Jon T.
Yelp
To be honest, I'm a sucker for old movie theaters. A beautifully maintained marquee and theaters that actually look like theaters make my heart swoon. But it's also important to keep your cinema relevant with the technology advances over the years. Otherwise, your ability to play big blockbuster hits will be greatly diminished. Fortunately, Capitol Theatre has done a great job at bringing its film-goers the best of both worlds.
Located in Arlington isn't ideal, but it's not too far from Cambridge and fairly easy to get to being right on Mass Ave. As you arrive, you are greeted with that fabulous marquee. When you walk in, the ceilings are low and the theater itself has that delight feeling of having seen many movies pass through its screens. But it also has a wide range of food (ice cream and pizza included), as well as beer.
For my first experience, I saw Star Wars. Not only do I not enjoy going to formula theaters, but Capitol Theatre (and Somerville Theatre) offer great matinee deals before 5pm - $7/ticket! Not everyday you can say you saw Star Wars on opening weekend for less than $10.
But how was the experience? Being screened in theater 1, which I can only guess is their biggest room, I was not disappointed. It was a beautiful room and the picture and sound were both great. Depending on where you were sitting, you might have gotten a slightly awkward view but that's a bit to be expected for an older theater. Plus, you could most likely avoid this scenario when it's not a full house. While they did a great job managing the crowd (had a queue out front that was let in once the previous group was out), I still wish they (and more theaters in the Boston area) had reserved seating. Such an easy concept but makes a huge difference.
Nonetheless, I had really my enjoyable first time around at Capitol Theatre and look forward to checking it out again soon. Between it and Somerville Theatre, you can check out most new movies, and for that I'm very glad.