The AFI Silver. Photo by randomduck.

Washington-area screens may never be able to compete with New York’s movie scene, but while the selection isn’t as wide, there are repertory venues that New Yorkers would kill for. These are some of my favorites, chosen for a combination of programming and theater aesthetics.

AFI SILVER THEATRE: I still miss the easy access of the American Film Institute’s former home at the Kennedy Center, but while that theater had charms in the form of auto body parts, the AFI took a decaying Silver Spring relic and turned it into one of America’s great movie houses. The smaller theaters have screens as good as or bigger than the old AFI’s, and the main screen is flat-out the best place to watch a movie in the area. What’s more, the AFI’s current releases (Argo and Quartet, at press time) are for now still projected from film, not digital. While digital projection has grown by leaps and bounds, there’s still tonal range loss in highlights, not to mention motion distortion (and really not to mention the kind of horror show that was The Hobbit’s homely hi-res). The AFI sometimes opts for a DVD even when a print is available, so purists would do well to ask beforehand, but such instances are are. This is the place to see a movie in the D.C. area.

The AFI Silver Theatre is located at 8633 Colesville Road in Silver Spring. Current repertory series include retrospectives of directors Howard Hawks and Quentin Tarantino, a program of films written by Alfred Hitchcock’s wife Alma Reville, and a tribute to actress Loretta Young.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART: Washington doesn’t get the kind of thorough film programming that you can get at New York’s Film Forum. But sometimes local cinephiles get the better of New York. Last year’s Robert Bresson retrospective brought each of the director’s films for a multi-day run on Film Forum’s tiny screens. Washington audiences only got one shot to see rarities like The Devil, Probably, but they could see it on the National Gallery’s generous wide screen, which ranges from 21 feet wide for Academy ratio to 40 feet wide for CinemaScope titles like the seldom-revived Hollywood western Jubal, which screened at the Gallery in 2011.

The National Gallery of Art’s East Building Auditorium is located at 4th Street at Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Current film series include L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema, and art films and events.

Photo by Kevin H.

LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA: Before Landmark Theatres came to the D.C. area, moviegoers looking for independent and foreign film outside of the festival circuit had to make do with postage-stamp sized screens at the Dupont Circle 5, or, if they were lucky, the Outer Circle. But in 2002, Landmark opened its first area theater on Bethesda Row, and two years later E Street followed, and arthouse audiences have been flocking there ever since. E Street’s maze of underground screens, one of which is situated directly under the house where Lincoln died, is home to a few good-sized screens, and even the smaller screens improve upon the Dupont’s tiny theaters. This is where audiences get the best independent programming, with limited runs of MIchael Apted’s 56 Up and other foreign hits. And although it recently converted to digital presentation (as its website now indicates for all current releases), it held on to one 35-millimeter projector, which will be put to good use in the upcoming Studio Ghibli series.

Landmark E Street Cinema is located at 555 11th Street NW. Now playing: No, Quartet, Oscar-nominated short films (animated and live-action), Argo), The Gatekeepers, A Place at the Table, Amour, and 56 Up.

THE AVALON: One of the few remaining independent theaters in the area, the Avalon closed as a commercial venue in 2001, but reopened as a non-profit theater two years later. Along with the West End Cinema, it’s one of the few venues in city limits that still regularly shows 35-millimeter film. The Avalon’s main screen has something that no other area theater can offer: restrooms right inside the auditorium, so when nature calls you won’t miss too much of Silver Linings Playbook.

The Avalon is located at 5612 Connecticut Avenue NW. Now playing: Silver Linings Playbook, Argo, and Oscar-nominated short films (animated and live-action).

WEST END CINEMA: Taking over a space that once housed the West End Circle, this independent venture is nevertheless one of the few remaining theaters in DC where you can see a 35-millimeter print of a current release. The concession stand and the programming makes up for the postage-stamp screens.

West End Cinema is located at 2301 M Street NW. Now playing: Silver Linings Playbook, Life of Pi, Happy People: A year in the Taiga, and Sound City.

JOHNSON IMAX THEATER AT SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: Its six-story screen is bigger than any other in town, though programming is limited to documentaries and the occasional Hollywood blockbuster (the poorly reviewed Jack the Giant Slayer recently played there for, like, five minutes). But if you’ve ever wanted to be immersed in, say, The Dark Knight Rises, this is the place to go.

The Samuel C. Johnson IMAX Theater is located at 10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Now playing: Flight of the Butterflies: An IMAX 3D Experience, Flying Monsters 3D, and Coral Reef Adventure.

Honorable Mention:

THE GOETHE-INSTITUT: The Goethe’s state-of-the art theater and stadium seating is a great intimate venue for the Institut’s film programs, which have included screenings of works by directors like Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Michael Haneke, and Werner Schroeter.

The Goethe-Institut is located at 812 Seventh Street NW.

SUBURBAN OUTPOSTS: Angelika Mosaic, P&G Old Greenbelt.

RIP: The Circle Theater, The Mary Pickford Theater, The Biograph, The Key.