04/09/08

My favorite movie theater

by hardboiled

Portland has such great cheap entertainment and the Academy is a great addition to the list but definitely stands out because its not only cheap, but its clean, modern yet retro styled, has good beer and food and plays a good variety of shows. They also offer babysitting although I haven't tried it. In comparison to the some of hte McMenamins theatres, this place has modernized seating that is tiered so you can actually see the movie and people are generally quieter during the film because if feels like a real theater. I love this place and wish it were closer to my house!

01/09/08

best theater in portland

by vpiazza

i love this place. good selection of movies, super-friendly people, great food and beverages, reasonably prices, comfy seats, never crowded, not too loud (most theaters try to make you deaf, i think).

if it has a drawback, it is the parking, but i usually find a spot within 2 blocks. also, if you need to park further away, head south. the walk in the spring and summer in amazing for gardens that carry into the sidewalks.

• Pros: food, service
• Cons: parking

02/08/07

Best

by sckaiser

This 'second run' theatre is the best, better than the Laurelhurst. The only reason I gave it a 9.5 instead of a 10 is because of the parking, which is street parking. There is nothing I don't love about this place. Not only can you get pizza from Flying Pie Pizzeria but you can get tasty salads.....for those watching their waist. They not only have beer on tap, but hard cider on tap (being a non beer drinker, this I love). The theater's are very comfortable and easy to access. The whole place is extremely clean and well kept. The ambience is warm and inviting. Oh, there are no trailers before the movie. How much better can you get, other than the price being awesome.

• Pros: Everything, except street parking
• Cons: Only Street Parking

01/24/07

They do everything right.

by jpkpdx

The following are things I really like about the Academy: No commercials before the film, just quiet music. Movies start right on time. All new amenities - sound system and video quality are great, and the seating is comfy - plus nice food trays that fit into the cup holders. Friendly staff. Pleasant neighborhood atmosphere. Good selection of food and drink at reasonable prices. My kids are too old to need babysitting, but even though I don't take advantage of this service, the Academy is my theater of choice for all the other reasons. I have pretty much given up on the megaplexes, now the only place that keeps me from seeing everything on DVD is the Academy.

• Pros: Friendly, comfortable, new technology in a pleasant older space.
• Cons: Parking is easy in the heating company lot behind the theater. I wish it were clearly posted in the lot that theater parking is ok.

01/02/07

Great pizza, very nice staff! Overall AAA+++

by emilydaniels

I love the Academy! What could be better than a great slice of pizza, a cheap movie, and a good beer? The customer service is excellent!

• Pros: Child Care, Beer, Pizza
• Cons: None

12/19/06

Perfect for families

by justapeep

The Academy Theater is a great place for families. We can take our 3 year old to see a movie and have babysitting for our 1 year old in the same place. The babysitting area is great and the staff are wonderful. I can also go see a movie by myself and leave the kids in the babysitting area. I love it!!

• Pros: they usually have kids movies, they have babysitting, they are family friendly
• Cons: the babysitting fills up fast on weekends

12/14/06

Best option for a family with young kids

by kirdito

Love. Love. Love. That is all we have for the Academy. With a baby, we thought we would never go out again. Then we found this! Movies! Food! Beer! BABYSITTING! Heathy kids snacks! We want to come here every day. We are so grateful that this exists and tell everyone about it!

• Pros: BABYSITTING! Clean, inexpensive, good food!

10/18/06

Wow! Old-timey atmosphere and super friendly staff

by oldmom

What a great little neighborhood find.

For $10 my son and I bought Two admissions, one medium popcorn, one medium soda and a bag of candy.

The seats are so comfy and the stadium seating is great.

Had I known they sold Pizza , we would have had dinner there too.

The theater is just beautiful...I'll be recommending this place to everyone.

• Pros: Cheap, clean, friendly and great old theater atmosphere too.
• Cons: None that I can think of.

10/13/06

Great theater

by inganelson

wonderful seats, good pizza, delicious chocolates. The only thing I'd like to see is better beer selections- it would be great to have laurelwood or big sky or rogue or lucky lab beer.

09/29/06

Thanks Goodness

by seattlemoviegoer

First off, I'm really happy about the rebirth of the Academy Theatre. I went here when I was in high school. The restoration (lobby) is wonderful. The price is amazingly inexpensive (they could raise it to $5 and it would still be a steal). The babysitting is a terrific idea (tho the original theatre had a great cry room with a glass wall). Now...the disappointment--i realize the financial need to have mulitple auditoriums just to turn a profit. However, this practice of taking a beautiful one-screen showhouse and chopping it up into bland, shoebox auditoriums was a bad idea in the 70s. I wish they had really "restored" the place with the one screen. They could have done just as well with innovative bookings and other features (using it for corporate rentals, concerts, jazz offerings, student film showing daily, etc.). All of the nit picking aside, they've done a terrific job, multiple screens and all. At least it's not a Nickel Ads warehouse anymore.