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The latest movie theater news and updates
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September 2, 2009
Santa Cruz’s Nickelodeon Theater celebrates 40 years
SANTA CRUZ, CA — A gamble taken by Bill and Joanne Raney forty years ago when Santa Cruz, Califonia was regarded as a place for people with one foot in the grave eventually became a [url=/theaters/17562/] successful cinema[/url[ operating venture.
Santa Cruz was a sleepy, conservative seaside town of retirees then, but Raney figured the recently opened University of California was only beginning to exert its influence and it was only a matter time before the sleepy town woke up.
Part of that wake-up call came in the summer of 1969 when the Raneys opened the Nickelodeon on Lincoln Street on the site of a former bakery. The first film played on the first day in business at the Nick was “Elvira Madigan,” a lush Swedish romance that featured what today would be thought of as a modest amount of nudity. But in an era when the term “Swedish cinema” was practically a synonym for wild carnal licentiousness, it was a significant cultural moment.
Read the whole story about the the Nickelodeon Theater in the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
2 comments -
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Original Christie 35MM cinema projectors (2)
While persuing a project for an instore ad, I came across two intact functioning Christie Projectors. I was able to turn them on and they worked. My brother and I removed them from what was once a movie theater in the Bronx, N.Y.. They are stored in a safe place and need a home or someone that produces 35MM movie shorts.
They were appraised by Cinemahouse of New York. The light power supply may need updating but the lamps and housing are functional.
I can be contacted by email at .
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September 1, 2009
Star Trek Film Marathon and Expo to be at the historic Portage Theater
CHICAGO, IL — The most noted films of the Star Trek Series will be on the big screen again at the Portage Theater September 4th and 5th. “The Wrath of Kahn” & “The Search For Spock” will be shown for these two days as double features and in there 35mm format. Part of the proceeds for this event will be donated to the theater for help in there ongoing restoration of this historic sight.
I invite you to come and have a good time and experience theater as it should be.
http://startrekchicago.com/
www.portagetheater.org/ -
Where can I find historic movie theaters in Tennessee?
This article in the Examiner looks at the great movie palaces in the state of Tennessee.
The oldest movie theatre in Tennessee is the Bijou Theater in Knoxville. The theater was originally built in 1817 as a hotel but was opened as a theatre in 1909. It is the fourth oldest building in Knoxville. The theatre was first opened for vaudeville, where acts like the Marx Brothers performed, and then adapted into a movie theater. The theatre still shows movies and also does tons of musical acts, stand up comedians, orchestra and theatre performances, keeping its roots alive.
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Revitalizing Foundry
WASHINGTON, DC — The old Foundry second-run cinema in Georgetown always did a good business. The only reason it was shut down was to make way for the newer, bigger more money multiplex.
I’d like to find a way to use the Visions site for a second-run cinema, mostly because of the location and the fact that the place is already set up as a cinema. Is there anyone who was involved in the running of Visions who would be interested talking to me about the potential and pitfalls of the idea?
Thanks,
Jason Haber -
August 31, 2009
Plenty remains in L.A.’s repertory
LOS ANGELES, CA — This article in the Los Angeles Times discusses what’s left of L.A.’s repertory cinema scene.
On a recent weekend in Los Angeles, avid and adventuresome moviegoers had a menu of screening choices that included a 1950s Mexican sci-fi film, a tripped-out 1970s insect documentary, glittery camp and fantasy action-adventure from the 1980s, plus a double bill of lesbian vampire pictures.
Also among those choices was Jean-Pierre Melville’s black-and-white 1961 film “Léon Morin, Priest” starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Emmanuelle Riva in a heartbreaking, disarmingly steamy yet chaste tale of unrequited romance between a widow and a local priest set against the backdrop of the German occupation of France during WWII. A late showing of the film played to a hundred or so people at the Bing Theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, a remarkably diverse crowd of varied ages, income brackets and nationalities. The little-known find, never before released in America, played to about 800 people total in four shows over two nights.
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Effort launched to restore theater in Hernando
HERNANDO, MS — Memories and stories about the former Von (later called the Bon) Theater are being sought as a part of a recently launched drive to raise funds for the theater’s restoration.
“We’re still in the discussion stage,” attorney Billy Myers said. “What we’re doing right now is getting information together about what other towns are doing. Quite a good number of towns have renovated their old movie houses and turned them into local community theaters and places for the arts. Our goal is to restore it to its original architectural significance. Obviously, there are a myriad of uses for it, and a community theater is one of those.”
Before that can happen, funding has to be obtained. Documentation of the building’s past has to be provided.
Read the full story in the Clarion-Ledger.
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Jakarta’s lost and losing theaters
JAKARTA, INDONESIA — A story of the decline and fall of independent movie theatres in Jakarta.
“There was a time when this place was packed everyday,” Akiat, a weathered man in his fifties said, as he looked over the dimly lit waiting room of the Prima Theater, spared from complete desolation by several couples sitting on battered chairs.
As the sun sank, its afternoon rays shone through the wide windows to reveal the loneliness of the theater, located on the third floor of the Slipi traditional market in West Jakarta.
Nothing is left in the theater, save for a few empty chairs and dusty panelling, but several reminders of the theater’s glory days remain intact.
Read the full story in the Jakarta Post.
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August 28, 2009
The curtain (finally) rises
RICHMOND, VA — On September 12, 2009, the Carpenter Theatre will open its doors after years of extensive renovations and improvements. The $73.4 million dollar project brings modern amenities to John Eberson’s atmospheric Loews movie palace including a completely new stage house and an adjoining group of smaller performance venues and support space.
Read some more about how this came to be at Style Weekly.