It will be sad when that theater closes. The seats at the screen I went to weren’t the rocking seats; they were more like those found at the allwood and menlo park 12 theaters. Recently when AMC took over, they introduced a digital preshow before the film began (before it absorbed into the First Look program) and at the beginning of the feature, there is a blue screen notice that this theater has been checked by the bridgewater board of health. Among the AMC trailers I saw was a spot featuring a flying cartoon eagle which is now used in promo spots for Best Buy, the chain that promoted the trailer called “Soar” with AMC’s Silence is Golden program. I like that trailer better than the crying baby one, but I still miss the days when General Cinema managed that theater and clifton commons. GC had some pretty good trailers that were done by ILM beginning in 1986 until 2002. As for Red Bank, that’s a long drive away. The closest town that has film festivals is Morristown as well as Dover, where the Black Maria film festival is held.
Just like the cost of gas, although drivers continue to drive to gas stations in droves whenever they run out of gas…same thing for the movie rental business. Where I work at CVS, business is doing great in the pharmacy section, as well as the front store. In a time where a recession might happen, people tend to forget all the bad things and focus on important stuff like the election. Maybe next year 10,000 BC could get an award for best makeup and costumes!!!
For your info, I still like watching movies in film format as much as digital. Watching a movie in HD on a tv is ok, but I miss the giant screen feel to it and the smell of popcorn and the thunder of surround sound. Even though the commons lack stadium seating and dlp, this theater still has an auditorium that’s THX certified, and I went to that screen to see Emily Rose. Projection is sharper than what you’d expect at a larger AMC theater, and the surround sound is clear and distortion free. What surround sound system does each screen have? I know the THX one has dolby digital. Indy even played at this theater the last time he came…so probably the new one will play in THX in May. Big budget and hit movies usually play at this auditorium, which was one of the first in New Jersey to get the treatment five years after THX was born in 1983. The Essex Green cinema, in its first form, was the first in New Jersey to take the offer, and soon after the Menlo Park Twin, both General Cinemas. The last New Jersey theater to have THX on it is Clifton Commons, which remains GCC’s best theater as two of its screens have THX. After AMC bought the chain, it decided to keep most of those screens THX certified and reinstall all screens to Dolby Digital EX.
Dolby digital is a film-based system, while DTS relies on CD-Roms to read the data. Plus, DTS' bitrate is higher than DD, and the surround sound can work even if the film is damaged.
When the first gen rockaway theaters opened, they proved to be a success for AMC just like the second gen version. The good thing about the new theaters is that you can simply get there without deciding whether to see a movie inside or outside the mall. Plus, there’s plenty of parking near and around the theater. The only gripe is that the screens are much bigger than the old rockaway theater and that tickets are more expensive than the smaller theaters. Plus, both the old and new Rockaway theaters don’t have DTS, which can be found mostly in Clearviews.
I used my old Loews passes to see Juno with my cousin Aunt Pat to see Juno, and they work at this theater. My dad used the other two passes to see Juno as well. Speaking of Loews, when this theater was built, I saw the searchlights logo on parts of the exterior, not to mention the signs near the auditoriums that have the same font as the modern era loews brand, and the showtimes near the box office are taken straight from recent theaters under the loews name. And during my last two visits, one of the dryers in the men’s bathroom doesn’t work, the last one before you leave the restroom. Security at this theater is more stepped up than the AMC in East Hanover, where a brawl resulted in arrests by both Hanover towns.
Since joining the site nearly three years ago, I’ve posted around 10-20 theaters around my area, some of which I haven’t been to ever but seen listings on the chain’s websites. Currently, out of the 20,000 theaters, only half of them are open and a small fraction of that are in the us. Only 9,000 more to go until the official number of theaters that are still in existence in America, and many more around the world. Cinematour has around 37,297 theaters in its database, about 17,297 more than CT. So there is still time to add a lot more theaters, and many more, in the future.
thanks for posting the news…I was the one who made a listing for the blairstown theater on ct. I never been inside it, but I’ve seen it while I lived in Blairstown. It would be nice if the theater gets support from local groups and be a place for more than just musicals and movies. It should be a place for conrgressman to debate stuff, not too far from where some of the voting offices are located in the community building.
The most popular Oscars of all time will be the one back in 1954, when From Here to Eternity won the statuette. It was seen in 82 percent of American homes, back when TV was just a fad. It was the first awards show to gain popularity, followed by the Grammys, Golden Globes, and of course, the Emmys, which honor TV. Since the strike’s over, ratings could be up for the Emmys moreso than the oscars, since TV ratings have rebounded from a lull during the strike period. Right now the box office is in a bit of a slump that started in late February. Blu-Ray movies will dominated the sales charts over DVD in time, and Netflix will become more popular than Blockbuster. Out of Youtube’s 100 million+ vids, some of them have pirated movies that can be viewed in parts. It won’t be long before the age of moviegoing will end in the viewer’s home.
Just went to see Juno with my aunt at one of the smaller screens that will be ready for an IMAX makeover come July of this year, and I enjoyed the movie. There were two things….the right channel was out while the other channels worked. Second, during one of the reel changeovers, the volume was lowered probably due to the print being used for a long time and that it reverted to Dolby SR rather than Dolby Digital 5.1. It seems when AMC built the theater, the acoustics are so-so and you could hear booms right across the next auditorium. On a brighter note, one of the upcoming movie posters showcase a new movie in 3D called Journey to the Center of the Earth. Will it play in 3D in Rockaway? Only time will tell, as the first IMAX digital movie to be shown there will be The Dark Knight. FYI, the new Indiana Jones will not be shown in digital, just plain old 35mm. I also saw a poster for the upcoming Met HD series, which hasn’t been playing in Rockaway at all…hopefully soon those NCM Fathom events will come to Rockaway. As for food, I tried some hot dogs with the soda, and the dogs were pretty well cooked and served fast as opposed to the popcorn, which sells better than the other snacks. And due to the recent snowstorm, the barriers between the parking lots are like mountains of ice, leaving people like me to walk carefully towards the theater entrance.
I was dissapointed that Juno didn’t win the trophy for Best Picture but a got a much needed Best Original Screenplay win for a writer who used to be a stripper. I just saw Juno and thought it was way better than No Country of Old Men. Can’t wait to buy it on blu-ray. It was a movie that everyone can enjoy without being sad. It also has a good soundtrack, which didn’t get the award it deserved at the Academy but might win it come Grammy time next year.
Since this theater’s owned by Clearview, have they ran any midnight showings of ROCKY HORROR? I know a bunch of them still do, such as those in Bergenfield and Bellevue. Right across the street from the theater there is a new retail development that has more upscale stores.
never mind. This theater needs some improvement since it lacks the stadium seating and digital projection of Clifton Commons, which opened two years after the expansion of the Wayne theater.
This theater was and still is notorius for its poor security by the local police, as well as flooding problems around the theater and the traffic mess that will soon be solved when the spaghetti bowl (Route 80/23/46) fix-up will be improved come later this year. Like the East Hanover theater, there is a Chuck E'Cheese that is now a Nationwide Electronics Store that will reopen after a few years. A Wiz used to be located right across from the theater where several retailers such as Costco and Sports Authority are.
That’s a good movie, although it was one of Spielberg’s few box office bombs. But it was the debut of a rising star: Christian Bale, who this summer returns as Batman in “The Dark Knight”, starring the late Heath Ledger as “The Joker”.
The latter. You can relive that moment since that movie’s out on DVD and in 5.1 surround sound, also shown sometimes on MOJO (formerly INHD) HD. Which theater profited well, this one or the GC where an Officemax used to be?
ive been to a vh store, the one in secaucus in the area that used to be the harmon cove quad.
starting with 10000 bc, this theater now has dlp, as well as morristown. which screens have dlp?
It will be sad when that theater closes. The seats at the screen I went to weren’t the rocking seats; they were more like those found at the allwood and menlo park 12 theaters. Recently when AMC took over, they introduced a digital preshow before the film began (before it absorbed into the First Look program) and at the beginning of the feature, there is a blue screen notice that this theater has been checked by the bridgewater board of health. Among the AMC trailers I saw was a spot featuring a flying cartoon eagle which is now used in promo spots for Best Buy, the chain that promoted the trailer called “Soar” with AMC’s Silence is Golden program. I like that trailer better than the crying baby one, but I still miss the days when General Cinema managed that theater and clifton commons. GC had some pretty good trailers that were done by ILM beginning in 1986 until 2002. As for Red Bank, that’s a long drive away. The closest town that has film festivals is Morristown as well as Dover, where the Black Maria film festival is held.
Just like the cost of gas, although drivers continue to drive to gas stations in droves whenever they run out of gas…same thing for the movie rental business. Where I work at CVS, business is doing great in the pharmacy section, as well as the front store. In a time where a recession might happen, people tend to forget all the bad things and focus on important stuff like the election. Maybe next year 10,000 BC could get an award for best makeup and costumes!!!
For your info, I still like watching movies in film format as much as digital. Watching a movie in HD on a tv is ok, but I miss the giant screen feel to it and the smell of popcorn and the thunder of surround sound. Even though the commons lack stadium seating and dlp, this theater still has an auditorium that’s THX certified, and I went to that screen to see Emily Rose. Projection is sharper than what you’d expect at a larger AMC theater, and the surround sound is clear and distortion free. What surround sound system does each screen have? I know the THX one has dolby digital. Indy even played at this theater the last time he came…so probably the new one will play in THX in May. Big budget and hit movies usually play at this auditorium, which was one of the first in New Jersey to get the treatment five years after THX was born in 1983. The Essex Green cinema, in its first form, was the first in New Jersey to take the offer, and soon after the Menlo Park Twin, both General Cinemas. The last New Jersey theater to have THX on it is Clifton Commons, which remains GCC’s best theater as two of its screens have THX. After AMC bought the chain, it decided to keep most of those screens THX certified and reinstall all screens to Dolby Digital EX.
Dolby digital is a film-based system, while DTS relies on CD-Roms to read the data. Plus, DTS' bitrate is higher than DD, and the surround sound can work even if the film is damaged.
When the first gen rockaway theaters opened, they proved to be a success for AMC just like the second gen version. The good thing about the new theaters is that you can simply get there without deciding whether to see a movie inside or outside the mall. Plus, there’s plenty of parking near and around the theater. The only gripe is that the screens are much bigger than the old rockaway theater and that tickets are more expensive than the smaller theaters. Plus, both the old and new Rockaway theaters don’t have DTS, which can be found mostly in Clearviews.
I used my old Loews passes to see Juno with my cousin Aunt Pat to see Juno, and they work at this theater. My dad used the other two passes to see Juno as well. Speaking of Loews, when this theater was built, I saw the searchlights logo on parts of the exterior, not to mention the signs near the auditoriums that have the same font as the modern era loews brand, and the showtimes near the box office are taken straight from recent theaters under the loews name. And during my last two visits, one of the dryers in the men’s bathroom doesn’t work, the last one before you leave the restroom. Security at this theater is more stepped up than the AMC in East Hanover, where a brawl resulted in arrests by both Hanover towns.
When TV goes digital next year, expect attendance at movie theaters to go down more, and the era of the movie theater might soon be extinct.
Since joining the site nearly three years ago, I’ve posted around 10-20 theaters around my area, some of which I haven’t been to ever but seen listings on the chain’s websites. Currently, out of the 20,000 theaters, only half of them are open and a small fraction of that are in the us. Only 9,000 more to go until the official number of theaters that are still in existence in America, and many more around the world. Cinematour has around 37,297 theaters in its database, about 17,297 more than CT. So there is still time to add a lot more theaters, and many more, in the future.
thanks for posting the news…I was the one who made a listing for the blairstown theater on ct. I never been inside it, but I’ve seen it while I lived in Blairstown. It would be nice if the theater gets support from local groups and be a place for more than just musicals and movies. It should be a place for conrgressman to debate stuff, not too far from where some of the voting offices are located in the community building.
The most popular Oscars of all time will be the one back in 1954, when From Here to Eternity won the statuette. It was seen in 82 percent of American homes, back when TV was just a fad. It was the first awards show to gain popularity, followed by the Grammys, Golden Globes, and of course, the Emmys, which honor TV. Since the strike’s over, ratings could be up for the Emmys moreso than the oscars, since TV ratings have rebounded from a lull during the strike period. Right now the box office is in a bit of a slump that started in late February. Blu-Ray movies will dominated the sales charts over DVD in time, and Netflix will become more popular than Blockbuster. Out of Youtube’s 100 million+ vids, some of them have pirated movies that can be viewed in parts. It won’t be long before the age of moviegoing will end in the viewer’s home.
Just went to see Juno with my aunt at one of the smaller screens that will be ready for an IMAX makeover come July of this year, and I enjoyed the movie. There were two things….the right channel was out while the other channels worked. Second, during one of the reel changeovers, the volume was lowered probably due to the print being used for a long time and that it reverted to Dolby SR rather than Dolby Digital 5.1. It seems when AMC built the theater, the acoustics are so-so and you could hear booms right across the next auditorium. On a brighter note, one of the upcoming movie posters showcase a new movie in 3D called Journey to the Center of the Earth. Will it play in 3D in Rockaway? Only time will tell, as the first IMAX digital movie to be shown there will be The Dark Knight. FYI, the new Indiana Jones will not be shown in digital, just plain old 35mm. I also saw a poster for the upcoming Met HD series, which hasn’t been playing in Rockaway at all…hopefully soon those NCM Fathom events will come to Rockaway. As for food, I tried some hot dogs with the soda, and the dogs were pretty well cooked and served fast as opposed to the popcorn, which sells better than the other snacks. And due to the recent snowstorm, the barriers between the parking lots are like mountains of ice, leaving people like me to walk carefully towards the theater entrance.
I was dissapointed that Juno didn’t win the trophy for Best Picture but a got a much needed Best Original Screenplay win for a writer who used to be a stripper. I just saw Juno and thought it was way better than No Country of Old Men. Can’t wait to buy it on blu-ray. It was a movie that everyone can enjoy without being sad. It also has a good soundtrack, which didn’t get the award it deserved at the Academy but might win it come Grammy time next year.
That year the bulletin came out, Tom Brokaw would become the new anchor of Nightly News months after the movie came out.
Since this theater’s owned by Clearview, have they ran any midnight showings of ROCKY HORROR? I know a bunch of them still do, such as those in Bergenfield and Bellevue. Right across the street from the theater there is a new retail development that has more upscale stores.
probably they cut up the larger screen into two, or added a fourth one.
After Clearview bought the theater, it probably cut up the two big screens into six or added four into the theater.
never mind. This theater needs some improvement since it lacks the stadium seating and digital projection of Clifton Commons, which opened two years after the expansion of the Wayne theater.
nope.
oh….I’d love to see Spielberg win a best picture, best screenplay, and best director trophy.
This theater was and still is notorius for its poor security by the local police, as well as flooding problems around the theater and the traffic mess that will soon be solved when the spaghetti bowl (Route 80/23/46) fix-up will be improved come later this year. Like the East Hanover theater, there is a Chuck E'Cheese that is now a Nationwide Electronics Store that will reopen after a few years. A Wiz used to be located right across from the theater where several retailers such as Costco and Sports Authority are.
That’s a good movie, although it was one of Spielberg’s few box office bombs. But it was the debut of a rising star: Christian Bale, who this summer returns as Batman in “The Dark Knight”, starring the late Heath Ledger as “The Joker”.
I flipped between that show and a rangers hockey game. Rangers won, Oscars lost.
The latter. You can relive that moment since that movie’s out on DVD and in 5.1 surround sound, also shown sometimes on MOJO (formerly INHD) HD. Which theater profited well, this one or the GC where an Officemax used to be?