The old Bytowne cinema has been a fixture in Ottawa since 1947, it's the original building at 325 Rideau street, one of the oldest streets in By Town (Ottawa) it was the highway East to Montreal in the 19th century. It remains one of the major roads in Ottawa leading to Parliament Hill.
The one screen cinema was built by the Berlin Family of Ottawa and opened in February 1947 as the Nelson Cinema. It was operated as one of Ottawa's main cinema house for many decades until it was closed in 1988. The Berlin family sold the building to the operators of the independent Towne Cinema of Beechwood ave in the New Edinburgh area of Ottawa. They renamed it the ByTowne in honour of Ottawa's original name of Bytown. It has become the venue for alternative and foreign films.
The Bytowne shows a variety of Foreign films each month and films from International Film Festivals which would not be shown at regular cinemas. It has become sort of a club, you often recognize the patrons. It is relatively small about 640 seats, one screen. You can buy a yearly membership which allows you to pay only $7.00 dllrs per movie, which is not bad in this day and age of high prices.
Today we went to see the new Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris, cliché ridden with flat acting, characters we cannot really relate too. The story line is interesting and the shots of Paris beautiful. It reminded me of Brigadoon in a weird sort of way. Owen Wilson plays the role of the American writer who wants to live in 1920 Paris, this role would have been played in his younger days by Woody Allen, now too old.
We also saw recently an Italian film with English subtitles, Mine Vagranti (Loose Canons) by Ferzan Ozpetek, a great film, a comedic drama in a contemporary setting in Puglia Italy, engaging and believable. The Bytown is the place to go for a movie, the patrons are quiet and everyone is there to see a good film.
The Bytown the place to be on a cold or rainy day in Ottawa.
The one screen cinema was built by the Berlin Family of Ottawa and opened in February 1947 as the Nelson Cinema. It was operated as one of Ottawa's main cinema house for many decades until it was closed in 1988. The Berlin family sold the building to the operators of the independent Towne Cinema of Beechwood ave in the New Edinburgh area of Ottawa. They renamed it the ByTowne in honour of Ottawa's original name of Bytown. It has become the venue for alternative and foreign films.
The Bytowne shows a variety of Foreign films each month and films from International Film Festivals which would not be shown at regular cinemas. It has become sort of a club, you often recognize the patrons. It is relatively small about 640 seats, one screen. You can buy a yearly membership which allows you to pay only $7.00 dllrs per movie, which is not bad in this day and age of high prices.
Today we went to see the new Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris, cliché ridden with flat acting, characters we cannot really relate too. The story line is interesting and the shots of Paris beautiful. It reminded me of Brigadoon in a weird sort of way. Owen Wilson plays the role of the American writer who wants to live in 1920 Paris, this role would have been played in his younger days by Woody Allen, now too old.
We also saw recently an Italian film with English subtitles, Mine Vagranti (Loose Canons) by Ferzan Ozpetek, a great film, a comedic drama in a contemporary setting in Puglia Italy, engaging and believable. The Bytown is the place to go for a movie, the patrons are quiet and everyone is there to see a good film.
The Bytown the place to be on a cold or rainy day in Ottawa.
No comments:
Post a Comment