Movies in Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor is a great city for watching movies. There are two theaters located  very conveniently a block from central campus:

1. The Michigan Theater at the corner of State and Liberty streets is a classic "movie palace" and a center of "culture" in Ann Arbor. Housed in an old and ornate building with two movie screens, and  built in 1928, the theater feels a lot more like an opera house than modern American movie theaters. Seeing a movie here is a must-do in Ann Arbor. 

The theater tends to show more art/independent/foreign films than normal American movie theaters (which I consider a very good thing!). Many of these films are not easy to find if you don't live nearby a theater with such a diverse collection. However, the theater also shows some popular blockbusters (especially in the winter, when it tends to show almost every movie that is nominated for Best Picture in the Academy Awards/ Oscars). 

The Theater does not only show new movies; it often shows classic old movies (for example, the Bell's Summer Classic Film Series), or films that are sponsored by various University of Michigan film or cultural studies programs.    

Besides movies, the theater is also a center for other types of cultural events-- including concerts and stage plays, for example, I went to a James Blunt concert during my first visit to AA. It also houses some major film festivals: namely the Ann Arbor Experimental Film Festival, and more recently, Cinetopia. Be warned, the movies at these festivals are often pretty strange :). 

One aspect of the theater's charm is its pipe organ. The pipe organ at the Michigan theater is one of few that has not been updated digitally and has not been moved from its original location. Before many showings of night films, an organist will play the organ while the guests are being seated. 

2. The State theater is less than a block away from the Michigan Theater. It is also in a nice old building, though probably less majestic than the Michigan Theater, and also has two screens. The State Theater is operated by the same people as the Michigan, and has a similar selection of films. Often, a movie will move from the Michigan theater to the State, in order to move a new movie in to the Michigan. Another popular option at the State is the Midnight Movie; which takes place in a Saturday night at midnight. This is often a little bit trashier movie-- a comedy or horror film. On Halloween, they show a classic American cult film called the Rocky Horror Picture Show--- people dress up, sing songs and cheer while the movie is being shown.

3. There are two "traditional" American cineplexes within a 10-20 minute drive of Ann Arbor: Rave Motion Pictures on Carpenter Road in Ypsilanti and Goodrich Quality 16 on Jackson Road in Ann Arbor. At these, you will get the usual major american movie experience. The two specialty theaters I listed above are small, so for many new movies, your only option will be drive to one of these two cineplexes. On certain days of the week, they have various discounts- check out their websites before driving over!

4. Renting movies can be a fun way to get in touch with movie culture, and to improve your English (I have seen this work before!). For doing this, I highly recommend Askwith Media Library, on the second floor of the Undegraduate Library (often called the UGLI), on central campus. Nearly every movie I have ever wanted to see, in addition to almost every TV series, and many books on tape, is available for checkout here for free to Michigan students. 

Another good option is the Ann Arbor District Library (which also has free rentals); I don't know much about the selection of movies here, but one advantage is the district library has locations all over Ann Arbor. 

Finally, Netflix is a cheap paid subscription website, which many college students find useful for renting movies, either by mail or from online streaming (although the streaming collection is not as large. 

Written by Wendy Shang

Ph.D. student in Mathematics