January 11, 2008
Goodbye, Dupont 5 Movie Theater
Hank Stuever has long been my favorite Washington Post Style writer. Whether he's tackling Mormon underwear or plastic chairs, he always puts good writing first, which is hard to find in major newspapers these days. He doesn't write as often as he used to, but today he's got a great rumination on the final demise of the AMC Dupont 5 movie theater that you shouldn't miss.
Think back to being sardined into one of the Dupont 5's teensy auditoriums on a freezing Friday night, to see another new Woody Allen movie blow it yet again. Everyone would be exhausted from just trying to get into the theater alive, get tickets, get popcorn, get seats, which always creaked, which did nothing for the lumbar, and there was that wet, woolly smell of overcoats and scarves. Everyone in a Dupont 5 audience had coughs. Always the same dumb Fandango ads before the trailers, with the paper-bag puppets. The bathrooms always smelled, and 10 people were always waiting to get into them. Management swapped the men's room for the women's room a few years ago, which only made things worse.It certainly isn't a great theater, but it's the last of the small cinemas in this city, and it deserves to be remembered. We'll always remember it as the only spot in town to catch a film where you and your friends could end up being the only people in the theater even during peak hours.
It's still unannounced what will take the place of the Dupont 5, but the real estate broker in charge of the deal told Stuever it's going to be some big national chain that's not a movie theater.
The movies playing on the final weekend of the Dupont 5 are Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, I'm Not There, I Am Legend, P.S. I Love You and Charlie Wilson's War, with the schedule suggesting that the very last film to play will be a 10:30 p.m. showing of Before the Devil Knows You're Dead on Sunday. You can purchase tickets here.
Photo of a projector in the Dupont 5 by cyaneyed
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i am so sad this is closing
Thanks for sharing the article. The Dupont theater was a shithole, but it certainly holds a gallon of memories.
From bad dates to great premieres, it was never a pleasure to be quite so uncomfortable.
ALWAYS a pleasure, rather.
I wonder what wonderful chain store we can expect...
My fondest memory of this theater is watching The Blair Witch Project with a sleeping homeless person to one side of me and two bicyclists who'd just completed a sweaty August ride on the other side of me. I was getting stink from the left, the right, and from the screen.
Never went there. I heard it is really bad place to see a movie. Is that true?
I just hope the Uptown stays open forever....
my wife and I went there on our first date some years ago to see a wes anderson flick. sort of gives me the warm and fuzzies.
My fondest memory of the place was when I went there by myself on a snowy evening to see the very sad Gillian Anderson movie "The House of Mirth". Moments before the film started a homeless man settled down in the seat in front of me. I would have to periodically kick his seat whenever he started snoring.
Anyway, at the devastatingly sad last moment in the film when a destitute Gillian Anderson is discovered dead and the credits start rolling, all of a sudden the loudest snore you will ever hear starts rolling up from the chair in front of me. The whole theater busted up in laughter.
I still miss the Janus where you would go in one door and buy your ticket and then if you were in a certain theater you had to go outside, around the corner, and then be let into another door.
Can't wait for the space to be invaded by the virus of Starbucks and Fuddruckers.
Isn't there already a Starbucks on that block? Oh, wait ... don't answer that
My favorite movie I saw there was "Run Lola Run", probably preceded or followed by a cup of coffee at XandO. Good times!
As for the "Blair Witch Project", I saw that at the Janus, or the J. Anus...
Which was the theater in the West End where the Ritz is currently located? That was a crappy theater.
The Foundry was another crappy theater, but you couldn't beat the cheap ticket prices.
And the recently-closed theater near Fannie Mae was also crappy, but you could totally spend a rainy day theater-hopping without fear of being busted.
If I'm not mistaken, there are already five Starbucks within a two-block radius of Dupont Circle. Whatever soulless corporate monstrosity moves in to this space, it's fairly unlikely to be another Starbucks . . .
I hate Starbucks. Burnt coffee bean taste isn't for me.
I will miss the place - If we arrived 15 minutes early we could always count on getting a ticket to a movie there even on opening night! Then go over to Cosi next door and sneak in great sandwiches ...
I thought there was some sort of City Council mandate that all old movie theaters be turned into CVS's?
This place was a total dump but then again it was nice having a theater right in Dupont Circle. Quite a love-hate relationship I had with it.
only went there once, on a hot, muggy night in august hoping to sit in an air conditioned theater only to find a hot, muggy theater. but we saw "road to guantanamo," which really made me think about how lucky i was to be sitting in that hot, muggy theater.
oh and nate, because you said that, it will most definitely be a starbucks.
I wonder what the big national chain will be?
Hooters!
Yeah, the place is a total dump. But I saw Heathers there, so I'll always have a special place for it in my heart.
This now joins the Key theatre, the Foundry, West End, Janus, Visions, and the one that used to be near American.
I've been to all, and I can nearly mark my time in DC by the movie theater closings.
No tears for this one however...charging over $9 for such a tiny screen was a crime.
sad that it's closing. but local movie theaters really have to find niches for themselves to survive. you can't just continue the same business model forever and keep going. small theaters have the fortunate position of being smaller and more flexible in how they can potentially operate than the big places.
ideas: serve beer, redesign the seating spaces to accommodate tables (which means you could sell more food), add more variety to your movie selection... I dunno...
That is sad. This Dupont theater wasn't nearly as awkward as the other one- the one with the support column blocking the line of sight.
Hey, what's up with Visions? That was a nice concept!
Visions sold beer and food and that didn't save them.
Starbucks with big screens, cask ales, and Hooters baristas FTW! That's a business model I can get behind. And by "behind" I mean "up in that a**."
There's already a CVS across the circle. Maybe they'll put something really depressingly suburban like like an Applebees.
Yeah, Visions sold beer and food, but their food sucked and they failed to attract even second--tier movies. The best thing I ever saw there was Zack Exley of MO.org looking drunkenly-smug after a screening of "The whole truth about the war in Iraq".
Nice concept, rookie execution.
speaking of movies, this is really funny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSL6hOcrL-U
Why are Washingtonians so nostalgic about mediocrity? Crummy diners and cafeterias, mom & pop businesses that nobodys shopped at since 1962, department stores way past their prime, and falling down "historic" businesses and "landmarks" that aren't historic, just merely old.
The Dupont 5 was a pit and won't be missed, and god forbid you had to use the toilet.
While we're on the topic of theaters, Landmark E Street is a firetrap. That place scares me.
Why are Washingtonians so nostalgic about mediocrity? Crummy diners and cafeterias, mom & pop businesses that nobodys shopped at since 1962, department stores way past their prime, and falling down "historic" businesses and "landmarks" that aren't historic, just merely old.
The Dupont 5 was a pit and won't be missed, and god forbid you had to use the toilet.
While we're on the topic of theaters, Landmark E Street is a firetrap. That place scares me.
Why is the Landmark E Street a firetrap? Sure, it's mostly below-grade, but should have sprinklers and the appropriate number of emergency exits.
Why are Washingtonians so nostalgic about mediocrity?
Because some of us can't afford the hip, trendy, vibrant new mediocrity. You used to be able to get a plate of bologna and cheese at the lunch counter for $3. Now they serve you the same thing but call it "artisinal charcuterie" and charge you $27 a plate. Everybody hates old crap until your new crap becomes next generation's old crap. And that's when mediocrity nostalgia kicks in. "Remember when Radiohead sold CDs and charcuterie was cheap? Kids nowdays with their $40 Velveeta Spamwiches. GET OFF MY LAWN!"
Damn, but I didn't read about this until Monday afternoon... I was all about location. That and making out during Capote.
And when will Visions get redone? It's been closed since like '04?
As a former Visions employee I kinda wish someone would buy that joint and turn it into SOMETHING already. Condos or a Starbucks or a shoestore, you know something useful.
Also about the movies that we showed at Visions. You try running an independent theater with no affiliation to Loews, Hoyts, AMC or Landmark and see how far you get. It was darn near impossible (or actually WAS impossible) for Visions to get the Amelie-level flicks and usually had to settle for basically whatever they could get. They tried. It's a tough bidness to be in unless it's like NYC or LA.