Landmark's Mayan Theatre — Attraction in Denver

Ah, the old days! That’s often where my mind turns when I review businesses that have been around for a while. The Mayan was operating when I first came to Denver in the early Eighties, and it was an important refuge for those of us living in the Baker neighborhood. Back then, Baker was run-down and a bit sketchy, sometimes even dangerous. Worst of all, most of the rental homes did not have air conditioning! Ours didn’t.

I remember going to Famous Pizza and then to the Mayan, escaping from the heat and escaping into the films - European classics, American musicals, schlocky horror, film noir, screwball comedies, silents, old cartoons. There were usually double bills and often themed “festivals.” The Mayan was like a kaleidoscope, back then. The choices were dizzying, and wonderful.

This was a great time to go to the movies. It ended with the advent of home video, which was supposed to make all those movies shown at the Mayan even more accessible. It didn’t work out that way, of course. Try to find “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” on cable, go ahead, just try. It won’t happen! Finding it on DVD is not impossible, but it will take a lot of work.

That was a Golden Age, if you ask me... a Golden Age for goign to the theatre to watch great films. I can admit, however, it was not so nice for the theaters themselves. The Mayan was downright rickety. Yes, it was a bit run-down, a bit sketchy. It’s beautiful to behold now, the loveliest of the Denver properties owned by Landmark Theaters. It’s definitely an improvement over the old days, and the films - while not so dizzyingly diverse - are still the...

I love this theatre! It reminds me quite a lot of The Byrd Theater, which was built in 1928 in Richmond, Virginia as one of the Nation’s Grand Movie Palaces and today is both a State and National Historic landmark. If ever in the RVA it is a must and on Saturday evenings there is a Wurlitzer that rises through the stage and is typically played by an accomplished musician. Back to The Mayan, the décor is fantastic and eye dazzling as it mixes art deco designs of the by gone era with Mayan flavors. Speaking of flavor aside from the normal selections of popcorn, candy, and soft drinks they have booze. Being a booze hound myself this alone would earn high marks. I seem to remember other snacky type foods offered as well. The impression I got was this is more of a specialty arthouse cinema and so for those quirky films not played in first run theaters this is the place to be. It has a good sized screen, decent sound quality, and comfortable seating which can be lacking in other establishments in this category. The Byrd (my favorite ever) for instance had seating designed for smaller people typical of 100 years ago and were rather cramped. Try watching a film like The Last Emperor in small restrictive seating and discover your comfort limitations. Ouch! I understand that they have since redone the seating but The Mayan outclasses them on that subject. I highly recommend The Mayan for the atmosphere, good eclectic films and clients and did I mention booze? Indeed, everything I know I learned from booze. Booze, write that down. ...

Way too expensive, the licorice alone was 167,900 euros, I had to go to the ATM in King Sooper's, but then I saw the same licorice brand and type, let alone EXTRA large, for only 167,899 euros, so I had to go back all the way to the Theater, ask he guy who worked there to cancel my order of "Twizzlers Rainbow Splash", then drive all the way back to the King Sooper's location. Once I got the candy, I had to drive to my house in Jackson, Wyoming but by then, my kids and my pregnant wife were dying of starvation, my wife was fired from her job at "Panera Bread", because the whole process of the candy took me 1 month, 3 weeks and 4 days and 1 hour that I hadn't realized, so I had to drive to the nearest hospital, the U.C. Health University of Colorado Hospital to treat my 6 kids and my pregnant wife. Turned out that my Wife's baby had actually already died of undernourishment, and all my kid's skin turned a pale shade of blue due to surviving off of stale chia seeds but by then, It was too late.

P.S.- Never going there again.

By a...