The new Loews Cineplex Georgetown is open for business. With 14 screens, it is the largest movie theatre in D.C. and for a cut-rate $7.50, students can watch both mainstream and art-house fare.
It’s about goddamn time. Movie screens have been disappearing in this town faster than Penelope Cruz’s career, the latest casualty being the Foundry, a magical place where one could see second-run films on small screens for three bucks. When that disappeared early last year, a trek to Dupont or Courthouse was in order. Now, all that is required is a hop, skip, and a jump down to K and Wisconsin.
Georgetown students walking across the Key Bridge have often wondered as to the function of the large brick smokestack plopped down near the Waterfront. It was the Georgetown Incinerator before being converted into a movie theater. Site construction is still ongoing, though, for the building directly above the theater is soon to be another Ritz Carlton hotel and apartment complex.
Turning onto K Street, the first thing that sinks in is just how cramped and dark the theater front seems, even in the middle of the day. Jammed in under the Whitehurst Freeway and set back from the street, Loews Georgetown sneaks up on its patrons, invisible until the very last second. Other than this hide-and-seek exterior, nothing else inhabits K Street, Chadwick’s notwithstanding. There is not one caf?, eatery, or business of any kind. Walking there and back is an uninviting experience fraught with steep streets and construction dust. With the Waterfront district just steps away, it is a shame that there are no retail establishments linking the two areas.
Enter the theater, though, and the views are much more impressive. The design is decidedly simple, with clean, straight lines and an composite of materials. There are several impressive elements within the relatively small space of the lobby: huge rectangular glass plates front the entranceway and rise diagonally above, reflecting the interior spotlights and pulling attention skyward towards the 175-foot smokestack that is the centerpiece of the theater’s design. One can see it fully illuminated through the glass ceiling as it literally descends into the lobby itself, culminating in a large, brick, rectangular structure behind the ticket desk. Neither too airy nor too oppressive, the brick and glass balance each other out respectably.
There is perception of size, though, and there is actual size. For 14 screens, the lobby and concession area is much too small. Woe be to those who come to see a blockbuster here on opening day. The narrow hallways and entrance areas are not friendly to exiting customers who have to compete with an influx of new moviegoers and the empty-stomached, who crowd the tiny gourmet concession stand that peddles both popcorn and shrimp, soda and chicken quesadillas. These gustatory novelties are a conceit to the wealthy patrons of Georgetown, seekers of more than lowbrow confections.
The screening rooms themselves have stadium seating, love seats and Dolby Digital—and these are to be expected. Overall, though, the proximity and reasonable price overshadows any faults in the architecture and design, two things that never scared people away from watching a movie. While the D.C. area still lacks a proper repertory movie house and better indie film locations, Loews Georgetown is an exemplar of convenience.
