Theaters

  • September 24, 2008

    Rose Marine Theater documentary

    FORT WORTH, TX — The Rose Marine Theater showed a documentary on the history of the theatre last weekend.

    Also, view www.asenseofplace.tv for the documentary’s official webiste! The hope is that it airs on our local PBS station at some point.

  • September 22, 2008

    Newark gets cash to save ailing movie theater

    NEWARK, NJ — In an unusual move, the city of Newark, NJ is pledging $650,000 to keep its only downtown movie complex open. Apparently, the six-screen Newark Screens serves a mostly minority audience and is located near several housing projects.

    The money will be used to offset losses until a new owner or a new use is found. The theatre closed earlier this month after failing to pay its 30 employees.

    Read more here and here.

  • September 12, 2008

    New home for Toronto festival at Bell Lightbox

    TORONTO, ON, CANADA — The Toronto International Film Festival, one of North America’s major annual cimena events, has announced that a permanent home for the festival’s offices and some of its year-round programs will be constructed at the corner of King and John Streets in downtown Toronto.

    Scheduled to open in 2009 and to be called the Bell Lightbox, the five-story, 150,000 square foot structure will include five cinemas, two galleries, three learning studios, a film reference library, and a retail store.

    The homepage for the Bell Lightbox project, showing a number of the architect’s sketches, is:
    here.

  • Wilderness Theater opens a second screen

    WILDWOOD, GA — The Wilderness theater in Wildwood, GA has opened a second screen as of this year and is now operating year round.Both screens show a double feature on Friday and Saturday with a single movie shown Sunday evening.

    You can check them out at their official website.

  • September 11, 2008

    La Grange Theatre’s co-owners seek village funding

    LA GRANGE, IL — With work continuing on the La Grange Theatre, the owners ask for local help.

    Over the years, however, the historic theater lost much of its original charm. The walls were stripped of their decorative touches, the original marquee was taken down, and the Renaissance-style facade began to crumble.

    Now the owners, hoping to restore some of the old theater’s pizazz, are asking the village for help.

    “We will never be able to restore its original look. But the community still recognizes the theater as an asset,” said co-owner David Rizner, 43, of Downers Grove.

    Read the full story in the Chicago Tribune

  • Future of Springfield in doubt

    SPRINGFIELD, VT — The Springfield Theater managed to survive a recent fire but the damage may prove too costly to repair.

    The Springfield Theater, located in downtown Springfield, Vt., was damaged by a fire that nearly destroyed an apartment building next door.

    About 100 fire fighters from 20 nearby towns helped put out the July 8 blaze.

    Herb Wisch, who co-owns the Ellis Block with his wife, Daryl, said he wants to rebuild. But that may not be possible if the project becomes too expensive.

    Read more at WPTZ.

  • September 5, 2008

    Local movie theater gets on with the shows

    SLIDELL, LA — Despite the major weather issues, theaters have managed to start opening again inlcuding the Grand 16.

    The shows must go on — at least at one local movie theater.

    The Grand Theater in Slidell was back up and running Wednesday morning, one of first local theaters to bounce back from Hurricane Gustav, offering a diversion — and merciful air-conditioning — for local movie-goers.

    Read the full story at NOLA.com.

  • September 3, 2008

    60 years of Paris

    NEW YORK, NY — Great piece by Joe Queenan in the New York Times which captures in his own inimitable style the spirit of the Paris. It is said that many of the Paris patrons don’t see movies anywhere else. The fact is that for 60 years and fortunately still going, the Paris has brought NY the best of French and international cinema with the odd American picture thrown in – some of Woody’s 80’s pictures. Long live the Paris!

    On Sept. 13, the Paris Theater, on 58th Street just west of Fifth Avenue, will celebrate its 60th anniversary. This is a remarkable accomplishment, as the Paris does not go in much for films in which things get blown up. In a city teeming with faux vieux Irish saloons and restaurants adorned with plaques reading “A tradition since 1988,” the single-screen Paris is the real thing, a bona fide vestige of a storied past.

    The Plaza Hotel, which sits directly across the street, may no longer function exclusively as a hotel — it has added condominium units — but the Paris, with its plush seats, plush carpets, microscopic lobby, scalloped balcony and policy of showing just one film a week, remains as it long has been.

    Read the full story in the New York Times.

    (Thanks to kramchang for providing the photo.)

  • September 2, 2008

    Theater stages Obama event

    CHICAGO, IL — Presidential candidate Barack Obama loomed larger than life last night in Chicago, despite his being far away in the center of Denver’s Mile High Stadium.

    In fact, he was a hit at the old thee-ay-ter in the neighborhood. More than 1,500 people gathered in the auditorium of the historic New Regal Theatre, 1645 E. 79th St., last night, Thursday, August 28, 2008, to watch Barack Obama give his acceptance speech live on the big screen. Several media outlets covered the event from the back of the main floor as the crowd cheered and rose to its feet to show enthusiasm for the individual campaign promises Obama made.

    Ron and Regina Evans, the theater’s owners invited the public to watch the broadcast live and for free. Registration was required at www.mybarackobama.com

  • August 29, 2008

    The business woes and public virtue of independent cinema

    KITSAP COUNTY, WA — The Lynwood and Orchard theatres find a formula for success with innovative programming.

    By most accounts, it wasn’t a great summer for independent cinema and art houses in Kitsap County.

    Financial scrupulousness aside, mainstream blockbusters and an economic era primed for escapism flooded the media and the mega-plexes, leaving a trickle of fickle support at the county’s two independent film houses — the Lynwood Theatre on Bainbridge and the Orchard Theater in Port Orchard.

    But even with low box office numbers and reports in trade magazines of independent studios closing and bigger studios shutting down their independent arms, the sky is not falling and independent cinema is not on the brink of death. Especially not in an intimate community like Kitsap.

    Read the full story in the North Kitsap Herald.