The latest movie theater news and updates

  • October 21, 2005

    Rally To Save The ‘39 Trylon Theater; Sun, Oct. 23rd; 2 PM to 3 PM!!!

    DATE: Sunday, October 23rd
    TIME: From 2 PM – 3 PM
    LOCATION: Trylon Theater; 98-81 Queens Blvd, Forest Hills, N.Y.

    Please join us in solidarity for a lawful & peaceful expression of our concerns.

    **Points of the rally:
    1. LANDMARK the ‘39 Trylon Theater; a last standing structure which bears strong significance to the 1939 World’s Fair.
    2. PRESERVE the presently intact Art Deco facade, glass block projection tower (which once illuminated Queens Blvd.), & the marquee.
    3. RESTORE what was lost during a summer 2005 conversion, despite an active construction violation & stop work order since April 2005. The Trylon Theater’s architectural features distinguish it as one of NY’s notable works of Modernism.
    4. ADAPT the site for the Education Center For Russian Jewry, with a preservation-minded re-use strategy, rather than demolition.

    (Participants: Historians, preservationists, community residents, as well as residents of neighboring boroughs, politicians, possible FH celebrities, the media, & members of The Committee To Save The Trylon Theater.)

    For more info: Art Deco Society of N.Y. at (212) 679-DECO or e-mail The website is www.artdeco.org

    To sign the Trylon Theater petition, click or paste the following: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Trylon/petition.html

  • October 20, 2005

    70mm Launches at Greenwich Picturehouse

    LONDON, ENGLAND — This Sunday sees the first 70MM screening at the newly reopened Greenwich Picturehouse in South-East London.

    The screening is LAWRENCE OF ARABIA which will be presented in 70MM SUPER-PANAVISION. The projector used is a Philips DP70 which until recently was at the EMPIRE, Leicester Sq. This is one of three DP70’s that were installed on December 16 1959 for the opening of BEN-HUR. Considered to be the Rolls-Royce of projectors this machine (serial number 1352) has now been moved to a new home at the recently reopened Greenwich Picturehouse.

    This DP70 was rescued from the Empire by Tony Jones, Creative Director of City Screen who operate the Picturehouse Arts circuit in the UK, to supplement a wide array of 70MM projection equipement already in regular use at its cinemas throughout the UK.

    www.picturehouses.co.uk
    www.uk70mm.com

  • New Cinema in Saudi Arabia

    After 20 years without cinemas in Saudi Arabia, one is to (re?)open in Riyadh.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4356892.stm

  • October 19, 2005

    The HORRORTHON comes to the Lafayette Theatre October 22 & 23.

    SUFFERN, NY — The HORROR-THON Film Festival at the historic Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, New York presents seven illustrious and entertaining horror movie programs — including several rarely shown titles including HOUSE OF WAX in double-system 3-D — from the golden age of cinema, all on the Lafayette Theatre’s giant silver screen and just in time for Halloween.

    Screening will be films with stars such as Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Peter Cushing, Vincent Price, and Jack Nicholson and from directors such as Stanley Kubrick, William Friedkin, Terence Fisher, and George Romero. All of the films are screening in the finest studio and archive prints available and each show will feature pre-show music from the Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ. Festival Dates: October 22 & 23, 2005.

    Film Schedule

    SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22
    12:45 pm HOUSE OF WAX (1953, directed by Andre de Toth) starring Vincent Price and Phyllis Kirk – Presented in the miracle of double-system polarized 3-D!

  • Spotlight Gala and Revue at the Loew’s Jersey

    Friends of the Loews emailed us about thier upcoming gala event at the Loew’s Jersey:

    Friends of the Loew’s Invites You To…

    Step Back In Time for One Memorable Evening At
    The Spotlight Gala & Revue
    Enjoy the Music of The Jazz Age
    Plus the Laughter of the Vaudeville Stage
    And Help a Historical & Cultural Landmark

    Thursday, October 27
    At The Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theater
    54 Journal Square
    Jersey City, NJ 07306

    Starring

    Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks

    Plus
    “Uncle Floyd” Vivino

    In the Vaudeville tradition, the Revue will also introduce young talent from the JCPS Visual & Performing Arts School, and will even include a classic film short!

    Celebrating the Finale of the Loew’s Jersey’s 75th Anniversary
    And Benefiting FOL’s Restoration & Operation
    Of the Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theatre
    As a Not-For-Profit Arts Center

  • October 18, 2005

    ‘Memoirs of a Movie Palace’ screening in Uptown, Chicago

    CHICAGO, IL — “Memoirs of a Movie Palace” will be screened at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, 2005, at Truman College, 1134 W. Wilson Ave., in Uptown, Chicago. The venue is Novar Hall, where seating is limited. “Uptown Community Portrait 2005,” a short, cinema verite documentary, will precede the feature film. The screening is for educational purposes in the college auditorium.

    “Memoirs,” a 1979 independent film, tells the story of a theatre very similar to the UPTOWN, Chicago: The LOEW’S KINGS THEATRE, in Brooklyn, N.Y., which also remains closed without a plan for renovation and reuse. Both venues were built in the 1920s as designed by the same Chicago firm, C.W. and Geo. L. Rapp, architects.

    The film was shot on location as the KINGS was being closed in the late 1970s. If someone had the foresight to shoot a movie in the UPTOWN, we would have a very similar document, with the same kinds of memories recalled and sentiments expressed — minus the Brooklyn accents!

    Your attendance as a “Friend” of the Uptown is important to our efforts and goals. As major stabilization work is ongoing at the theatre building, it is a good time for us to network and get to know each other!

    Truman officials said that we may park in any of the adjacent Truman parking lots (driveway located on Broadway through the McJunkin Building). Street parking or public transportation would be the easier option. Entrance to the Truman building itself will be through the easternmost doors located on the Wilson Avenue side (north elevation). Staff will direct you from there.

    Reprinted with permission from Uptown Adviser, http://www.uptowntheatre.com

  • Abbott and Costello Benefit at the Loew’s Jersey: OCTOBER 20

    JERSEY CITY, NJ — The Landmark Loew’s Jersey

    THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20

    Come to the Landmark Loew’s Jersey for our “Fright Night” Benefit screening of Abbott and Costello’s HOLD THAT GHOST. Tickets are $20, and the proceeds will go to United Cerebral Palsy. Co-sponsored by North Fork Bank and Friends of the Loew’s, Inc.

    For more info, please visit www.loewsjersey.org or call 201-798-6055.

    The Landmark Loew’s Jersey is a non-profit arts center that is operated by Friends of the Loew’s, Inc.

  • October 17, 2005

    Fan of Brooklyn’s Kings, or Chicago’s Uptown?

    CHICAGO, IL — If you are a fan of the long dormant Kings in Brooklyn, NY, and have long wanted to see the documentary about it, here is your chance. If you have always intended to journey to Chicago to see its theatres, there here is the way you can ‘kill two birds with one stone’:

    The following news blurbs come from the Uptown Adviser, the Friends of the Uptown newsletter (visit their Web site at www.uptowntheatre.com)::)

    For your cinematic pleasure — One Night Only!
    Memoirs of a Movie Palace and Uptown Community Portrait 2005
    to be screened at Friends/Truman College event
    6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, 2005, Truman College

    “Memoirs of a Movie Palace” will be screened at Truman College, 1134 W. Wilson Ave., in Uptown. The venue is Novar Hall, where seating is limited. This is a very special screening of a very difficult to find movie. “Uptown Community Portrait 2005,” a short cinema verite documentary, will precede the feature film.

    “Memoirs,” a 1979 independent film, tells the story of a theatre very similar to the Uptown: The LOEW’S KINGS THEATRE, in Brooklyn, N.Y., which also remains closed without a plan for reuse. The film was shot on location as the KINGS was being closed in the late 1970s. If someone had the foresight to shoot a movie in the UPTOWN (minus the Brooklyn accents!), we would have a very similar document, with the same kinds of memories recalled and sentiments expressed.

    Your attendance as a “Friend” of the Uptown is important to our efforts and goals. As major stabilization work is ongoing at the theatre building, it is a good time for us to network and get to know each other!

    Donations will be accepted in lieu of a fixed admission ticket price. Truman officials said that we may park in any of the adjacent Truman parking lots (driveway located on Broadway through the McJunkin Building). Entrance to the Truman building itself will be through the easternmost doors located on the Wilson Avenue side (north elevation). Staff will direct you from there.


    This may be short notice that I just received an hour ago, but short notice is better than none. Happy theatres to you. Jim Rankin

  • October 14, 2005

    “Now Showing!” – New Movie About Moviegoing

    LOS ANGELES, CA — With the working title, “Now Showing! America Goes to the Movies,” the first comprehensive feature-length documentary celebrating the history and excitement of the moviegoing experience, was announced today. To be filmed in High-Definition widescreen and slated for theatrical distribution in Fall 2006, this documentary, currently in pre-production, will recount an all too important, but largely untold, part of film history: The story of motion picture exhibition and how moviegoing has influenced the cultural and social fabric of America—while reminding us all why, after over a century, movie theaters still enchant us.

    As the unsurpassed theatrical experience of watching films as a community has come under attack, a group of filmmakers, writers and producers, all industry insiders, have joined forces to remind everybody what the magic of the movies is all about. With this new documentary, David Strohmaier, the director of “Cinerama Adventure,” AJ Roquevert, the producer of “No More Joy—The Rise and Fall of New Orleans' Movie Theaters” and Ross Melnick and Andreas Fuchs, the co-authors of the award-winning book Cinema Treasures—A New Look at Classic Movie Theaters, invite audiences to share over 100 years of memories, excitement, and, of course, entertainment.

  • The Last Picture Show Men

    While surfing around I found a program produced by BBC Radio recently “The Last Picture Show Men”.

    It’s a very well done 30 minute documentary featuring several retired British projectionists who have some fascinating stories along with lots more interesting material.

    You can listen to it at the on the BBC Radio 4 website. (Go to the “L” listings and click on “The Last Picture Show Men.”)

    The use of sound in the piece makes for great listening. It sure brings back the movie-going experience.