SIFF Cinema Downtown — Attraction in Seattle

This is one of my favorite theaters in Seattle. I've been going here for big movies since I was a little girl (before the remodel). I fondly remember watching the Star Wars rerelease there and a giant paper mache Jabba in the corner. I waited in line for hours to see Lord of the Rings here. It's a Seattle institution. I'm glad Paul Allen saved it from becoming a rock climbing wall. There are not that many Cinerama screens anymore (I actually love it when they show the old Cinerama movies there). I prefer it to IMAX because it's big screen but not overwhelming; it feels more intimate.

The remodel has made it even better. Comfortable seats, and no sticky floors. But more importantly, reserved seats means no more waiting in line for hours. But also -theo chocolate popcorn, beer and wine, local sausages and other treats! The food is great. The women's bathroom had enough stalls that you usually don't have to wait too long even at the end of the movie.

I am so glad that this theater is still here in the city- and that they will run festivals with classic movies as well (I saw Ben-Hur here, as well as the original Rear Window, and some more modern movies I hadn't seen on the big screen like...

Came here for the first time during SIFF 2024. The theater is beautiful and new and modern as expected of a brand new theater. Huge screen and good sound quality.

The best thing about this place is of course the chocolate popcorn, which currently is the SAME price as the regular popcorn. As a first timer, I went for the full chocolate popcorn and I regretted it because it was too much after eating 2 cups. I would fully recommend the mixed popcorn because you get the salty from the normal popcorn and the sweet from the chocolate popcorn. Surprisingly the chocolate does not melt because it just coats the popcorn and it makes a harder outer shell coating. So you don't have to worry about getting your hands all covered in chocolate ( which was what I was afraid of at first).

Recommendations: if you need to read subtitles in a movie, don't sit in the front because the chairs lean back(whether you want it to or not) and when you lean back, you can't really see the bottom of the screen. The balcony is nice but the chairs up there do not lean back, and if you sit in the front row of the balcony, you'll get a Blocked view by the balcony handrails if you are a...

I just cannot get into the chocolate popcorn. It is overwhelmingly sweet to my taste, but many people seem to love it. The bummer though is that their regular popcorn has the most artificial-flavored butter topping I've ever tasted. I wish that, given their other premium level snacks, they would upgrade to real butter. Definitely the worst popcorn I've had in Seattle movie theaters.

As far as the actual theater experience - the image quality is spectacular and I love the Dolby Atmos sound as well. Particularly when they have the wide curved Cinerama screen it's a special experience, and I love attending for the 70mm fest.

When it comes to any big blockbuster that shows in full ratio IMAX, I'd still choose the Boeing IMAX Theater at the Pacific Science Center first. You have to get there early, as they don't have assigned seats like Cinerama, but the image quality and sound just pass Cinerama's for me. This is certainly the 2nd best theater to go to for technical...