Minneapolis’ Uptown Theatre — the Twin Cities’ premiere venue for arthouse and foreign films — has been closed for more than seven months, so it was exciting to attend this afternoon’s first showing since late January. The movie is “Sleepwalk With Me” but I had to leave before it started.
Before I left, though, I saw that trailers look gorgeous on the new (larger) screen (there seemed to be a sound kink that I am sure has already been fixed). The remodeled theater features brighter colors and much nicer bathrooms. The leather seats — there are, by the way, fewer than half as many (350) as there used to be — are super-comfortable, especially to anyone who remembers the old, pre-gummed, spring-sticking-into-your-butt seats. There’s a bar. There’s still a balcony (although tickets in it now cost two dollars more than regular seats). Sightlines are good from everywhere I checked. I’m sure I’ll get used to the new, reserved seating, even though I’m not especially a fan. And, although the place does look dramatically different, many of the things patrons have loved about the place for decades — the graphic murals on the inside walls, the red-neon-nipple-lights on the ceiling — remain. All in all, it’s nice to have the place lit up again!
