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The latest movie theater news and updates
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December 18, 2008
25th Anniversary of “A Christmas Story” (1983) - - “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!”
I can still remembering the feeling I had watching “A Christmas Story” on the big screen in 1983. It was love at first sight. I fell in love again, all over again, when last week I saw the famous “major award lamp” in a Christmas display in a neighbor’s house. Fans out there will know exactly what I mean.
Director Bob Clark’s Midwest tale of nine year-old Ralphie Parker’s Christmas experience in the 1940’s in which his only wish is an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle. The movie is heartwarming. It has developed quite a fan base. The house in which the movie was set – Cleveland, Ohio- was purchased by a fan, restored, and open for public tours, complete with a mini-museum and gift shop. This year there was an auction for the opportunity to sleep over in the house, to the highest bidder, on Christmas Day! Each year there is a convention held in honor of the movie, too. Well, I could go on but will keep this story brief. Here are a few facts about the film from IMDB:
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Remembering Cinerama (Part 16: Charlotte)
REMEMBERING CINERAMA
Part 16: CharlotteThe following is Part Sixteen 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, D.C.
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 JerseyAnd now…Part 16: Cinerama Presentations in Charlotte, North Carolina!
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AMC to build 100 digital IMAX screens
AMC Entertainment announced it has signed with IMAX to convert 100 screens in 33 markets to digital IMAX.
The idea is to compete with TV and DVDs by presenting an experience that cannot be replicated at home or with any other form of entertainment.
The digital IMAX screens will be 25% larger than average screens with laser-aligned sound systems.
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Carbon Arc Rods
Does anyone know where I can purchase carbon arc rods? I need positive rods 7mm, 12" long. Email steve at Thanks!
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December 17, 2008
NuWilshire still an eyesore…
SANTA MONICA, CA — Well, the NuWilshire Theatre has not changed since its closing in November 2007. The theatre just sits there, with no lights, no updates, no nothing. It is just one of the many eyesores in Santa Monica. It’s hard to believe a theatre which has been open since the 1930s is now all of a sudden gone. I remember working there from May to November last year. It was such a wonderful, cozy little theatre. And I remember the owner of the complex (such a #$%#!) said he wanted to turn it into a Lucky Brand jeans store or something of the sort right after the closing of the theatre. But now, the theatre has just been there, vacant for officially a year now.
The city of Santa Monica said that they were going to update the front of the building, and declare it a City Landmark, but nothing has been done to it, and I doubt anything will be done to it. This was one of the greatest little art deco indie flick theaters ever in Santa Monica, and I can only hope that we, here at Cinema Treasures, can do what we can to help preserve it. Who knows, it may be a theatre again! Thanks for reading!
Nick Illes (ex-employee of the NuWilshire Theatre)
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Europe and Australia open first digital IMAX screens
Both Europe and Australia are opening their first digital IMAX theaters.
In the UK, Odeon shelled out £1.5 million to build auditoriums in Greenwich and Wimbledon. The Greenwich digital Imax will actually undercut the non-digital BFI Imax in Waterloo by charging £11.50 compared to £13.
The theaters opened this week with showings of “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.”
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Vintage cast aluminum marquee letters for sale
These vintage letters are from the great Times Square movie houses, saved from the wrecker’s ball just prior to the major overhaul of 42nd St. in the 90s. Sizes and letters vary (see listing below) and include three rare, full-word letter combos.
The letters — from the Adler Silhouette and Wagner Sign Co’s — show definite signs of aging (paint may be cracked or peeling, some letters are partially painted, some have many layers of paint with incomplete coverage). Depending on your aesthetics, it only adds to their charm.
Collectors typically sell these letters for $29 each. I would like to sell the entire bunch of 41 for $20 each ($820).
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December 16, 2008
Digital pioneer closes doors
TOPEKA, KS — QuVIS, a pioneer in digital cinema, laid off 29 employees and closed its doors this week. The company is $40 million in debt and its president and founder is trying to find a way to reorganize.
Founded in 1994, QuVIS digitized several hit movies, such as “Toy Story II,” “Bounce,” “Shrek” and “The Perfect Storm,” in its proprietary QPE format.
However, when the Digital Cinema Group adopted the JPEG2000 format as its standard, QuVIS stayed with its proprietary, more expensive, systems, which greatly hurt the company.
Read more in the Topeka Capital-Journal.
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Fenton Cinemas close
FENTON, MI — The 8-screen Fenton Cinemas closed permanently December 7 after 23 years in operation. It opened as a twin cinema and eventually added six more screens. The economy is blamed for the cinema’s closing.
Additional info from the Flint Journal at MLive and MLive2.
This was the only cinema in the Fenton area and the nearest cinema now is 15 miles away in Grand Blanc.
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E-Cinema expanding in India
As most of the world is converting to digital cinema projection, in India more than 2,000 screens will be converted to e-cinema by the end of 2009. This compares with only an estimated 300-400 digital cinema installations completed by 2009.
The e-cinema projectors are typically industrial DLPs with a resolution of 1.3k (1280x768) or 1.92k (1920x1080), short of the pure 2K (2048x1080) of digital cinema
The prices start at about $2,000-$10,000 for the projectors versus the $50,000 or more for digital cinema projectors.