while it’s unfair to compare Ant-Man’s ‘digital’ presentation to IMAX’s ‘laser’ presentation (at Air & Space Museum Airbus IMAX screen) [darker, less color, less sharpness] – I do have to say the Dolby Atmos mix blew the 12-channel IMAX mix out of the water, simply superior – the imaging is very wide as to extend the music and sound cues just outside the screen area (as mentioned before in my observation to ‘The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies’ Atmos mix) – what achieved this is the fact that not only Atmos allocates the speakers closest to the screens as sourcing, but sound ‘behind’ the screen is benefitted from not only the pre-requisite left,center,right speakers but also left-center and right-center speakers as in typical pre-1977 70mm sound systems (before the transition to ‘baby boom’ features and the removal of two channels of the five front stage speaker set up) The bass also seems tighter and punchier for some reason, most notably also heard in the Pixar short film that preceeded ‘Inside Out’: ‘Lava’
movie #6 here: ‘Ant-Man’ continued to show off the system to astounding effect – the laser brought out so much color, brightness and detail – I was actually looking at the suits (and ties) that Michael Douglas and Corey Stoll were wearing, they were extremely tactile. ‘San Andreas’ was a juggernaut in terms of the sound system – ‘Ant-Man’s 3D was truly top drawer!
has anyone been here and want to comment on this theater? I’ve been reading some Facebook comments and they are largely negative – uncomfortable seats, unhelpful staff, mediocre sound systems – ?? I just read that AMC has purchased the chain outright – so I guess by the end of the year there might be some changes for better or worse.
Landmark has bought it and is reopening this next Friday (July 17th)
“West End Cinema features three auditoriums, with two opening initially while additional upgrades to the theatre continue. When completed, the new Landmark Theatres West End Cinema will feature larger screens, new seating, an expanded concession menu and alcoholic beverages.”
new seating? oh thank god… auditorium two’s seats were horrible: no leg room and way too cramped.
I’d love to see 70mm prints of ‘Dark Crystal’ and ‘Aliens’! Interestingly I’m very keen on seeing the DCP of ‘Dark Crystal’ since the screening last year at the Angelika Mosaic (which was projected bluray) didn’t look or sound all that good.
I saw ‘Wreck it Ralph’ last week as part of it’s 3D festival – it looked great and it was the first time I heard the 7.1 surround sound mix [thumbs up!]
lame – Dupont used to be a great place to catch a movie – now I hardly go there at all – even out to dinner.
Interestingly the Dupont Underground project “turn[ing] a pair of abandoned trolley platforms beneath Dupont Circle into a lively exhibition space capable of hosting concerts, art galleries, wine tastings or film screenings” has been curtailed and dropped the film screenings aspect [oh well…]
that is correct MovieTix86: because Auro is 5.1 based and no surrounds directly behind you; there is a tremendous gap from left side surround to right side surround. This is why I don’t particularly care for Auro sound – the technology to me sounds like a step backwards – I’ve heard three movies as such, and then rewatched those movies in standard 7.1 which put back the rear channels of sound and as a result conveyed 360 sound to greater effectiveness and soundscaping.
interesting little tidbit of 8-channel SDDS sound: DCI compliant audio processors can use and implement the left/center and right/center speaker that SDDS-8 featured. Word is that the new restored DCP of ‘My Fair Lady’ is encoded as such – retaining the original 1964 70mm/6-track mix configurement.
well that’s conterintuitive when every IMAX (15/70) screens are 4:3 – guess the future means we’ll get stuck with 2.0:1 / 1.9:1 image letterboxed on said screens, but still not using the full screen – ugh…
you should point out moviebuff82 that each next Avenger’s movies will be shot in Digital IMAX for the entire movie – I gather that means that 4:3 screens full screen and 1.78:1 on all IMAX-Digital screens. In other words, no alternating aspect ratios.
Press release news:
‘IMAX Corporation today announced that Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War – Parts 1 & 2, the two-part installment to the global blockbuster franchise, will be shot in their entirety using IMAX® and ARRI’s next generation revolutionary 2D digital camera – a joint customized digital version of ARRI’s new large format camera, the Alexa 65. The two-part Avengers saga marks the first time a Hollywood feature film will have been shot completely using IMAX® cameras and will feature IMAX’s exclusive aspect ratio, providing moviegoers a uniquely immersive experience.’
Tomorrowland’s IMAX aspect ratio is slightly open matted to 1.90:1
none of the Guardians of the Galaxy was shot with IMAX cameras – but I do have to say, the IMAX ‘experience’ with the expanded screen sequences was really stunning and worked to the giant screens advantage.
chalk it up to the unadvertised fact that auditorium 12 can actually playback a 7.1 surround sound mixed film, but ugh.. the AC unit which clicked off and on during ‘Tomorrowland’ was obnoxious as sin. The screen size is also on the small size.
for some reason, I thought the ‘Widescreen’ was a fixed 2.40:1 screen – but I guess since they haven’t really shown that many 1.85 movies, (‘Gravity’ being an exception) I haven’t yet seen how such a film is projected. Got that chance with ‘Tomorrowland’ the other day since the image is 1.85 with the 2.20 aspect ratio nestled with a sliver of black borders above and below the image – the second film with an odd aspect ratio will be ‘Jurassic World’ (2.00:1). But basically the screen can expand vertically, which was a pleasant surprise.
sheesh – jump down the guy’s throat – according to imdb – the film was all digitally captured – interesting, though, the aspect ratio used for ‘Tomorrowland’ is 70mm’s 2.20:1
in terms of 15/70 IMAX prints being struck for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ – it better, not all the museums / science centers have all digital (let alone laser ) systems in place. We know that J.J. Abrams shot at least one major set piece in 15/70 – so I’d hope that Disney strike prints for this.
now in terms of ‘Jurassic World’ some scenes were filmed in 65mm and again, this film will be released in aspect ratio of 2.00:1 (yeah, go figure on that one).
with all the upgrades to this theater – I’m surprised that the largest screen hasn’t yet been announced to be converted to be a ‘Dolby Cinema’ screen – laser projection/Dolby Atmos – the whole kit and kaboodle
Its quite possible the wrong audio encoding was ingested into the audio processor from the DCP, was there not any rear speaker sound? The presentation I heard over at Arclight Bethesda on its “wide screen” screen presented the 7.1 mix to wide effect notably in the side and rear speakers. Why ‘Furious 7’ was not given an object based mid is a mystery – lost cause really since there was a lot of ceiling sourced action that could have benefitted from accompanied sound cues.
summer is the worst time for an auditorium specifically an IMAX one to be closed for renovation – Fall (Sept.) would be the most ideal timeframe for the conversion. Thankfully the Smithsonian timed it just right (with IMAX’s help) to close, renovate, reopen the Airbus IMAX theater before the summmer movies.
initially Regal’s premium RPX screen was slated for this location, but that plan went by the wayside, which is a shame since Countryside’s screens seem on the small antiquated side. Regal could have also benefited by installing a Dolby Atmos system here, but again, no dice – Regal seems clueless at times.
with the Cinemark so close to them – Regal is trying to up the ante with the king size recliners / assigned seats aspect – but has any updates been done to the audio/image presentation – i.e, 7.1 surround sound, 4K digital projection? What IS the largest screen at this location?
saw ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ yesterday and was thoroughly impressed; the laser system had great colors, sharpness, ample light for the 3D to properly work and the discrete 12-channel sound while loud, had tremendous power and aural soundscaping to justify and compete with Dolby Atmos / Auro 11.1
oh and the screen under the conversion also got bumped up a foot in the process – it’s now 86 feet in width.
“‘MuviXL’ is our giant screen format and will feature the largest and only MuviXL Bright White Screen that is over 72 feet diagonal, two 4K projectors with RealD XL 3D technology, and Dolby Digital 7.1 sound.”
is this the screen that is getting the new DTS-X sound system or is that another auditorium in the complex?
while it’s unfair to compare Ant-Man’s ‘digital’ presentation to IMAX’s ‘laser’ presentation (at Air & Space Museum Airbus IMAX screen) [darker, less color, less sharpness] – I do have to say the Dolby Atmos mix blew the 12-channel IMAX mix out of the water, simply superior – the imaging is very wide as to extend the music and sound cues just outside the screen area (as mentioned before in my observation to ‘The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies’ Atmos mix) – what achieved this is the fact that not only Atmos allocates the speakers closest to the screens as sourcing, but sound ‘behind’ the screen is benefitted from not only the pre-requisite left,center,right speakers but also left-center and right-center speakers as in typical pre-1977 70mm sound systems (before the transition to ‘baby boom’ features and the removal of two channels of the five front stage speaker set up) The bass also seems tighter and punchier for some reason, most notably also heard in the Pixar short film that preceeded ‘Inside Out’: ‘Lava’
movie #6 here: ‘Ant-Man’ continued to show off the system to astounding effect – the laser brought out so much color, brightness and detail – I was actually looking at the suits (and ties) that Michael Douglas and Corey Stoll were wearing, they were extremely tactile. ‘San Andreas’ was a juggernaut in terms of the sound system – ‘Ant-Man’s 3D was truly top drawer!
has anyone been here and want to comment on this theater? I’ve been reading some Facebook comments and they are largely negative – uncomfortable seats, unhelpful staff, mediocre sound systems – ?? I just read that AMC has purchased the chain outright – so I guess by the end of the year there might be some changes for better or worse.
Landmark has bought it and is reopening this next Friday (July 17th)
“West End Cinema features three auditoriums, with two opening initially while additional upgrades to the theatre continue. When completed, the new Landmark Theatres West End Cinema will feature larger screens, new seating, an expanded concession menu and alcoholic beverages.”
new seating? oh thank god… auditorium two’s seats were horrible: no leg room and way too cramped.
I’d love to see 70mm prints of ‘Dark Crystal’ and ‘Aliens’! Interestingly I’m very keen on seeing the DCP of ‘Dark Crystal’ since the screening last year at the Angelika Mosaic (which was projected bluray) didn’t look or sound all that good.
I saw ‘Wreck it Ralph’ last week as part of it’s 3D festival – it looked great and it was the first time I heard the 7.1 surround sound mix [thumbs up!]
lame – Dupont used to be a great place to catch a movie – now I hardly go there at all – even out to dinner.
Interestingly the Dupont Underground project “turn[ing] a pair of abandoned trolley platforms beneath Dupont Circle into a lively exhibition space capable of hosting concerts, art galleries, wine tastings or film screenings” has been curtailed and dropped the film screenings aspect [oh well…]
http://www.dupontunderground.org/
I didn’t realize ‘Masculine-Feminine’ took nearly a full year after it’s New York City engagement to get shown in DC.
that is correct MovieTix86: because Auro is 5.1 based and no surrounds directly behind you; there is a tremendous gap from left side surround to right side surround. This is why I don’t particularly care for Auro sound – the technology to me sounds like a step backwards – I’ve heard three movies as such, and then rewatched those movies in standard 7.1 which put back the rear channels of sound and as a result conveyed 360 sound to greater effectiveness and soundscaping.
interesting little tidbit of 8-channel SDDS sound: DCI compliant audio processors can use and implement the left/center and right/center speaker that SDDS-8 featured. Word is that the new restored DCP of ‘My Fair Lady’ is encoded as such – retaining the original 1964 70mm/6-track mix configurement.
well that’s conterintuitive when every IMAX (15/70) screens are 4:3 – guess the future means we’ll get stuck with 2.0:1 / 1.9:1 image letterboxed on said screens, but still not using the full screen – ugh…
you should point out moviebuff82 that each next Avenger’s movies will be shot in Digital IMAX for the entire movie – I gather that means that 4:3 screens full screen and 1.78:1 on all IMAX-Digital screens. In other words, no alternating aspect ratios.
Press release news:
‘IMAX Corporation today announced that Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War – Parts 1 & 2, the two-part installment to the global blockbuster franchise, will be shot in their entirety using IMAX® and ARRI’s next generation revolutionary 2D digital camera – a joint customized digital version of ARRI’s new large format camera, the Alexa 65. The two-part Avengers saga marks the first time a Hollywood feature film will have been shot completely using IMAX® cameras and will feature IMAX’s exclusive aspect ratio, providing moviegoers a uniquely immersive experience.’
Tomorrowland’s IMAX aspect ratio is slightly open matted to 1.90:1
none of the Guardians of the Galaxy was shot with IMAX cameras – but I do have to say, the IMAX ‘experience’ with the expanded screen sequences was really stunning and worked to the giant screens advantage.
^ that’s because ‘Tomorrowland’ is under performing ‘San Andreas’ is a 11th hour decision from IMAX and Warners.
chalk it up to the unadvertised fact that auditorium 12 can actually playback a 7.1 surround sound mixed film, but ugh.. the AC unit which clicked off and on during ‘Tomorrowland’ was obnoxious as sin. The screen size is also on the small size.
for some reason, I thought the ‘Widescreen’ was a fixed 2.40:1 screen – but I guess since they haven’t really shown that many 1.85 movies, (‘Gravity’ being an exception) I haven’t yet seen how such a film is projected. Got that chance with ‘Tomorrowland’ the other day since the image is 1.85 with the 2.20 aspect ratio nestled with a sliver of black borders above and below the image – the second film with an odd aspect ratio will be ‘Jurassic World’ (2.00:1). But basically the screen can expand vertically, which was a pleasant surprise.
sheesh – jump down the guy’s throat – according to imdb – the film was all digitally captured – interesting, though, the aspect ratio used for ‘Tomorrowland’ is 70mm’s 2.20:1
in terms of 15/70 IMAX prints being struck for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ – it better, not all the museums / science centers have all digital (let alone laser ) systems in place. We know that J.J. Abrams shot at least one major set piece in 15/70 – so I’d hope that Disney strike prints for this.
now in terms of ‘Jurassic World’ some scenes were filmed in 65mm and again, this film will be released in aspect ratio of 2.00:1 (yeah, go figure on that one).
with all the upgrades to this theater – I’m surprised that the largest screen hasn’t yet been announced to be converted to be a ‘Dolby Cinema’ screen – laser projection/Dolby Atmos – the whole kit and kaboodle
‘Mad Max Fury Road’ in Atmos really showed off the bass channels (auditorium #6) to stunning effect, tight, low and resonant.
Its quite possible the wrong audio encoding was ingested into the audio processor from the DCP, was there not any rear speaker sound? The presentation I heard over at Arclight Bethesda on its “wide screen” screen presented the 7.1 mix to wide effect notably in the side and rear speakers. Why ‘Furious 7’ was not given an object based mid is a mystery – lost cause really since there was a lot of ceiling sourced action that could have benefitted from accompanied sound cues.
summer is the worst time for an auditorium specifically an IMAX one to be closed for renovation – Fall (Sept.) would be the most ideal timeframe for the conversion. Thankfully the Smithsonian timed it just right (with IMAX’s help) to close, renovate, reopen the Airbus IMAX theater before the summmer movies.
initially Regal’s premium RPX screen was slated for this location, but that plan went by the wayside, which is a shame since Countryside’s screens seem on the small antiquated side. Regal could have also benefited by installing a Dolby Atmos system here, but again, no dice – Regal seems clueless at times.
with the Cinemark so close to them – Regal is trying to up the ante with the king size recliners / assigned seats aspect – but has any updates been done to the audio/image presentation – i.e, 7.1 surround sound, 4K digital projection? What IS the largest screen at this location?
saw ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ yesterday and was thoroughly impressed; the laser system had great colors, sharpness, ample light for the 3D to properly work and the discrete 12-channel sound while loud, had tremendous power and aural soundscaping to justify and compete with Dolby Atmos / Auro 11.1
oh and the screen under the conversion also got bumped up a foot in the process – it’s now 86 feet in width.
Auditorium #3 features:
“‘MuviXL’ is our giant screen format and will feature the largest and only MuviXL Bright White Screen that is over 72 feet diagonal, two 4K projectors with RealD XL 3D technology, and Dolby Digital 7.1 sound.”
is this the screen that is getting the new DTS-X sound system or is that another auditorium in the complex?
tonight’s the debut and reopening of the converted screen for ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’