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The latest movie theater news and updates
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January 6, 2010
Fire-damaged Springfield Theater to become triplex
SPRINGFIELD, VT — In 2007, it was the site of the premiere of “The Simpsons Movie;” in 2008, an arsonist torched it. But now the Springfield Theater will be reborn as a modern triplex with nine apartments in the Ellis Block, the building that contains the theater.
But it’ll be another year before anyone can take in a movie downtown.
The theater and the rooming house above it, collectively known as the Ellis Block, remain boarded up.
Bill Morlock is executive director of the Springfield Housing Authority, the group that’s spearheading the project locally.
Read more at Vermont Public Radio’s website.
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January 5, 2010
Havana’s old movie houses offer escape
HAVANA, CUBA — When Fidel Castro seized control of Cuba 50 years ago, time stopped for Havana’s movie theaters. Castro nationalized all 130 and today only about 40 cinemas remain open. They are the classic big-screen movie theaters of a bygone era.
Listen to the 4:54 story on National Public Radio.
Type “Havana’s Movie Houses” in search
Two theaters mentioned
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For Sale: Movie theater concession equipment
I have theater concession equipment for example: Popcorn machines, hot dog grillers, cheese and chili machines, Turbo chef oven, etc. All items must be sold. I will not ship, if you live in Central Texas or have someone that can pick them up for you, I would be happy to sell them to you. I also have a ticketing system and computer for sale. Contact Jenifer 254-394-6849 or email .
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January 4, 2010
Former Towne 3 in San Jose becomes BIG Cinemas San Jose
SAN JOSE, CA — Reliance/BIG Cinemas, which specializes in Bollywood films, has purchased and renovated the Towne 3 Theatre on the Alameda in San Jose. Opened as the Hester in 1926, the cinema was most recently known as the India Film Center 6 (although it had three screens). It had been previously both a porn and art theater over the years.
Paletta was joined by Uday Kumar, North America business head for Reliance/BIG Cinemas, and Chris Gehring, district manager for Phoenix BIG Cinemas Management, at the launch of the theater — California’s first theater to receive a top-to-bottom renovation as part of Reliance’s ambitious move to take over dozens of outdated, second-run American theaters and convert them to Indian movie palaces.
The Reliance team was quick to recognize the years of hard work by Raman Sanchula, Lalit Chopra and Lu Muvva, who ran the IMC6 and made the theater a center for South Indian movie buffs.
Read about the changeover in the India Times.
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A Guide to seeing “Avatar” in several formats
With all the different versions of “Avatar” out right now, it’s a little confusing as to which provides the best experience.
This article in the Los Angeles Times goes over the pros and cons of each format.
You might have opened the newspaper to find a two-page spread advertising “Avatar” in its many theater formats and wondered what the heck the difference is. There’s the standard non-3-D version (pass!), RealD, Dolby Digital and IMAX. The final three are the leading competitors in the battle to add depth dimension to movie theater screens.
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January 1, 2010
Happy New Year!
It’s hard to believe, but Cinema Treasures is now more than a decade old. The organization was founded in October 1999 and we launched this website in December 2000. (We look forward to celebrating the site’s ten year anniversary later this year.)
As a new decade begins, there is, as there was in 2000, great excitement and great concern about the future of theatrical exhibition. The Wrap just reported that domestic box office will reach $10.6 billion for 2009. Of course, those numbers only tell half the story. We wish the world’s ushers, projectionists, managers, bookers, operators, and owners the very best in the coming years. For those currently working to save and/or operate classic theaters around the world, we tip our New Year’s hats to you.
Thank you to all of our loyal users and contributors who have made the last decade possible. All of us at Cinema Treasures wish you a very Happy New Year and our warmest gratitude.
Ross, Patrick, Ken, and Michael
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December 31, 2009
Salt Lake’s Utah Theater purchased by city for film center
SALT LAKE CITY, UT — The Utah Theater, a 1919 B. Marcus Priteca gem, will be purchased by the City of Salt Lake as part of a plan to create an arts district. Renovation costs are estimated at $25 million. Several film groups hope to utilize the facility after renovations are completed.
SLC Film Center, Salt Lake Film Society and youth-media-educator Spy Hop Productions hope to occupy the building. The three groups have worked together to create a vision for the film center, which could include screening rooms, studio space, film archives and media-arts exhibits. It also could provide space to visiting movie productions.
“The dream would be that it’s a facility for film and filmmakers, film production, film exhibition and … next generation storytellers,” said Geralyn Dreyfous, executive director of SLC Film Center, which screens flicks at Salt Lake City’s Main Library and other locations.
This article from the Salt Lake Tribune has more information and pictures.
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5 Movies to watch for in IMAX 3-D
Check out this article at MovieTickets.com that discusses some of the current and upcoming major IMAX-3D releases.
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New Plaza Cinema Cafe under new management already
ORLANDO, FL — After opening in May 2009, following a long delay, the Plaza Cinema Cafe closed briefly while it changed management teams.
Ellis also said the new operating entity had the ability to get films from major studios such as 20th Century Fox and Disney, which in the past had not been featured at the Plaza Cinema Cafe.
Rumors of the changeover began circulating earlier today after movie-goers went to the theater and found it locked.
The 12-screen theater is one of the retail centerpieces of The Plaza, a 21-story mixed-use building completed by developer Cameron Kuhn in February 2007.
More information is found in this December 23 article in the Orlando Business Journal.
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December 30, 2009
Best movie of the decade?
Here’s a list that totals the other lists. What’s your favorite?
Which movie is the best of the decade? The Onion’s A.V. Club has anointed Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Time Out New York liked Spotless Mind, too, ranking it third, but gave its No. 1 spot to David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. The New Yorker’s Richard Brody didn’t put either of these movies on his heady list. He gives the brass ring to Jean-Luc Godard’s Eloge de l'amour (In Praise of Love). Long live the Nouvelle Vague!
So the question remains: Which movie is the best of the decade? Is there any consensus among the accumulating lists? To find out, we collected all of the rankings we could find and synthesized the results using a simple scoring system: Movies got 50 points for being the No. 1 pick on a list, 49 points for a No. 2 nod, and so on, down to one point for a No. 50 slot. (Brody, who only chose 26 movies, still received 50 points for his top pick.)