Theaters
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November 21, 2008
Fireweed 7 slashes price of movie tickets to $3
ANCHORAGE, AK — To drum up some business, the Fireweed Cinemas has lowered their admission to $3 for all shows. While this normally wouldn’t be too surprising, the fact that it’s owned by Regal stands out. Could they do this in other markets?
Regal Entertainment Group, the nation’s largest movie theater operator, recently premiered the bargain ticket sales at the Fireweed, evidently as a way to draw in more customers to the venerable movie house at the corner of Fireweed Lane and Gambell Street.
Before the change, an evening show cost $9.75 and a matinee $6.75.
Theater workers are telling patrons that films at the Fireweed won’t be first-run. Rather, they’ll be films that have been in release for a few weeks.
Read the full story in the Anchorage Daily News.
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November 18, 2008
Theater troupe hosts independent film series
FORT MYERS, FL — The amateur acting troupe Theatre Conspiracy has begun showing an independent film series at their 50-seat blackbox theater between theatrical productions.
The move comes as donations have dropped by 50% although tickets to their performances are selling well.
The troupe is negotiating directly with filmmakers' agents to obtain the films on DVD. They will be projected on a 16-foot by 8-foot screen in the makeshift movie theater.
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November 14, 2008
Blue Mouse celebrates 85 years
TACOMA, WA — The Blue Mouse Theatre is celebrating its 85th birthday this week as a single-screen, 221-seat cinema.
For the past 15 years, it has been run by a collective of 32 investors who put together $170,000 in 1993 to buy the theater, refurbish it and reopen it under its original name.
It is the oldest continuously run movie theater in Washington state and one of the oldest in the country. It got its name from a lounge in Paris that showed films.
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November 13, 2008
Pomona downtown looks towards future
POMONA, CA — With the city behind the restoration of the Fox Theatre, downtown is looking brighter.
In 1982, Pomona civic leaders officially gave up on the Fox Theater.
Given the chance to buy the vacant Art Deco theater for civic use, a divided City Council rejected the idea. Councilman Clay Bryant memorably declared downtowns to be “anachronisms.”Two decades of blight later, the theater was bought in 2002 by a new generation of city leaders during a renewed focus on the downtown’s potential. They bided their time before selling the Fox to a developer now in the midst of restoring the theater to its 1931 glory.
Read more in the Daily Bulletin.
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November 12, 2008
Economic downturn hits Marshall Islands
SAIPAN, MARSHALL ISLANDS — The economic downturn, which forced the only cinema on the islands to close two days a week, has led to the only branch of Blockbuster video being closed.
When word leaked out, bargain-hunters descended on the store, and by 7 pm, people were no longer being allowed inside because it was full.
Last month, the seven-screen Hollywood Theatre-Saipan Megaplex started closing its doors two days a week because of poor economic conditions and rising costs. Last April 18th it closed completely, re-opening May 23rd only after overwhelming complaints from the public.
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Electric co. turns off drive-in power
NORTHUMBERLAND, PA — Because the Point Drive-In Theatre was 10 days late in paying its $310 electric bill, the utility cut off its power for the weekend, costing the owner $3,000 in business.
For the last eight years, the drive-in has run a horror movie marathon on weekends in October. On Friday, October 24th, PPL Electric Utilities cut off the power, and despite the owner paying the bill that day, the electric company refused to restore power until the following week.
The owner claims he never received a shut-off notice and no one had tried to called him about the bill.
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November 5, 2008
Porn films burnt at 60-year-old drive-in
JACKSONVILLE, FL — A congregation that bought an old drive-in theater found at least a hundred reels of X-rated movies and burnt them.
Church members held a special ceremonial service last Sunday where they burned the decades-old porn, saying that they were making the unholy property holy. Firefighters oversaw the blaze.
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November 4, 2008
City pins hopes on cinema project
PITTSFIELD, MA — The city has broken ground on the $13 million Beacon Cinema Project in an attempt to revitalize the downtown business area.
The historic 90-year-old Kinnell-Kresge building will be converted into a six-screen cinema, with retail space, restaurants and offices.
The project is a combination of public and private investment and backing from state and local government.
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Utah theater switches movies
SOUTH JORDAN, UT — The Megaplex Theatre at the District gave moviegoers more than they bargained for when it played the R-rated movie “Sex Drive” instead of the G-rated “High School Musical 3.”
The theater switched one of the showings of “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” to a larger auditorium to accommodate more people, but forgot to switch the movie.
“Sex Drive” includes nudity in its opening minutes and parents could not carry their children out of the hall fast enough.
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November 3, 2008
Grandview Theatre to re-opening update
COLUMBUS, OH — The theatre formerly known as the Drexel Grandview will live again. Originally opened in 1926, the Grandview Theatre operated until the middle of the century before it closed. After several brief runs under different operators, Jeff and Kathy Frank began operating it in the early ‘90s as the Drexel Grandview. After 17 years, the Drexel Grandview closed on Sept. 30, 2008.
The theatre will open under its original name, Grandview Theatre, and will be operated by Columbus Independent Media, Inc., helmed by David Nedrow and Jennifer Stancel. The new operators are planning many renovations to the theatre, including new auditorium soft goods, a new concession stand, and booth improvements. The theatre is expected to begin regular programming in early 2009, maintaining the independent and foreign film focus of the Drexel Grandview.