Baxter Avenue Theater: Top-Tier Cinema in the Highlands
The Baxter Avenue theater is the place to go when you want to see an independent, art-house kind of movie that the national chain theaters in Louisville aren’t carrying. It's the place to go if you’re a cinema perfectionist who wants top-quality 3-D Digital Dolby and the clear, bright image delivered by a high-performance Christie CP2000 SB projector. And the Baxter Avenue theater is the answer when you’re in the mood for a fun midnight showing of a film classic like Pink Floyd: The Wall, 2001: a Space Odyssey, Pee-wee's Big Adventure or The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Whatever you’re looking for, you can settle back into your cushioned seat with a smile on your lips at Baxter Avenue Filmworks, 1250 Bardstown Road behind the Mid City Mall. The eight-screen cinema may not measure up in size to some of the area’s 16-screen behemoths, but it never lacks in quality and film selection, and it enjoys a large following of film fans.
Baxter Avenue Filmworks in the heart of the Highlands neighborhood is part of the locally owned Apex Theatres, which also owns Village 8 Theatres at 4014 Dutchmans Lane.
The Filmworks movie house opened in 1996, bringing movies back to a part of town that had lost its neighborhood cinemas as movie chains moved to multiplex format in the eastern suburbs. It offers first-run, foreign and independent fare in relatively intimate auditoriums with seating capacities from 147 to 237.
Smaller doesn’t mean behind the times, though. The Baxter theater shows digital and 3D films on a par with any of the bigger multiplexes — though possibly on smaller screens. A multimedia video wall hangs above the concession stand, and vintage posters are displayed throughout the theater.
Visitors may also notice hand-painted murals in the concourse and on theater walls. Each is done by a local artist, and those in the theaters celebrate directors who have made valuable contributions to film.
Posted on Feb 8, 2011 by Bill Wolfe
