Ziegfeld Theatre
141 W. 54th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
141 W. 54th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
131 people
favorited this theater
Showing 2,151 - 2,175 of 4,512 comments
Here’s from the Warner Bros. site [http://bladerunnerthemovie.warnerbros.com/] — spinners are indeed appearing in flyover-land (no indication whether digital or 35mm). In addition to continuing in NY and LA:
10/26/07 Seattle Cinerama
10/26/07 Washington DC Uptown
10/26/07 Portland Cinema 21
10/26/07 Salt Lake Gateway Megaplex
11/02/07 Chicago Music Box
11/02/07 Santa Barbara Arlington
11/02/07 Baltimore Landmark Harbor East
11/09/07 Boston Coolidge Corner, Brookline
11/09/07 Vancouver, BC Granville
11/16/07 Detroit Main Art
11/18/07 Austin Paramount
11/30/07 San Francisco Embarcadero
11/30/07 Dallas Inwood
11/30/07 San Diego Ken
11/30/07 Minneapolis Uptown
12/07/07 Denver Landmark
12/07/07 Philadelphia Ritz 5
12/25/07 Boston Brattle
01/02/08 Austin Paramount
01/04/08 Nashville Belcourt
01/18/08 Durham, NC Carolina
02/01/08 Columbus, OH Drexel Gateway
02/15/08 San Francisco Castro
02/29/08 Sacramento Crest
I can only speak for the first two weeks of release, but on a per-screen average, and only on two theatres nationwide, it ate up the competition by a wide margin. The way things are going, we may see this theatrical run go through December.
JSA
Warren… It’s all relative. Surely the numbers are not even in the same universe as those for, say, “American Gangster” or “Bee Movie.” Considering the number of screens on which the movie is playing, however, I think “Blade Runner” has had – indeed IS having – a wonderful run. Clearly, its success is far more than the distributor ever anticipated. I expected the film to play out its two-week theatrical engagement and then run its course on home video. The DVD will be available on December 18th, yet there is still sufficient popular demand to extend its theatrical run by at least 3 weeks in both NYC and LA – not to mention expand that release to Seattle and possibly other cities. I would consider the release to be a great success.
Perhaps I’m more pleased than happy… I just think its nice to know that audiences will respond to a classic film. A film that assumes its audience has an attention span greater than 30 seconds; that allows the audience to soak in its rich atmosphere without disorienting jump-cuts or rapid-fure editing; that is designed so that the narrative can be visually conveyed without the need for excessive expository dialogue. Surprising? Yes. But also restores my faith that there is some intellectual curiosity out there in the movie-going public. In fact, moreso than the major Hollywood studios are willing to give credit.
Still playing at Landmark!! Don’t know if “happy” is the word, but I’m really surprised: 5 weeks! I thought two at most.
JSA
While “Blade Runner: The Final Cut” continues its midnight showings at the Ziegfeld, the engagement has been extended and expanded to the Sunshine Cinema, where it will day-and-date with the AMC Empire 25 (where it was moved over from the Ziegfeld back on October 19th). Is anyone else as happy as I am with the smashing success of this new-old release (I’ll pause at calling it a re-release since this is an altered version)? It is now in it’s 5th week in NYC and has expanded upon the number of screens (although, I assume that the combined number of available seats in both the Empire and Sunshine auditoriums are less than half than that number at the Ziegfeld)!
Is it still playing in LA as well? And how are things going in Seattle, I wonder?
As of now, The Ziegfeld is #1 and the Ridgewood is #2, but as far as I’m concerned the Ridgewood has so many off-topic posts about the old neighborhood and old high school friends that it should have a Roger Maris/Barry Bonds-type asterisk next to its name. When we go off-topic on the Ziegfeld page it’s still generally about movie palaces, roadshows and big screen projection.
At one time, Radio City Music Hall was #1 as well. I think it’s #3 now.
that’s the one I was thinking of, the Ridgewood.
Warren… the Ridgewood Theatre has to be right up there as well. Not sure of the order, but I’d say it’s a good bet that these are #1 and #2.
Warren, didn’t someone say recently that the most postings was for some theatre in one of the other boroughs ?
One more week at Landmark, by “popular demand”! It also opened at the Seattle Cinerama this Friday.
JSA
Well… the success story of this theatrical run continues. “Blade Runner” has been extended a second week at the AMC Empire 25 and – as of this past Friday – has resumed at the Ziegfeld for Midnight only showings! I wonder if the Ziegfeld showings are only for the weekend…
Definitely agree Howard. The main reason I have not seen the Final Cut is the choice of venue (Second reason: I’m not buying Deckard as a replicant). Anyway, why was this not presented at one one of the Westwood or Hollywood first-class houses is beyond me, considering the fan base the film has. Not to mention that the dystopian vision of LA itself is almost a “character” in the film. Driving on the 405 Freeway, with all those creepy billboards around the refineries near Torrance at night, sure looks like a landscape not too distant from the one depicted in the film.
JSA
Blade Runner deserves MORE than what a friend advises me are crappily designed plex auditoriums at Landmark, which don’t have huge screens. Since there are 35mm prints, they ought to present Blade Runner at the Village or one of the other huge LA screens!
OK… So they extended the run in both cities for a week. I guess the move-over was needed in NY due to the Ziegfeld being previously booked for “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
Have not seen it, but “Blade Runner” is still playing at the Landmark until this Thursday. On a per screen average basis (including NYC & LA), it’s doing pretty good.
JSA
“Blade Runner” has moved over to the AMC Empire 25 for a one week engagement – and is still being advertised in the Times. I guess ticket sales were so good at the Ziegfeld that Warner Brothers decided to extend the release. Does anyone know how well the engagement in L.A. went?
veyoung, you described exactly why happens when the automation is not programmed properly or cues are missing. Some of the older systems are still triggered by a metallic cue tape affixed to the edge of the print. Problem with that is, because that area of the film comes in contact with metal surfaces running through the projector, they wear out or loose their conductivity. When that happens the sensing device does not read the cue and a step in the automation is missed, causing everything to go out of sequence.
Later models of automation have the sensing tape affixed directly across the frame line of the print, which does not come in contact with anything that would compromise the cue tape. But the projectionist must be sure to put all the cues on the print necessary to run a complete show. Of course other things like bad relays or other mechanical devices in the automation system can sometimes cause problems, but generally it is a misplaced,missing, or worn out metallic cue strip.
I would love to know what type of automation system is used at the Ziegfeld. I certainly hope it’s not the old relic that was originally installed.
“all kinds of things will go wrong …” Vito, I see what you mean…I once experienced the following at a neighboring Loews 24-plex: the feature ended, the end credits began to roll, the house lights can on full, the film soundtrack disappeared, the non-sync music began to play, the commercials (on slides) began to be projected on top of the end credits, and the masking closed from scope to flat…and, I swear, I was the only person in the auditorium to give a hoot, or to probably even notice. Thanks for the info.
veyoung, you are most welcome.
I should also point out that many automation systems allow
for 2 or 3 completely different set ups to be programed.
However, the projectionist would have to remember to tell the automation which set to use. That can be problematic for a guy running multible screens by himself. So generaly all the movies are programmed to run the same way on all screens.
It might be ok to use mulible programming on let’s say a twin or perhaps up to four screens, after that it gets a bit risky.
If a movie plays on the wrong automation program all kinds of things will go wrong because in effect, the automaton program will run out of sync with the placement of programming cues on the print.
Thanks, Vito. That makes sense.
Hey David… Forgot about the tweak with Zhora’s death. I can recall seeing the movie way back in ‘82 and my friends and I chuckling at how obvious it was that a stunt person was hurtling through the plate glass. The shots in the sequence now are flawless.
Attended (finally!) the last show on the last day, and surprisingly for an 8:30 Thursday night showing of a 25-year-old film the Ziegfeld was packed, about 90-95 percent. Curtains closed after slideshow, then opened for trailers. Crowd was psyched: Applause when Ladd Co. logo began (at which point a woman up front with a neon umbrella opened it and waved). Each of the names in the opening credits got bursts of applause, heavy for Vangelis and esp. Ridley Scott. Poor producer got none, which provoked laughter. Then the crowd settled in and was pretty much quiet for the rest of the film. Sound was LOUD. Images were generally very clear, though in places (Tyrell interiors) it seemed less golden/orangey than my memory of it. FX shots looked great. I still don’t know why Deckard and Gaff’s ride in the Spinner is still silent â€" if production sound couldn’t be found, couldn’t they re-loop dialogue a.k.a. Lawrence of Arabia? And I seem to recall Deckard introduced himself to Rachael as a Blade Runner, but he didn’t here. Other nips/tucks/tweaks were good, esp. Zhora’s death.
It was great to see on a big screen again, especially amidst a good, appreciative crowd.
Again a lot depends on the capabilitty of the automation. Some are just basic systems with little capabilities. However most would be able to do a masking change very easily with just an additionl diode (peg) inserted into the program to activate the masking, along with an additional metalic strip on the print positioned in the proper place. In my days in the booth, where we had automation, I would always go the extra mile to do that. In fact before the studios made duel versions of trailers available, and we had to make masking and lens changes, it was done though the automation, which would change masking settings and operate torrets to change lens and aperture plates. The only draw back is the problem of moving prints from screen-to-screen in a Multiples operation. You would have to remember to re-program the automation to add/delete the extra masking change. Keep in mind, on any given day, moving prints from screen to screen may occur often. Kiddie movies in larger houses during the day and smaller ones at night, etc.
Thanks, Vito and Ed, for you answer re: scope/flat trailers. Vito said “…don’t hold our breath, I know no one who actually goes to the trouble of doing that."
Given automation, just how much "trouble” is it?