Something I forgot to mention in my Tron post this morning: It was the first movie I saw at the new Cinerama (yeah, so sue me for not caring about the Harry Potter movies). Everything I loved about the old Cinerama was still there: The lobby is largely unchanged, except for two neat display cases of classic movie costumes, and the screen is still mammoth. (It's been updated for 3D, which I don't really care about but will probably make them more competitive in the coming months, when seemingly every movie will be released in 3D.)

But it was such a pleasure to get a good cup of tea for a couple bucks and settle in early on a Saturday afternoon for an immersive moviegoing experience. In a time when we've lost two great pieces of Seattle cinema history in quick succession, it's great to know that the Cinerama is still going strong. It actually makes bad or mediocre movies a little bit better.

And it's super-nerdy, too! The Christmas tree in the lobby is festooned with light sabers. A sci-fi short film festival will be coming soon, and there are rumblings of a Godzilla film festival, too. It's wonderful that we've managed to get such a great theater back from the management of one of the big chains; now we have to make sure we actually give them our business so we can keep the Cinerama around. It's one of the things that makes Seattle great.