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ANGELIKA FILM CENTER | |
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Houston & Mercer Streets (212) 995-2000 [recorded info] |
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The Angelika has become a New York institution in just a few years of operation, mainly by virtue of being the most commercial of Manhattan’s art house multiplexes. Certainly it’s not because of the ambience (think warehouse) or quality of presentation (think shoebox). The movies are shown in focus and at what looks to be the proper brightness, so I can’t carp too much. At typical listening volume, the sound system is merely adequate. But when the Angelika gets the bright idea that one film or another should be cranked up, the results vary from shrill to nearly unlistenable (Kids and City of Lost Children suffered mightily at the Angelika’s hands). When you consider that many foreign films are released in Dolby Digital these days, it starts to get really irritating that so many of them play exclusively at the lo-fi Angelika. (I have these fantasies that the new UA theater 14 blocks north of the Angelika at Union Square will program a few art films and kick the Angelika's ass. Yeah, I'm a dreamer.) If you’re coming on opening weekend, all I can suggest is that you arrive early, buy a nice cappuccino, and then hang out between the velvet ropes waiting for one of the bored-looking ticket-takers to announce that the line is forming for your shows. A mob scene will ensue, and it’s best if you’re positioned at the front of the line rather than the back, since the screens are small and the auditoriums are narrow (be warned: the two smallest theaters are really, really small). C. (Frazer)
Things I despise about the Angelika: 1.) Moviehouses should try to be moviehouses, not damn coffeehouses. 2.) Terrible shoebox theater design, and an extremely weak sound system. 3.) For all their damn self righteous bleating about independent film, their movie selection is about as adventureous as Lincoln Square's. 4.) The soundproofing is inadequate, as one can often hear the subway trains rolling by. (It's particularly bad in Aud #1.) D. (Odell) The Angelika has so many problems that it's difficult to know where to begin: small screens, talkative and pretentious audiences, and an irritating policy of not seating films until 5-10 minutes before they began. This often results in a stampede once seating does begin. Most New York-area cinephiles can probably recite Angelika horror stories for days. On a recent visit to see The Pillow Book, the audience was treated to the same trailer twice in 10 minutes! The lobby has all the charm and twice the chaos of Penn Station on Christmas Eve. Still, the theater gets most of the high-profile "art" films, even if its programming has become a bit less adventurous after the City Cinemas takeover. (Erickson) |
