dolby
sound system, seats that are more comfy, and, for the first time, aisle lighting. But its programming is
still a mix of old favorites and "recent raves." (Recent examples of the former include a Jack Lemmon
festival and restored prints of The Blue Angel and Band of Outsiders.) The Brattle hosts special events,
such as the annual Boston International Festival of Women's Cinema, but on most nights you can catch an
old-fashioned double feature here for $7.50. Even better, you can count on not seeing a Saturday Night Live
cast member in either film.
Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard Street, Brookline, (617) 734-2500; Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge, (617) 876-6837.
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