Search results
Seattle Film Festival 2024. June 26-30, with screenings at the Grand Illusion on June 27, 28, & 29. More info and ticketing. MASKING RULES & GUIDELINES. Masks remain required for weekend screenings before 6pm and for select special event screenings as noted. Masks are encouraged for all other screenings, but not required. Why are we doing this?
- About
Opened in 1970 by Randy Findley in a converted dentist’s...
- Calendar
Join our email community to get the latest news from the...
- Tickets & Membership
Receive reduced admission for films at The Grand Illusion...
- Rental
It is dependent upon our regular schedule and we book our...
- Mountainside
Mountainside - Grand Illusion Cinema - The Grand Illusion...
- Clockwatchers
Clockwatchers - Grand Illusion Cinema - The Grand Illusion...
- About
- It Happened at The World’S Fair
- Harry and The Hendersons
- Say Anything
- My Own Private Idaho
- 10 Things I Hate About You
- The Ring
- The Wicker Man
- Battle in Seattle
- 50/50
- Safety Not Guaranteed
This is a film starring The King, aka Elivs, which was released in 1963, a year after Seattle held the World’s Fair. The movie’s filmed-on-location set, which was situated at the time of the world’s tallest structure west of the Mississippi, with the world’s first rotating restaurant, was almost as fascinating as Elvis himself! It Happened at the W...
For Bigfoot lovers, Harry And The Hendersons (1987)is the film to watch. It’s about a Seattle family that hits a bigfoot with their automobile while returning from a camping vacation and is akin to Beethoven. George Henderson (a generically macho, flannel-clad hunting dad) binds the comatose Harry (the beast) to the top of the family’s station wago...
The setting of this famous coming-of-age narrative is Seattle, yet the city is barely mentioned briefly. There are no visible landmarks, only some recognized streets if you remember how they appeared in the 1980s, a drive-by of Bob’s Java Jive (a local landmark that is really in Tacoma), and a brief mention of Bell Square (one of the most popular m...
Mike Waters is a gay hustler with narcolepsy in this rough rendition of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV” and Scott Favor is the mayor’s rebellious son. In search of Mike’s estranged mother, the two journey from Portland, Oregon, via Idaho, and eventually to the coast of Italy. They do pranks for money and drugs along the way, finally gaining the attention ...
10 Things I Hate About Youis a rough adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew starring the late and great Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles. The concept isn’t very original—a student (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) tries to pair the clever high school misfit (Stiles) with the bad guy (Ledger)—but this romantic comedy is utterly entertaining. It takes...
Is Gore Verbinski’s adaption of a Japanese horror film really a look at post-WTO Seattle’s globalization fears? Maybe. Is The Ringa moody genre film featuring Naomi Watts as a Seattle P-I journalist who discovers a video recording that transforms viewers into a fatal nightmare? Absolutely. The Ring is one of the very best horror films from the 2000...
This adaptation of the Christopher Lee film from 1973 is arguably the best good-bad film ever set in Washington. In The Wicker Man, a haunted officer (played by Nicolas Cage) travels to a fictional San Juan island to hunt his ex-fiance’s kid. He encounters an all-women cabal of artisanal honey growers there, descended from Salem witches and very in...
This 2007 film starring Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron is based on the genuine 1999 Seattle World Trade Organization demonstrations. This film, which follows tens of thousands of people from student groups, labor unions, non-governmental organizations, and anarchists as they converge in Seattle, provides a fascinating look at the city’s activit...
50/50is a comedy is set in Seattle and filmed in Vancouver that follows Adam (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who is diagnosed with cancer at the age of 27. He confronts his relationships as his body deteriorates. Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick play his closest buddy and his just-starting-out therapist, respectively. While the stoned-dirty-sweet-poi...
Colin Trevorrow directed this Sundance success comedy before helming a few of the newer Jurassic Park films. Jake Johnson portrays a snarky Seattle magazine reporter who travels to Ocean Shores, Washington, to write a story about a man (played by Mark Duplass) looking for a time travel companion. A pair of interns accompany the writer. One of them ...
- SIFF Cinema Downtown (formerly Cinerama) Great news for Cinerama fans: the landmark movie theater in Belltown is making a comeback. After SIFF acquired the theater, it reopened in December 2023.
- SIFF Cinema Egyptian. This historic theater in Capitol Hill has a single screen and serves beer, wine, and cider. The interior is absolutely stunning—SIFF describes this location as a “classic Egyptian-themed movie palace.”
- SIFF Cinema Uptown. Another SIFF theater, their Uptown location in Queen Anne has three auditoriums and adult beverages for sale. This is a great theater for fans of indie, foreign, and classic films.
- Central Cinema. Hungry for dinner and a show? Visit Central Cinema in Seattle’s Central District: a dine-in movie theater that lets you enjoy comfort food along with beer and cocktails at your table while you watch your film.
- Samantha Ladwig
- SIFF Cinema Uptown. Cinema, Movie Theater. Uptown in lights | © Charlene McBride / Flickr. The SIFF Cinema Uptown theater—the original of three of SIFF Cinema venues—is a film enthusiast’s hub.
- Grand Illusion Cinema. Cinema, Movie Theater. Grand Illusion Cinema interior | © Patrick Richardson Wright / Grand Illusion Cinema. Named one of the best movie houses by Paste Magazine in 2009, the Grand Illusion Cinema is the longest running independent theater in the city of Seattle.
- Admiral Theater. Cinema, Movie Theater. Admiral marquee | © Admiral Theater. The Admiral Theater in the West Seattle neighborhood has been running since 1942.
- The Majestic Bay. Movie Theater. The theatre offers the most recent movies | © The Majestic Bay. The Majestic Bay theatre, located in the Ballard neighborhood, is an intimate triplex movie theater featuring Dolby Digital sound and wall-to-wall screens.
Nov 22, 2017 · Named for a classic Jean Renoir film, its all-volunteer staff programs a quirky mix of first-run films you won’t see anywhere else, which suits this one-of-a-kind venue.
- Moira Macdonald
Jun 7, 2016 · From rom-coms to horror flicks and everything in between, these 10 famous Seattle film locations will provide you the backdrop to relive all your favorite scenes.
Perhaps the most iconic movie set in Seattle is the 30-year-old classic Sleepless in Seattle, featuring lonely architect Sam (Tom Hanks) meeting his soulmate Annie (Meg Ryan). You can explore Seattle just as Sam does with his friend Jay (Rob Reiner) and his son Jonah (Ross Malinger).
