Boston Movie Theaters

Where to find the best movie theaters in Boston

From first run movies to indie films, foreign language movies to art movies, Boston movie theaters show them all. 

You'll even find second run movies (usually at somewhat lower tickets prices), science, nature, and avant-garde cutting edge experimental films in movie theaters in Boston.

Use the list below to find Boston movie theaters convenient to your location in the city.  You'll find information about cinema tickets and where to find Boston movie listings and schedule.

Further down on this page, I also list some of my favorite places non-theaters such as the Harvard Film Archive that show films in addition to their other programs.

In addition to Boston movie theaters, I've included some in nearby areas easy to get to by T (Boston's subway), such as Brookline, Cambridge, and Somerville.

Guide to Boston Movie Theaters

Boston - Downtown

AMC Loews Boston Common 19

Address:  175 Tremont Street | map 
Nearest T station:   Red and Green Lines/Park Street
Information:   888-262-4386; local number: 617-423-5801

This huge Boston movie theater complex features 19 screens showing mostly first run films.  Bordering the east side of Boston Common next to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Boston's Theatre District, Loews Boston Common's convenient location is close to restaurants in all price ranges in case you want a bite before or after the show.

Boston - Downtown Waterfront

Simons IMAX Theatre - New England Aquarium

Address:  1 Central Wharf   map 
Nearest T station:   Blue Line/Aquarium
Information:   617-973-5206
Find out what's playing and get show times

As you recline back in your seat and view the slightly curved, enormous 65' x 85' screen at the Simons IMAX, you'll almost feel like you're underwater with the sea creatures that star in most of the films that this theater features.  Located at the New England Aquarium on Boston's Downtown waterfront, the theater sells cinema tickets just for the shows and in combination with Aquarium admission.

Boston - Downtown - Theatre District

Stuart Street Playhouse

Address:  200 Stuart Street, Theatre District
Nearest T station:  Green Line/Arlington
For more information:  617-426-4499; www.stuartstreetplayhouse.com

The newest Boston movie theater is also one of the oldest. 

Located in the Radisson Hotel Boston, the Stuart Street Playhouse opened in 1971 as the Sack Cinema 57, one of the finest Boston movie theaters of its time. 

Alfred Hitchcock appeared here personally in 1972 for the U.S. premiere of "Frenzy."  Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer came here to watch "Aliens" in 1986 while filming "The Witches of Eastwick" in the Boston area.

But the Stuart Street Playhouse fell into decline, along with most of the other dozen-plus Boston movie theaters, when people started watching movies at home.  Since 1996, the space featured live theatrical and music performances.

The transformation of the Playhouse as a movie theatre once again - this time as an art house cinema - is generating a lot of excitement among Boston locals. 

Located on the edge of the Theatre District and Bay Village near the new W Boston Hotel, the Playhouse is ideally located in a part of the city where a lot of things are happening right now.  Let the stars align!

Boston - Fenway

Regal Fenway Stadium 13

Address:  201 Brookline Ave    map
Nearest T station:   Green Line D/Fenway
Information:   617-424-6111

You'll find mostly first-run commercial movies at the 13-screen Regal Fenway Stadium theater, a favorite with students from Boston University and other nearby colleges and universities, as well as professionals living nearby in Fenway and Back Bay. 

Boston - West End

Mugar Omni Theater - Boston Museum of Science

Address:  1 Science Park  map
Nearest T station:   Green Line/Lechmere
Information:   617-723-2500
Find out what's playing and get show times

Experience immersion theater as the world's largest film format is projected onto a five-story-tall IMAX® Dome screen and a state of the art audio system surrounds you with sound.  The Mugar Omni Theater features science, nature, and exploration films.  Although the theater is located in the Museum of Science, you can buy cinema tickets just for the Omni films.

Brookline

Coolidge Corner Theatre

Address:  290 Harvard Street, Coolidge Corner neighborhood   map  
Nearest T station:   Green Line C/Coolidge Corner
Information:   617-734-2500; website 

One of the best indie movie theaters in the area.  Originally built as a church in 1906 and reborn as an Art Deco movie palace in 1933, this venerable Boston-area theater almost succumbed to competition from huge suburban multiplex cinemas in the late 1980s. 

After strong community support pulled it back from the brink in 1989, it became a non-for-profit theater and maintains its strong following by screening an interesting mix of foreign language, indie, art, popular, independent, local, and first-run films.  A popular children's series and many movie-related events round out the offerings. 

Cambridge Movie Theaters

AMC Loews Harvard Square 5

Address:  10 Church Street, Harvard Square neighborhood     map
Nearest T station:   Red Line/Harvard
Information:   888-262-4386


You'll find mostly first run commercial movies at this Cambridge movie theater half a block from Harvard Yard, despite its venerable past as an art house and even a performance stage where Bob Dylan, the Clash, David Bowie, and Iggy Pop played once upon a time.

However, quirkiness creeps in around late September and October, when midnight showings of X-rated American teen-scream cult classic, Rocky Horror Picture Show draw large crowds.  The first live performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show took place here, and the film has been shown here more or less weekly since 1984. 

Even if you've seen the movie a zillion times, you'll enjoy seeing the goth-clad attendees around Harvard Square.  And if you have some black fishnet stockings, old corsets, and white face paint that you've been dying to put on, this is the place and occasion where you can do so and not stand out in the crowd.

Brattle Theatre

Address:  40 Brattle Street, Harvard Square      map
Nearest T station:   Red Line/Harvard
Information:   617-876-6837; website 

Specializes in classic, indie, foreign, and art films, including occasional first run movies in these categories.  Especially interesting are their repertory programs showcasing the work of a particular director, genre, or actor. 

Occasional live music performances and special readings/book signings by authors are well-worth checking out. 

Warning: you may swear that the seating hasn't been updated since 1953 when movies started being shown here - best to just think of it as part of the ambiance.

Entertainment Cinemas - Fresh Pond

Address:  168 Alewife Brook Parkway, North Cambridge neighborhood, almost on the Arlington/Belmont border     map
Nearest T station:   Red Line/Alewife (5 minute walk to the theater)
Information:   617-876-6837
 

First and second run commercial films.  Fresh Pond's location near the Alewife T station makes it convenient for anyone living in other parts of Cambridge, as well as Arlington, Medford, and Belmont. 

Kendall Square Cinema

Address:  1 Kendall Square (between MIT and Central Square), Kendall Square neighborhood   map
Nearest T station:   Red Line/Kendall-MIT
Information:   617-499-1966; website 

The 9-screen Kendall Square Cinema has won hoards of loyal fans with its eclectic mix of foreign language, restored classics, independent, and documentary films, plus Boston premiers, film festivals, and special screenings.  Another great indie movie theater in the Boston area.

Somerville

Somerville Theatre

Address:  55 Davis Square, Davis Square neighborhood     map
Nearest T station:   Red Line/Davis
Information:   617-625-5700
 

Mix of first and second run commercial movies plus art, cult, and indie films in hip Davis Square, Somerville.  The Somerville Theatre also hosts interesting live productions and shows, as well as film festivals. 

The Somerville Theatre is a former live theater that's been converted to a movie theater but still does double-duty as a real theater/performance/concert venue when films aren't showing.  Sound interesting?  It can be very interesting . . . just ask those who caught the recent U2 performance here! 

Unlike any other commercial movie theater in the Boston area, the Somerville Theater serves beer and wine, good eats such as Richardson ice cream, and even allows you to bring in outside food.  After the show, as a bonus, you can stop by the Museum of Bad Art, located in the basement.  Oh, as still another bonus, movie tickets are reasonably priced.

The theater is just steps from the T station, as well all the other cool Davis Square restaurants and bars - Redbones BBQ, Diva, Johnny D's, and much, much more.  This could easily become your favorite spot to catch a flick in the Boston area.

Not Boston Movie Theaters - but these places sometimes show interesting movies

Boston Public Library

Address:  700 Boylston Street, Copley Square, Back Bay, Boston     map
Nearest T station:   Green Line/Copley
Information:   617-536-5400; website (click on News & Events and then Upcoming Events on top menu)

The BPL periodically shows movies, and they're usually family-friendly - and free.  Even if you don't find movies listed, check out the Library's concerts, lectures, and children's activities.  Sometimes movies are shown as part of a lecture.

French Library (Alliance Francaise of Boston)

Address:  53 Marlborough Street, Back Bay, Boston  map
Nearest T station:   Green Line/Copley
Information:   617-912-0400; website (click on Calendar and Film on top menu)

If you speak (or understand) French, you'll want to see if their events schedule includes movies.  Currently, they feature a Cine-Club for children every Saturday from 11:30am-2pm.

Harvard Film Archive

Address:  Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, 24 Quincy Street, Cambridge
Nearest T station:   Red Line/ Harvard
Information:   617-495-4700; website (click on Calendar on top menu)

Films from the Harvard Film Archive are shown in the 200-seat Carpenter Center theater on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights year-round.  Selections are chosen from the 14,000 film (and growing) archive, and typically cover a wide range of genres and countries. 

Although this technically isn't a Boston movie theater, it's quickly becoming a film-viewing venue of choice as the archive grows.  Cinema tickets go on sale 45 minutes before the show. 

Museum of Fine Arts

Address:  465 Huntington Ave, Fenway, Boston  map
Nearest T station:   Green Line E/Museum
Information:   617-267-9300; website (click on Events on top menu)

The MFA's almost continuous offering of films includes foreign films, classics, independent films, local films, and avant-garde experimental films.  A number of annual film festivals, Boston premiers, exhibit-related films, and presentations by film producers and directors round out the ample offerings.  You'll normally find lots to choose from here, and the selections are often things that you won't see elsewhere - so if you like the genre's that MFA shows, they're definitely worth checking out.