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The latest movie theater news and updates
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February 15, 2008
“Flashlight” vigil held to note anniversary of Lebowsky fire
OWOSSO, MI — The Owosso Community Players, owners of the Joseph H. Lebowsky Center, held a “flashlight” vigil Wednesday night to note the 1st anniversary of the fire which destroyed their home. Because of that, the members decided that a candlelight vigil would be inappropriate. So members of the OCP and the general public brought flashlights to shine beams of light on the surviving walls of the scarred theater.
Construction to enclose the theater again is expected to begin in April or May and it’s believed that the OCP can stage shows again at the old Capitol Theatre in five years.
News stories about the anniversary and vigil can be found in the:
Argus Press at Article #1 and Article #2
as well as the Flint Journal and Flint Journal #2.
There are also news stories which include video from WJRT and WLNS.0 comments -
Charming Maine theatre for sale
OGUNQUIT, ME — The Leavitt Fine Arts Theatre is for sale.
From the listing: “Incredible space to make a dream come true. This building offers unbelievable square footage for endless ideas. With Town approval, convert this space to retail shops, residences, a club, restaurant, or a mix of the above. Opportunity awaits.”
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February 14, 2008
Yesterday’s outage
Our apologies to anyone who was unable to use Cinema Treasures yesterday.
We suffered a large power outage at our data center, and it took almost eight hours for all of the servers to come back online.
Power outages are rare in the hosting business, but they do happen. Thanks for your patience.
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Carthay Circle statue stolen
LOS ANGELES, CA — The bronze statue of a miner located across the street from the former Carthay Circle Theatre has been stolen, possibly for scrap. This was one of the last remnants of the once glorious square where the movie palace stood.
When neighbors in the Carthay Circle community heard the news, they feared it had been stolen for scrap, like so much copper wire and plumbing around the region, as prices for metal have soared.
“I think someone stole him to have him melted down,” said Judy Moore, president of the Carthay Circle Neighborhood Assn. “I don’t want to see him as rain gutters. It just breaks my heart. He was part of neighborhood history.”
Los Angeles police are investigating the theft and others, and they suspect the miner was indeed taken for scrap. Nationwide, bronze, brass and copper artworks are vanishing into scrap yards, destined for the foundry furnace.
Read more in the L.A. Times.
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Boston area projectors - free!
Howdy all,
I have some projectors free for the pick-up.
I haven’t tried to use them; I’m assuming they’ll take some real work to get going. Maybe you have a mansion or lobby you’re looking to spruce up with old behemoths.
Sorry, no sound equipment.2 small 35mm (black) RCA Photophone projectors with carbon arc lamphouses & projector bases. These were working for a collector 10 years ago, but they’re in rough shape, in need of full restoration if you want to run film in them.
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Chief Theatre question
KENOSHA, WI — I am working on a project about theaters in Kenosha and would be very grateful to receive any information at all about the Chief. I know it was operating in the 1940’s but can’t find out anything else. Information about its capacity and location would be especially welcome.
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35mm nitrate 1936 remodeling film of Clintonia
I want to preserve this and all other home movies that I have on 16mm. Who in central Illinois could help me?
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February 13, 2008
Hard times for many repertory cinemas
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — According to this article from the San Francisco Chronicle, repertory cinemas – those that program for lovers of classic, revival, and non-mainstream fare – are finding it harder and harder to do so and remain even modestly profitable due to DVDs and other downloadable and rentable media:
For more than two decades, ever since the arrival of VHS tape, San Francisco exhibitors have been scrambling to find a business model that supports classic repertory programming. Exhibitors have devised and revised workable survival strategies, but time after time, those strategies have been undercut by new threats – such as the advent of DVD, Netflix and now downloadable movies. They’ve tried longer runs, shorter runs, themed festivals, celebrity guests, relatives of deceased celebrities, autograph signing parties and live entertainment, all to less and less effect. Some look ahead to digital projection as a possible panacea, but that’s a few years away.
All exhibitors concur that the prospects for repertory in San Francisco have become downright bleak, and that just within the past year business has gotten even worse. In movie-loving, cineast San Francisco, the repertory audience seems to be drying up.
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Europe feels crunch in movie tickets
Variety is reporting a dip in sales of movie tickets in the past year.
Cinema attendance in the European Union dipped 2.2% last year, with 910 million tickets sold vs. 931 million in 2006.
Admissions were up on 2005’s 899 million but down significantly on the bumper 2004 total of 1 billion, according to provisional figures released by the European Audiovisual Observatory.
Among the major territories with falling admissions last year were Germany (down 8.2%), Spain (down 7.7%) and France (down 5.6%). Steep dropoffs were seen in some new EU states, such as Hungary (down 13.8%) and Slovakia (down 19.9%).
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Drive-in speakers/junction boxes/heaters wanted!
Hello, I’m in need of very unusual drive-in speakers. Ones that no one has seen before…the truly bizarre!!! Odd shapes, “stereo” ones with multiple cones per unit, Polemounts! I’m paying over $200 (two-hundred) dollars for each for speaker I can add to my collection. Contact me even if it’s just to share pictures.
I have hundreds of photos of many nice, unique speakers. Also, I can send you a list of everything madeĀ in speakers to help you organize your collection. I also collect weird junction boxes and heaters and catalogs/brochures for drive-in equipment. Finders fees paid…Any help appreciated. Mathew…(408) 923-0919