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| - The Cedar Lee is a gem: an opportunity for cultural and artistic enrichment and entertainment. I have been coming here to see indie and art films here since 2002. Even during the years that I've lived outside of Cleveland, no visit home is complete without seeing a movie here. So many screens of movies that one cannot find anywhere else in theaters in town!
The employees are so friendly, and it's a pleasure buying tickets and snacks and beverages from them. Alcoholic beverages, too! The wine selection is limited to the basic Gallos, but the beer selection is just fine. Cocktails, too! Though no salted rim on margaritas, alas.
Some of the screens are quite large, with lots and lots of seats. But most of them are small and cozy. Some of the smaller rooms have an aisle on each end; others are more narrow and only have one aisle. The size of the rooms is no problem, but what is a problem for taller folks is that there is not much leg room. I'm only 5'10", but I cannot cross my legs without kneeing the seat in the row in front of me. Usually the theaters are not jam packed, though, which makes the width of the rows less awful than it would otherwise be.
Sometimes the crowd is a bit older than one would expect. For the matinee films, this is to be expected. But I will always remember the humor of seeing Polanski's "Venus in Fur," which is a very sexy and daring film, on a summer Friday night in a packed theater where the youngest patrons after my then-boyf and I were in their 60s.
Parking isn't free. Bring change for the meters behind the theatre or use a credit card at the pay station in the parking garage.
I'm so glad that the Cedar Lee exists, and that it served as a mecca for me, especially when I was a young person, for how to learn about the world and the human experience through film. I'll go see a blockbuster in a crazy big theater with reclining seats, but I would hands down rather see an indie film here.
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