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The latest movie theater news and updates
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March 24, 2010
NJ Premiere of the beautifully restored print of “The Red Shoes” - Free Screening!
RED BANK, NJ — The Count Basie Theatre is showing “The Red Shoes” (FREE Film!). This film showing is made possible through American Express and The Film Foundation.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 7:00 PM
Presented by: Count Basie Theatre Foundation; A New Addition to the 2010 American Express Film Series
Tickets: FREE
(1948), Rated G – Film [35mm format]
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Independent theaters continue rapid pace of digital cinema deployments
CYPRESS, CA — Christie, a global leader in digital cinema, announced that Sonic Equipment Company has ordered 100 Christie Solaria Series 4K-ready Series 2 digital cinema projectors, which utilize Academy Award1-winning DLP Cinema technology from Texas Instruments (TI) (NYSE: TXN). As part of the Cinedigm Phase 2 digital cinema deployment plan, the Christie projectors will be installed in theaters across the United States, to upgrade existing multiplexes and as part of new theater constructions. Sonic Equipment will also now offer Christie Managed Services to all its customers, making available a comprehensive suite of technical support and maintenance services to perfectly match their customers' needs, from basic to the most robust, 24-hour, year-round support.
Kansas-based Sonic Equipment Company, which also offers full-service consulting, remodeling and new construction to motion picture exhibitors, is also a certified reseller of Christie digital cinema projectors. With more than 400 screens across thirteen states, they have been rapidly expanding over the past several years to become one of the industry’s fastest growing companies. Christie is a major partner in Sonic’s highly successful digital rollout strategy, which calls for the installation of hundreds of additional projectors in many new locations this year.
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CineMajestic will reopen La Porte, IN Cinemas
LA PORTE, IN — The four-screen La Porte Cinemas will be rechristened the New La Porte Cinemas when they reopen under CineMajestic management on April 1. New seats and new screens are being installed. The theater closed in October of 2009 and was last operated by Kerasotes.
“We need to get her open,” he said, noting that he wants to open the theater in time for local students to see films on their spring break. He said he also wants the theater to be open in time for the release of “Clash of the Titans,” featuring Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson and opening nationwide April 2.
CineMajestic is undergoing renovations that in the end will total more than $100,000. The aisle widths have been doubled from two feet to four feet, Caudle said, and the seat count for each screen has been decreased to 200. The management is currently giving away 1,000 seats which they removed, Caudle said.
There is more in the Herald Argus.
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March 23, 2010
Lebowsky rebuilding plan progresses and the rebuilt theater will be a “green” building
OWOSSO, MI — The Owosso City Council approved a brownfield redevelopment plan for the Lebowsky Center on March 15, the same day bids became due for the rebuilding of the theater’s walls and roof. The brownfield plan was due to the fire-gutted theater’s declaration by the city accessor as functionally obsolete. This made the theater eligible for tax credits and other state assistance for the Owosso Community Players to rebuild the theater. Details from the Argus Press.
Meanwhile Bazzani Associates, the general contractor for the rebuilding, has committed itself to making the rebuilt Lebowsky Center an LEED certified “green” building. Details on this angle from the Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner.
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New screens for Conway, AR and Wagner, SD
CONWAY, AR — Carmike Theaters plans to open a new twelve-screen multiplex in the fall as a replacement for the Carmike Cinema 6. That theater closed in February. The new multiplex will have one of the company’s Xtreme Digital screens. There are additional details here.
Meanwhile, in the small town of Wagner, SD, a new independent cinema seating 150 will open in July in a converted retail store. Here’s the story from the Announcer Online.
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March 22, 2010
“Exhibiting Change” Lecture at National Heritage Museum
LEXINGTON, MA — I am excited to announce my forthcoming lecture at the National Heritage Museum, “Exhibiting Change: Movie Theaters and American Culture from the 19th to the 21st Century,” Sunday, March 28th, at 2:00pm.
This lecture will discuss the changes in theatrical motion picture exhibition from the 19th to the early 21st century. “Exhibiting Change” will discuss the rise of nickelodeons, deluxe theaters, and movie palaces; Depression-era moviegoing; World War II and the movie theater as recruitment and information center; the postwar boom of drive-ins, art houses, and shopping center theaters; the development of multiplexes and high concept, blockbuster films; and contemporary theatrical and home exhibition and the future of moviegoing. Throughout, the movie theater as a community and entertainment center will be foregrounded.
Like the Cinema Treasures (2004) book I co-wrote with Andreas Fuchs, there will be a significant discussion of how technological, cultural, and industrial changes have and will continue to impact the plight of historic, single screen theaters.
The lecture will be punctuated by still and moving images that capture the excitement and texture of the last 100+ years of moviegoing.
This lecture is presented in concert with the Museum’s terrific exhibit, “The Art of the Movie Theater,” ongoing until May 31.
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Stalled renovation plans, lax building code enforcement allowing Alexandria Theatre to decay
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Since 1923, one of San Francisco’s jewels and once a roadshow house, the Egyptian-themed Alexandria Theatre is being allowed to deteriorate and become a home for transients due to stalled redevelopment plans and slow building code enforcement by the city. Although the plans submitted by the theater’s foreign owners include a 250 seat theater (in a building that once sat five times that number), most of the space would be converted to residential and retail use.
Meanwhile, a city loophole has allowed the blight to continue without anyone being held responsible or penalized.
Delays in cleaning the property and developing a more viable use for the space are partly due to economic hardships, as well as a disconnect between city planners and Alexandria Enterprises LLC — the building’s foreign owners — said Supervisor Eric Mar, who represents the district in which the theater is located.
Read the whole story in the San Francisco Examiner.
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Himalaya Palace Cinema (Closed Down) 2010
SOUTHHALL, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND — The Himalaya Palace Cinema is up for sale. The front of this great cinema is all boarded up and a for sale sign is in place!
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March 21, 2010
What city needs a cinema?
I’ll just throw this question out there:
Can you think of a city, preferably in the Northeast, that makes you shake your head and say, “Why can’t I ever see a smaller movie in this town?” A burg that you think is just dying for a well run cinema drafthouse?
An empty movie theater in good shape is by no means a prerequisite, we’re prepared to renovate a grocery store if necessary. Having just opened a twin arthouse in a Midwest town of 80,000 we’re open to ideas, but want to move closer to family in NY.
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Redondo Beach Cinema 3 closure
REDONDO BEACH, CA — While driving to the DMV from Redondo Beach, taking Hawthorne Blvd, I noticed that the theater marquee at the Redondo Beach Cinema 3 says “CLOSED”. This happened in the afternoon. While getting ready for bed, I discovered that the theater is going to be demolished to make room for a new shopping center. This will happen on the site of the: Former Thrifty, and CompUSA Computer Stores, Dirt lot where the bowling alley was until 2004/2005, and this theater. The bank will remain. The project will happen throughout 2010 and until Fall 2011.
Along with the Fairfax, this is another theater formerly operated by Regency Theatres that is no longer listed on their website. What does this say about their other theatrical interests in the L.A. area?