I’d double Bway’s comment, chance. Property values in Williamsburg are skyrocketing, commensurate with the hot spots at the Bedford Avenue L stop (to use just one example) and the steady outburst of upscale condos and luxury apartments throughout Billburg. If you’re able to or have arranged the likely amount of financing needed to purchase the Commodore and have a solid business plan, you could find yourself sitting on a gold mine, in more ways than one.
Based on my knowledge – as it is – of the Landmark chain, my best guess on three of the five theatres to be a part of the initial digital projection roll-out would focus on the Sunshine in NYC, the Kendall Square Cinemas in Cambridge, Ma., and the NuArt in LA; beyond those likely sites, I’d suppose they’d target some of their other top-grossing venues (not sure if their theatres in D.C. would fall into that category).
The Commodore is up for sale? Wow, what a pleasant surprise, given the current ownership’s seemingly hellbent plans to either demolish or gut the property.
Nowhere near the record, Theatrefan. The since-demolished Movieplex 42 on 42nd between 7th and 8th stayed in business for 21 months, from June of 1994 through March of ‘96 while, in the Pittsburgh suburb of North Versailles, Pennsylvania, a 20-screen, all-stadium seating Loews theatre lasted 16 months, closing in February of '01 as part of Loews Cineplex’ bankruptcy reorganization, and having seen most of its business siphoned away by a nearby megaplex operated by rival chain Destinta.
Great exterior photo, but I seriously doubt that Catatonia, as the person who posted the image lostmemory linked to, was scheduled to play the Music Palace; the Music Palace was strictly a film venue, with perhaps (and I’m only guessing) an occasional stint as a host to various live Chinese cultural performances.
Those were great days for the Somerville Theatre, Ian – working for Garen, the double features, the midnight specials on Friday and Saturday nights, the programming in general, and the anticipation that surrounded the experience of that first look at each new film calendar as it arrived at the theatre, checking to see what the next two months would bring… fun times and I’m glad the Somerville Theatre is still going strong. I’ll definitely pop in and say ‘hi’ the next time I’m back in Boston.
The Music Palace is the subject of a nine-minute documentary (titled ‘Music Palace’), directed by Eric Lin and showing as part of the 2005 New Directors/New Films series. It focuses on the Music Palace’s three caretakers and their ruminations during the theatre’s final days. (Showings – on the same bill as Zhu Wen’s feature-length dramatic feature, ‘South of the Clouds’ – are scheduled for the Walter Reade Theater on Thursday, March 31, at 8:30 pm and at MoMA Saturday, April 2 at 3:15 pm; more information about purchasing tickets and about ND/NF in general can be found here: http://www.filmlinc.com/ndnf/index.html.))
Below is the comment I posted last night on this week’s quiz page…
I’m not a fan of commercials being shown before movies (trailers, yes- even though most tend to give away the majority of a film’s plot in only a few minutes' time; commercials themselves, no) but, reading Ian M. Judge’s comments, I recognize them as being a necessary evil; again, I’m not fond of them, but I understand why theatres – chains and indies – resort to showing them.
Pacific Theatres, the operator of the ArcLight and Cinerama Dome complex, does a fantastic thing in not showing commercials; the trade-off, of course, being an increase in ticket price. While most of us claim that to be a fair bargain, the fact is, a sizeable percentage would complain about the increase in the cost of admission, despite filmgoing being the best entertainment bargain around.
The fair compromise to me (again, going back to the policy of the theatre where Ian is employed, which I believe to be the Somerville Theatre, my boyhood moviegoing haunt and the place where I had my first job at the age of 10, distributing film program calendars in the Somerville and Cambridge area during the mid-‘80s) is to show commercials before the announced showtime; theatre owners still gain their revenue and those of us who prefer to avoid ads win as well.
posted by br91975 on Mar 08, 05 | 10:35 pm
The two Bow Tie Cinemas share the name of former B.S. Moss Times Square properties and are located in New Haven, Connecticut (the five-screen Criterion Cinemas) and Basalt, Colorado (the seven-screen Movieland).
If only those chains would spread some of their love to the city of Boston, which is down to two movie theatre sites – the Loews Boston Common and the AMC Fenway…
As much as it kills me to feel this way, chance, it looks as if any attempt to save or buy the Commodore is a lost cause; see the series of postings dated this past October 20th for more details.
All of the fundraising benefits the Friends of the Raymond Theatre are excellent and noteworthy, but updated reports of what’s happening to or has become of the battle to save the Raymond seem few and far between; any news to offer?
A minor correction to the Post article is in order: the Victoria actually showed its last movie sometime in the mid-‘90s. After reopening as the Victoria 5 in the fall of '92 (later operating as a quad and closing about a year later), the theatre served as a venue (on one or two screens) for more ethnically-based films (such as 'Sankofa’) for a year or two, before closing yet again. (In subsequent years, the Victoria housed occasional theatrical productions and church services.)
Thank you so much for the detailed account, Ed. With a lack of photos detailing the current (or near-current) state of the RKO Keith’s interior, your recollections are the next best thing. Again, thank you…
I had a feeling the building which housed the Park & 86th Street Cinemas and Gimbel’s were separate entities; thanks for the clarification, Warren, and for clearing my suspicions. The former HMV space is presently occupied by Best Buy. (HMV, which once had a strong presence with five stores throughout Manhattan – including one at the former Embassy 72nd Street site – has since pulled out of the New York market.)
There WAS a movie theatre where Duane Reade is now; the space formerly housed the two-screen Park & 86th Street Cinemas, which closed in the fall of 2002 with ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ and ‘Road to Perdition’ and the marquee is the same used when the property was a theatre, merely with the signage replaced and some other minor (non-structural) alterations.
It IS showing its age a bit – it doesn’t take long for movie theatres in NYC to develop at least a bit of that down-on-its-heels appearance – but the Loews Lincoln Square still is one of the best multiplexes, if not THE best multiplex, in the five boroughs. I’ve never really heard much about the Loews 84th Street, though, one way or another, which suggests it’s a decent (but not much more) place to catch a flick. Any thoughts/opinions?
I’d guess via a prerecorded CD, tmq840. I’ve heard something similar at the nine-screen Clearview in Chelsea, with music and DJ announcements from WCBS-FM – relatively subtle, but yet another example of commercialization at the movies…
The Movieplex 42 was carved out of one of two Roxy Twin Theatre sites on the Deuce (this one being located to the direct right of the space the Empire formerly occupied).
The theatre you saw ‘High Fidelity’ at, Harper, was the Criterion Center, between 44th and 45th Streets on Broadway, which closed in April of 2000, and the auditorium you saw it in was the former balcony (one of seven auditoriums at the Criterion; the other six resided within a left/right split of the former orchestra and four carved out of the one-time lounge/basement area). The total space of the movie side of the Criterion (there was also a separate entity two-stage Criterion Center performing arts space located next door, to the left) was gutted later that summer and, along with most of the remainder of the building, now serves as home to Toys ‘R Us.
The exterior of the Olympic is visible in one scene towards the end of the 1999 film ‘Fight Club’. (On the marquee, by pure coincidence, I’m sure – ‘Seven Years in Tibet’.)
I’d double Bway’s comment, chance. Property values in Williamsburg are skyrocketing, commensurate with the hot spots at the Bedford Avenue L stop (to use just one example) and the steady outburst of upscale condos and luxury apartments throughout Billburg. If you’re able to or have arranged the likely amount of financing needed to purchase the Commodore and have a solid business plan, you could find yourself sitting on a gold mine, in more ways than one.
Based on my knowledge – as it is – of the Landmark chain, my best guess on three of the five theatres to be a part of the initial digital projection roll-out would focus on the Sunshine in NYC, the Kendall Square Cinemas in Cambridge, Ma., and the NuArt in LA; beyond those likely sites, I’d suppose they’d target some of their other top-grossing venues (not sure if their theatres in D.C. would fall into that category).
The Commodore is up for sale? Wow, what a pleasant surprise, given the current ownership’s seemingly hellbent plans to either demolish or gut the property.
Best of luck to you, chance, on your pursuit…
Completely screwed up indeed; thanks for the update, Manwithnoname.
Nowhere near the record, Theatrefan. The since-demolished Movieplex 42 on 42nd between 7th and 8th stayed in business for 21 months, from June of 1994 through March of ‘96 while, in the Pittsburgh suburb of North Versailles, Pennsylvania, a 20-screen, all-stadium seating Loews theatre lasted 16 months, closing in February of '01 as part of Loews Cineplex’ bankruptcy reorganization, and having seen most of its business siphoned away by a nearby megaplex operated by rival chain Destinta.
Great exterior photo, but I seriously doubt that Catatonia, as the person who posted the image lostmemory linked to, was scheduled to play the Music Palace; the Music Palace was strictly a film venue, with perhaps (and I’m only guessing) an occasional stint as a host to various live Chinese cultural performances.
Those were great days for the Somerville Theatre, Ian – working for Garen, the double features, the midnight specials on Friday and Saturday nights, the programming in general, and the anticipation that surrounded the experience of that first look at each new film calendar as it arrived at the theatre, checking to see what the next two months would bring… fun times and I’m glad the Somerville Theatre is still going strong. I’ll definitely pop in and say ‘hi’ the next time I’m back in Boston.
The Music Palace is the subject of a nine-minute documentary (titled ‘Music Palace’), directed by Eric Lin and showing as part of the 2005 New Directors/New Films series. It focuses on the Music Palace’s three caretakers and their ruminations during the theatre’s final days. (Showings – on the same bill as Zhu Wen’s feature-length dramatic feature, ‘South of the Clouds’ – are scheduled for the Walter Reade Theater on Thursday, March 31, at 8:30 pm and at MoMA Saturday, April 2 at 3:15 pm; more information about purchasing tickets and about ND/NF in general can be found here: http://www.filmlinc.com/ndnf/index.html.))
Below is the comment I posted last night on this week’s quiz page…
I’m not a fan of commercials being shown before movies (trailers, yes- even though most tend to give away the majority of a film’s plot in only a few minutes' time; commercials themselves, no) but, reading Ian M. Judge’s comments, I recognize them as being a necessary evil; again, I’m not fond of them, but I understand why theatres – chains and indies – resort to showing them.
Pacific Theatres, the operator of the ArcLight and Cinerama Dome complex, does a fantastic thing in not showing commercials; the trade-off, of course, being an increase in ticket price. While most of us claim that to be a fair bargain, the fact is, a sizeable percentage would complain about the increase in the cost of admission, despite filmgoing being the best entertainment bargain around.
The fair compromise to me (again, going back to the policy of the theatre where Ian is employed, which I believe to be the Somerville Theatre, my boyhood moviegoing haunt and the place where I had my first job at the age of 10, distributing film program calendars in the Somerville and Cambridge area during the mid-‘80s) is to show commercials before the announced showtime; theatre owners still gain their revenue and those of us who prefer to avoid ads win as well.
posted by br91975 on Mar 08, 05 | 10:35 pm
The two Bow Tie Cinemas share the name of former B.S. Moss Times Square properties and are located in New Haven, Connecticut (the five-screen Criterion Cinemas) and Basalt, Colorado (the seven-screen Movieland).
If only those chains would spread some of their love to the city of Boston, which is down to two movie theatre sites – the Loews Boston Common and the AMC Fenway…
As much as it kills me to feel this way, chance, it looks as if any attempt to save or buy the Commodore is a lost cause; see the series of postings dated this past October 20th for more details.
All of the fundraising benefits the Friends of the Raymond Theatre are excellent and noteworthy, but updated reports of what’s happening to or has become of the battle to save the Raymond seem few and far between; any news to offer?
A minor correction to the Post article is in order: the Victoria actually showed its last movie sometime in the mid-‘90s. After reopening as the Victoria 5 in the fall of '92 (later operating as a quad and closing about a year later), the theatre served as a venue (on one or two screens) for more ethnically-based films (such as 'Sankofa’) for a year or two, before closing yet again. (In subsequent years, the Victoria housed occasional theatrical productions and church services.)
The Cinema Village is located on 12th at University Place; the Village East Cinemas are at 2nd Avenue and 12th Street.
Thank you so much for the detailed account, Ed. With a lack of photos detailing the current (or near-current) state of the RKO Keith’s interior, your recollections are the next best thing. Again, thank you…
I had a feeling the building which housed the Park & 86th Street Cinemas and Gimbel’s were separate entities; thanks for the clarification, Warren, and for clearing my suspicions. The former HMV space is presently occupied by Best Buy. (HMV, which once had a strong presence with five stores throughout Manhattan – including one at the former Embassy 72nd Street site – has since pulled out of the New York market.)
It’s here, Robert: /theaters/6200/
There WAS a movie theatre where Duane Reade is now; the space formerly housed the two-screen Park & 86th Street Cinemas, which closed in the fall of 2002 with ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ and ‘Road to Perdition’ and the marquee is the same used when the property was a theatre, merely with the signage replaced and some other minor (non-structural) alterations.
The EasyEverything internet cafe occupies the former lobby space of the Liberty, just behind the building’s landmarked exterior.
It IS showing its age a bit – it doesn’t take long for movie theatres in NYC to develop at least a bit of that down-on-its-heels appearance – but the Loews Lincoln Square still is one of the best multiplexes, if not THE best multiplex, in the five boroughs. I’ve never really heard much about the Loews 84th Street, though, one way or another, which suggests it’s a decent (but not much more) place to catch a flick. Any thoughts/opinions?
I’d guess via a prerecorded CD, tmq840. I’ve heard something similar at the nine-screen Clearview in Chelsea, with music and DJ announcements from WCBS-FM – relatively subtle, but yet another example of commercialization at the movies…
The Movieplex 42 was carved out of one of two Roxy Twin Theatre sites on the Deuce (this one being located to the direct right of the space the Empire formerly occupied).
The theatre you saw ‘High Fidelity’ at, Harper, was the Criterion Center, between 44th and 45th Streets on Broadway, which closed in April of 2000, and the auditorium you saw it in was the former balcony (one of seven auditoriums at the Criterion; the other six resided within a left/right split of the former orchestra and four carved out of the one-time lounge/basement area). The total space of the movie side of the Criterion (there was also a separate entity two-stage Criterion Center performing arts space located next door, to the left) was gutted later that summer and, along with most of the remainder of the building, now serves as home to Toys ‘R Us.
The exterior of the Olympic is visible in one scene towards the end of the 1999 film ‘Fight Club’. (On the marquee, by pure coincidence, I’m sure – ‘Seven Years in Tibet’.)