We’re rolling out a new comment policy today.

Because our community continues to grow by leaps and bounds, it’s now a good time to remind folks about the basic rules of posting comments here.

Many of these rules were actually created long ago. But, by posting our policy in public, we hope to cut down on any confusion about what is and is not acceptable.

Please take a moment to read the policy before making any additional comments. And, if you have a question about anything, please check out our frequently asked questions.

As always, with your help, Cinema Treasures will remain a great community!

Sincerely,
Patrick Crowley and Ross Melnick

All of us at Cinema Treasures are excited to announce that we have just added our 20,000th theater! There are now detailed listings from over 115 countries.

Thank you to all of our wonderful, dedicated users. And, of course, without Bryan Krefft and Ken Roe, this milestone would never have been possible.

There are many wonderful things in store for Cinema Treasures in the coming months and we look forward to bringing them to you as soon as we can. In the meantime, please accept our heartiest thanks and appreciation for all of your support over the past seven years.

There’s much more excitement to come in 2008.

Warmest Regards,

Patrick Crowley and Ross Melnick
Co-founders, Cinema Treasures

Our apologies to anyone who was unable to use Cinema Treasures yesterday.

We suffered a large power outage at our data center, and it took almost eight hours for all of the servers to come back online.

Power outages are rare in the hosting business, but they do happen. Thanks for your patience.

In order to improve the consistency and quality of Cinema Treasures, we have crafted a new editing policy for the site.

If you’re submitting new theaters or adding information to existing theaters, you should definitely take a moment to read the policy. And your suggestions are welcome, too. Please post any comments, questions, or suggested additions to this thread.

It is worth noting, of course, that we will do our best to retroactively edit our nearly 20,000 listings, but this will be a long process.

Thank you,

Cinema Treasures

There were NO Milan cinemas on Cinema Treasures, so recently (12-30), I added 17. Most interesting:
MANZONI, http://cinematreasures.org/theater/22541/ with links to photos of amazing 1950 lobby and auditorium, but sadly closed.
PRESIDENT http://cinematreasures.org/theater/22544/ with a sleek Moderne style lobby.

Others:
De Amicis http://cinematreasures.org/theater/22559/
Ambasciatori http://cinematreasures.org/theater/22548/
Anteo Spazio http://cinematreasures.org/theater/22556/

Read more…

Earlier this month, I found only 15 Belgium cinemas on this website, of which 7 were in Brussels. So, I added 13 Brussels cinemas, many still open as arthouses near the Grand Place. Ken Roe added 9, historic, but almost all closed, cinemas from his 1995 visit.  Ken added the PLAZA (1928 Spanish Baroque) http://cinematreasures.org/theater/22282/ with its linked photos showing it as a gorgeous hotel banquet hall, which I visited.  I added the MOVY-CLUB (1934 blend of Art Deco & modernism, still single screen cinema) http://cinematreasures.org/theater/22253/ and discovered a 1950’s Atomium era cinema, AUDITORIUM SHELL, http://cinematreasures.org/theater/22256/ long closed and functioning as an auditorium, has been reopened for movies while the building housing the MUSEE DE CINEMA http://cinematreasures.org/theater/22261/ is refurbished. 

Read more…

When I first visited in 1994, Madrid seemed to be the last city to have so many historic cinemas with daily movies on its main street, the Gran Via. Hand painted billboard sized movie posters proclaimed the features. Ushers wearing jackets and ties showed you to your reserved seat. A curtain opened and closed, for commercials, for trailers, and finally for the feature. Many had one or two balconies. Full houses greeted Hollywood blockbusters, dubbed into Spanish. I eagerly experienced movies in almost all of them. By the end of the 1990’s, multiplexes were luring customers away and the historic cinemas began to close.

Cinematreasures.org listed only two of the historic cinemas on Madrid’s Gran Via:
the Avenida de la Musica http://cinematreasures.org/theater/18029/ huge & gorgeous, but may close to be a retail mall;
and the Capitol, http://cinematreasures.org/theater/18027/ with its stunning Art Deco exterior and auditorium.

Read more…

As this year draws to a close, Cinema Treasures is putting together a list of the ten most endangered theaters.

The purpose of this list is to publicize the plight of theaters at risk, alert local and national media, and keep our focus on saving these theaters before it’s too late.

We’ve taken a first stab at the list, but we really want to get your feedback before making it official.

1. National Theatre (Los Angeles, CA)


2. Boyd Theatre (Philadelphia, PA)


3. Wayne Theatre (Wayne, MI)


4. Port Theatre (Corona Del Mar, CA)


5. Isle Theatre (Cumberland, WI)


6. Uptown Theatre (Chicago, IL)


7. Trylon Theater (Rego Park, Queens, NY)


8. NuWilshire (Santa Monica, CA)

If you’d like to nominate another theater, please add your theater in the comments below. Please make sure to include the theater’s full name, location, theater page link (if available), and why the theater is endangered.

This is an invaluable opportunity for everyone to make their voices heard and help us shape this important list of the most endangered Cinema Treasures in America.

(We’re also working on a separate list of theaters in the United Kingdom that will be published next Friday. Additional lists from Canada, France, China, etc. are welcome too.)

Thanks to everyone who dropped by our meetup at the Landmark last week.

The wine bar at the Landmark was packed that night... which was funny, because it’s almost always empty in there. In fact, at one point, we looked over at the bar and Mark Ruffalo was sitting there. (Turns out he was at the Landmark for a screening of his new film Reservation Road.)

Even though it was a bit crowded, the meeting was a lot of fun. We really enjoyed meeting everyone and hearing their thoughts on Cinema Treasures, movie theaters, historic preservation, etc.

Special thanks to Ben Barbash from the Fairfax, Kenneth McIntrye, Jose Otero Buenaga, and Mark Schlemmer from Secoa.

We’ll probably do another one of these in January. (And, hopefully, bring this event to other cities later next year).

If you live in the Los Angeles area, come meet the people behind Cinema Treasures.

We’re meeting up tonight at the new Landmark 12 in Westwood at 7 p.m. (Look for us in the lounge area near the concession stand).

When:
Thursday, November 8 (tonight!)
7 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Where:
The Landmark 12
10850 W. Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90064
map

Hope to see you all there!