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The latest movie theater news and updates
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September 10, 2007
1,000 UK Theaters on Cinema Treasures!
The United Kingdom has become the second country (behind the United States) to have 1,000 theaters listed on Cinema Treasures. We’ve had some great milestones over the years and this one certainly ranks pretty high.
Thanks to Ken Roe, Bryan Krefft and everyone else for compiling this valuable information. Thanks to our users and the hard working CT Team, we’re well on our way to creating the ultimate cinema history resource.
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Historic Granada Theatre gets new life
THE DALLES, OR — Dormant no more, construction will begin next May on the Granada Theatre so it can be used for concerts and meetings.
1 of the first movie theaters west of the Mississippi River to show talking pictures has been silenced for almost five years.
But the historic Granada theater in The Dalles — which dates to 1929 and is on the National Register of Historic Place — is getting a second chance.
A tourism company has bought the building to use as a venue for seminars and acoustic concerts, as well as a tasting room for local wineries.
You can read the full article at KTVZ.
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New marquee for the born-again Rivoli
CEDARBURG, WI — Longtime theatre marquee-builder Poblocki Sign Company of West Allis, WI, has been contracted for a $60,000 marquee at the 1936 Rivoli Theatre in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. (Among many others, Poblocki built the 1993 marquee for Kenosha’s 1922 Orpheum Theatre.)
In a twist of fate, company owner Jerry Poblocki told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he attended the Rivoli’s January 1936 opening program.
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September 7, 2007
That buttery aroma might be toxic, too
New findings show some potentially harmful side effects of that innocent treat, popcorn.
Pop Weaver, one of the largest producers of microwave popcorn, is removing a controversial chemical flavoring agent from its products.
The chemical — diacetyl — adds buttery taste. Government worker safety investigators have linked exposure to the synthetic butter to the sometimes fatal destruction of the lungs of hundreds of workers in food production and flavoring factories.
And while Pop Weaver has dropped diacetyl from its product, it remains in widespread use in thousands of other consumer products, including the microwave popcorn brands Orville Redenbacher and Act II.
Read the full report at Seattle PI
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TV news story on AMC Orleans closure & nearby Philadelphia cinemas
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Watch a TV news clip of former Philadelphia movie houses! The AMC Orleans 8 opened as a single screen cinema showplace in Northeast Philadelphia in 1963 with reportedly the largest screen in Philadelphia.
TV Fox 29 reported on the closure of the Orleans last night, and showed what’s left of the exteriors of other former Northeast Philly single screen moviehouses- the Tyson, Castor, Benner, Devon (which will reopen for live shows), and the Mayfair. Those theaters were Art Deco and opened in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Watch the clip here.
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John Waters to perform at historic Carolina Theatre
GREENSBORO, NC — Whether one likes or dislikes the films of trash cinema pioneer John Waters, few can argue that he is an interesting figure in the world of cinema.
On Sept. 22, Waters will perform a one-man show about his origins in the trash cinema genre at the historic Carolina Theatre in downtown Greensboro.
Though the Carolina Theatre does not show films on a regular basis as it once did, it has to be considered a renovation success story as it almost burned to the ground some 25 years ago. Today it is the oldest active cinema in Greensboro.
The cinema is also screening Elia Kazan’s masterpiece “On the Waterfront” on Sept. 11.
The address of the Carolina Theatre is 310 South Green Street. The phone number for the theatre is 336-333-2605. Their web site is located here.
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Bryn Mawr lives on
BRYN MAWR, PA — Inspiring story of one woman’s project of turning an endangered theater into a local film institute.
Like so many art-house pioneers — those perpetually optimistic souls who devote their lives to the restoration and preservation of institutions and cherish the notion that cinema should go beyond the big-budget sequel — Juliet Goodfriend said she never imagined that she would one day found and lead a film institute. In many ways, it was a mission that chose her.
Seven years ago, Ms. Goodfriend was sitting on the Board of Trustees at Bryn Mawr College, located just west of Philadelphia, when she began hearing rumors that the local downtown movie theater was about to be sold to a developer who wanted to turn it into a fitness center. She was immediately mortified by the prospect of losing this Bryn Mawr landmark, an old-time movie palace that served nearly 30,000 students and even more year-round residents as an anchor in the downtown business district.
For more, read the New York Sun.
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September 6, 2007
Vogue Theatre Reopens
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — My long-time friend and theater buff/walking encyclopedia; Jim Lewallen, former door man at the famous Castro Theatre, has kindly called me with happy news of the 1910 Vogue Theatre.
Apparently, it closed, only for a short while, and it was thought that the dreaded wrecking ball was heading its way.
“Not so” says Jim… “because she was snapped up by a small non-profit group and reopened after some volunteer TLC.”
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Inglewood Fox Theatre for sale at $1.8M
INGLEWOOD, CA — The Fox Theatre is for sale at $1,800,000. At this writing, the following is posted on the commercial real estate website Loopnet
Property Use Type: Investment
Primary Type: Retail
Street Retail
Building Size: 12,090 SF
Lot Size: 0.25 Acres
Price: $1,800,000
Price/SF: $148.88
Year Built: 1949
Date Last Verified: 8/30/2007
Property ID: 14913144 -
Theater for sale
Want to build or start from scratch? Buy it all in one package. A 6-screen theatre complete. $1.4mm original equipment cost.
Approximately 850 like new blue seats (4 theatres recliner w/headrests, some loveseats) and all projection, sound, platter and concession equipment less than 5 full years of use. Building was demised by landlord but will sell package from well organized warehouse. We even have the toilets, sinks, stalls and electrical boxes. Pretty much everything but the 4 walls. Saved atrium glass as well.
Will sell only as a package. Serious inquiries only to Bill at 317-280-1951.