I do love my independent movie theatres. I am even the kind of person that shamelessly goes to a…read moremovie by herself when it's in a nice indie theatre. Located in an renovated church, Utopia boasts a nice selection of european and international lower budget movies, as well as international blockbusters, (I recently saw The Revenant and The Hateful Bastards there), but always in their original version (which is a must to me).
The house rules are a bit strict, but that is also expected in this kind of theatres: it's strictly forbidden to enter a projection after the start time (which got me to miss a movie once!) and you cannot bring anything to eat of drink in the room (which got me to gulp a bubble tea in 2 minutes another time). Mind you, the upside of this is that you really have a quiet and respectful audience.
The movies also start on time, which has become more and more hard to find: you typically have just 5 minutes of trailers, not even ads. Lastly, if you fancy coming in a bit early or stay late for a bite or a drink, there is a very cute cafe and a terrasse, which is completely full in the summer - and I don't think you need to go to a movie at all to enjoy the cafe.
I haven't tried that many other movie theatres in Bordeaux but I am pretty sure this one will remain one of my favourites :)