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The latest movie theater news and updates
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October 8, 2009
Chicago theatres featured on public tv
CHICAGO, IL — Chicago’s WTTW Channel 11 took a look back at the heyday of Chicago’s “movie palaces.” This “Hidden Chicago” segment hosted by Geoffrey Baer aired recently on the Chicago public television news program Chicago Tonight.
Dramatic footage provided by filmmakers John Pappas and Mike Bisberg takes viewers into Chicago’s shuttered Uptown Theatre. You may recall their work from the “Portrait of a Palace” documentary dvd.
With an eye to the large venues built for silent films, the program also looks into the Portage Theatre, home to the Silent Film Society of Chicago. The Portage sat dark for years but has been lucky to be undivided and renovated for film and special event use.
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October 7, 2009
Film music making steady inroads into symphony orchestra repertories
In a recent article in Variety, more and more prestigious orchestras are offering of music written for motion pictures a part of their regular season concert offerings. In addition to more concerts conducted by film composers, film music concerts are now a part of the seasons of the Cleveland, Seattle, Dallas, and Chicago symphony orchestras. Sometimes film is shown as the music is performed, but increasingly the music is performed as specially scored concert suites, moving the music beyond the traditional pops concert presentation and into the domain now dominated by the music heard in traditional music appreciation classes.
On a practical level, say many observers, movie-music programs attract new audiences and therefore much-needed revenue. “People come to these concerts who have never been to the concert hall,” says Richard Kaufman, who will conduct the Dallas Symphony in a program of Texas-themed film music (“Giant,” “The Alamo”) this weekend at Meyerson Symphony Center. “They are drawn by the (movie) titles and the program. So in a sense, it’s helping to create new concertgoers who will come back to hear the great classical works — just because of the experience of hearing a symphony orchestra play film music.”
“Live at Lincoln Center” producer John Goberman has launched a series, “A Symphonic Night at the Movies,” that showcases the music while the films are screened. He has staged “The Wizard of Oz” with live music; the “Psycho” concert is his idea, while a recent performance at the Bowl featuring clips from Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals conducted by Newman was done under his guidance.
Read the full story in Variety.
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North Carolina theater prohibits cell phone use
GREENSBORO, NC — If you use your cell phone in the auditoriums of the Four Seasons Grand Cinema, expect to be escorted out of the theater with no refund of your ticket price. No one even needs to complain, according to this article at MyFox8.com.
According to the policy, which was put in place earlier this month, customers must keep their cell phones on vibrate or silent and leave the theater to take a call or type a text message.
Briana Barner was kicked out of the theater recently for using the Internet on her phone to check the balance on her account.
“It was just embarrassing that I had to be escorted out of the movie theater,” she said. “I was on my phone for two seconds. I was on the Internet checking my balance on my account, and I was asked to leave the theater because I was disturbing the other customers.”
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All recliner cinema to open soon in Pasadena
PASADENA, CA — Village Roadshow’s Gold Class Cinemas will open its first California location in December on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. These small cinemas (40 seats), in addition to recliner seats, feature freshly prepared foods and cocktail service. Currently, there are two other operating Gold Class cinemas, one in Redmond, WA and another in South Barrington, IL, with another to open soon in Bolingbrook, IL.
Theater owners haven’t installed tiny refrigerators underneath movie seats yet (that’s probably coming), but Gold Class Cinemas has gained fame for a particularly comfy staple: recliners. It is, in fact, known as the all-recliner theater. And those take-a-load-off chairs are wheeling into Pasadena starting in December, when Gold Class opens its fourth outpost, and only location in the Golden State.
Read more at NBC Los Angeles.
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October 6, 2009
Laemmle Grande to close
LOS ANGELES, CA — For a while, it’s been the only first-run cinema in downtown, but on the heels of the opening of the new Regal opening at L.A. Live, the Laemmle Grande is closing its doors.
Laemmle Director of Operations Kevin Gallagher confirmed that the staff was informed of the announcement on August 1.
While the company discussed the option of focusing on art films or commercial crossover indie films, it felt that the specialized market needed more than locals to fill the house.
Read more at blogdowntown.
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Smaller town theaters struggle to survive in Japan
In the U.S., the story is all too familiar: a small town theater closes in the face of competition from a multiplex within driving distance away. A similar phenomenon is occurring in Japan, which led to the convening of a recent confab, where ways to preserve community theaters was the central issue. Attendees are concerned that many young Japanese will now grow up never having seen a film in a movie theater.
According to the 2008 yearbook of movie screenings published by the Japan Community Cinema Center, there were 3,176 screens—excluding adult movie theaters—in 2007, an increase of 350 over the previous survey taken in 2005.
However, 80 percent of these screens were at multiplexes, and the number of movie theaters had actually fallen by 122 to 667.
In 1993, when the nation’s first multiplex opened in Kanagawa Prefecture, there were 1,734 movie theaters.
Read the whole story in Asia One.
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Photo Shoot at the Poncan Theatre
PONCA CITY, OK — This summer the christian rock band Pillar had a photo shoot at the Poncan Theatre. Most of the band publicity photos were shot at the site.
The photographer, Cooper Harrison, has some of the shots up on his flickr:
www.flickr.com/cooperharrison
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cooperharrison/3960437640/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cooperharrison/3959670935/Also, Pillar Website
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October 5, 2009
Spinelli cinemas in New Hampshire closed
DOVER, NH — The four New Hampshire theaters operated by Spinelli Cinemas are closed: The Lilac Mall Cinema in Rochester, the Barrington Station Cinema 6 in Bar, the Plymouth in Plymouth, and the Strand in Dover. The owner hopes to re-open them by October 9, according to this article at Foster.com.
“This is not a shutdown,” he said Thursday, noting he plans to have jobs available for his employees, the number of which vary depending on the season but average about 30.
There are no plans to sell the business “at this time,” he said.
Ticket sales “were down,” Spinelli said, but some months were better than others as the theaters vied for the most popular recent films. That hasn’t always been easy considering “we don’t have the unlimited funds that these large chains have,” he said.
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Portions of former Orpheum being incorporated into new performing arts center
TANNERSVILLE, NY – The facade and some exterior walls of the former Orpheum Theater in Tannersville, NY will apparently survive as part of the new Orpheum Performing Arts Center, which will include a new first run cinema as part of the complex.
BARKER SAID the long-term goal is for the Orpheum Performing Arts Center to make the community an international arts destination. He said the state is providing more than $1 million to support the theater district in Tannersville, which includes additional parking and enhanced access to retail stores. He said four other buildings on Main Street also are being enhanced because of the performing arts center project.
“It’s using a positive economic force to bring about jobs and opportunity for local people,” Barker said. “We hope to see new businesses coming to Tannersville and increased retail activity.”
There is more at Freeman.com and a picture of how the theater looked prior to the time construction work began on the Center here.