The latest movie theater news and updates
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July 22, 2010
Astoria’s Museum of Moving Image getting multi-million dollar makeover
ASTORIA, NY — The Museum of the Moving Image is getting a major renovation. The centerpiece of the $67 million project will be a new 264 seat theater that will give visitors the sensation of being inside a floating spaceship. Closed since 2008, the museum is expected to reopen in January, 2011 with several inaugural events, including the showing of twenty newly restored and rediscovered films, silent films, and several retrospectives of distinguished filmmakers.
The museum’s inaugural screenings will include a slate of 20 newly restored rediscovered films, an avant-garde series, a showing of 1928’s “L'Argent,” a silent cinema festival and retrospectives of French director Alain Resnais, documentarian D.A. Pennebaker, Italian maestro Vittorio De Sica and American maverick Arthur Penn.
“A movie can be an artistic experience of the highest order, a life-changing experience, but only in the right format,” said David Schwartz, the museum’s curator. “The Moving Image is about to become one of the finest venues in the world for viewing films.”
The is more detail inYour Nabe.
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July 21, 2010
Current Regal Salmon Run Mall theater closing; to be replaced by new theater
WATERTOWN, NY — Regal has announced that its Salmon Run Mall 8 theater will be closing on July 29 and then be demolished. New construction will begin on the Regal Cinemas Salmon Run Stadium 12, which is expected to open in the spring of 2011.
The new Regal Cinemas Salmon Run Stadium 12 will encompass approximately 51,000 square feet with more than 2,100 seats in a total of 12 auditoriums. Visit www.REGmovies.com/grand-openings for updated information about the new theatre.
Regal Salmon Run Mall Stadium 12 will feature these amenities:
— Digital projection in every auditorium to provide a crystal-clear picture.
— RealD 3D projection systems available for 3D enhanced presentations.
— Digital surround sound completes the true digital cinema experience.
— Stadium seating in every auditorium for an unobstructed view of the screen.
The full story is in Market Watch.
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Krikorian abruptly closes Dos Lagos 15
CORONA, CA — Krikorian Theaters abruptly closed the Dos Lagos 15. The theater opened December 15, 2006. An extremely short-lived theater.
Kerri La Torre, associate general manager of Taps Fish House & Brewery, across the parking lot from the Krikorian, said the news was a shock for them, too. “They’ve been jam-packed all week,” she said.
La Torre said she didn’t hear anything about the closing until she showed up for work Monday. Even then, “I thought maybe they were just cleaning.”
It isn’t the first business to close in Dos Lagos. A Starbucks shut down months ago, a Coach store is gone, and so is an ice cream shop.
Read the full story in thePress-Enterprise.
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Woman compiling oral history of San Diego-area drive-in theaters
ESCONDIDO, CA — Here’s a great story about a project to list San Diego area drive-ins. There’s some great info with helpful opening and closing dates of various theaters.
Still, colorful memories of the Escondido Drive-In flicker in the imaginations of longtime Escondidans like MaRaya Schrokosch.
Schrokosch recalled her first visit to the once-thriving venue, in August 1973. Its marquee lights beckoned to her road-weary children, who had just moved with her and her fiance from Illinois to Escondido.
They began to chant, “We want to see the movie!”
Read more at Sign on San Diego.
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July 20, 2010
Live theatre arrives in English cinemas
Like Opera in the U.S., live theatre is coming to British cinemas and has been rather successful.
When the National Theatre unveiled plans to film productions and relay them live by satellite to cinemas in Britain and 21 other countries, I was sceptical. I feared the results would seem excessively stagy and lack the excitement of watching actors in the flesh.
How wrong I was. The Esher Odeon was almost packed, and the performance of Dion Boucicault’s hilarious 19th-century comedy London Assurance was as entertaining on screen as it had been in the theatre. What’s more, there was a real sense of the live event about it. The cinema audience actually clapped at the end, and there was a sense of shared laughter and genuine community one rarely experiences at the flicks.
Read more in the Telegraph
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Oakland’s Grand Lake owner vows to keep going
OAKLAND, CA — Some thought he was crazy when he bought it, and it doesn’t really make him much money, but Allen Michaan, the owner of the 1926 Grand Lake Theater, still believes his theater is unique and one of the last bastions of the classic movie-going experience. He’s added 3-D and changed the bulbs in the theater’s terrific rooftop sign, but in other ways, going to this theater treasure is like stepping back in time.
But Michaan, who once operated 20 theaters in the Bay Area, has no intention of letting his last one die. He talks about the Art Deco theater as if it’s a living being – an old hunting dog that hasn’t caught a fox in a while, but he can’t bear the thought of putting it down.
“I would feel really, really bad if something happened to this building – if it wasn’t a theater,” Michaan says. “The Grand Lake is special. It’s one of the last of its kind. I sort of feel like I made a lot of money here over the years, and I owe it to the theater, even though it doesn’t make me any money any more.”
The full story, with pictures, is at SFGate.com.
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Wanted: Old theater equipment from the 30’s-60’s
I am looking for theater sound equipment; Altec, Northern Electric, Western Electric, Ballantyne and RCA are some of the brands I am looking for but will consider anything you might have, any condition.
I am also looking for tubes, parts, transformers, etc. And also Hammond organs.
I am willing to travel any place in Ontario, Quebec and environs. So if you think you might know of the location of this type of equipment, let me know. I pay in cash and at fair value. You can call toll free at 1-800-947-0393 or 1-519-853-2157.
Thanks
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July 19, 2010
Twelve-screen Century East opens in Sioux Falls
SIOUX FALLS, SD — Cinemark has opened the Century East in the Dawley Farms Village development on this city’s east side. The new 1,900 seat theater boasts twelve screens, six of which are 3D capable.
Generating excitement for Century East, the first theater on the city’s east side, hasn’t been much of a problem. Movie fans in the area are happy they won’t have to drive extra miles to the city’s other theaters on the west side. And businesses near Century East are counting on the theater to increase traffic and spending.
“Everybody by Iowa and Minnesota has been talking about the development,” said Marie LaRock of Hills, Minn.
There’s more in the Argus Leader.
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19 Drive-In for sale
CUBA, MO — If you’re in the market for one, the 19 Drive-In is for sale. With its future in doubt, this is the time to save this treasure.
Located just off I-44, the North 19 has been showing movies on its single screen since 1954. It has a 250-car capacity and a few old-fashioned speakers so you don’t have to wear out your car battery by listening to the soundtrack over the satellite radio.
Old movie theater enthusiasts are concerned that, owing to its prime location, the North 19 will be bought by some commercial developer and demolished.
Read more in the Riverfront Times.
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