After a month of searching, we are certain: THIS is N.J's best movie hall
PRINCETON -- It isn't the largest or the loudest theater in New Jersey -- and it doesn't have a golden ceiling or a gluten-free snacking section.
But the Princeton Garden Theatre on Nassau Street in Princeton is, without question, the best movie theater in New Jersey.
After a month spent collecting nominations, tallying thousands of votes and visiting our five incredible finalists, the NJ.com search for the state's greatest film hall has finally reached its rolling credits (luckily with no spectacular flubs, poor Warren Beatty).
Though it was a difficult decision -- all finalists had something tremendous to offer, be it picture quality, comfort or amenities -- we chose the theater that best serves its community, with a robust and unique programming schedule that caters to casual movie-goers, film buffs, college students, live theater aficionados and more.
Outside the Princeton Garden Theatre in Princeton, the winner in NJ.com's search for New Jersey's best movie theater. Feb. 21, 2017. (Bobby Olivier | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) The Garden has since 1920 been a staple of the university town's arts culture, but since reopening in 2014 (managed by the Pennsylvania non-profit Renew Theaters) the venue has thoroughly refreshed its scheduling. It now offers a robust mix of first-run dramas, foreign flicks, Hollywood classics, guest lectures and more.
It's a place where you can see Oscar darlings like "La La Land" or "Moonlight," check out a new documentary (we saw the excellent Syrian doc "Wanati: My Homeland" when we visited last week), or take in a live event -- the theater's prestige was enough to entice a notoriously reclusive director like Terrence Malick to visit last fall and wax poetic about Roberto Rosselini.
And the programming doesn't stop there. A list of classics are rotated through as special events (1980's "The Elephant Man" comes soon) and the theater also broadcasts live theater from London, including a play "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead," starring "Harry Potter" alum Daniel Radcliffe, in May. The kicker is that films run everyday here, unlike the now sporadic schedule of fellow vintage theater and finalist the Landmark Loew's Jersey Theatre in Jersey City.
No other theater in New Jersey gets as eclectic as the Garden, and still maintain the framework that makes any movie experience great. Both theaters of high definition picture, booming sound, and seat 180 patrons -- much more than you'd imagine when viewing the building's modest front. It's rare that you can't score the best seat in the house.
Inside the Princeton Garden Theatre in Princeton, the winner in NJ.com's search for New Jersey's best movie theater. Feb. 21, 2017. (Bobby Olivier | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) And though the concessions aren't quite as varied as the full dinner service of the swanky iPic in Fort Lee or the local biscotti and macaroons of The ShowRoom in Asbury Park, there are still some interesting choices -- German chocolates, craft sodas and BOXED water (half the carbon footprint of bottled water). To boot, the popcorn here was better than any other finalist!
Before each film plays at the Princeton Garden Theatre, the venue plays a unique PSA video, recorded by Oscar-nominated actor Ethan Hawke, a 1988 graduate of The Hun School in Princeton.
While telling patrons to silence their phones, he admits how much time he spent at the Garden as a teen. He calls the place "the best movie theater in the world."
Now that's a grand statement, but as for the Garden's status in New Jersey, we cannot help but to agree.
Employees at the Princeton Garden Theatre in Princeton, the winner in NJ.com's search for New Jersey's best movie theater. Feb. 21, 2017. (Bobby Olivier | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Check out all five N.J.'s best movie theater finalist features:
- Princeton Garden Theatre, Princeton
- Landmark Loew's Jersey Theatre, Jersey City
- Kerasotes ShowPlace 14, Secaucus
Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier and Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.