What was the general layout of the 8th Street Playhouse? Was the decor kept up-to-date, rundown, somewhere in between? The only physical remembrance I have of it as a moviehouse was when it was boarded-up after City Cinemas pulled out and before TLA Video moved into the space.
Is the slope in the current Times Square Visitors Center the same slope which existed when the Embassy 1 was operating as a cinema? If so, without having seen a film there, hardbop, I easily second your point.
The Biograph closed sometime in September or October of ‘91, hardbop. (I have, somewhere in a box in my closet, an article which ran in the Village Voice at the time, discussing the end of the Biograph’s run and the unpopular reputation Cineplex Odeon was either gaining or cementing at the time amongst NYC moviegoers.)
For several months after Cineplex pulled the plug on the Biograph, Frank Rowley tried to gain traction on a plan to operate a non-profit rep house somewhere in Manhattan; whether or not the manisfestation of that was his operation of the Gramercy I can’t, however, speak to.
In the weekly Angelika InFocus newsletter, the Village East is referred to as the ‘sister theater’ of the Angelika. (Also, to revise the information posted at the top of this page – the Angelika has six screens, not five.)
I tolerate the Union Square well enough – Movieguy718 does bring up some valid points – but I miss the Waverly (in its incarnation as a first-run mainstream house with the occasional specialty flick) and the Art Greenwich, despite their quirks and sometimes somewhat imperfect comfort levels. Ah, for the heyday of the 1-4 screen neighborhood moviehouse in Manhattan…
I’ve never had that experience at the Union Square thankfully, but I wonder if anyone who has filed a complaint with Regal’s home office -not that there’s a guarantee they’d give a you-know-what or that the person filing the complaint would receive a response, but anyway…
I’ve only passed by the Center Cinemas on foot once – and God knows how many times on the 7, heading out to Shea for Mets games – but seem to remember seeing quite a bit of gray, trimmed with some rather familiar runs of purple and pink neon within its interior; was this once a Cineplex house?
The former Bleecker Street Cinemas space is currently available for lease. What a nice pipe dream it is, thinking someone out there could gather together the necessary scratch and bring that space back to its former glory…
This strikes me as incredibly lazy – the LED-display marquee makes mention of only two of what I’d guess to be the 10-12 films currently playing at the Union Square Stadium 14. Granted, they’re both Oscar winners – ‘The Aviator’ and ‘Sideways’ – and both films, irrelevant of snagging those awards last month are worth seeing, but wouldn’t you think a theatre would want to exert as much energy touting ALL the films they’re showing at once as they do an online and telephone ticket ordering service?
Spoke with a construction worker at the site of the former (or present and always, depending on your perspective) Waverly this past Friday, who informed me he expects the IFC Center within the space to be opening for business sometime in May or June, July at the latest. (I wasn’t able to snag a tour – believe me, I tried – but, from what I saw, the project seems to be in its near-final phases.)
Walked past the Variety within the hour and the building gives that distinct chill of being doomed. Of course, one of the posted working permits notes that the construction work won’t involve interior alterations, but that seems like only a matter of time. (Interesting sidenote: the two permits note the building is not a landmark, which an alert contradictory sort contradicted by writing in black marker by each permit, ‘YES, THIS IS A LANDMARK!’ Right on, brother – or sister… )
…and today’s award for the msot unusual use of a movie theatre image in a media format goes to… DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc.
In their new TV commercial touting advancements in knee replacement surgery, a reverse image of the Presidio’s marquee can be briefly glimpsed. (Guess you see the darndest things in the darndest places… )
Thank you for adding this theatre, Robert. The East 86th Street Cinemas were converted from a dated, ‘70s-era twin to what is now a sleek, steel-and-cement four-screen multiplex (one of the most unique places to catch a flick in Manhattan) in the late '90s.
The DVD release of ‘Being Julia’ might not necessarily be the reason Clearview is dropping it from the 62nd & Broadway, Mike; its box office might have finally petered out enough where it didn’t make sense to hold onto it any longer.
In regards to films being dropped due to their availability on DVD, that no longer seems to be the issue it once was (or was as well when VHS still ruled the home entertainment roost). A solid number of first-run theatres are holding onto ‘Finding Neverland’ beyond tonight, even though it was released onto DVD and VHS this past Tuesday, and ‘Ray’ had a run at the Loews State in Times Square several weeks after it became available in the retail and rental marketplace. Chains (and theatres in general) are more likely to hold onto films in such circumstances than they used to, due to the glut of screens across the country and the box office numbers being just sufficient enough.
The marquee for the former Liberty Tree Mall Cinema 1 & 2 is still standing, Robert, and is presently used as signage for the megaplex within the Liberty Tree Mall. (An image of the marquee can be found here: http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=5126, while the former twin has an entry here @ Cinema Treasures – /theaters/10278/)) The twin apparently had more seats than the sixplex, but I personally can’t account for the exact total.
The long run of ‘Being Julia’ at the 62nd and Broadway (and it’s time to change the name back on this theatre’s posting; the Cinema Latino name was dropped last November) is coming to an end tomorrow night, being replaced by a move-over of ‘William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice’.
The Ziegfeld, when held in comparison to some of NYC’s past movie palaces, doesn’t hold up in the same league, but for what it is and for how much the filmgoing scene in the city (and in general) has changed in the last 30-40 years, it’s the closest thing to a ‘classic’ cinema treasure we have.
What was the general layout of the 8th Street Playhouse? Was the decor kept up-to-date, rundown, somewhere in between? The only physical remembrance I have of it as a moviehouse was when it was boarded-up after City Cinemas pulled out and before TLA Video moved into the space.
Is the slope in the current Times Square Visitors Center the same slope which existed when the Embassy 1 was operating as a cinema? If so, without having seen a film there, hardbop, I easily second your point.
The Biograph closed sometime in September or October of ‘91, hardbop. (I have, somewhere in a box in my closet, an article which ran in the Village Voice at the time, discussing the end of the Biograph’s run and the unpopular reputation Cineplex Odeon was either gaining or cementing at the time amongst NYC moviegoers.)
For several months after Cineplex pulled the plug on the Biograph, Frank Rowley tried to gain traction on a plan to operate a non-profit rep house somewhere in Manhattan; whether or not the manisfestation of that was his operation of the Gramercy I can’t, however, speak to.
Again, time for another info update – the Village East has seven screens (contrary to the info posted within this page’s header), not six.
In the weekly Angelika Film Center newsletter, the Village East is referred to as the Angelika’s ‘sister theater’.
In the weekly Angelika InFocus newsletter, the Village East is referred to as the ‘sister theater’ of the Angelika. (Also, to revise the information posted at the top of this page – the Angelika has six screens, not five.)
Any word on how this hearing went today?
I tolerate the Union Square well enough – Movieguy718 does bring up some valid points – but I miss the Waverly (in its incarnation as a first-run mainstream house with the occasional specialty flick) and the Art Greenwich, despite their quirks and sometimes somewhat imperfect comfort levels. Ah, for the heyday of the 1-4 screen neighborhood moviehouse in Manhattan…
Thanks for the recollections, Theaterat – they paint as vivid a picture as any snapshots would.
I’ve never had that experience at the Union Square thankfully, but I wonder if anyone who has filed a complaint with Regal’s home office -not that there’s a guarantee they’d give a you-know-what or that the person filing the complaint would receive a response, but anyway…
I’ve only passed by the Center Cinemas on foot once – and God knows how many times on the 7, heading out to Shea for Mets games – but seem to remember seeing quite a bit of gray, trimmed with some rather familiar runs of purple and pink neon within its interior; was this once a Cineplex house?
The former Bleecker Street Cinemas space is currently available for lease. What a nice pipe dream it is, thinking someone out there could gather together the necessary scratch and bring that space back to its former glory…
This strikes me as incredibly lazy – the LED-display marquee makes mention of only two of what I’d guess to be the 10-12 films currently playing at the Union Square Stadium 14. Granted, they’re both Oscar winners – ‘The Aviator’ and ‘Sideways’ – and both films, irrelevant of snagging those awards last month are worth seeing, but wouldn’t you think a theatre would want to exert as much energy touting ALL the films they’re showing at once as they do an online and telephone ticket ordering service?
Spoke with a construction worker at the site of the former (or present and always, depending on your perspective) Waverly this past Friday, who informed me he expects the IFC Center within the space to be opening for business sometime in May or June, July at the latest. (I wasn’t able to snag a tour – believe me, I tried – but, from what I saw, the project seems to be in its near-final phases.)
Walked past the Variety within the hour and the building gives that distinct chill of being doomed. Of course, one of the posted working permits notes that the construction work won’t involve interior alterations, but that seems like only a matter of time. (Interesting sidenote: the two permits note the building is not a landmark, which an alert contradictory sort contradicted by writing in black marker by each permit, ‘YES, THIS IS A LANDMARK!’ Right on, brother – or sister… )
A return to the way the Plaza used to advertise in the various newspaper movie clocks; curious to know what the second feature is…
…and today’s award for the msot unusual use of a movie theatre image in a media format goes to… DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc.
In their new TV commercial touting advancements in knee replacement surgery, a reverse image of the Presidio’s marquee can be briefly glimpsed. (Guess you see the darndest things in the darndest places… )
Thank you for adding this theatre, Robert. The East 86th Street Cinemas were converted from a dated, ‘70s-era twin to what is now a sleek, steel-and-cement four-screen multiplex (one of the most unique places to catch a flick in Manhattan) in the late '90s.
The DVD release of ‘Being Julia’ might not necessarily be the reason Clearview is dropping it from the 62nd & Broadway, Mike; its box office might have finally petered out enough where it didn’t make sense to hold onto it any longer.
In regards to films being dropped due to their availability on DVD, that no longer seems to be the issue it once was (or was as well when VHS still ruled the home entertainment roost). A solid number of first-run theatres are holding onto ‘Finding Neverland’ beyond tonight, even though it was released onto DVD and VHS this past Tuesday, and ‘Ray’ had a run at the Loews State in Times Square several weeks after it became available in the retail and rental marketplace. Chains (and theatres in general) are more likely to hold onto films in such circumstances than they used to, due to the glut of screens across the country and the box office numbers being just sufficient enough.
The marquee for the former Liberty Tree Mall Cinema 1 & 2 is still standing, Robert, and is presently used as signage for the megaplex within the Liberty Tree Mall. (An image of the marquee can be found here: http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=5126, while the former twin has an entry here @ Cinema Treasures – /theaters/10278/)) The twin apparently had more seats than the sixplex, but I personally can’t account for the exact total.
Most likely yet another example of a property owner fending off attempts at landmarking.
The then-Loews sixplex and the former Loews twin nearby closed the very day the Loews 20-screen megaplex opened its doors for business.
The long run of ‘Being Julia’ at the 62nd and Broadway (and it’s time to change the name back on this theatre’s posting; the Cinema Latino name was dropped last November) is coming to an end tomorrow night, being replaced by a move-over of ‘William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice’.
…and then there’s this mistakenly posted ‘non-theatre’ – /theaters/10174/
The Ziegfeld, when held in comparison to some of NYC’s past movie palaces, doesn’t hold up in the same league, but for what it is and for how much the filmgoing scene in the city (and in general) has changed in the last 30-40 years, it’s the closest thing to a ‘classic’ cinema treasure we have.