Time Out's "100 Greatest Cinemas in the World" list

[Leo Enticknap]

Here.

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Unsurprisingly, the list is dominated by downtown/city center large, single screen prestige venues. Of that list, I can claim some sort of an association with eleven of them: I've worked at BFI Southbank (#4, though it was called the National Film Theatre in those days) and the Egyptian (#51), I was a regular customer at the Hyde Park (#66) between 2007-11, which at the time claimed to be the last remaining cinema in the world to still use natural gas houselights. I've seen movies at the Chinese (#1), New Bev (#5), Tuschinski (#6), Odeon Leicester Square (20), Curzon Soho (31), Grand (#36, though the movie was Chinese and unsubtitled, so I understood almost none of it), and Cameo (#77). One venue that I service is on the list - the Rustic (#85), assuming that they mean the Rustic in Idyllwild, and that there isn't another one somewhere else in California.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Would be interesting to see a subset list of those that still can do 35mm, 70mm or are equipped with ATMOS, 4K VDR/HDR? DolbyVision etc.

Does being a great cinema require all that? Or is it about the building and experience.

[Mike Blakesley]

It must be theaters that meet some kind of superlative. I see Shankweiler's Drive-In is on the list....which seems notable mainly for being the world's oldest drive-in. Plus the fact they have the most enthusiastic owners I've ever met.

I've never been to the Chinese but I've heard that once you get past the famous facade and courtyard, the theater itself isn't all that different from other large theaters, presentationwise. I do know that it was "Imax'ed" so maybe that's changed. So who knows what the criteria is on this list, but the Chinese probably wins just on fame alone.

[Leo Enticknap]

Plus the fact they have the most enthusiastic owners I've ever met.

I'm sure that is a big part of the reason for the Rustic making the list (if you ever visit, be sure to introduce yourself to Rusty the cat). Like the owners of the Amargosa Opera House on the California/Nevada border, they maintain a lively arts scene in a pretty remote location, which takes huge dedication and commitment. You have to run a special enough place that thousands of people a year are willing to drive for hours on difficult roads to see a show in your theater.

In answer to Ryan's point, some of the theaters on that list are distinguished by their technology offerings, and others for other distinctive features.

[Jim Cassedy]

This list was sent to me earlier this week, but the actual original article is so long that it's
un-postable here. What confuses me, is that the graphic at the head of the article shows
SF's Castro Theater, a 1920's movie palace which recently re-opened after being renovated
and converted to a 'multi-use' film and live music venue. (The seats are now removable so
that the auditorium can become a dance floor or otherwise re-purposed) Since they've re
opened, their calendar is populated with more live music events than film shows so far.
Which brings me to the paragraph in the article right before the list, which specifically says
that they've "gone almost entirely with single-use cinemas rather than venues that double
up as theatres or gig venues. " Which, by their own rules, would seem to exclude The Castro.

For anyone interested in seeing the original article, with pix, etc, you should be able 2C it
by going here - - > https://www.timeout.com/film/the-100...orld-right-now

[Steve Guttag]

I guess the AFI/Silver got snubbed for not being in DC but in Silver Spring, MD. 16, 35, 70mm film, 4K DCPs, 1938 Historic theatre...Curtains on all three screens. It ticks a lot of boxes.

[Mark Ogden]

For that matter, where is the Grand Lake (Oakland), the Coolidge Corner (Boston), the Tara (Atlanta), the Tampa (Tampa), the Vista (Los Angeles), or any number of classic screens that are still up and running. There's nothing exceptional about the Angelica in NYC, it's tiny and cramped with bad projection and subway noise, and the Village East is only good if you're in the main auditorium. #94, the Bellevue, is just ten minutes from my house and is about as nondescript a place as you will find, a so-so balcony conversion but with pretty good technicals.

[Marcel Birgelen]

I've been to some of those on the list during the years and I'd say that it's all a matter of perspective, obviously. I love to visit old movie palaces to soak up the atmosphere or some other oddball venue for the vibes of the place, but sometimes I also just want to wacht a movie with as little distractions as possible, in a comfy seat and with the lights down, the fancy ceiling decoration is way less interesting.

Keeping it local, theater #6 on that list, according to the same magazine/publication the most beautiful theater in the world, the Tuschinski Theater in Amsterdam is really a stunning piece of Art Deco and Art Nouveau architecture... it has decent projection system, retains 70mm capabilities, 7.1 surround that works surprisingly well, despite the challenging multi-level architecture, but it's certainly NOT the best theater if you want the BEST experience in picture and sound... Some of the most expensive seats are the furthest away from the screen and have pretty bad viewing angles.

If you want a real classical theater with a humongous screen, especially when you're sitting in the front rows of one of the TWO balconies, then you have to visit the main hall of Le Gand Rex in Paris (also on the list). Still, you'll have beter sound and a brighter picture in a smaller, more modern venue, like the Infinite room in the same theater, which also has some crazy lightning going on.

I've never been to the Chinese but I've heard that once you get past the famous facade and courtyard, the theater itself isn't all that different from other large theaters, presentationwise. I do know that it was "Imax'ed" so maybe that's changed. So who knows what the criteria is on this list, but the Chinese probably wins just on fame alone.

I've not been there since the IMAX re-do, but yes, before that, it was a rather standard, big theater, with some stunning decoration. My main reason for visiting though, was the 380-channel IOSONO sound system they just installed back then in theater #6, which uses Wave Field Synthesis, similar to what they do in the Vegas Sphere, but in this setting, it actually works.

[Ryan Gallagher]

I also imagine we are in danger of over analyzing their "reasons" for including or excluding theatres in this list. This is basically a travel blog/magazine after all, not an industry specific one.

These sites that make these giant lists are often just doing it to make giant lists. Not like they had a panel of expert curators and judges of cinematic experience. It was probably a list they used many years ago and they just checked to see which ones were still open and added a few more to round it to 100.

Not that they are bad choices for inclusion, just that they are choices.

Of course I might just be shitting on their list because they didn't include our venue. Haha. But we are only movies part of the year. Granted it might be more unique titles than a new release venue does in a year.

[Leo Enticknap]

I also wonder if some of the inclusions were simply because the venue was already known to Time Out for some other reason. Three years ago, they did a "world's most remote cinemas" list, which also included the Rustic. On that thread I queried its qualification as remote, given that in clear traffic you can get there from LA City Hall in a little over two hours. Now it appears on this Time Out list as well. Not that it doesn't deserve to (it's the hub of local cultural life in its community, charming, and very well run), but like everyone here, I can think of others that also deserve to but don't make it onto this list.

[Frank Cox]

It's just lazy article writing.

Magazines have been doing this for years. "Twenty ways to please your boyfriend" and "Ten top sandwich recipes" have been staple magazine fodder for decades.

They involve very little actual writing and you can crank out four before lunch if you have space to fill.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Even worse, I can have AI research and write a better article than this, including more background information about the cinemas itself.

There are entire YouTube channels with millions of subscribers that don't do anything else than just make lists: The 20 best of this, the 30 worst of that, etc.

As a matter of fact, I asked our own AI to come up with a Top 5 of best cinemas in the world, this is what it came up with... Still no AFI Silver, sorry Steve...

Originally this was a Top 10, but that didn't fit in the article, so I threw away half of it... if there are stil "tens" left, that's because I really put in zero effort...

The 5 Best Cinemas in the World

A cinephile's pilgrimage guide to the planet's most extraordinary movie theatres

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In an age of streaming services and home theatre setups, there are still places where watching a film feels like something sacred — where the architecture, the history, and the atmosphere transform a simple screening into an unforgettable experience. These ten cinemas aren't just places to watch movies. They're destinations in their own right: temples of storytelling where the magic of cinema comes alive before the projector even flickers on.

1. TCL Chinese Theatre — Los Angeles, USA

No cinema on Earth is more synonymous with Hollywood glamour than the TCL Chinese Theatre. Built by showman Sid Grauman and opened in May 1927 with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings, this pagoda-shaped palace on Hollywood Boulevard has been the beating heart of the movie industry for nearly a century.

The theatre's famous Forecourt of the Stars — where nearly 200 celebrities have left their handprints and footprints immortalised in concrete — is one of the most visited landmarks in Los Angeles, drawing over four million visitors every year. The tradition is said to have begun when actress Norma Talmadge accidentally stepped into wet cement, though Grauman himself later claimed credit for the idea.

Beyond its celebrity lore, the Chinese Theatre has serious cinematic credentials. It hosted the Academy Awards from 1944 to 1946 and has been the site of legendary premieres, from The Wizard of Oz in 1939 to the original Star Wars in 1977. In 2013, the auditorium was converted into the world's largest IMAX theatre, marrying its historic grandeur with cutting-edge projection and laser-aligned sound technology. It remains the only historic movie palace in America still operating as a first-run cinema — a living monument to the golden age of Hollywood.


2. Royal Theatre Tuschinski — Amsterdam, Netherlands

If there were an award for the most beautiful cinema ever built, the Royal Theatre Tuschinski would win it in a landslide. Opened in 1921 by Polish-Jewish immigrant Abraham Icek Tuschinski, this Amsterdam jewel near Rembrandtplein is a fever dream of architectural styles: Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, and the Amsterdam School all collide in a dazzling explosion of glazed tiles, ceramic sculptures, wrought-iron detailing, and hand-woven carpets.

The main auditorium, with its sweeping twin balconies and ornate ceiling, evokes the grandeur of an opera house. Side rooms once housed a cabaret club called La Gaité, a Japanese tea room, and a Moorish suite inspired by One Thousand and One Nights. Tuschinski's vision was that the experience of visiting his cinema should be as thrilling as the films themselves — and more than a century later, it still is.

The theatre's history carries a profound weight. During the Nazi occupation, Tuschinski and nearly his entire family were murdered at Auschwitz. The cinema was stripped of his name and rebranded "Tivoli." After liberation, the Tuschinski name was restored. On its 100th anniversary in 2021, King Willem-Alexander granted the theatre the royal predicate, and Time Out named it the most beautiful cinema in the world. Today, operated by Pathé and painstakingly restored to its original splendour, it screens everything from Hollywood blockbusters to arthouse gems.


3. Le Grand Rex — Paris, France

Paris has more than a thousand cinema screens, but none command quite the same awe as Le Grand Rex. Modelled after Radio City Music Hall and opened in 1932 — with the legendary Louis Lumière himself in attendance — this Art Deco colossus on the Grands Boulevards is the largest cinema in Europe, with its main auditorium seating a staggering 2,702 people.

Step inside and you'll find yourself in a theatrical fantasyland. The walls of the auditorium are decorated with miniature Mediterranean villas, and the ceiling is painted to resemble a starlit sky. In the 1950s, screenings were sometimes accompanied by swimmers performing in a transparent pool, waterfalls cascading beside the screen, and even erupting volcanoes. A holiday magic waters show carries on that spectacular tradition to this day.

The Grand Rex houses the largest non-IMAX screen in Europe and has played host to premieres for films like Oppenheimer, with Christopher Nolan in attendance. Its giant rotating "REX" rooftop sign is a beacon visible across the Parisian skyline, and guided tours take visitors behind the scenes and up to the roof terraces. Classified as a French historical monument, Le Grand Rex is not merely a cinema — it is a cathedral of the seventh art.


4. Raj Mandir Cinema — Jaipur, India

Known affectionately as "The Pride of Asia," the Raj Mandir is a temple to the joyous chaos of Bollywood cinema. Opened in 1976 in the pink city of Jaipur, this palatial single-screen theatre was designed in the Streamline Moderne style of the 1930s, with a distinctive meringue-shaped auditorium that seats over 1,200 people — and still regularly sells out.

Watching a film at the Raj Mandir is unlike anything else in the world. The lighting scheme shifts throughout the screening, bathing the auditorium in dreamy, ever-changing colours. The audience is anything but passive: expect cheering, whistling, and lively participation at every dramatic turning point. Bollywood epics sometimes play here for over a year, and the interval — complete with samosas and chai — is part of the ritual.

Owned by the Bhuramal Rajmal Surana jeweller family, the Raj Mandir is as much a Jaipur landmark as the Hawa Mahal or the City Palace. Every taxi and rickshaw driver in the city knows it by name. For travellers seeking a truly immersive Indian cultural experience, an evening here is essential.


5. The Electric Cinema — London, England

Tucked into the fashionable streets of Notting Hill, The Electric Cinema is one of the oldest working cinemas in Britain. It first opened its doors in 1910, making it well over a century old — though its current incarnation is anything but antiquated.

After decades of decline and a brief stint as a cultural centre in the 1990s, the Soho House Group took over in 2002 and transformed the space into what might be the most luxurious filmgoing experience in the world. Forget standard seats: here, audiences sink into plush leather armchairs and bed-sized double sofas, draping themselves in cashmere blankets while nibbling on gourmet snacks delivered to their seats. It's intimate, indulgent, and irresistibly decadent.

Despite its boutique scale, The Electric maintains a serious cine-literacy, programming a mix of first-run releases and beloved classics. The adjacent Electric House restaurant and bar makes an evening here feel like a complete occasion. It's proof that sometimes, the best cinematic experiences come in the smallest packages.