Best place for Avatar in PDX

January 21, 2010 2:49 PM

Best place to see Avatar in 3d in Portland, OR?

After much delay, I'm planning on going with my GF to Ptown for a screening of Avatar. This will essentially be an all day trip, and I'm looking for recommendations on the best screen. So far I've only found it playing in Imax at Bridgeport. My parents saw it at the Clackamas Regal in Real3d and said they enjoyed it.

Also any recommendations on something to do, touristy wise? I grew up in Portland, she did not, but I rarely played tourist in my own town. We're coming from Seaside and good lunch/early dinner will be in Portland.

Sorry if this is rambling, I just woke up and wanted to get this posted.

posted by efalk to travel & transportation around Portland, OR (10 answers total)

I saw it at the Lloyd Center, which I think would beat both Bridgeport and Clackamas just because it's close-in, and it would make it much easier for you guys to go out on the town before/after. I've answered a lot of "what to do in pdx," so search AskMe for more of that type of thing. Bars/Food I like that are relatively close to the Lloyd Center are, perhaps: Screen Door, Hungry Tiger Too, East Burn.
posted by Lutoslawski at 3:17 PM on January 21, 2010

I don't mind travelling a bit, I was trying to get the most bang for my overpriced movie ticket., but I will check your suggestions. I really miss living in town some times :)
posted by efalk at 3:53 PM on January 21, 2010

My plan is to go to the Roseway. We saw Up in 3-D there and it was great. They're not a chain theater, tickets aren't as expensive, and it's a vintage theater that was remodeled and reopened just the other year. I think it's a pretty sweet venue and the quality of the experience seems on par with other large theaters.

Avatar's showing tonight at 8pm! My guess is they'll probably be running it for a while.
posted by redsparkler at 4:17 PM on January 21, 2010

I saw it at the Century Eastport 16 on SE 82nd & Holgate. It was $14 for the 7pm showing, & I liked the seats. You can put the armrests up. Though I haven't been to see a film in ages, so I don't know if that's typical or not. Plus there is a 24-hour Subway there, for some godforsaken reason.

I hope you like it. It's visually stunning.
posted by opossumnus at 4:19 PM on January 21, 2010

I'm going to 2nd redsparkler on the Roseway recommendation. I just saw Avatar there. It was my first time at the venue and it's beautiful. The theater was relatively empty so we were able to get great seats. They don't play any ads before the show and tickets were only $9. Popcorn has real butter and was really good. I'll be keeping them in mind for all of my first-run theater needs.
posted by funkiwan at 6:43 PM on January 21, 2010

I saw it in 3D on the 50-foot screen at Cinetopia across the river in Vancouver, WA. If you're willing to drive a few minutes across the bridge, this is a great option. Cinetopia is also locally owned.
posted by bluedaisy at 9:18 PM on January 21, 2010

Wherever you go, make sure you have tickets in advance.
posted by bluedaisy at 9:19 PM on January 21, 2010

I'll third the Roseway- it was a really nice venue. Cortex and I saw it there a few weeks ago. The only problem was that the floor does not have as steep of a slope as many of the modern multiplexes- so I had someone's head in the middle of the captions (there's captions when they talk in blue cat language). However, most of the captioned dialogue was predictable enough that this wasn't a big deal.

This is the only other 3D movie I've seen besides Captain EO, though, so I can't really compare the 3D experience specifically. The popcorn was really good.

On preview, I haven't been to Cinetopia, but I've heard good things about it too.
posted by Secretariat at 9:23 PM on January 21, 2010

I will add a reluctant ditto to the head issue, Secretariat. I just got back from the movie and it looked great, but there was one person's head who would have been in the picture if I had slumped in my seat. And I usually like to slump.

But it was still pretty wonderful (visually).
posted by redsparkler at 11:27 PM on January 21, 2010

I saw that film once in a well-lit cinema and once with a projector so dim that it felt like viewing underwater. Awful.

Given a second chance, I'd phone the cinemas beforehand and ask these questions [PDF] from Kodak.
posted by rokusan at 5:51 AM on January 22, 2010