Look, there are two kinds of "best movie theaters": the ones that show great movies and the ones that show movies great. For the former, sure, try the Magnolia or the Angelika; they've saved us during this drought-stricken summer, when the best the mainstream googolplexes had to offer was The 40-Year-Old Virgin. But the best moviegoing experience right now is to be had at the AMC Valley View, with its wraparound screen and Sensurround sound. It reminds us of the good old days, back when the NorthPark 1 &2 were still open and putting the "buster" into blockbusters with sterling projectors illuminating crystalline screens and knocking us out of our seats and onto our asses with speakers the size of small cars. Sure, you have to go to the mall, and sure, it's Valley View, but it could be worse; you could go to any other mainstream theater in the city, where the picture's bound to be out of focus or framed incorrectly, and the sound's sure to have all the wallop of a transistor radio.

Readers' Pick
Angelika Film Center 5321 E. Mockingbird Lane 214-841-4700

To think, Deep Ellum Blues has only been around a year and a half and has already positioned itself as the foremost source of blues in Dallas. What's even more amazing, though, is how subtle the new venue was in dominating the scene. There haven't been any super-huge festivals or expensive redesigns at the Deep Ellum club (unless you count painting the walls blue). It's a simple, clean building with fine sound and perhaps forgettable if not for the solid booking that fills the stage with the best in local blues five nights a week, from Lance Lopez to Texas Slim and from Jim Suhler and Monkey Beat to Elvis T. Busboy and the Blues Butchers. This is the best place in town to have the worst mood.

Readers' Pick
Hole in the Wall Gourmet 11654 Harry Hines Blvd. 972-247-2253

Cheapskate or nostalgic. Spendthrift or creative. Penny-pinching or innovative. No matter the motive--paying as little as possible on a date or looking for something out of the norm to do--the Lakewood Theater makes you look good. Movie tickets, depending on the night and the sponsor, cost a dollar or less. Popcorn also comes cheap. Drinks at the bar are on special. Basically, it's two tickets and two sets of snacks for less than the cost of a regular movie. Besides being budget-friendly, the screenings also give viewers the chance to see films on the big screen that they might not otherwise. From Scarface and Reservoir Dogs to Up in Smoke and Animal House, the Lakewood Theater's flicks are light on the wallet, heavy on the cool.

Sometimes you wanna go where everyone knows your name, and sometimes you just want to fade into the corner with your friends Jack, Jim and Jose. At The Grapevine, you can do either. Conversation is easy to find, but so is the enjoyment of sitting alone listening to everything from Marvin Gaye to ABBA to The Killers. OK, so The Grapevine isn't necessarily a gay bar; what it is, though, is an everyone bar. Gays, straightseveryone's welcome. A place where you can kick it on the patio with your boys and still hang with your girl and nobody bats an eye or feels uncomfortable. What The GV has managed to do is blur the line of gay/straight bar and answer the age-old question "Can't we all just get along?" Yes we can. No need to scream "we're here, we're queer." They already know, they just don't care. Welcome to the mainstream. Now give mama bourbon.

Readers' Pick
JR's Bar & Grill Dallas 3923 Cedar Springs Road 214-559-0650

For a while she was looking like scary old actress Norma Desmond, standing on a shabby staircase with a scowl on her puss. But a gorgeous facelift and chic makeover have turned Dallas' last movie palace, owned by Landmark Theatres, into a glamorous starlet. Interior designer Brooks Graham spoiled none of the Inwood's existing art deco details in adding cushy leather seats in the VIP area upstairs and installing a neat walkway between the intimate Inwood Lounge and the theater itself (OK to cart those cocktails over now, too). The Inwood once again is ready for her close-up.