What a funny, interesting person Steve Levin sounded like. It sounds like he really did lots to help advance the preservation of good, older movie palaces here in the United States. Thanks for sharing the info about him.
PeterApruzeese, I totally agree with you that the seventies really were the beginning of the end regardng the movie industry in general, including well-photographed films. I wonder if the grainy film was the beginning of the end of the quality of the film material that was used, also. Thanks for the interesting info, btw.
Sorry about the experience that you had with annoying kids during the movie, Bill Huelbig. It’s pretty disgusting—the way so many kids behave. I know that when we were kids growing up and seeing the movies in a real movie theatre that any kid(s) who were rude, disrespectful or loud during a movie were promptly shut up by their friends, and/or threatened with expulsion by the usher if they kept up that kind of behaviour. Now, since so many parents of today indulge their kids and let them do what they want, and a lot of child advocacy groups take on this sort of a “spare the rod and spoil the child” attitude, which has backfired pretty horrendously.
Hi again, Panzer65. You’re welcome. Thanks for the compliments. Boston does have some nice movie theatres. The AMC Theatre in Harvard Square used to be a single-screened revival movie house, where they played a lot of double-feature revivals, and, every six months, there’d be a big update in the Boston Phoenix, telling which movies would be playing there on which date(s). Among the movies I saw at the Harvard Square Theatre before it was bought out by Lowes and then by AMC were In the Name of the Father, Around the World in 80 Days, my alltime favorite film, West Side Story, and a number of others. It was a cool theatre…often crowded, but, hey….I miss those days.
However, I’m more than grateful that the Brattle and the Coolidge are still around.
PeterApruzzese, I definitely do agree with you about the presence of a kind of artificial hardness of the images on ditigal, which the DVD’s that’re made for television are a smaller version of. The color is often too intense, and the presence of pixelatiion is kind of unnerving, at times. I remember going to see Sidney Lumet’s film “Network”, at a theatre in Boston and sitting close enough to the screen so that I couldn’t help noticing the pixelations on the film. It seemed a little wierd. This was back in January or February of 1976, when I was still in undergrad school. Makes me wonder if that was already a beginning of digital cinema.
What a drag! The usher should get tough on rude patrons who behave inappropriately, regardless of their age, and tell them to either be quiet or leave. If I were an usher at a movie theatre, especially a movie palace like the Ziegfeld or any other movie palace, that’s what I’d do.
I’m not a California or west coast resident. However, I really like that picture of the Lido, as well as the pictures of the interior. It looks like a fantastic theatre, both inside and out. I love that round marquee—it gives it a great look, because it’s so unique. Regarding that great big plaster penguin on top: Was that just put there for the duration of the screening of “March of the Penguins”, or is that permanently up there? Just curious.
I’m not a California or west coast resident. However, I really like that picture of the Lido, as well as the pictures of the interior. It looks like a fantastic theatre, both inside and out. I love that round marquee—it gives it a great look, because it’s so unique. Regarding that great big plaster penguin on top: Was that just put there for the duration of the screening of “March of the Penguins”, or is that permanently up there? Just curious.
It seems as if there are advantages and disadvantages to both digital cinema and regular film projection. The fact that multiplex cinemas run on automated systems that don’t consider proper light levels, sound, picture placement, or whatnot, is unfortunate. Movie admission prices in our area, no matter where one goes, are close to reaching the $10.00-11.00 mark for admissions. Having a memebership to a movie palace is an advantage, in that one can get into a screening on a pretty substantial discount.
Several years ago, I saw Apocalypse Now Redux at the AMC Theatre (Formerly Lowes)Boston Common. The seats were not only quite comfortable, but there was stadium-type seating, so that one would be looking at the movie, rather than at the backs of people’s heads.
Well…if THAT happens, who’s to say that the next big cinema company who purchases these “ghost town-like” theatres won’t end up in big debt and have to sell or foreclose like a lot of other big theatres are doing right now.
Also, from what I’ve heard/read about Regal, anything done to Regal would have to be an improvement, no?
Well…if THAT happens, who’s to say that the next big cinema company who purchases these “ghost town-like” theatres won’t end up in big debt and have to sell or foreclose like a lot of other big theatres are doing right now.
Also, from what I’ve heard/read about Regal, anything done to Regal would have to be an improvement, no?
There are some troublesome things about the AMC Theatres, however.
A) Rude, noisy, obnoxious and/or cell-phone-using patrons.
B) Exhorbitant prices for both general admission AND the concession stands
C) Like many, if not most of these modern, multiplex cinemas, many, if not most of the AMC Theatres are chopped up into anywhere from 10-25 cinemas, whose screens essentially look like big-assed TV’s, in theatres that’re somewhat like shoeboxes, if one gets the drift.
D) Often enough, the AMC Theatres, like many, if not most of these multiplex cinemas, are quite antiseptic-looking inside.
All that not withstanding, however, since digital cinema is the wave of the future, I guess that’s the way theatres can survive. There’s an advantage to digital cinema over ordinary film, however; Unlike film, which is essentially made out of mylar (someone correct me if I’m wrong on this one),
the large discs that would go into digital cinema aren’t vulnerable to melting if the projector, for whatever reason, should overheat, as it sometimes can and has happened with ordinary, average movie film. When I was in undergrad school a little over thirty years ago, one of my classmates went to see the film “A Touch of Class”, starring Peter O'Toole. Somewhere during the showing that my classmate attended, the projector overheated, and started burning a hole in the film..during the screening, and it melted!
Come to think of it, if digital cinema really IS the wave of the future, might it end up in the few remaining movie palaces here in the United States as well? Also, it might be interesting, since there may be a dearth of new prints for great, golden oldie-but-goody classic films such as Lawrence of Arabia, West Side Story, Dr. Zhivago, not to mention countless others, to see great old movie classics such as the above-mentioned titles to be re-done as digital cinema, no?
Would love some feedback on the latter question(s). Any thoughts? Just curious as to what other posters here on cinematreasures might think.
Thanks for all the info, Simon Overton. Without ever having known Steve Levin personally or even online, he certainly sounds like he was an extremely valuable person to learn from, regarding knowledge about theatres.
Thanks for your replies to my questions, Bway, Louis Rugani and Panze65. There are afew modern multiplex movie theatres in the city here in the Boston area, but most of them are out in the suburbs, just off the big state and/or interstate highways.
AMC (Formerly Lowes) Boston Common and the AMC/Fenway are two urban multiplex movie theatres., and there’s also AMC Theatre in Cambridge’s Harvard Square, as well as the Kendall Square/Landmark Cinema, in Cambridge’s Kendall Square. There used to be an AMC in Somerville’s Assembly Square, but that closed down almost 2 years ago. When that particular theatre closed, AMC bought it, but for some reason, they didn’t want to keep it, so it’s closed, even though the building’s still standing. Here’s hoping they build a theatre in the Asssembly Square’s AMC’s place that doesn’t play the same schlocky films as most everybody else, if one gets the drift.
The Somerville Theatre in Davis Square and the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA are also multiplexes, but they’ve retained their movie-palace character. Hope they stay up forever. The same thing with the Brattle, which is a single-screen movie theatre, with a balcony. Here’s hoping it stays up forever, too.
What a funny, interesting person Steve Levin sounded like. It sounds like he really did lots to help advance the preservation of good, older movie palaces here in the United States. Thanks for sharing the info about him.
Without ever having known Steve Levin personally, I’m sorry to hear about his passing.
Women posters here in the minority, Peter.K? Hmmmm…not altogether sure about that, since I’ve noticed a ton of women’s names on this site.
Warren: Is an interest in theatres mostly a guy thing?
PeterApruzeese, I totally agree with you that the seventies really were the beginning of the end regardng the movie industry in general, including well-photographed films. I wonder if the grainy film was the beginning of the end of the quality of the film material that was used, also. Thanks for the interesting info, btw.
That’s not at all surprising, Scott.
Ohhhhhhh! Scary, indeed!
It’s horrible that this sort of stuff still goes on, in a supposedly modernized and civilized society.
That’s agreed, Lost Memory.
Thanks for the info, Leslie Michael Bender and CWalczak.
This looks like a fabulous theatre! I love the photograph.
Sorry about the experience that you had with annoying kids during the movie, Bill Huelbig. It’s pretty disgusting—the way so many kids behave. I know that when we were kids growing up and seeing the movies in a real movie theatre that any kid(s) who were rude, disrespectful or loud during a movie were promptly shut up by their friends, and/or threatened with expulsion by the usher if they kept up that kind of behaviour. Now, since so many parents of today indulge their kids and let them do what they want, and a lot of child advocacy groups take on this sort of a “spare the rod and spoil the child” attitude, which has backfired pretty horrendously.
While I see your viewpoint on this, Peter K, I also must point out that I happen to be a woman.
Hi again, Panzer65. You’re welcome. Thanks for the compliments. Boston does have some nice movie theatres. The AMC Theatre in Harvard Square used to be a single-screened revival movie house, where they played a lot of double-feature revivals, and, every six months, there’d be a big update in the Boston Phoenix, telling which movies would be playing there on which date(s). Among the movies I saw at the Harvard Square Theatre before it was bought out by Lowes and then by AMC were In the Name of the Father, Around the World in 80 Days, my alltime favorite film, West Side Story, and a number of others. It was a cool theatre…often crowded, but, hey….I miss those days.
However, I’m more than grateful that the Brattle and the Coolidge are still around.
PeterApruzzese, I definitely do agree with you about the presence of a kind of artificial hardness of the images on ditigal, which the DVD’s that’re made for television are a smaller version of. The color is often too intense, and the presence of pixelatiion is kind of unnerving, at times. I remember going to see Sidney Lumet’s film “Network”, at a theatre in Boston and sitting close enough to the screen so that I couldn’t help noticing the pixelations on the film. It seemed a little wierd. This was back in January or February of 1976, when I was still in undergrad school. Makes me wonder if that was already a beginning of digital cinema.
Love this nighttime photo, Lost Memory. Thanks for posting it.
What a drag! The usher should get tough on rude patrons who behave inappropriately, regardless of their age, and tell them to either be quiet or leave. If I were an usher at a movie theatre, especially a movie palace like the Ziegfeld or any other movie palace, that’s what I’d do.
Oh, no. I’m getting double and triple postings here. What’s happening?
I’m not a California or west coast resident. However, I really like that picture of the Lido, as well as the pictures of the interior. It looks like a fantastic theatre, both inside and out. I love that round marquee—it gives it a great look, because it’s so unique. Regarding that great big plaster penguin on top: Was that just put there for the duration of the screening of “March of the Penguins”, or is that permanently up there? Just curious.
I’m not a California or west coast resident. However, I really like that picture of the Lido, as well as the pictures of the interior. It looks like a fantastic theatre, both inside and out. I love that round marquee—it gives it a great look, because it’s so unique. Regarding that great big plaster penguin on top: Was that just put there for the duration of the screening of “March of the Penguins”, or is that permanently up there? Just curious.
Thanks, JodarMovieFan.
It seems as if there are advantages and disadvantages to both digital cinema and regular film projection. The fact that multiplex cinemas run on automated systems that don’t consider proper light levels, sound, picture placement, or whatnot, is unfortunate. Movie admission prices in our area, no matter where one goes, are close to reaching the $10.00-11.00 mark for admissions. Having a memebership to a movie palace is an advantage, in that one can get into a screening on a pretty substantial discount.
Several years ago, I saw Apocalypse Now Redux at the AMC Theatre (Formerly Lowes)Boston Common. The seats were not only quite comfortable, but there was stadium-type seating, so that one would be looking at the movie, rather than at the backs of people’s heads.
Ouch!! sorry about the double posting, everybody.
Well…if THAT happens, who’s to say that the next big cinema company who purchases these “ghost town-like” theatres won’t end up in big debt and have to sell or foreclose like a lot of other big theatres are doing right now.
Also, from what I’ve heard/read about Regal, anything done to Regal would have to be an improvement, no?
Well…if THAT happens, who’s to say that the next big cinema company who purchases these “ghost town-like” theatres won’t end up in big debt and have to sell or foreclose like a lot of other big theatres are doing right now.
Also, from what I’ve heard/read about Regal, anything done to Regal would have to be an improvement, no?
There are some troublesome things about the AMC Theatres, however.
A) Rude, noisy, obnoxious and/or cell-phone-using patrons.
B) Exhorbitant prices for both general admission AND the concession stands
C) Like many, if not most of these modern, multiplex cinemas, many, if not most of the AMC Theatres are chopped up into anywhere from 10-25 cinemas, whose screens essentially look like big-assed TV’s, in theatres that’re somewhat like shoeboxes, if one gets the drift.
D) Often enough, the AMC Theatres, like many, if not most of these multiplex cinemas, are quite antiseptic-looking inside.
All that not withstanding, however, since digital cinema is the wave of the future, I guess that’s the way theatres can survive. There’s an advantage to digital cinema over ordinary film, however; Unlike film, which is essentially made out of mylar (someone correct me if I’m wrong on this one),
the large discs that would go into digital cinema aren’t vulnerable to melting if the projector, for whatever reason, should overheat, as it sometimes can and has happened with ordinary, average movie film. When I was in undergrad school a little over thirty years ago, one of my classmates went to see the film “A Touch of Class”, starring Peter O'Toole. Somewhere during the showing that my classmate attended, the projector overheated, and started burning a hole in the film..during the screening, and it melted!
Come to think of it, if digital cinema really IS the wave of the future, might it end up in the few remaining movie palaces here in the United States as well? Also, it might be interesting, since there may be a dearth of new prints for great, golden oldie-but-goody classic films such as Lawrence of Arabia, West Side Story, Dr. Zhivago, not to mention countless others, to see great old movie classics such as the above-mentioned titles to be re-done as digital cinema, no?
Would love some feedback on the latter question(s). Any thoughts? Just curious as to what other posters here on cinematreasures might think.
Thanks for all the info, Simon Overton. Without ever having known Steve Levin personally or even online, he certainly sounds like he was an extremely valuable person to learn from, regarding knowledge about theatres.
Thanks for your replies to my questions, Bway, Louis Rugani and Panze65. There are afew modern multiplex movie theatres in the city here in the Boston area, but most of them are out in the suburbs, just off the big state and/or interstate highways.
AMC (Formerly Lowes) Boston Common and the AMC/Fenway are two urban multiplex movie theatres., and there’s also AMC Theatre in Cambridge’s Harvard Square, as well as the Kendall Square/Landmark Cinema, in Cambridge’s Kendall Square. There used to be an AMC in Somerville’s Assembly Square, but that closed down almost 2 years ago. When that particular theatre closed, AMC bought it, but for some reason, they didn’t want to keep it, so it’s closed, even though the building’s still standing. Here’s hoping they build a theatre in the Asssembly Square’s AMC’s place that doesn’t play the same schlocky films as most everybody else, if one gets the drift.
The Somerville Theatre in Davis Square and the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA are also multiplexes, but they’ve retained their movie-palace character. Hope they stay up forever. The same thing with the Brattle, which is a single-screen movie theatre, with a balcony. Here’s hoping it stays up forever, too.