Thursday Theatre Review: AMC Loews Village 7

Weekly to a new feature here at Movies with Abe, Thursday Theatre Review. As a resident of one of the world’s foremost movie capitals, I’ve been to a number of movie theatres in New York City and have developed preferences. There’s no perfect theatre, but there are a few things that can make or break a movie-going experience. In no particular order, this is a guide to movie theatres in Manhattan.

AMC Loews Village 7

Note: the next few weeks will feature AMC theatres since there are so many of them in the city.

Location: On 3rd Avenue in between 11th St and 12th St, it’s a good spot on the east side downtown, not too far from Union Square. There’s a Chinese restaurant on the same block, Ben & Jerry’s nearby, and a whole bunch of stores, delis, and supermarkets. If you’re an NYU student, it’s especially convenient given one of the dorms is directly across the street.

Pricing: Standard tickets are $13 (surcharge for 3-D and IMAX). Like other AMC theatres, all showtimes before noon, seven days a week, are only $6. Pre-purchased discount passes, which are either $6.50 or $8, depending on how new the film is, are also accepted.

Film selection: Usually pretty good. There are often independent offerings, and also different smaller film festivals sometimes play there (Tribeca also has a lot of their screenings at this theatre). The negative is that, if a movie is playing at the Regal Union Square, it won’t be playing at this AMC. Currently showing: “Dinner for Schmucks,” “Eat Pray Love,” “The Kids are All Right,” “Lottery Ticket,” and “Salt.”

Drawbacks: The $6 before noon feature isn’t so helpful because this theatre often doesn’t have any showtimes before noon on weekends!

Bonus features: The theatre is set up so that there are between one and two auditoriums on each floor with bathrooms on the floors in between. It’s a cool design from top to bottom rather than all laid out on one floor. Additionally, this theatre houses many advance screenings (you’ll see a line forming all the way back down 12th St towards 4th Ave sometimes).

Worth the trip? If you’re in the area. It’s not overly accessible to most of Manhattan and doesn’t always have the best selection of films. If you’re an NYU student, you should plan to go frequently since it’s just so convenient.