September 21, 2007
Morning Roundup: The Last Picture Show Edition
We've arrived at another Friday, Washington, so welcome to it. Some sad news to note off the bat, however, as the Post brings word that the last movie theater left in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, the AMC Loews Dupont 5, will go the way of Visions and the Janus 3 before it and close its doors forever in January. We can certainly attest that the last few times we went to see a film at the relatively tiny Dupont theater, there were hardly any other customers in the whole place. Still, as a film geek, it's always a bad sign when there are fewer options for movie theaters in the city, especially one that occasionally played independent and art house fare.
So, Fare Increase? Yes? No?: The Examiner is reporting that Metro General Manager John Catoe will delay his proposal for raising the base fare of Metro rides to $1.75 in January, and that the increase may be smaller than he originally proposed. Increases would now be in effect by Feb. 1 at the earliest. Catoe will ask Metro's board to consider his plan on Oct. 11, but public hearings will follow.
Rhee Hire Even More Expensive Than We Thought: A final settlement payment of $275,000 for former D.C. school superintendent Clifford B. Janey, who lost his job when Mayor Adrian Fenty took over D.C. Schools this year and effectively replaced him with Chancellor Michelle Rhee, has been made public. District officials originally refused to disclose the terms of the settlement, but turned over the details after receiving a FOIA request from the Washington Post.
Briefly Noted: Mini-bike found in Condon Terrace shooting ... Civil rights charges brought against D.C. officer in beating ... Plan to move police headquarters formally dropped ... NORAD conducting drills over Washington today.
This Day in DCist: In 2004 we celebrated the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian and in 2006 we noted the demise of the Pentagon's hot dog stand.
Photo by maxedaperture
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Catoe said in that WTOP interview, that he is backing down from the idea of cutting late night service.
The dupont theater never seemed to be all that well run or well cleaned or otherwise maintained in general, so can't be too surprised about it shutting down. Customers demand a lot more today, especially when you're charging almost 10 bucks a ticket. E Street cinemas seems to have figured out that no matter how good or obscure the film no one wants to watch a film on a tiny screen, possibly sitting behind a pole, in a theater that reeks of odor.
Oh that sucks! I go to that theater all the time for the convenience factor. Damn, damn, damn.
I used to love that theater, but I haven't been to a movie on a date since I got Netflix in 2002.
Yee haw!! That was the suckiest movie theater in DC. It was dirty, poorly maintained, and the staff were consistently rude. I cannot believe it took this long to get rid of it.
What the Dupont really needed was a better film
programmer. For an area known for its Artsy Fartsy
Undergroundnish, it sure played waay too many flavor of the month films and not enough true indies.
"Still, as a film geek, it's always a bad sign when there are fewer options for movie theaters in the city, especially one that occasionally played independent and art house fare."
Emphasis on the occasionally, since these days they show stuff like Bourne and Harry Potter as much, if not more than they do the independent and art house fare the theater is known for. At one point this summer four of the five movies they were showing were mainstream movies. Movies which you can see in much more comfortable circumstances at G'town or any other megaplex in the area. The theater had lost its rationale to remain open. Good riddance. Now, if anything happens to the Uptown, I will be leading the pitchfork brigade.
Cool! Another Starbucks!
Metro article also has Catoe saying Nextbus service is out of order for up to 18 months:
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1253634
We've lost a bunch of small theaters in the last 5 years. On top of Visions, there was that one that was way up on Wisconsin (not the one that just closed a year or so ago, but the tiny artsy one above Tenley Circle).
It's bad to lose the variety of locations, but really, I think it's better to have one great place like E St. Cinema, in a central location, than to have several scattered, small, and financially unstable theaters. I'd rather have both, of course, but if I had to choose one option, I'd take E St.
Deep:
As part of a chain, not really sure if the theater really had much say into what it programmed.
I sad to see it go for the convenience factor alone. When I moved here in 2001 there were 4 convenient theaters in the area. 5, if you count the Foundry in Gtown with its 3 dollar movies.
Reid, do you mean the Cineplex Odeon Outer Circle?
For all those complaining about the cleanliness of the DuPont theater: Have you ever been to the Union Station theaters? I'd eat lunch off the floor of the DuPont theater before I sat anywhere in Union Station.
Isn't NORAD going to do the night training again? There's nothing like hearing a jet screaming right over your house with the afterburners on, followed by total silence. And then repeated 10 more times.
That blurb on NextBus doesn't make sense. The system used to work.. so how is it that a software problem is suddenly setting them back 18 months? I hope they're not getting scammed by the contractor.
Good riddance. Cramped, weird space, was getting slummy, tiny badly laid out bathrooms usually dirty. The underground firetrap design of E Street is unsettling, but much preferable. There are plenty of places to see better quality movies nowadays.
Good riddance! I hated the color of tile in the bathroom and once it was a little chilly....I am glad they are gone!
"Reid, do you mean the Cineplex Odeon Outer Circle?"
Yeah, that's it. I only went there once to watch "The Swimming Pool." It was a servicable little place, but nothing like E St.
There was also that little place north of Dupont. But I don't think that ever played artsy films.
That blurb on NextBus doesn't make sense. The system used to work.. so how is it that a software problem is suddenly setting them back 18 months? I hope they're not getting scammed by the contractor.
According to the Post's story, the software occasionally gives bad info. While it happens only a couple of times a week on the 30-something pilot routes. Catoe said he's worried there will be more problems when they expand it to cover all routes. They have outdated software that cannot communicate with newer software (unclear with parts are using which software). So they'll disconnect, upgrade the old software, and then roll it out to other routes, I think.
Occasionally gives bad info? Ha. I'm on the 70/71 line in SW, and I regularly get "37 minutes to next bus" (or some similarly ridiculous amount of time) and then 3 minutes later one turns the corner and zips past me becase I'm walking to the Metro instead of trying to wait over half an hour at the bus stop. I don't know if that's because the particular bus doesn't have the GPS working or not, but it happens with alarming frequency.
I'll miss the AMC Dupont5, probably more than Visions or the one where Sette is now. It was more cozy seeing films in a smaller theater with those sock-puppet Fandango commercials and the old-fashioned popcorn display box. It's ashame too that Visions has been vacant since it closed down a few years back - unless it was slated to become another Starbucks!
After using NextBus just about every day on the 30-series since it started, I'd say it gave me correct info about 25 percent of the time. Most of the times it either said "No information is available on the next bus" or gives times that are wildly off the mark.
I've been to most movie theaters in DC and I vowed to never return to that Dupont theater after paying nearly $10 for such a tiny screen.