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The latest movie theater news and updates
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September 14, 2009
Forget those expensive computer drives; just hook up the PlayStation!
According to this article, a theater in Japan is showing an animated film using a PS3 connected to a video projector instead of the projector’s hard drive.
In the theatre, folks claim to have seen things like messages to charge the USB controller pop up on the screen.
According to one site, the Blu-ray version of the film is being screened, but Wired Vision confirmed this with the film’s distributor and Sony subsidiary Aniplex that a data file of the movie is running off of a PS3. The film is in full HD, and there is apparently no noticeable difference between it playing from the PS3’s hard drive and a digital projector hard drive.
Read more at Kotaku.
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September 11, 2009
Independent cinema opens in Duluth
DULUTH, MN — The twin screen Zinema 2 theater has opened on Superior Street in Duluth, MN, providing the city with its only independent venue for film.
The new business on Superior street has two theaters and spokespeople say they’re excited to provide another choice to movie-goers.
“I was brought up here almost a year ago today to put this together, so it’s nice to finally see it come to fruition,” said Timothy Massett, the owner of Zinema 2.
More information can be found in this article in theNorthland News Center.
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Unique seven screen multiplex opening
NAPERVILLE, IL — Featuring seven themed auditoriums, a two story waterfall in the lobby, a bar and a cafe, the Hollywood Palms theater is about to open.
Even in an unfinished state, the place transfixed me with its eclectic and exotic decor, from its imported elephant doors (giant, knobbed doors to keep elephants inside a tall stable) to its joyously jaw-dropping figurine collection of famous animated characters.
Naturally, they line the entrance to the Animation Auditorium.
When finished, the Underwater theater will throw waves of lights on the walls to suggest being under the water where scores of fish “swim” through the air.
Read the full story in the Daily Herald.
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Disney Studio to open its gates to public for film premiere
In connection with the premiere of its animated film, “The Princess and the Frog,” the Disney Studio will invite the public in from November 25-Dec. 13 to see the film at newly renovated theater on-site. The premiere will also be held simultaneously at the Ziegfield Theatre in New York.
In celebration of Disney`s newest animated musical “The Princess and The Frog,” Walt Disney Studios is opening its Burbank gates to the public for a once-in-a-lifetime advance special engagement, welcoming Disney fans to experience its newest animated musical comedy Nov. 25-Dec. 13, 2009. The advance special engagement will also be featured in Clearview’s historic Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Following the film, fans on both coasts will also be treated to The Ultimate Disney Experience, an exciting extravaganza that will feature-for the first time ever-all nine of the Disney princesses (including the film’s Princess Tiana, Disney’s newest princess), as well as exciting Bayou games, movie archives, how-to presentations from Disney animators, Studio tours (for L.A. guests) and more. Tickets went on sale at midnight last night.
Read more in at Reuters.
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September 10, 2009
Studios might use YouTube to sell movies
Possibly throwing a wrench into the traditional distribution model, there is talk of studios working with YouTube to provide movies once they’re on DVD.
Google Inc.’s YouTube is in talks with several major studios — including Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. and Lionsgate — about streaming movies when the DVDs become available in rental stores and kiosks, according to sources familiar with the situation.
The move represents a bold gambit for the entertainment giants, which have been cautious in embracing the Internet out of fear it would disrupt relationships with major retailers and undercut lucrative DVD sales.
Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times.
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Reflections on the fate of the independent exhibitor
This piece from Digital Cinema Report looks at how the digital transition is affecting the small-town independent theater operator.
As the industry undergoes the most transformative revolution since the talkies, film perforations give way to binary digits. A relatively simple and competent 100-year-old technology surrenders to expensive computerized projection. There are clear benefits, to be sure, but exhibitors have been conflicted. Nowhere is the conflict more pronounced than among the small-town, few-screen operators who have anchored the movie industry in countless communities across North America. Independent theatre operators have been performing an essential and valuable service for the movie industry for generations, and they’ve been doing fine. The margins may not have been great, but these are people with a passion for showing movies, creating a culture of movie consumption, and becoming cultural bastions in their communities. That has been reward enough.
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Main Street Theater changes programming mix
COLUMBIANA, OH — The Main Street Theater is changing its programming. Classic films will be shown along with live events, but first-run films will no longer be shown.
There will be no more first-run films. Instead, live performances and themed movie weekends will make up the programming. Last weekend, the 2004 film “The Phantom of the Opera” was showing at the theater. This weekend’s offering will be “The Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Movie” (1978), and the following weekend will bring the Bogart-Hepburn classic “Casablanca” (1942). Ticket prices for themed movie weekends are $2 for adults and $1.50 for children 10 and under.
Read more at Vindy.com.
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September 9, 2009
Theatre Historical Society of America launches Facebook Page
The Theatre Historical Society of America, the USA’s leading organization for recording, preserving, and promoting the rich architectural, cultural and social history of America’s theatres, recently launched a new Facebook Page. We invite you to check it out, become a fan, and let us know your ideas for what else to do with our web presence.
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Remembering Cinerama (Part 40: Calgary)
REMEMBERING CINERAMA
Part 40: CalgaryThe following is Part Forty in a series of retrospectives on Cinerama, the legendary motion picture process that kicked off the widescreen revolution. The series focuses on providing a market-by-market historical record of when and where Cinerama and its multi-panel clones were exhibited. The easy-to-reference articles serve to provide nostalgia to those who experienced the Cinerama presentations when they were new and to highlight the movie palaces in which the memorable screenings took place.
Part 1: New York City
Part 2: Chicago
Part 3: San Francisco
Part 4: Houston
Part 5: Washington, DC
Part 6: Los Angeles
Part 7: Atlanta
Part 8: San Diego
Part 9: Dallas
Part 10: Oklahoma City
Part 11: Syracuse
Part 12: Toronto
Part 13: Columbus
Part 14: Montreal
Part 15: Northern New Jersey
Part 16: Charlotte
Part 17: Vancouver
Part 18: Salt Lake City
Part 19: Boston
Part 20: Philadelphia
Part 21: Fresno
Part 22: Detroit
Part 23: Minneapolis
Part 24: Albuquerque
Part 25: El Paso
Part 26: Des Moines
Part 27: Miami
Part 28: Orange County
Part 29: Pittsburgh
Part 30: Baltimore
Part 31: Long Island
Part 32: Kansas City
Part 33: Milwaukee
Part 34: Nanuet/Rockland County
Part 35: Denver
Part 36: Worcester
Part 37: Toledo
Part 38: St. Louis
Part 39: TampaAnd now…Part 40: Cinerama Presentations in Calgary, Alberta!
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September 8, 2009
The re-invention of the movie theater
Not all of us will agree that the changes are for the better, but an article by Martha Irvine of the Associated Press highlights the efforts of the movie theater industry to survive and thrive in the face of competition posed by the ever-increasing array of home-based entertainment. IMAX, 3-D, changes in available concessions, even theater and lobby design are are all efforts to attract the contemporary younger audience.
“Sometimes, it’s nice to have a wider screen, but I don’t think I gain that much by going to a movie theater anymore,” the 20-year-old student says. “Now, it’s more about convenience.”
Or as 26-year-old Michael Brody puts it: “I watch movies the way many people listen to music — anytime, anywhere, any way.” A freelance writer in New York who blogs about film, he used to go to the movie theater every week. Now he’s there once or twice a month, partly to save money and also because he doesn’t think most movies are worth the effort.
Read more here from Google News.