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February 25, 2009
Last call for ordering pre-publication copies of “American Theatres of Today!”
It’s the “last call” to order your pre-publication numbered limited edition copy of “American Theatres of Today.” This important book is being reissued by the Theatre Historical Society of America in celebration of our 40th anniversary. Readers of Cinema Treasures can place orders through March 15th, 2009.
Originally issued as two volumes in 1927 and 1930, the book by R.W. Sexton and B.F. Betts is one of the very few theatre reference works published during the movie palace era. It is 368 pages and features 113 theatres, 275 photographs, 278 plans and illustrations. The book contains an introduction by famed showman S. L. “Roxy” Rothafel and articles by noted authorities on various aspects of theatre design and operation.
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February 24, 2009
Business up for Regal
Shares might have been down but business was up for Regal in the final quarter of the year.
On Thursday, Regal Entertainment Group reported that fourth-quarter earnings soared 30.0%, due to a boost in admissions and concessions revenue and an extra week in the calendar year between Christmas and New Years.
Still, adjusted earnings missed expectations by 6 cents a share. Regal’s shares sank 8.7%, or 91 cents, to $9.39, in afternoon trading. Its shares have tumbled 43.7% in the last six months.
Read more at Forbes.
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February 23, 2009
Not lost in translation
MOSCOW, RUSSIA — An article takes a look at how the language barrier is affecting the current theater output in Moscow.
Catching the original English-language version of a recent film isn’t so easy in Moscow these days, especially since the America Cinema closed a few years ago. It’s become easier to find independent or art house features in the original language than, say, recent Hollywood blockbusters. Here’s an overview of the main venues where you can enjoy English-language movies minus the usual Russian-language dubbing.
Read the guide at Moscow News Weekly.
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February 20, 2009
Theaters sued for not providing captioned Films
Some Washington state residents are fighting back after theaters fail to provide captioned films.
For most cinema buffs, silent movies went out with the Coolidge administration eight decades ago.
But for film fans who are hard of hearing, today’s theaters offer little beyond an indecipherable silence. Captioned showings remain rare, and existing technology that would allow attendees to read along at their seats is rarely used.
Now, a small group of Washington residents hopes to change that through a lawsuit filed earlier this month in King County Superior Court.
Read the full story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
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February 17, 2009
Redstone may dodge debt bullet
An interesting turn in the continued troubles of National Amusements.
In a conference call with analysts Thursday morning, Mr. Redstone announced that his privately held National Amusements Inc. was nearing an agreement to refinance $800 million in debt that was due this year. The company has a total of $1.6 billion in debt outstanding.
Mr. Redstone has been struggling with the debt issue since October, when National dumped $233 million of its holdings in Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. after declines in the media companies' value tripped a covenant with lenders.
Read more in Crain’s New York.
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February 16, 2009
Coventry cinema history
Coventry Picture Palaces has just been published by the Mercia Cinema Society.
Gil Robottom’s book has information, plans, and photographs on all the city’s cinema buildings. Also included are items and photographs from the late Bill Edkins' collection, from when he owned the Imperial Continental. There is a full index.
Written in 1992, an After-piece by Ian Meyrick (author of ‘Oxfordshire Cinemas’) on the multiplex era, brings the story to 2009. More details, covers, and sample illustrations are on the society’s web-site: http://merciacinema.org
It costs £14.50 (post-free inside UK) from Mercia sales: 29 Blackbrook Court, Durham Road, Loughborough, LE11 5UA
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February 13, 2009
Emerging Pictures has Hitchcock films available
Emerging Pictures is pleased to announce that we have arranged with Universal Pictures to open up their vault and make available their classic library of films for the first time in high definition on the big screen. The first group of films will be the Hitchcock titles, which will be available starting in mid-February. These films can be booked individually, as a series, or as a festival. Please note that these titles are still available on 35mm directly from Universal, assuming there is a print available.
We are in discussions with Universal about which titles to encode next. If there are films in their library that are of particular interest, or that you have found in the past do better than average at the box office do let us know and we’ll do our best to secure them for your community.
Emerging Pictures 245 West 55th Street, 4th Floor New York, NY 10019 (212) 245-6767 www.emergingpictures.com
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THS Weiss Literary Award
Another submission year has closed and the judging is well underway. Now is the time to start planning your submissions for the prestigious Jeffrey Weiss Literary Award Competition for 2009!
Remember – the competition is open to ANY PERSON, not just Theatre Historical Society of America members.
If you know of any architectural, historical or design programs where interested writers may be, please forward that information to Lowell Angell at so we can send a “Call for Submissions”. Every year, more and more colleges and universities learn of our competition but we know there are so many more out there.
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February 11, 2009
Old Theatres Magazine
Packed with superb illustrations and information, Britain now has a splendid magazine highlighting its wonderful places of entertainment over the years. Old Theatres magazine has just been launched at the Coliseum Theatre, Aberystwyth, and promises to be a wonderful source of information for all devotees of these splendid places.
The magazine is dedicated to the country’s superb venues, their great Patrons and the devotees who support them, and is edited by retired journalists and authors under the Patronage of Britain’s maestro of mirth, Ken Dodd, impresario Duggie Chapman, and by Qdos Entertainment who are the UKs second largest privately owned theatre operators. The first issue was launched at the 104 year old Coliseum Theatre at Aberystwyth and is attracting rave reviews everywhere.
To obtain your copy, please write to OLD THEATRES, The Coach House, Minllyn, Dinas Mawddwy, Machylleth, Powys, SY20 9LP enclose a cheque for £5.65 which includes UK postage. (Cheques should be made payable to T.G. Kirtland) Please E Mail us with any queries.
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Nostalgic video website
Good Evening,
I have been working on a site for some months now and have over 130 Videos of musical clips from the 20’s/30’s/40’s and some good movie trailers. Registration is free and takes between 12-24 hours.
I look forward to some feedback as I have been receiving a great amount of traffic but I wanted to people to Register so they can take part the site address is:
Show your support for Music/Movies that they don’t make anymore.
Regards,
Michael