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The latest movie theater news and updates
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January 26, 2009
Remembering Cinerama (Part 19: Boston)
REMEMBERING CINERAMA
Part 19: BostonThe following is Part Nineteen 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, film-by-film, historical record of when and where Cinerama and its multi-panel clones were exhibited. The easy-to-reference articles also 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 events took place.
Part 1: New York
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 CityAnd now…Part 19: Cinerama Presentations in Boston!
21 comments -
Quality cinema equipment for sale
For Sale
One pair of JBL model 4508 dual 15 in. woofers.
Enclosure Dimensions: 26W x 40H x 17D
(note:1 speaker has damage to enclosure and 1 damaged speaker)
Speaker with no damage = $350.00
Speaker with some damage = $150.00
Pair together = $450.00 -
January 23, 2009
Mighty Wurlitzer is star of Paramount’s Silent Movie Mondays
SEATTLE, WA — Silent Movie Mondays at the Paramount Theatre feature the city’s last vintage theater organ.
An octogenarian is still going strong at the Paramount Theatre, the last of Seattle’s 1920s theater organs still fulfilling its original purpose. The Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ, built in 1927 and bought by the theater for $46,500, can be heard Mondays this month as part of Silent Movie Mondays, played in accompaniment to classic 1920s silent films.
“It’s really unique — it’s the only one left in the city of Seattle in its original home,” said Tom Blackwell, outgoing president of the Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society. “At one time there were 45 theaters within the Seattle city limits that had pipe organs in them. These were considered standard equipment for theaters that had silent films in the 1920s.
Read the full story in the Seattle Times.
(Thanks to A Boy and his Bike for providing the photo.)
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D-BOX scores deal to bring rumbling chairs to Mann Theatres
HOLLYWOOD, CA — A theater within the Mann Chinese 6 will be the first commercial theater chain screen to debut D-BOX motion code seats.
Ah, ha! So the rumors were true, after all. Just over three months after we heard that D-BOX was trying desperately to get its Motion Code technology into cinemas, we’re finally seeing the first deal with a commercial theater chain. Mann Theatres, the operators of the famous Mann Chinese 6 Theatre in Hollywood, has become the first to first to allow D-BOX seating to be installed, with the initial installation taking place in theatre six of the aforementioned multiplex.
Read more at EngadgetHD.
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Film on Theatre Pioneer, former Warner Brothers Zone Manager, James E. Coston
Web site has been uploaded with trailer and photographs. Principle filming to be complete by July 2009.
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Final submission deadline for Newport Beach Film Festival
The final submission deadline for the tenth annual Newport Beach Film Festival is January 30, 2009.
Be part of an amazing line-up of films. Don’t miss the opportunity to meet other filmmakers, industry professionals and distributors.
Entry Fees are:
Feature length: $75
Short: $60
Youth: $25 -
January 22, 2009
Online petition for Ridgewood
RIDGEWOOD, QUEENS, NY — To CinemaTreasures Staff:
Patrons, theater enthusiasts, & preservationists were dismayed when Thomas Lamb’s 1916 gem, the Ridgewood Theatre (55-27 Myrtle Ave, Ridgewood, Queens, NY) suddenly shuttered in March 2008. It was credited for being the longest continuously-operated first-run neighborhood theater in NY & potentially countrywide. It is a representation of the long-demolished first movie palace in the world, the Strand Theatre in Times Sq. The Ridgewood Theatre also saw the advent of Vaudeville, silent films, photoplays, the 1st 100% all-talking picture (Lights of New York, 1928), & Technicolor.
A Request For Evaluation has been submitted to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission immediately after, urging the LPC to calendar the ornate terra cotta facade & some interior spaces for a public hearing, which would determine the site’s eligibility as a NYC Individual Landmark & Interior Landmark, respectively. A letter campaign & online petition drive has also been conducted, to increase the likelihood of obtaining landmark status. As of Jan 2009, the LPC has released a statement to the media stating they may soon calendar the theater, which is an important first step towards landmarking. However, this is the time when increased advocacy needs to be applied to the LPC.
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Loew’s Jersey looking for volunteers
JERSEY CITY, NJ — Friends of the Loew’s has volunteers opportunities available for these upcoming events. If you would like to sign up for either of these events, please e-mail us at with the date and time frame that you would like to volunteer.
Loew’s Down Blues Concert Friday, January 23rd
We’ll be doing last minute set-up for the concert from 3:00pm to 5:30pm.
Volunteers who can help during that time will assist in hanging signs, setting up the concessions counter, moving tables into position in the lobby, and other last-minute details. -
More time to revive Westland theater site?
WESTLAND, MI — With a stalling in the development of a fitness center, could the Quo Vadis still have hope?
The City Council is set to approve on Tuesday a one-year extension on the site plan for a proposed fitness center that would replace the old Quo Vadis Theater, a project opposed by some residents.
Last March, the council granted a site plan approval for the proposed $5 million, 45,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art L.A. Fitness Center. Demolition was to take place on the theater in August, but it was not done.
Read the full story in the Detroit News.
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January 21, 2009
Senator Theatre future planning meeting
BALTIMORE, MD — Join us this Thursday, January 22nd at 10:30am for a communal call to action and express your support for The Senator remaining in operation as it transitions to become the region’s premiere, community owned non-profit Arts & Entertainment Venue. The mid to long-term prognosis for The Senator Theatre after its transition to non-profit ownership and operation appears promising, even in this economy.
The immediate short-term status of the theatre, however, has become very precarious. Like a nasty flu that sickens the healthy but can kill those who are already weak, the downturn in the economy has placed the operational status of The Senator, and its future, in great jeopardy.
To prevent a devastating shutdown, The Senator’s economic viability must be quickly addressed among all those who share a vested interest in the theatre maintaining its near 70 year unbroken chain of day to day operation.
More info at the Senator website.