By Kim Voynar Voynar@moviecitynews.com
RIP Neptune Theater
Waitwaitwait — what? I just saw this story on the Seattle PI blog about Landmark Theaters closing my favorite old Seattle theater, The Neptune, in February 2011. I was already bummed today over the news of Leslie Nielsen passing, and then came word that Anne Hathaway and James Franco are hosting the Oscars, which I thought at first was a joke or a hoax, and now this. Well, criminy.
One of the coolest things about Seattle is all the great old movie theaters we have here. The Egyptian, The Neptune, The Varsity, Guild 45th, Seven Gables and Harvard Exit are all Landmark (so are Metro and discount cinema Crest — which is cool in its own way — but not counting either as a “movie house” for this purpose). The funky Grand Illusion is also cool (but not Landmark) and then we have Northwest Film Forum and SIFF. The access to awesome movie theaters showing heaps of indie, foreign, silent and obscure artsy film here was one of the main reasons I fell in love with Seattle when I first came here 16 years ago.
And now the Neptune is closing, on the heels of Queen Anne’s historic Uptown Theater shuttering Sunday.
I can’t even begin to count the movie memories I have of The Neptune. It’s a beautiful old theater with some spectacular architectural features, and it has the added bonus of being around the corner from Thai Tom for a yummy dinner before the movie, and next door-ish to Trabant Chai, which serves up some of the best chai and coffee in Seattle for that post-movie chat. The Neptune is a perfect date night destination for Seattleites seeking something different than your standard multiplex experience. And now it’s going away.
I’m glad it’s going to be refurbished as a performance space for Seattle Theater Group — at least it will still be open and used for the arts in some capacity. But I can’t help but mourn the slow-but-steady loss of things that I love about this city.
At least we still have the rest of the theaters (for now), Fremont Arts Abbey, and Scarecrow Video. RIP, Neptune.