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The latest movie theater news and updates
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July 23, 2007
New movie house opening 2009
CAMDEN, NJ — Rumor’s been going around stating that Camden, NJ will be getting a new movie house with IMAX this coming 2009 summer season.
Hope this is true. Camden has been without a movie house for years now. It will be great if it finally happens.
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July 20, 2007
Sherman Torgan, New Beverly Theatre owner, has died
From the Greencine website:
“From Hollywood Elsewhere comes sad news from the very heart of Hollywood,” writes Dennis Cozzalio. “Sherman Torgan, owner and manager of the New Beverly Cinema, died unexpectedly yesterday while bicycling in Santa Monica.”
“I imagine he died doing what he loved, which is a happy thing; I don’t think anyone could run a theater like the New Beverly for three decades without having a passion for it,” writes David Lowery. “There’s an art to showing movies, a sort of showmanship crossed with curatorial craft, and it’s slowly being lost. It’ll never fade completely (not as long as devotees are willing to set up screenings in Parisian catacombs), but as of today its its lustre is a little bit dimmer than it was before.”
“[S]ome of you may have noticed he got a thanks in the Grindhouse credits,” notes Blake Ethridge at Cinema is Dope. “Condolences to everyone that knew Sherman and were touched over the decades with his charge and dedication in providing films old and new a place to still breath and to be discovered all over again.”
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All hail the pirate slayer!
One of the hot topics on this site has always been the importance of maintaining a premium moviegoing experience. Even if that doesn’t always amount to superior sight, sound and seats, I think we’ll all agree that helpful employees is a big part of reaching that next level.
Talk of the quality of the average theater employee typically elicits scorn in these parts so I thought you’d appreciate this Allied News story about a kid truly earning his paycheck at his local theater. Christopher Payne carefully observed a possible movie pirate and used all means necessary to take him down. How about that?
For Marquee Cinemas employee Christopher Payne, being nicknamed the “pirate slayer” by co-workers has little to do with one-eyed, peg-legged treasure hunters and more to do with stopping what experts call “the biggest threat to the motion picture industry.”
Payne interrupted the illegal pirating of the movie “Pride” in May — a federal crime — helped recover the camcorder used, and also received a $500 reward along the way. Not bad for the 16-year-old Woodrow Wilson High School junior.
More than the billions of dollars lost by the growing trend, it’s the theater owners that suffer the most with this practice. While studios have other sources of revenue to tuck them in at night, theater owners have nothing if no one shows up.
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My Love for the Tower Theater
FRESNO, CA — Back in the early 1980’s I was the operator/manager of the Tower Theater. It was a fantastic experience. We called it “McHatton’s Tower Theater” at that time. We were a “calendar house” because we published a calendar/newspaper every six to eight weeks with listings and articles and cool graphics about our upcoming films.
We changed films two, three, sometimes four times a week. We did midnight shows on Friday and Saturday nights. We did Three Stooges Marathons and lots of Rock n' Roll movies. I especially remember the “Curly look and sound a like” contests. We showed old classic movies like the re-release of Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” and “Vertigo.” We showed lots of foreign films and art films. We showed Armenian films, Japanese films, and even racy films sometimes.
Our goal was to bring people back into the movie theater and help them enjoy the experience of watching a film like it was meant to be seen — on the BIG screen. We used real butter on our popcorn and we went out of our way to make sure your feet did not stick to the floors. We showed many old classics like Ben Hur.
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Hollywood Theatre to undergo restoration
PORTLAND, OR — According to this article in the Salem, Oregon Statesman-Journal, the Hollywood Theatre, once both a vaudeville and a Cinerama house, will be rehabilitated thanks to grants awarded to its current owner, Film Action Oregon.
Hollywood Theatre’s interior architectural history has been under cover for years. But as Film Action Oregon begins a comprehensive preservation plan for the theater, what’s behind the curtains moves into the spotlight.
The organization, which has owned the theater since 1997, just grabbed a $36,500 commitment from the Kinsman Foundation.
The money, along with a $10,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and a $3,500 grant from the Architecture Foundation of Oregon, will be used for seismic assessment and an architectural study of the building’s interior.
You can read the full story at the Statesman Journal.
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2 Indiana Theaters for sale
2 New Construction Theaters for sale. Both in small suburbs of Indianapolis. They are state of the art theaters.
Anyone interested in furhter details, please contact us before they go on the open market.
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July 19, 2007
Downtown Orlando Theatre under construction
ORLANDO, FL — On October 1, a new movie theatre in downtown is scheduled to open. Currently under construction, when it is operating it will be the first movie theatre to be located in the city’s center in 30 years.
There is no word yet on what company will operate it. This information is from Cameron Kuhn, Orlando downtown developer.
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“Now Playing,” just published book
Now Playing
Hand-Painted Poster Art From the 1910s through the 1950sby Anthony Slide, with Jane Burman Powell and Lori Goldman Berthelsen
Published in cooperation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Now Playing features a rare collection of hand-painted poster art by Batiste Madalena, Edwin Isaac Checketts, O.M. Wise and Edward Augustus Armstrong, as well as many other now-collectible poster artists.
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July 18, 2007
Mystery Theatre
I was wondering if anyone there could identify this picture. It was incorrectly identified as the palace in Columbus, Ohio, in another source.
Thanks.
Bill Conner ASTC
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More boxing coming to Paradise
BRONX, NY — Amongst the concerts and special events is a series of boxing matches continuing at the historic Paradise Theatre.
Star Boxing ( DeGuardia’s promotional company) has 20 boxers under contract, most of whom are credible club fighters, a few of them world-class. More significantly, Star Boxing has brought boxing back to the Bronx in the form of a series of fight cards at the Paradise Theater.
The first installment of “Punchin' at the Paradise” took place last December. DeGuardia is on track to promote six fight cards at the venue this year, and 12 in 2008. In many respects, the theater itself is the star of the show.
Read more at the New York Sun.