I didn’t realize this, but the theatre has reopened as the AED Globe Theatre – as a multi-use space:
“On Friday July 24 (2009), the new AED Globe Theater in Washington, D.C. will open to the public with a benefit concert by three-time Grammy Award-winning singers Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The performance will help raise funds to support Ghana CEDEM, a Ghanaian NGO dedicated to improving the quality of education for Ghana’s children.
“Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s presence at the AED Globe Theater offers the community a chance to see superb performers in an intimate setting,†said Stephen F. Moseley, President of AED. “These talented musicians will be celebrating our new theater and AED’s place in the community and world.â€
“This theater will host cultural programs, films, and discussions to encourage dialogue and bring the local community, and communities around the world, closer together,†Moseley added."
~~~~
a few films of this year’s Environment Film Festival will be shown next month (March) at the theatre.
that’s terrible news, the point of Cinemark’s XD screens was that other non-IMAX release films could get the big screen treatment, it also served a purpose when a @#$%ty IMAX movie didn’t hog a screen for two to three weeks time (i.e, ‘Sanctum’)
did anyone check out ‘The African Queen’ or ‘Breakfast at Tiffanys’ they weren’t 35mm, but in actual 2K DCP harddrive form from Paramount – ‘Queen’ most have looked stunning!
REAL-D 3D system opened on screen 5. Screens 6 and 7 also now have digital projection. Obviousily the hold outs and most obvious next conversions are the two largest auditoriums 1 and 4.
I could nitpick, but I wont …(oh who am I kidding) but a few things I want to point out about the presentation last night (Friday) – was that the curtains were used for the beginning, the beginning of the intermission and obviousily the beginning of the second act of the film [hooray!]. The annyoing thing though was that of course in this day and age, we dumb humans have to be reminded to turn off our phones, pagers, things that go ‘ping’ so, the AFI slide comes up behind the curtain along with the opening whistle [face palm]. As for the print, it’s surprisingly (annoyingly) hit or miss, more notably in the first half of the film than the second. The most noticeable is the beginning of the dance in the gym, it almost seems out of focus and drained of color. In once instance, a reel change results in the next scene the image to jump. Even though 70mm easily trounces hidef bluray resolution, the hidef presentation I saw on HD Net Movies was meticulousily cleaned up to the point it looked like the first time the movie unspooled
As for the sound – wow! it’s very front heavy, while the under the highway rumble scene creates some interesting rear channel sound effects. But the five across front sound is quite remarkable. One flaw though is that when the police lieutenant first address' the Jets in the playground, his voice echoes in the center and immediate left/center channel. The more appropriate moment of echoing voices and best implemented the speaker configuration is the beginning of the song ‘Maria’ – the additional ‘Maria’s’ envelope Tony’s main voice to excellent effect. The spreading out of the music really is the star here and even though early it seems a tad too strident at times, the musical cues and crescendo’s in the second act sound full and grandiose and really add drama to the underlying scenes. Another scene that is brief, beautiful and delicate: is the music cue that Maria dances on the rooftop after the rumble scene, the individual musical instruments creates a wall of sound that seems light and airy and just wonderful translucent – I wish more mixers would go back and resurrect 8-channel SDDS sound. Digital receivers in conjunction with digital projection can allow up to sixteen channels of sound – for someone to mix in a movie with five front + four surrounds AND bass channel could technically produce some really spectacular soundmixes.
you know what you should do Jodar is send them a request via their facebook page – they read it daily and they always address questions/requests – I know I’ve complained on their facebook page before and they have always replied. Which night are you going to see ‘West Side Story’ – I’m more than likely going to Saturday nights screening.
was the Norelco projector ever replaced? I didn’t think so… til now. As for the ‘non-aligned edges of the image’ this is also a problem on the curved Cinerama Dome screen in LA, it’s a problem in that DCI digital projection specifications never has had to address an image (and modify it) on a curved theater screen.
unfortunately the current 3D film now at the Uptown is the craptacular ‘Sanctum’ that’s been getting alot of negative reviews – I have no plans on seeing this, guess I’ll wait for the next film at the Uptown. Considering alot of the films that are being shown on IMAX screens are scope films (2.35) I’d favour seeing them here on the Uptown’s wide screen than paying extra for a screen that adds black borders above and below the image.
Poltergeist at the Embassy? – 70mmm!!, crap! why did my mom take me to see this at the Alexandria Virginia theatre – mind you there, the sound (the rear speaker we sat under) was near assaultive – I went to all the wrong theaters :( … well not all, Star Trek II. E.T., and Gandhi (70mm for all three) at the right theaters.
given it’s the dead of winter, the number of showings per day has decreased dramatically, a four and seven showing only, just this week they added a 10pm showing. Unfortunately, given the fact the theatre added a DLP unit, the choice or implementation of ‘alternative programming’ has yet to booked at this theatre – the one off ‘Carmen 3D’ would be ideal.
it’s been noted that it’s the same 70mm print that the Aero Theatre played last month, which they advertised as being the ‘original 6-track soundtrack’ I can’t wait to see/hear this, this weekend!!
I must be confused, I’m thinking of the theatres that were closer to L Street Screens 1-4 – screen 1 to be exact, the one with the raked seats (early ‘stadium seating’) So, only Fine Arts was the closest screen that was equipped with 70mm, not at the West End 1-4 – right?
so aside from HOOK, STAR TREK III and ALIENS, what other 70mm presentations were shown here as such (I’m kicking myself for not trekking down to see ALIENS there instead of subjecting myself to the small Mazza Galleria screen)
Any chance the WEC might be booking ‘Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives’ in March? I must admit I saw it last November at the Virginia Film Festival, but I’d really like to see it again. Their digital presentation of the film was a letdown.
the reason I ask is that I find it odd that both the Seattle and Uptown screen feature Christie DLP digital projector systems yet one of the two (the latter) is having problems both in it’s screen size and required brightness for projected 3D imagery.
from what I got from asking the knowledgable staff member at the Uptown:
first of all it isn’t a Sony 4K system … thank god.
1) it’s a new Christie 3D2P (DLP) (dual projector) system – some kinks are being worked on, specifially the second projector is not properly displaying the highest luminence/brightness and is also resulting in a slight fish eye image/display, the upper left, lower left, lower right of the screen are curved, but not in the right direction (as JodarMovieFan noted). Once this is corrected, AMC is full recognition of this flaw, and is fixing it, the image will be much brighter and will fit the screen properly. (fingers crossed)
2) it’s a new silver screen
3) no new speakers, but more ampage was added to compensate the audio dynamic range of digital projection’s lossless sound.
4) the 35mm/70mm projector is officially history (i.e, uninstalled)
interestingly, the beginning (and end) of ‘Tron Legacy’ is 2D and I watched them withouth the glasses – once again, and as I have noted before the tinting of the glasses ads unnecessary darkness
question: the new digital projector is properly displayed on the curved screen … right?? The Uptown here in DC just upgraded to digital projection and they are having a slight problem with the projected image in relationship to the curvature of the screen – it sounds like both the Seattle Cinerama and the Arclight Dome don’t have this problem, I wonder what the deal is why this problamatic with the Uptown’s large curved screen.
yeah, I’m eyeing that Thursday midnight show too. As for the sitting not too close, that’s the fun of the Uptown, I know when I was a kid it was blast sitting in the front row, the swoop into the trench of the Death Star in ‘Star Wars’ – weeeeeee, however being older it’s not as fun as say ‘Cloverfield’ with it’s shakey cam which made me want to hurl.
Of the one time I was up at King of Prussia IMAX – the screen size didn’t wow me, although the movie ‘Final Destination 3’ was an utter blast on the large screen: blood, gore, dead teenagers – woohoo!, I’d sooner go west and see an IMAX movie over at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg – which will be showing ‘Tron Legacy’ in 3D and 15/70mm (IMAX)
the only good about an ETX screen is that non-IMAX films can get the big screen treatment – sounds cool to me!
Auditorium 6’s digital projection system can also present REAL-D 3D features.
I didn’t realize this, but the theatre has reopened as the AED Globe Theatre – as a multi-use space:
“On Friday July 24 (2009), the new AED Globe Theater in Washington, D.C. will open to the public with a benefit concert by three-time Grammy Award-winning singers Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The performance will help raise funds to support Ghana CEDEM, a Ghanaian NGO dedicated to improving the quality of education for Ghana’s children.
“Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s presence at the AED Globe Theater offers the community a chance to see superb performers in an intimate setting,†said Stephen F. Moseley, President of AED. “These talented musicians will be celebrating our new theater and AED’s place in the community and world.â€
“This theater will host cultural programs, films, and discussions to encourage dialogue and bring the local community, and communities around the world, closer together,†Moseley added."
~~~~
a few films of this year’s Environment Film Festival will be shown next month (March) at the theatre.
that’s terrible news, the point of Cinemark’s XD screens was that other non-IMAX release films could get the big screen treatment, it also served a purpose when a @#$%ty IMAX movie didn’t hog a screen for two to three weeks time (i.e, ‘Sanctum’)
did anyone check out ‘The African Queen’ or ‘Breakfast at Tiffanys’ they weren’t 35mm, but in actual 2K DCP harddrive form from Paramount – ‘Queen’ most have looked stunning!
REAL-D 3D system opened on screen 5. Screens 6 and 7 also now have digital projection. Obviousily the hold outs and most obvious next conversions are the two largest auditoriums 1 and 4.
I could nitpick, but I wont …(oh who am I kidding) but a few things I want to point out about the presentation last night (Friday) – was that the curtains were used for the beginning, the beginning of the intermission and obviousily the beginning of the second act of the film [hooray!]. The annyoing thing though was that of course in this day and age, we dumb humans have to be reminded to turn off our phones, pagers, things that go ‘ping’ so, the AFI slide comes up behind the curtain along with the opening whistle [face palm]. As for the print, it’s surprisingly (annoyingly) hit or miss, more notably in the first half of the film than the second. The most noticeable is the beginning of the dance in the gym, it almost seems out of focus and drained of color. In once instance, a reel change results in the next scene the image to jump. Even though 70mm easily trounces hidef bluray resolution, the hidef presentation I saw on HD Net Movies was meticulousily cleaned up to the point it looked like the first time the movie unspooled
As for the sound – wow! it’s very front heavy, while the under the highway rumble scene creates some interesting rear channel sound effects. But the five across front sound is quite remarkable. One flaw though is that when the police lieutenant first address' the Jets in the playground, his voice echoes in the center and immediate left/center channel. The more appropriate moment of echoing voices and best implemented the speaker configuration is the beginning of the song ‘Maria’ – the additional ‘Maria’s’ envelope Tony’s main voice to excellent effect. The spreading out of the music really is the star here and even though early it seems a tad too strident at times, the musical cues and crescendo’s in the second act sound full and grandiose and really add drama to the underlying scenes. Another scene that is brief, beautiful and delicate: is the music cue that Maria dances on the rooftop after the rumble scene, the individual musical instruments creates a wall of sound that seems light and airy and just wonderful translucent – I wish more mixers would go back and resurrect 8-channel SDDS sound. Digital receivers in conjunction with digital projection can allow up to sixteen channels of sound – for someone to mix in a movie with five front + four surrounds AND bass channel could technically produce some really spectacular soundmixes.
you know what you should do Jodar is send them a request via their facebook page – they read it daily and they always address questions/requests – I know I’ve complained on their facebook page before and they have always replied. Which night are you going to see ‘West Side Story’ – I’m more than likely going to Saturday nights screening.
was the Norelco projector ever replaced? I didn’t think so… til now. As for the ‘non-aligned edges of the image’ this is also a problem on the curved Cinerama Dome screen in LA, it’s a problem in that DCI digital projection specifications never has had to address an image (and modify it) on a curved theater screen.
unfortunately the current 3D film now at the Uptown is the craptacular ‘Sanctum’ that’s been getting alot of negative reviews – I have no plans on seeing this, guess I’ll wait for the next film at the Uptown. Considering alot of the films that are being shown on IMAX screens are scope films (2.35) I’d favour seeing them here on the Uptown’s wide screen than paying extra for a screen that adds black borders above and below the image.
Poltergeist at the Embassy? – 70mmm!!, crap! why did my mom take me to see this at the Alexandria Virginia theatre – mind you there, the sound (the rear speaker we sat under) was near assaultive – I went to all the wrong theaters :( … well not all, Star Trek II. E.T., and Gandhi (70mm for all three) at the right theaters.
given it’s the dead of winter, the number of showings per day has decreased dramatically, a four and seven showing only, just this week they added a 10pm showing. Unfortunately, given the fact the theatre added a DLP unit, the choice or implementation of ‘alternative programming’ has yet to booked at this theatre – the one off ‘Carmen 3D’ would be ideal.
it’s been noted that it’s the same 70mm print that the Aero Theatre played last month, which they advertised as being the ‘original 6-track soundtrack’ I can’t wait to see/hear this, this weekend!!
I must be confused, I’m thinking of the theatres that were closer to L Street Screens 1-4 – screen 1 to be exact, the one with the raked seats (early ‘stadium seating’) So, only Fine Arts was the closest screen that was equipped with 70mm, not at the West End 1-4 – right?
so aside from HOOK, STAR TREK III and ALIENS, what other 70mm presentations were shown here as such (I’m kicking myself for not trekking down to see ALIENS there instead of subjecting myself to the small Mazza Galleria screen)
JodarMovieFan: I remember seeing ‘Tron’ at this theatre too, but was in 35mm or 70mm, THAT aspect I can’t remember?
Any chance the WEC might be booking ‘Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives’ in March? I must admit I saw it last November at the Virginia Film Festival, but I’d really like to see it again. Their digital presentation of the film was a letdown.
Just a head’s up that there will be three showings of ‘West Side Story’ in glorious 70mm for the film’s 50th Anniversary at the AFI/Silver next month:
Friday February 11: 8:30pm
Saturday (12th): 9:30pm
Sunday (13th): 5:30pm
the new film program (Feb. 2 – Apr.14) came in the Post this morning.
ah-hah, essentially the same problem, but the image on the curved screen at the Cinerama isn’t? that’s odd.
‘Summer Wars’ looks really interesting, might have to check it out!
that’s rather annoying the non-alignment issue was NOT resolved/fixed.
the reason I ask is that I find it odd that both the Seattle and Uptown screen feature Christie DLP digital projector systems yet one of the two (the latter) is having problems both in it’s screen size and required brightness for projected 3D imagery.
from what I got from asking the knowledgable staff member at the Uptown:
first of all it isn’t a Sony 4K system … thank god.
1) it’s a new Christie 3D2P (DLP) (dual projector) system – some kinks are being worked on, specifially the second projector is not properly displaying the highest luminence/brightness and is also resulting in a slight fish eye image/display, the upper left, lower left, lower right of the screen are curved, but not in the right direction (as JodarMovieFan noted). Once this is corrected, AMC is full recognition of this flaw, and is fixing it, the image will be much brighter and will fit the screen properly. (fingers crossed)
2) it’s a new silver screen
3) no new speakers, but more ampage was added to compensate the audio dynamic range of digital projection’s lossless sound.
4) the 35mm/70mm projector is officially history (i.e, uninstalled)
interestingly, the beginning (and end) of ‘Tron Legacy’ is 2D and I watched them withouth the glasses – once again, and as I have noted before the tinting of the glasses ads unnecessary darkness
question: the new digital projector is properly displayed on the curved screen … right?? The Uptown here in DC just upgraded to digital projection and they are having a slight problem with the projected image in relationship to the curvature of the screen – it sounds like both the Seattle Cinerama and the Arclight Dome don’t have this problem, I wonder what the deal is why this problamatic with the Uptown’s large curved screen.
yeah, I’m eyeing that Thursday midnight show too. As for the sitting not too close, that’s the fun of the Uptown, I know when I was a kid it was blast sitting in the front row, the swoop into the trench of the Death Star in ‘Star Wars’ – weeeeeee, however being older it’s not as fun as say ‘Cloverfield’ with it’s shakey cam which made me want to hurl.
Of the one time I was up at King of Prussia IMAX – the screen size didn’t wow me, although the movie ‘Final Destination 3’ was an utter blast on the large screen: blood, gore, dead teenagers – woohoo!, I’d sooner go west and see an IMAX movie over at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg – which will be showing ‘Tron Legacy’ in 3D and 15/70mm (IMAX)