Movie Theaters in Philadelphia

The Bridge — Cinema de Lux (230 S. 40th Street)

The Bridge is a great new movie theater in Philadelphia that is located on UPenn’s campus in University City. It’s the theater of choice because it looks great, is clean, and even has a swanky little bar and lounge area for guests. So you can get to the theater a little early and have a martini and an appetizer while watching television. The crowd is mixed, adult, and generally more well behaved than at other theaters in the area. This theater has stadium seating and is priced average at about $9.25. You can catch a show as late as 12:30am at the Bridge. The only downside is that I don’t think this theater has discounted shows when you go early in the day. If you’re visiting Philly and you want to catch a movie, this is the place to be.

AMC Marple (400 South State Rd, Springfield PA)

The AMC Marple movie theater is located about 15 minutes outside of the Philadelphia borders, but it is a great theater that is worth mentioning. I love this theater because it’s quiet, clean, and usually has all of the shows that I want to see. The price is slightly higher than average at close to $10, but they also have discounted shows early in the day. The theater usually has showings as late ast 10 or 11pm.

UA Grant Plaza 9 (1619 Grant Avenue off Roosevelt Boulevard)

I came upon this theater by accident, because all of my other usual choices didn’t have convenient show times. This is a nice Philadelphia area movie theater-nothing flashy by any means. It serves its purpose. It is a mid-sized theater that’s located pretty far from the center of the city. But it has a lower price than other theaters in the area at about $8.50 and showtimes as late as about 10:30 or 11pm. They also have discounted shows before a certain time.

UA Riverview Stadium Theater (1400 South Columbus Boulevard)

I used to go to the Riverview movie theater in Philadelphia on dates-it used to be a great experience. Over time, the theater declined in quality and standards which caused me to start avoiding it like the plague. It is conveniently located on Columbus Boulevard in Philadelphia. It’s a large theater that has showing as late as midnight. The price for an adult ticket is average at about $9.25. Tickets are discounted for most showings before 5pm on weekdays and before 3pm on weekends. The only advice I can give is it never visit this theater during times when the kids are out of school or hanging out. They are the bane of this theater-when they arrive in groups it will be almost impossible to watch a movie in peace.

Pearl Theater at Temple (1600 N Broad Street)

When I went into this Philadelphia movie theater for the first time with my little sister to see a kids movie, the manager and two employees sat there for about 10 minutes and ignored me while they counted money. I was the only person there. When I finally asked “Is this where I get tickets” the manager ignored me. When I asked again, he grunted out a response. Then I waited another five minutes. When they finally decided to do their job and serve customers, they refused to sell me a ticket to the showing because it was more than 20 minutes after it started. A complete waste of time.

From what I saw, the Pearl Theater is an example of another one of those places in Philly that you want to avoid like a plague. It is run by ignorant locals who don’t care about customer service. I have heard that it is also one of those places where people chat away while the movie is playing. Though I didn’t get past the registers, appearance wise from the outside the theater is pretty nice, and the price was about average compared to other theaters at about $9.50 for an adult. But if you value being treated with respect when you go out to spend money, this theater is not for you.