(in the horniest voice you've ever heard): i will paint you a mighty propaganda
December 28, 2024 at 7:48 PM
(in the horniest voice you've ever heard): i will paint you a mighty propaganda
Opening day of RETURN OF THE JEDI at the SamEric theater in downtown Philadelphia
10-year-old me is likely somewhere in that mob of people. I know I saw ROTD at this theater on opening day right after school. A beautiful theater until it went to seed in the late 90s.
10-year-old me is likely somewhere in that mob of people. I know I saw ROTD at this theater on opening day right after school. A beautiful theater until it went to seed in the late 90s.
January 26, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Opening day of RETURN OF THE JEDI at the SamEric theater in downtown Philadelphia
10-year-old me is likely somewhere in that mob of people. I know I saw ROTD at this theater on opening day right after school. A beautiful theater until it went to seed in the late 90s.
10-year-old me is likely somewhere in that mob of people. I know I saw ROTD at this theater on opening day right after school. A beautiful theater until it went to seed in the late 90s.
What was your #childhoodcinema
Until I was 10, it would be the late great Sameric in Center City, though sometimes we’d go up to the theater in Andorra (no good pics online for that).
I saw Who Framed Roger Rabbit here multiple times in the summer of 1988.
Until I was 10, it would be the late great Sameric in Center City, though sometimes we’d go up to the theater in Andorra (no good pics online for that).
I saw Who Framed Roger Rabbit here multiple times in the summer of 1988.
January 9, 2026 at 1:54 PM
What was your #childhoodcinema
Until I was 10, it would be the late great Sameric in Center City, though sometimes we’d go up to the theater in Andorra (no good pics online for that).
I saw Who Framed Roger Rabbit here multiple times in the summer of 1988.
Until I was 10, it would be the late great Sameric in Center City, though sometimes we’d go up to the theater in Andorra (no good pics online for that).
I saw Who Framed Roger Rabbit here multiple times in the summer of 1988.
One time my Buddy Kevin Crabbe and I took SEPTA into Center City Philly and hit up Fat Jack’s Comic Crypt, then saw Ferris Bueller at the SamEric theater. And we snuck in to see “Back to School”. Still one of the best days of my life.
November 22, 2024 at 3:48 AM
One time my Buddy Kevin Crabbe and I took SEPTA into Center City Philly and hit up Fat Jack’s Comic Crypt, then saw Ferris Bueller at the SamEric theater. And we snuck in to see “Back to School”. Still one of the best days of my life.
Trump promotes his granddaughter’s new YouTube show on Truth Social.
October 17, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Trump promotes his granddaughter’s new YouTube show on Truth Social.
Up above, I don’t remember the interior of the Sameric being that bright—when I was a kid, it always seemed dark, but who knows, maybe we just always arrived late.
January 9, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Up above, I don’t remember the interior of the Sameric being that bright—when I was a kid, it always seemed dark, but who knows, maybe we just always arrived late.
Catching John Carpenter's mediocre GHOSTS OF MARS at the Sameric Theater in Philadelphia.
This was the last film I remember seeing at the place. What had once been a truly beautiful theater was now gross and sticky and overrun with rodents. The most depressed I've ever felt at the movies.
This was the last film I remember seeing at the place. What had once been a truly beautiful theater was now gross and sticky and overrun with rodents. The most depressed I've ever felt at the movies.
What’s everyone’s WORST movie experience?
I went to see that crappy 1998 AVENGERS movie and it had a film break 1/3rd of the way through and people were palpably happy.
It was kind of darkly amusing, because that movie is, well, total ass.
I went to see that crappy 1998 AVENGERS movie and it had a film break 1/3rd of the way through and people were palpably happy.
It was kind of darkly amusing, because that movie is, well, total ass.
I had the power go out while watching War of the Worlds during a storm.
A dude SMOKED during Land of the Dead. Ugh. Hate that.
A friend tried to cut in line at the snack bar & almost got my ass kicked by a 6' 6" biker.
Someone wouldn't - just - shut - up - during the whole of Tomorrow Never Dies.
A dude SMOKED during Land of the Dead. Ugh. Hate that.
A friend tried to cut in line at the snack bar & almost got my ass kicked by a 6' 6" biker.
Someone wouldn't - just - shut - up - during the whole of Tomorrow Never Dies.
September 30, 2024 at 2:54 PM
Catching John Carpenter's mediocre GHOSTS OF MARS at the Sameric Theater in Philadelphia.
This was the last film I remember seeing at the place. What had once been a truly beautiful theater was now gross and sticky and overrun with rodents. The most depressed I've ever felt at the movies.
This was the last film I remember seeing at the place. What had once been a truly beautiful theater was now gross and sticky and overrun with rodents. The most depressed I've ever felt at the movies.
As a kid in Philly, I saw tons of movies at the Boyd when it was called the Sameric. It may have been the first movie theater I was ever inside.
April 23, 2026 at 5:46 PM
As a kid in Philly, I saw tons of movies at the Boyd when it was called the Sameric. It may have been the first movie theater I was ever inside.
Riverview for the big stuff.
Cinemagic when you just wanted to walk.
Sameric for an excuse to go ‘downtown’
Cinemagic when you just wanted to walk.
Sameric for an excuse to go ‘downtown’
August 7, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Riverview for the big stuff.
Cinemagic when you just wanted to walk.
Sameric for an excuse to go ‘downtown’
Cinemagic when you just wanted to walk.
Sameric for an excuse to go ‘downtown’
Item of the Week FLASHBACK: Though #StarWars debuted in Philadelphia on May 25, 1977 at Eric's Place for 23 weeks, it continued at the Sameric-owned Mark I another 37 weeks. Located in the basement of a Holiday Inn, it was the only area theater offering it in 70mm/Dolby 6-track.
January 4, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Item of the Week FLASHBACK: Though #StarWars debuted in Philadelphia on May 25, 1977 at Eric's Place for 23 weeks, it continued at the Sameric-owned Mark I another 37 weeks. Located in the basement of a Holiday Inn, it was the only area theater offering it in 70mm/Dolby 6-track.
Man, I saw Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and then snuck in to see Back to School at the Sameric! I figured it closed down long before LotR came out. Growing up in Southwest Philly we had to go in the center city didn’t see any movie.
December 13, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Man, I saw Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and then snuck in to see Back to School at the Sameric! I figured it closed down long before LotR came out. Growing up in Southwest Philly we had to go in the center city didn’t see any movie.
The Sameric closed a few months after I saw GHOSTS OF MARS there. Wish my last flick at the place had been better. The theater was so important in making me a movie fan as a kid. It was where I first saw films like RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.
September 30, 2024 at 3:22 PM
The Sameric closed a few months after I saw GHOSTS OF MARS there. Wish my last flick at the place had been better. The theater was so important in making me a movie fan as a kid. It was where I first saw films like RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.
Wow who could have foreseen this mess
Just turn this place back into the SamEric, that's what we need:
https://billypenn.com/2023/06/29/philadelphia-bankroll-sports-bar-paul-martino/
Just turn this place back into the SamEric, that's what we need:
https://billypenn.com/2023/06/29/philadelphia-bankroll-sports-bar-paul-martino/
What happened at Bankroll? Inside the spectacular collapse of Philly’s short-lived luxury sports b...
Former staff cite mismanagement and hubris at the Rittenhouse betting parlor, which was backed by Paul Martino.
billypenn.com
June 29, 2023 at 9:53 PM
Wow who could have foreseen this mess
Just turn this place back into the SamEric, that's what we need:
https://billypenn.com/2023/06/29/philadelphia-bankroll-sports-bar-paul-martino/
Just turn this place back into the SamEric, that's what we need:
https://billypenn.com/2023/06/29/philadelphia-bankroll-sports-bar-paul-martino/
I saw the (similarly faithful to the novel) 1994 Branagh adaptation at the old Sameric in Philly with an audience who clearly mostly hadn't read the book, and there were a lot of shouts of "THE FUCK!?!?" when Robert DeNiro started talking.
None of those people get paid to write about film.
None of those people get paid to write about film.
Apparently Guillermo Del Toro has ruined Frankenstein by… being relatively faithful to the source material.
Oh my.
Oh my.
September 2, 2025 at 6:13 PM
I saw the (similarly faithful to the novel) 1994 Branagh adaptation at the old Sameric in Philly with an audience who clearly mostly hadn't read the book, and there were a lot of shouts of "THE FUCK!?!?" when Robert DeNiro started talking.
None of those people get paid to write about film.
None of those people get paid to write about film.
After the auditorium portion of the building was demolished in 2015, it ended up getting turned into a fancy nightclub in 2023 - which collapsed three months later. The facade is still there, though (photo from Google Maps):
January 26, 2025 at 5:06 PM
After the auditorium portion of the building was demolished in 2015, it ended up getting turned into a fancy nightclub in 2023 - which collapsed three months later. The facade is still there, though (photo from Google Maps):
Huh. Could have sworn that was a Sameric before it was a Ritz, but I guess I’m wrong. I did see at least one movie at that theater on Chestnut, but can’t for the life of me remember what it was.
September 30, 2024 at 3:37 PM
Huh. Could have sworn that was a Sameric before it was a Ritz, but I guess I’m wrong. I did see at least one movie at that theater on Chestnut, but can’t for the life of me remember what it was.
their greed and hubris are going to kill us all
August 27, 2026 at 11:28 AM
their greed and hubris are going to kill us all
Indeed and I watched it in 3 different cities. NYC at the Warner twin, Philly at the SamEric and in LA at the Cinerama Dome.
December 7, 2024 at 12:49 AM
Indeed and I watched it in 3 different cities. NYC at the Warner twin, Philly at the SamEric and in LA at the Cinerama Dome.
True.
Same as Sameric in The Lord of The Flies.
Same as Sameric in The Lord of The Flies.
March 13, 2025 at 4:34 PM
True.
Same as Sameric in The Lord of The Flies.
Same as Sameric in The Lord of The Flies.
No, the Sameric was on Chestnut St. between 19th and 20th, near the Mutter Museum. The Ritz East is down by the Delaware River. Before it was a Ritz theater, it was an AMC theater.
September 30, 2024 at 3:15 PM
No, the Sameric was on Chestnut St. between 19th and 20th, near the Mutter Museum. The Ritz East is down by the Delaware River. Before it was a Ritz theater, it was an AMC theater.
At least it’s not the gutted Sameric/Boyd Theater in Philadelphia
The Polymarket bar, playing on the “Monitoring the Situation” meme, is a bust.
After waiting outside for nearly an hour and a half in the rain because of technical issues—power and wifi going out—none of the TVs are working.
Staff say everything will be back up and running tomorrow.
After waiting outside for nearly an hour and a half in the rain because of technical issues—power and wifi going out—none of the TVs are working.
Staff say everything will be back up and running tomorrow.
March 21, 2026 at 12:43 AM
At least it’s not the gutted Sameric/Boyd Theater in Philadelphia