Comments from vinceiuliano

Showing 26 - 32 of 32 comments

vinceiuliano
vinceiuliano commented about Smith Haven Mall Theatre on Aug 26, 2004 at 3:19 am

the green acres had some magnificent popcorn but some awful greasy countertops!

vinceiuliano
vinceiuliano commented about Sunwave Twin Theater on Aug 22, 2004 at 11:18 pm

for some extra comments about THIS theater be sure to check out patchogue 13, where me and bway throw down! haha
just kidding. he’s got a great memory though. i know, because i have a great memory! (apologies to butch cassidy)

vinceiuliano
vinceiuliano commented about UA Movies at Patchogue 13 on Aug 22, 2004 at 2:12 pm

ok, i stand corrected.
of course you KNOW i’ll be driving over today to check out the roofline! haha.
i really hate to see these great old theaters go (ok that wasn’t such a grand old theater but it was centrally located and fun!).
amazingly while all these changes are happening, wendy’s and across the street long john silver’s remains…go figure.

vinceiuliano
vinceiuliano commented about UA Movies at Patchogue 13 on Aug 22, 2004 at 1:56 pm

Not to carp but the theater was located more to the left of the shopping center, not exactly where Howards is but closer to duane reed. it was a terrific theater for a strip mall , and i saw butch cassidy there with my dad when it was re-issued in 1976,as well as the seven-ups and the bad news bears. i want to say that it was a UA theater but i’m not sure.
the patchogue 13 is a terrific theater, nestled in the woods as it is, but perhaps too huge for its size and the paltry lousy content coming out of Hollywood these days.
you know, i went to the island 16 the other day and the movie before 6 pm for me and my nephew was 13 dollars and for each of us to have a small bag of popcorn and a soda was another 17 bucks.
families would probably enjoy more movies together if they didn’t feel like they were being mugged at the concension stand. some of these theaters are willfuly cutting their own throats through greed.

vinceiuliano
vinceiuliano commented about Smith Haven Mall Theatre on Aug 22, 2004 at 1:46 pm

the fact that this theater closed saddens me. i saw logans run there, and bank shot, and cuckoo’s nest and rocky and judge roy bean and rambo and fiddler on the roof in 1971, and a host of wonderful indelible films and memories.
the neat thing about this theater was that it was possible to drop your kids off and shop the mall while they were safely tucked away in the theater. the last film i saw there was spy games, and the popcorn was still the best around, and the air conditioning felt great on a hot summer’s day. but the place was practically empty!
i used to walk 4 miles to this theater to catch “that’s entertainment”, then scout the mall and head home. what a wonderful place! sad that kids will no longer be able to enjoy it.
its a comment i think not so much on the theater’s owners or managers but on the incredibly crappy content coming out of hollywood. how can anyone maintain a quality viable theater with the spotty, non-escapist fare they have now?? i took my nephew to the holtsville island 16 this weekend and there was hardly anything a 12 year and an adult even wanted to see!! the drive to see great movies is there – the quality and content has packed up and left town. And the great Century theater at the Smithhaven Mall – and the Jerry Lewis theater and Ronkonkoma theater (when it showed family fare) are among its many victims.

vinceiuliano
vinceiuliano commented about Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts on Aug 22, 2004 at 1:34 pm

slightly off the topic but once i scurried inside this theater with popcorn and soda in hand only to discover that i had picked the wrong theater! i had seen the same movie the week before.
the owner at the time – a dour woman with short brown hair – phoned ahead and i was able to drive -popcorn and soda carefully balanced on the seat beside me – to the correct theater and run inside.
there were 5 theaters in patchogue at this time; this one, one slightly east on the same road, another on sunrise highway (where Wendy’s is now) and a drive in (which also contained an indoor theater!). Anyway it was a wonderful theater then and – having seen mickey rooney there as well as an ice skating show in the past 2 years – i can say that its STILL a great theater. long may it live!

vinceiuliano
vinceiuliano commented about Bellmore Playhouse on Aug 22, 2004 at 1:27 pm

my mom was a cashier for the bellmore playhouse in the early 1950's
the owners at the time were connie and wanda baker. the projectionist was a big fella named ‘tiny'
if anyone has any information about that time period, or photo’s of the old or new theater, or information about the baker’s or about the plyhouse’s present owners please contact me?
thanks very much!
vince iuliano