AMC Lincoln Square 13
1998 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10023
1998 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10023
77 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1,026 - 1,050 of 1,701 comments
So guys I have a question, is Imax different from Regal RPX? I saw Sully in RPX because I had a free ticket. I was not impressed. The screen in 2 of the other theaters are much larger than the RPX. I remember IMAX in Ft Lauderdale and it was this huge screen that the whole film covered. What I saw was like any other theater for a film in 2.35 aspect ratio, black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Not at all impressed.
Sully was excellent n imax laser. Love the 12 channels of sound. Saw it at AMC Universal in LA. Also the sound and picture great at TLC Chinese. Cant wait for Lincoln Square Imax Laser
Even without the imax, Sully did quite well at this theater and the one on 84th Street, both the highest grossing venues in the NYC area for that movie when it opened nearly three weeks ago.
Mission Impossible 5, unlike the 4th one, wasn’t shot in Imax and was an IMAX DMR remastering from the original format. How’s work going at Lincoln Square IMAX? Seems there’s fewer moviegoers there.
https://mobile.twitter.com/IMAX/status/773304839774216192
Because the IMAX screen here is under renovation, they went ahead and installed IMAX equipment at Alice Tully Hall (which I don’t believe is listed here as it doesn’t do commercial runs of movies, but does also host many New York Film Festival showings) a few blocks away just to be able to host the Sully premiere. A similar undertaking was done previously with the Vienna Opera House to show the Mission Impossible 5 premiere in IMAX.
All the 70MM equipment put in the theatres after Hateful8 was removed and put back in storage. The quick disconnect wiring was left in place. I was smart enough while at the Regal E-Walk to make a notation of the package number I ran, so if I’m lucky enough to get called again next summer, I know what to ask for. Was problem free the entire 2 weeks.
digital3d, Thank You. I come from a family of union projectionists. My father was one for 55 years, my uncle for 54. I’m in my 40th this year. I only do the occasional movie now that everything is digital. It was a great run though.
There was an issue at Rockaway where the previews didn’t show up via satellite and then the movie began with 35mm projection. When 4k projection arrived, the DCI became 2k satellite (much like Imax digital but less brighter), with 4k becoming used for main features. I know that some Fathom Events such as Lawrence of Arabia were shipped on 4k drives rather than streaming to the projector for optimal sound quality. The sound quality of the Fathom Events is stereo compared to 5.1 or greater for the main feature. Very rarely they show 3d live events such as Dr. Who, which at the time was the highest grossing Fathom Event ever until the live stream of Batman The Killing Joke. I think next year AMC will renovate every other seat with recliners and make the Atmos theater an AMC Dolby Cinema location which will be the second after the AMC Empire 25. I hope they keep 70mm film for the release of Dunkirk. Sadly the only way to see Sully in IMAX will be at Empire, Kips Bay, or 34th street. Maybe they’ll show it once the renovations are done or just in time for oscar season. Sully was shot on Digital IMAX so the ratio is different and more like widescreen IMAX.
Whoa, @markp; didn’t know that all the other NYC theaters had to use the back up. While I do prefer digital I do really respect your decades as a projectionist. That takes dedication!
Interesting you mention the Fathom events @moviebuff82, because I once didn’t get to see the First Look previews because something was screwed up with the satellite projection.
xbs2034, perhaps you should have seen Hateful 8 at the Regal E-Walk where I ran it. Properly framed every time, no sound issues, and I was the only theatre out of the 4 in NYC that ran it that NEVER once used the digital back up. That’s what 40 years as a projectionist gets you. Just sayin.
Hateful Eight was incorrectly framed and then out of focus at the beginning (fixed soon after overture/openung credits sequence) and image cut out with sound still going for about 30 seconds near the end.
As for other films, I saw the typical problems of badly scratched prints, muddy images, colors changing in the middle of a scene due to print damage, etc. (these were all 35mm showings in 2012-2013 as I noticed problems with film projection becoming more frequent, and the last years I found film projection of new releases outside of very rare circumstances).
Lincoln Square IMAX installed digital in Fall 2013, so they may have had some QA system in there (the digital IMAX system was installed really fast though- they were closed for just 3 or 4 days), but the customer service team mentioned that as part of the renovation when I was there a couple weeks ago. Could be it’s a more advanced QA system designed for laser projection and the new sound system.
Film will degrade during a run even with proper handling and equipment maintenance.
xbs2034, what issues were there with the ‘Hateful Eight’ and other film screenings you attended?
Remote monitoring and auto-calibration is standard in an IMAX Digital installation, laser or not. The audio system calibration (IMAX nXos which uses Audyssey EQ technology) was first installed in 2010, so depending on when IMAX Digital projection was installed at Lincoln Square, might be an addition.
Also, aside from the addition of the side/overhead speakers for IMAX’s 12 channel sound system, the screen speakers and rear speakers could be upgraded to IMAX’s “Kanga” speakers if they have previous generation speakers. The screen will also need to be replaced for laser projection.
Cheaper prints have been getting made for twenty years due to short runs and a lack of subruns. Print quality did not deteriorate due to a lack of projectionists. The prints are just on lower quality mylar and most get destroyed soon after the first run.
CF100, I feel seeing a new film print properly projected is gorgeous, but those probably only happen now in special events. In regular multiplexes as you say substandard projection was not uncommon particularly as a film was shown more and got some damage, and it got worse in the last five years or so as trained film projectionists became rare so that I’d even go to the first showing on film of a movie like Hateful Eight and there were significant issues.
But while I do feel DCP is better in the everyday multiplex world, there always is a chance for error and I think one of the issues with more automated theater operations now is usually there isn’t someone there checking for problems when they occur. Which is why I think the system IMAX is putting in is promising, the screen should be properly calibrated and be getting some more oversight, even if it is done remotely.
I’ve seen dual projector 3D setups misaligned, most noticeable as double images on the end credits and other titles. IMAX’s dual projection system requires alignment to subpixel accuracy.
Daily auto re-calibration of image and sound to restore to the original calibration is a good thing.
All screens are monitored by IMAX’s Network Operations Center in Mississauga.
In the days of 35mm, IME (outside of premier venues which retained ‘showman’ projectionists) it wasn’t uncommon for multiplexes to have substandard projection with poor film-handling, out of focus picture, and even failure to switch to the anamorphic lens for the main feature, etc.!
It would be interesting to consider comparative ‘uptime’ figures for digital vs. film projection. But whereas digital tends to be ‘all or nothing,’ film will degrade with every screening.
That stinks. The thing with projectionists unlike robots is that the humans have more knowledge than the machine. What if the machine breaks down during a showing and up comes an error screen? That is the case with Fathom Events which runs off satellite.
We have a device in [the projector] called an “image enhancer,” which is like a super computer that’s got the power of about a hundred desktop computers. This device takes the content and manipulates the data to the two projectors to insure we have a pristine image on screen. And just like how we used microphones in the theater to monitor the sound, there is an industrial camera mounted between the two projectors just inside [the theater]. It looks to the screen as your eyes. Again, it’s patent pending and nobody else in the world does this.
We are looking and what you’re looking at and it provides data back to the image enhancer, so we can constantly optimize what’s going on the screen. It all goes back to this concept of preserving quality of presentation and trying to take it a notch higher. We are really excited with this technology. It’s helping us really to take projection technology to the next level.
The image enhancing super computer is inside [a computer standing next to the projector] and it’s collecting data through the image enhancer. We are then connected, via the internet, to these devices. We can do simple things…. We are the only integrated… Sound projection, show automation, show control, are all tied together. So when an operator is having a problem, we can actually dial in. I’ve had a couple of cases where somebody will phone and say, “Well, I tried this and it didn’t work.” Here’s a guy at our end going “Well that’s not quite true. You pushed this button, then you pushed that button, then this button.”
http://www.slashfilm.com/imax-is-innovating-with-remote-theatrical-quality-control-laser-projection-and-a-commitment-to-film/
Sounds like projectionists are being made obsolete by the mothership.
xbs2034 on August 18, 2016 at 9:10 am “The IMAX screen is scheduled to close after this weekend, for laser and other improvements (new seats, sound system, quality assurance monitoring system). Their plan is indeed to reopen for the holiday season blockbusters provided there are no delays in construction.”
What does quality assurance monitoring system mean? Low light cameras watching the audience for any hanky panky?
Reserved seating is great imo, I just think that so far every theater with reserved seating has had an upgrade. Just throwing it into every theater brings expectations people have that AMC has set already with the new seats. People think they may be getting good seats like at AMC 84th street or amc west orange but they’re the same old ones
If you look at Fandango’s list of theaters with reserved seating: http://www.fandango.com/reserved-seating-theaters it looks like AMC is planning on adding reserved seating to a ton of theaters, including almost all in New York.
I feel that reserved seating has its place, but more for premium offerings like IMAX or the theaters with recliners (which is what AMC was mostly using it for before), and kinda wish on the normal 300 seat screens they just kept it as is since that can turn into a hassle, particularly if you are going to the movie as a last minute thing.
Reserved seats are a way of life in the UK…if there is something we are serious about we book it with preferred seats (I like an aisle for my long legs)…Plenty of people go at the last minute…You get used to it…yes it takes the spontaneity and some of the fun out of moviegoing but think that if you can manage a mid-week afternoon show, or wait until Weeks 2 or 3 you pretty much can walk in and enjoy…The screen is reading the seating plans online and not ending up too close…Enjoy!
That stinks, since picking a seat will be tougher than ever and shows will sell out faster.
It was confirmed by ,a,m,c. Empire starting sep 2 reserved seating
http://www.fandango.com/amcloewslincolnsquare13_aabqi/theaterpage?date=9/6/2016
Also, Sully on the 9th, etc. Maybe this is what ‘ridethectrainridethectrain’ was talking about.
AMC is starting soon reserved seating in all screens with regular seats.