Closing of the Uptown Theatre and Edina Cinema

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IceBoxGopher

IceBoxGopher

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Little late in posting this but was wondering if anyone else was upset that the Twin Cities is losing these theaters. Both have shown a lot of great movies and the Uptown was an especially nice place to see a film.

From the last few years, some of my favorites I watched at the Uptown were:
  • Jackie, 2016
  • Call Me By Your Name, 2018
  • Boy Erased, 2018
  • On the Basis of Sex, 2018
  • Jojo Rabbit, 2019
  • Dark Waters, 2019
And at the Edina Cinema, some standouts standouts were:
  • Carol, 2015
  • Manchester by the Sea, 2016
  • Lion, 2016
  • Elle, 2016
  • Last Flag Flying, 2017
  • Lady Bird, 2017
Anyone else have some great memories from these cinemas?
 


I remember seeing The Muppet Movie as a kid opening weekend at the Edina. Recently saw Marriage Story there and probably before that it was Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

The Uptown, pretty much all the Wes Anderson movies as well as midnight showings of This is Spinal Tap and The Big Lebowski are highlights.
 


IceBoxGopher said:
Little late in posting this but was wondering if anyone else was upset that the Twin Cities is losing these theaters. Both have shown a lot of great movies and the Uptown was an especially nice place to see a film.

From the last few years, some of my favorites I watched at the Uptown were:
  • Jackie, 2016
  • Call Me By Your Name, 2018
  • Boy Erased, 2018
  • On the Basis of Sex, 2018
  • Jojo Rabbit, 2019
  • Dark Waters, 2019
And at the Edina Cinema, some standouts standouts were:
  • Carol, 2015
  • Manchester by the Sea, 2016
  • Lion, 2016
  • Elle, 2016
  • Last Flag Flying, 2017
  • Lady Bird, 2017
Anyone else have some great memories from these cinemas?
Click to expand...

Last Flag Flying is a really good Richard Linklater film which got virtually zero publicity, which is surprising given the A-list cast (Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston & Laurence Fishburne).

Very underrated, in my opinion.
 


Yeah this is a bummer. Lots of great memories. Midnight showing of Rocky horror picture show, opening night for the bonkers movie Brotherhood of the Wolf, Oscar nominated short films and Oscar nominated animated films every year. Catching the David Bowie vehicle the man who fell to Earth when i was there for one or two nights showing for the 40th anniversary. The night I brought up bottle of champagne in and loudly popped the Cork and drank before drinking it just to see if anyone would say anything.

And that's just the uptown! Biggest memory of the Edina was probably going to see the movie Cavalry starring Brendan Gleason. After that ending the theater was dead silent until a couple of women behind me started crying. Walked out to my car and had to pull myself together for a few minutes before I could drive.
 

I saw parenthood at the Edina…. I was too young so I thought it was crap.
 

I remember the Uptown showing a collection of animation - maybe the top animated shorts of the year or something like that - both US and foreign. Included "Bambi vs Godzilla" - a classic. Memory is a little fuzzy.....might have been smoking something......

But the point is that it was one theater that was willing to run different types of material - not just the current releases.

Never hit one of the "Rocky Horror" midnight shows - wish I had.
 





short ornery norwegian said:
I remember the Uptown showing a collection of animation - maybe the top animated shorts of the year or something like that - both US and foreign. Included "Bambi vs Godzilla" - a classic. Memory is a little fuzzy.....might have been smoking something......

But the point is that it was one theater that was willing to run different types of material - not just the current releases.

Never hit one of the "Rocky Horror" midnight shows - wish I had.
Click to expand...
I'm going to guess that was the old Spike and Mike Animation Festival or the Spike and Mike Sick and Twisted Festival. They would come through town for a real limited time. Like you, there's kind of a fog around my memories of those. :)
 

Spike and Mike, for sure. But they also showed the Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts. And those were a lot of fun as well.

Rocky Horror was fun.

Can't begin to list all the movies I have seen at Edina, or Uptown, too many to list.
For the Edina, I can most remember Something about Mary when Favre hit the screen. The booing.

Hell, I still miss the Suburban World.
 

saintpaulguy said:
Spike and Mike, for sure. But they also showed the Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts. And those were a lot of fun as well.

Rocky Horror was fun.

Can't begin to list all the movies I have seen at Edina, or Uptown, too many to list.
For the Edina, I can most remember Something about Mary when Favre hit the screen. The booing.

Hell, I still miss the Suburban World.
Click to expand...
I still miss the Hollywood in NE Mpls.
 



saintpaulguy said:
Spike and Mike, for sure. But they also showed the Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts. And those were a lot of fun as well.

Rocky Horror was fun.

Can't begin to list all the movies I have seen at Edina, or Uptown, too many to list.
For the Edina, I can most remember Something about Mary when Favre hit the screen. The booing.

Hell, I still miss the Suburban World.
Click to expand...
Yep, Spike and Mike was a quite a bit farther back. As I mentioned above I'm a huge fan of the The Oscar Nominates Shorts, both animated and live actIon.

And I see the Suburban World is operating again under a new name. Not sure if they are ever doing movies again but it would be cool to check out some live music there for a trip down memory lane. It really was a shame how that place slid. A friend of mine installed a nice sound system for them some years back but the owner at the time just didn't make it work. Last time I saw live music there about 15 years back there was no heat in the middle of winter.

granadampls.com

Home

Your Uptown bar, restaurant and event venue of choice to enjoy food, drinks, live music and performances. Make a reservation or call today.
granadampls.com granadampls.com
 

Frink said:
Yep, Spike and Mike was a quite a bit farther back. As I mentioned above I'm a huge fan of the The Oscar Nominates Shorts, both animated and live actIon.

And I see the Suburban World is operating again under a new name. Not sure if they are ever doing movies again but it would be cool to check out some live music there for a trip down memory lane. It really was a shame how that place slid. A friend of mine installed a nice sound system for them some years back but the owner at the time just didn't make it work. Last time I saw live music there about 15 years back there was no heat in the middle of winter.

granadampls.com

Home

Your Uptown bar, restaurant and event venue of choice to enjoy food, drinks, live music and performances. Make a reservation or call today.
granadampls.com granadampls.com
Click to expand...
Interesting. I knew a few people who tried to do a restaurant there a bunch of years ago. Didn't work obviously.
 

Last thing I saw there was a midnight screening of The Room, it was years ago. I used to drive by that sign everyday when I lived in Uptown. It seems so strange that and Rainbow will be gone.
 

Plans are for Uptown Theater to resurface as a concert/entertainment venue. Even before I read the article, my thoughts were parking would be a nightmare. That's called out.

Also I'm not sure the Twin Cities needs another one at that similar size, but sure I would go.

www.startribune.com

Uptown Theatre, a Minneapolis landmark, will be transformed into a music/events center

Single-screen movie houses "are dinosaurs," said owner Ned Abdul, who previously remade the Armory into a concert venue.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

I love the call out to Clerks in the picture on the marquee.
 

I saw Blair Witch Project midnight showing there
also,
A Serious Man
The Room

I saw tons of movies at Edina as well. I had the short lived "movie pass" that eventually only worked at Landmark theaters and I would go to 2 movies a week at those theaters.
 

I saw the Blair Witch Project there as well. 90 degrees and the air conditioning wasn't working. Someone puked. They covered the seat with a plastic garbage bag. Horrible... Still loved that theater.
 

Last thing I saw at the Uptown was Oscar nominated shorts in 2017. Don’t remember any except “pear cider and cigarettes“. That was intense.
 

Also saw Blair Witch there. Great experience. Saw Rear Window when they randomly played it one weekend. Several midnight showings of The Room. And much more. Sad it’s gone.
 

Glad to see this thread comeback as I had meant to mention this. Not sure if the new plans involve movies but at least it won't be turned into luxury apartments.

www.kare11.com

Major overhaul in the works for Uptown Theater in Minneapolis

According to a city spokesperson, the owners of the building submitted a permit to add 10,000 square feet of new floor to turn it into a new entertainment venue.
www.kare11.com www.kare11.com
 

Not too surprising that it closed. Already more of a niche venue. And with the pandemic, theaters were struggling.

Still hurts. But Lagoon is still running. Only theater I really go to these days is Alamo out in Woodbury. Only place where I know I won't have to deal with people talking and being rude.
 

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