Just because you saw a rat (okay, two rats) you want your money back?
October 27, 2016 11:44 AM   Subscribe

 
The article doesn't even mention where this is, so for those outside of the neighborhood, this is a smallish theater in Brooklyn near Prospect Park.

The last movie I saw at The Pavillion was a midnight screening of "Jupiter Rising". Half of my friends were accidentally sold tickets to "50 Shades of Grey", not that it mattered. No one working there that night was remotely close to old enough not to be violating NYS labor laws. They'd just recently gotten rid of the infamous bedbug seats and installed these black leatherette dealies that leaned waaay back. It was an awesomely shitty theater, and I guess I'll kind of miss it in a dumb way.
posted by phooky at 12:04 PM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


As us customary with things that sucked in a run-down way and were located in New York I really wish I could have experienced the awfulness myself in a detached and ironic way.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 12:05 PM on October 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


Good riddance. That neighborhood always deserved a better theater than it had.

The Pavillion: Come Because It's Literally Your Only Option Unless You Want To Schlep Out To Court Street; Stay Because You're Afraid Of Bringing The Bedbugs Back To Your Apartment
posted by Itaxpica at 12:09 PM on October 27, 2016 [4 favorites]


Also, they had the most Pavillion goodbye anyone ever could have imagined: suddenly and without warning shuttering, despite having literally already sold people tickets to shows later that day
posted by Itaxpica at 12:11 PM on October 27, 2016 [10 favorites]


> The article doesn't even mention where this is, so for those outside of the neighborhood, this is a smallish theater in Brooklyn near Prospect Park.

Actually, it says it was at 14th Street and Prospect Park West in Park Slope, and farther down it mentions Brooklyn. Anyway, thanks for this hilarious obit, and I'm glad I never went there!
posted by languagehat at 12:27 PM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


Goddammit, I loved the Pavillion. They had real immersive theater: when I went to go see Mad Max: Fury Road, the air conditioning in the theater was broke.
posted by griphus at 12:38 PM on October 27, 2016 [14 favorites]


But also there's still the Kent on Ave. H and Coney Island Ave if you want to see one of three movies and listen to three of three movies. Best deal in Brooklyn.
posted by griphus at 12:41 PM on October 27, 2016 [13 favorites]


You're completely right. I sort of checked out a few paragraphs in, like Pee Wee at the end of Big Adventure. "I don't need to see it, Dottie."
posted by phooky at 12:42 PM on October 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


(This maybe is a good place to point out that the Alamo Drafthouse in downtown Brooklyn is finally open! *circle_of_life.jpg*)
posted by phooky at 12:45 PM on October 27, 2016 [5 favorites]


Watching movies here taught me it's probably a good idea to sit with your feet pulled up into your seat in movie theaters in NYC.
posted by unknowncommand at 12:45 PM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


But also there's still the Kent on Ave. H and Coney Island Ave

Holy crap, that's still there? It was an awful place in the 1970s.
posted by Splunge at 12:46 PM on October 27, 2016 [7 favorites]


All jokes aside, though, as someone who lives pretty close by this is something that's been getting a lot of chatter in the neighborhood. This isn't a case of "grimy, beloved old-New-York landmark gets shut down in favor of new and shiny thing; city dies a little more". It's a case of "thank fuck, we're finally gonna get a decent movie theater in this place". I haven't spoken to a single person who isn't thrilled to see the Pavillion go, especially since it's gonna be replaced by another theater.
posted by Itaxpica at 12:49 PM on October 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


All of the worst movie theatres are in Times Square.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 12:52 PM on October 27, 2016


Holy crap, that's still there? It was an awful place in the 1970s.

It's a relic and every time I go there (it's my neighborhood theater) I am terrified it will be out of business the next day. I don't think there's any theaters like it left in Brooklyn, which is weird because almost all the theaters in Brooklyn used to be like it.

I haven't spoken to a single person who isn't thrilled to see the Pavillion go, especially since it's gonna be replaced by another theater.

I was kinda mad at first because Alamo, Nitehawk, etc. are great if you are into independent/foreign/art/etc. film but not so much if you want somewhere close to your house to go see Avengers. But it turns out the new theater will play mainstream movies alongside indie and foreign stuff so I'm pretty pumped about the new theater now.
posted by griphus at 12:58 PM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


But also there's still the Kent on Ave. H and Coney Island Ave.

The Kent was Woody Allen's childhood theater, and he filmed some scenes for "Purple Rose of Cairo" there.
posted by layceepee at 12:58 PM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


This finally got me to look up where he actually lived in Midwood and it turns out that I have now lived walking distance from the childhood homes of both Mel Brooks and Woody Allen.
posted by griphus at 1:01 PM on October 27, 2016 [4 favorites]


All of the worst movie theatres are in Times Square.

i mean? no? this makes me think you've never been to a theatre in other boroughs? unless you're talking about the 70s porn theatres.
posted by poffin boffin at 1:04 PM on October 27, 2016 [9 favorites]


At least you have neighborhood movie theaters left. I generally have to truck out the 'burbs to see mainstream movies.
posted by octothorpe at 1:10 PM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


I live three blocks away from the Kent everybody -- now Brooklyn's diviest theater.

Once I get my midterm papers done, we gotta do a Wedneday matinee MeFi meetup, right?
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 1:25 PM on October 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


The last movie I saw at the Pavilion was Magic Mike. A group of about 11 of us 30somethings went and we chose the Pavilion on purpose because we wanted to see a shitty joke of a movie in a shitty joke of a theater and we were not disappointed. Some of us were carded (?!) when buying tickets, and then the speakers on the left side of the theater broke about 1/3 of the way through. A person behind us went to complain and try to get someone to fix it or get their money back, but a 12 yr old boy who worked there just stood at the back of the theater and was like "idk shrug?"
In summary, A+ would tear down for a better theater again.
posted by rmless at 1:35 PM on October 27, 2016 [4 favorites]


unless you're talking about the 70s porn theatres.

"You leave it on the floor, we mop it up" [fake, no mopping occurs]
posted by mikelieman at 2:13 PM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


i mean? no? this makes me think you've never been to a theatre in other boroughs? unless you're talking about the 70s porn theatres.

I'm not sure I have, actually. I've lived in Queens and Brooklyn but never went to movies there.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 2:14 PM on October 27, 2016


Whaaat Magic Mike is not a shitty joke of a movie
posted by zutalors! at 2:18 PM on October 27, 2016 [4 favorites]


There aren't any movie theaters in Times Square anymore, I don't think -- not since the one in the basement of the Virgin Megastore closed (followed thereafter by the Megastore itself).

The ones nearest to Times Square are the E-Walk and the AMC Empire, on 42nd Street and 8th Avenue. Both clean and well-maintained, but pretty much the highest prices you can find for a non-reserved ticket.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 2:22 PM on October 27, 2016


ugh the AMC Empire was the only theater showing Shin Godzilla near me and it was like $16 a ticket. Worth it but srsly? $16 to see a fucking movie?
posted by griphus at 2:27 PM on October 27, 2016


it's $18 at the lincoln square imax i think but i don't care bc i am a movie screen size queen
posted by poffin boffin at 2:31 PM on October 27, 2016


Movie Screen Size Queen was my favorite electroclash night in the '00s.
posted by griphus at 2:31 PM on October 27, 2016 [6 favorites]


I can verify that this was once a good theater, then not so good, then kind of bad, then quite bad. Apparently after I stopped going it became downright shitty. (Figuratively and literally.)

I hope the revamp restores it to its former glory.
posted by Cranialtorque at 2:37 PM on October 27, 2016


The ones nearest to Times Square are the E-Walk and the AMC Empire, on 42nd Street and 8th Avenue. Both clean and well-maintained, but pretty much the highest prices you can find for a non-reserved ticket.

I dunno if I'd call the E-Walk "well maintained" (depending on when you go buying tickets can be an absolute horror show), but they do show first-run Bollywood movies, which earns them a special place in my heart.

For my money the best theater in Brooklyn is the BAM cinema, though their selection is small and tends away from mainstream stuff (though I was able to see Star Wars there). Past that it's a toss-up between Court Street and just pirating the movie and watching it at home with a beer.
posted by Itaxpica at 2:38 PM on October 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


I've always thought the best theater in New York was lying on your back gazing at the stars
posted by beerperson at 2:44 PM on October 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


My favorite Brooklyn theater was The Rialto, on Flatbush Ave. and Cortelyou Rd. It's a church now. Has been for a while.
posted by Splunge at 2:45 PM on October 27, 2016


I miss the Oceana in Brighton Beach, the Kingsway (across from the Crazy Eddie flagship store), and the tiny one on Ave. U where my friend and I had to ask people to pose as our parents so we could get in to see "Mr. Mike's Mondo Video"...
posted by AJaffe at 3:10 PM on October 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


Splunge: "Holy crap, that's still there? It was an awful place in the 1970s."

And hey, guess what? It's still an awful place in the 1970s. Huzzah!
posted by koeselitz at 3:22 PM on October 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


griphus: "ugh the AMC Empire was the only theater showing Shin Godzilla near me and it was like $16 a ticket. Worth it but srsly? $16 to see a fucking movie?"

?! It's still only about $10 a ticket out here in the hinterlands.
posted by octothorpe at 3:49 PM on October 27, 2016


🎥
posted by clavdivs at 4:01 PM on October 27, 2016


It's like $11-12 in Brooklyn except for the Kent Wednesday Matinee mentioned above which is I think $5
posted by griphus at 4:08 PM on October 27, 2016


griphus, it might have gone up to $7.50, I haven't checked in a while.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 4:25 PM on October 27, 2016


Awwww, I just remembered that the Pavilion is also where I saw "The Squid and the Whale", which coincidentally includes a scene where the characters are watching a movie at the Pavilion, which was one of my best meta-movie experiences.
posted by unknowncommand at 4:27 PM on October 27, 2016 [13 favorites]


It sounds like it only changing owners and will still be a movie theatre showing art house films. Usually it's the other way around with the mainstream cinema taking over for the art house. Only in New York!
posted by Rashomon at 5:07 PM on October 27, 2016


Seven blocks from my apartment! Cant wait for Nitehawk to move in.
posted by Liquidwolf at 5:30 PM on October 27, 2016


I tried to get in to Alice's Restaurant at the Rialto. I had seen coming attractions for it, I think, in a Planet of the Apes showing. I thought it was funny. So I got a bunch of friends together to take the bus ride. When we got there we were surprised to find out that it was rated R. Not for a bunch of ten year olds. BTW, I saw Planet of the Apes with my mother at the Beverly theater on Church Ave and McDonald Ave. I also saw The Exorcist there. The first showing was a mob scene. We poured into the theater so fast that nobody took our tickets. Back then the tickets were like little raffle tickets. So we went back the next day and saw it again.

I didn't sleep for weeks, waiting for my bed to start bouncing.
posted by Splunge at 8:02 PM on October 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


The only thing I saw at the Pavilion was a Scientology( I wasn't aware of this until the credits) produced doc about people who helped on 9-11 who later became ill.

The AMC on 42nd st is the best designed theater in NYC (almost all screens near a bathroom), but I only go to the 1st screening of the day when it's the only venue running the movie (usually a doc getting its Oscar-qualifying run) I want to see.

NY AAA has discount coupons for AMC, Regal and National Amusements; the latest versions of AMC and Regal can be used from the 1st day of the movie's release.
posted by brujita at 12:08 AM on October 28, 2016


I live a few blocks from the Pavilion! I was just there not too long ago - what did I see? Oh yeah, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - what? 2005? Holy crap.

For the last 11 (holy crap!) years my main interaction with the Pavilion has been admiring the way the marquee lights shine on wet sidewalks when I walk the dog on a rainy night.

(Hi neighbors! Good-riddance-pavilion meetup?)
posted by moonmilk at 7:09 PM on October 28, 2016 [2 favorites]


I am def up for a Park Slope meetup
posted by griphus at 7:31 PM on October 28, 2016


Perhaps to coincide with the Sunday greenmarket at Bartel Pritchard Circle for cider donuts.
posted by moonmilk at 7:43 PM on October 28, 2016


I'm pretty sure I saw a movie at least once at the theater on Flatbush & 7th that's now an Urban Outfitters store. I'm afraid to look up how long ago that must have been.
posted by moonmilk at 7:46 PM on October 28, 2016


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