I called the theatre to get the starting times of the “movies” and they turn out to be projecting video. No prints, which means no interest from me.
I know the rules regarding porn have changed and only a certain percentage of a building can be porn-related and I suspect this new policy reflects the cinema trying to comply with the law. I think one of the porn emporiums on Eighth Avenue adopted a similar policy for a short while right after Giuliano instituted the new porn policy.
Incidentally, “Street Crime” is listed in the IMDB. If you enter “SC” it comes up as a movie with another name. It was a programmer with a black cast I think from the early 1940s. It has a B movie running time of a little over an hour.
This is kind of weird but there is a display ad in this week’s “Village Voice” for the “Fair Theatre” @ 90th Street & Astoria Blvd. in Jackson Heights. The ad announceds a “new policy” of “2 new actions films at all times.”
Thursday through Saturday they are screening a film called “Street Crime” and it is paired with a film called “Pay or Die.” Sunday through Wednesday they are screening “Killer Force” and “Fist Full of Yen.”
I don’t know anything about these films. There is film called “Pay or Die” from 1960 or so.
Anyone have any info on these films? Are they new or are they repertory films?
I’ve seen many films here and I think AMC has actually improved. I remember once having to run out of the theatre over to the concierge to tell them to turn the lights down. Another time there was a mistake in the film listings in the paper. I think one film was sharing an auditorium with another (why they would have to do that in a 25-‘plex I’ll never know) and they showed the wrong film. I remember complaining to the concierge and she was so snotty I actually wrote a letter to AMC’s corporate parent. They forwarded the letter to the theatre manager who told me the woman who was snotty was canned (evidently she wasn’t snotty just to me) and he included several comp tickets. All in all I was satisfied.
AMC is also the only Manhattan chain that rewards frequent movie goers with free screenings and food. The Regal ‘plex I frequent in Astoria has a frequent movie goer program but I don’t think I can get credit at the Regal 'plexes in Manhattan such as the one on 14th Street that I do patronize and the one Battery Park City, which I don’t frequent.
I’m kind of surprised this one is still open. I caught a film here New Year’s day weekend (TRANSAMERICA) because I figured it was one I would be able to get into since so many films have platform releases. There were quite a few people at the weekend afternoon screening that I attended.
I was wondering what they were up to myself. I was there for the SCROOGE screening as well. It was one of the bigger crowds. I skipped the BABES IN TOYLAND screening because it was 16MM and The American Museum of the Moving Image was also screening the film and they managed to come up with a 35 MM print.
I noticed in today’s Times that the New Metro isn’t listed so I turned to this site and sure enough.
I had only been to the Metro once — way back in the mid 1980s — until recently when I caught three films there to take advantage of $7 bargain prices. Most recently I caught “Ellie Parker” there on a weekday afternoon and there was one other person there. Like I wrote above, I was the sole patron for “Going Shopping.” And the other film I caught there — “The Dying Gaul” — was on a Saturday afternoon and despite the bargain $7 price, there were less than 10 people there.
I enjoyed going to the New Metro. It is a throwback cinema with character. When you patronize a place like the New Metro you realize how soulless the new multiplexes are despite the big screens, stadium seating and cupholders.
I wonder if the once-mighty Angelika is having trouble getting product? This week two lightweights opened at the Angelika, Ellie Parker (also opening at Clearview’s W. 62nd Street theatre, and Cape Of Good Hope, which also opened at the Metro.
Both of these films, before the Landmark and the IFC, would have probably opened at the Quad, Cinema Village or City Cinemas' Village East ‘plex.
I bet by next friday Ellie & Cape will be botha t the Village East complex.
Actually, the NYC libraries have back issues of “The New York Times” on line. It is the full publication with the displays ads. For some reason, you can only access this by using one of the library’s on-line computers. They don’t let you acess this database remotely.
I still live in NYC, but from ‘82-'97 I lived in the West Village and was a frequent patron at the very funky Bleecker Street Cinema. I remember seeing an early Ken Burns documentary there about Huey Long. This was before Burns hit it real big with his tv docs.
Another memorable night was back in the 80s when the cinema was showing a Godard film — “Hail Mary” maybe — that got the relgious folks all riled up. I remember exiting the theatre — I was seeing whatever else was playing in the duplex — and there are all these people standing on the sidewalk praying and chanting. It was eerie. A portent of what would happen in this country.
And I remember the woman who ran the cinema when it closed — she was French I believe — tried to start a rep house where the Thalia SoHo was, but she couldn’t make a go of it. I remember when the Film Forum programmed a film noir retro — ‘92 maybe — and she also programmed a noir retro and I remember running back and forth between the retros.
Thanx to this site I am now a regular at the KG Cinema, taking advantage of the $6 tickets on all weekday afternoons, all day Tuesday & Thursday and first shows Saturday & Sunday that start before 2 p.m.
Recently, I caught GOODNIGHT, & GOOD LUCK, THE PRIZEWINNER FROM DEFIANCE, SEPARATE LIES & PROOF. PRIZEWINNER & DEFIANCE lasted only a week at the KG. Over time the savings add up. Some Manhattan Theatres now charge $10.75.
I made my first visit to the Metro in at least 20 years last week. It was only the second film I’ve seen there. Back in the 80’s I caught BREATHLESS there for the first time.
In any event, hard as this is to believe it was even less crowded when I was there than when Jeff Vandam, the Times reporter, visited. I was the sole patron for last Monday’s noon showing of Henry Jaglom’s GOING SHOPPING, which is playing exclusively at the Metro after lasting five days at the Angelika. Down at the Angelika they didn’t even wait until the Friday after GS opened to change the film; I was out of there after five days.
In any event, the Metro does retain a certain charm, especially when you compare it to the soulless multi-plexes. The first time I went I must have been in the other there because I don’t remember the seats being that steep in the cinema in which I watched GS. It reminded me a bit of those upstairs theatres in the old Embassy in Times Square.
The price is right because I think I paid only $7.50 or so and even at full price, evenings/weekends, the Metro is still a couple of dollars cheaper than the other Manhattan theatres. They also sell booklets of discount tickets.
And Lord is there construction up near the Metro, which is a free-standing building. Literally next door they are building some sort of apartment building. And there is a hole in the ground directly across the street so you know another banal apartment building is going up as the obliteration of the New York City we know continues.
I walked by the theater on Saturday on my way to MoMA and the Ziegfeld is indeed dark. The turkey ELIZABETHTOWN played there and tanked so now the Ziegfeld is closed. They’ll fire up the boiler and projecter mid month for RENT. They are also going to show THE PRODUCERS.
I am surprised no one picked this up, but I heard the Film Society of Lincoln Center received “a large donation” and plans to expand the Walter Reade into “cinemas.” I wasn’t there, but I heard they announced it opening night of the recent New York Film Festival.
Anyone else have further info? I haven’t seen anything written about this in terms of the plans.
“L. A. and even San Francisco has more film revival than New york currently does. Not that long ago film revival theaters were the norm in New York City and was something that I completely and thoroughly enjoyed. There were so many of them out there with crazy amazing scedules…There is still film revival here, but not like it used to be. Thanks again Paris Theater people for giving it a try.”
posted by Irv on Sep 6, 2005 at 8:31pm
I find it hard to believe that L.A. & San Francisco have a more vibrant revival scene than NYC. While NYC may “not be what it used to be” in terms of revival houses because of the demise of for-profit revival houses, there are still plenty of places screening classic films, many of which have opened since the 1980s when video killed the rep houses.
MoMA has always been around, but the three-screen Film Forum re-opened on Houston Street in 1989, which is one more screen that the “old” Film Forum had on Watts Street.
BAM has dedicated one of its four screens to rep films since it opened five years ago or so. The Walter Reade Theatre, which also shows rep films, didn’t open until 1980. And AMMI didn’t open until the late 1980s.
And don’t forget that Symphony Space (the Thalia), The French Institute and cultural institutions like Scandanavia House all have film programs.
And IFC is even getting into the mix; since they opened they did an Ozu retro and are now doing Truffaut.
Kind of weird bookings at the Sunshine this week with three films opening Friday exclusively at the Landmark and all look dead in the water.
The strange opening was CARLITO’S WAY: RISE TO POWER, which wasn’t even screened for the press. It is also not an art film. I assume it has something to do with the digital projection and the fact that the film opened simultanseously with the DVD release. This film is an odd booking for an art house. It is the type of B movie that would have been booked on the old 42nd Street.
Also opening exclusively there was MIRRORMASK and THE WAR WITHIN.
That “Free Movie Thursday” promotion seems to be doing well. A month or so ago I tried to get in to see “A River Runs Through It.” I got there at 7:30 for an 8 p.m. screening and all tickets were gone.
Last Thursday I tried again and got there at 5 for an 8 p.m. screening of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and was able to get a ticket and I asked the ticket taker what is a good time to get there to assure getting in and she told me there were times when all tickets were gone by 5 o'clock so I guess it depends on what the film is.
“Ferris” didn’t come close to selling out by the way.
I just looked at some of the scores the 17 films received from crix on metacritic.com. What a joke! It is flotsam & jetsom time until later in the year when we get the good stuff. Each week a new Miramax turkey that has been sitting on the shelf gets released. The reviews are hilarious.
I don’t think there is enough product to go around. The Angelika can barely fill its screens with prestige product. This cinema is showing 11 films this weekend. 17 Films (and documentaries) opened in NYC this week (1 Wed., 2 Thurs. & a mind numbing 14 today). Most of them will disappear in a week or two at most.
On my way to MoMA the last couple of nights (why isn’t there a listing for that legendary venue?) and THE BAXTER is on the marquee, but the theatre is dark. I think the Ziegfeld’s days are numbered. Theatres that large are anachronisms, unfortunately.
So, what is playing at the Avon these days? The indie and foreign flicks that screen here don’t play for a week right? Don’t they play for two or three days? I bet most of the fare that plays here plays nowhere else in Rhode Island.
And do they still show revivals. I remember, back in the 1980s, I went to a Woody Allen double bill here. I can’t remember the movies, but they were not new Allen films.
I wonder what kind of shelf life this place is going to have. I no longer see any display ads of any sort. To find out what is playing you have to turn to the listings in the Times or Voice.
I had that problem last time I was at AMC. I had to leave the auditorium and find someone and tell them to turn off the lights.
I disagree. AMC is a great place to see a movie and it is disingenuous to divide the 5,000 seats by 25. Some of the salles are huge and others are tiny, but all have stadium seating and fairly large screens.
I called the theatre to get the starting times of the “movies” and they turn out to be projecting video. No prints, which means no interest from me.
I know the rules regarding porn have changed and only a certain percentage of a building can be porn-related and I suspect this new policy reflects the cinema trying to comply with the law. I think one of the porn emporiums on Eighth Avenue adopted a similar policy for a short while right after Giuliano instituted the new porn policy.
Incidentally, “Street Crime” is listed in the IMDB. If you enter “SC” it comes up as a movie with another name. It was a programmer with a black cast I think from the early 1940s. It has a B movie running time of a little over an hour.
This is kind of weird but there is a display ad in this week’s “Village Voice” for the “Fair Theatre” @ 90th Street & Astoria Blvd. in Jackson Heights. The ad announceds a “new policy” of “2 new actions films at all times.”
Thursday through Saturday they are screening a film called “Street Crime” and it is paired with a film called “Pay or Die.” Sunday through Wednesday they are screening “Killer Force” and “Fist Full of Yen.”
I don’t know anything about these films. There is film called “Pay or Die” from 1960 or so.
Anyone have any info on these films? Are they new or are they repertory films?
I’ve seen many films here and I think AMC has actually improved. I remember once having to run out of the theatre over to the concierge to tell them to turn the lights down. Another time there was a mistake in the film listings in the paper. I think one film was sharing an auditorium with another (why they would have to do that in a 25-‘plex I’ll never know) and they showed the wrong film. I remember complaining to the concierge and she was so snotty I actually wrote a letter to AMC’s corporate parent. They forwarded the letter to the theatre manager who told me the woman who was snotty was canned (evidently she wasn’t snotty just to me) and he included several comp tickets. All in all I was satisfied.
AMC is also the only Manhattan chain that rewards frequent movie goers with free screenings and food. The Regal ‘plex I frequent in Astoria has a frequent movie goer program but I don’t think I can get credit at the Regal 'plexes in Manhattan such as the one on 14th Street that I do patronize and the one Battery Park City, which I don’t frequent.
I’m kind of surprised this one is still open. I caught a film here New Year’s day weekend (TRANSAMERICA) because I figured it was one I would be able to get into since so many films have platform releases. There were quite a few people at the weekend afternoon screening that I attended.
I was wondering what they were up to myself. I was there for the SCROOGE screening as well. It was one of the bigger crowds. I skipped the BABES IN TOYLAND screening because it was 16MM and The American Museum of the Moving Image was also screening the film and they managed to come up with a 35 MM print.
“Worth every penny of the inflated $12.50 ticket price.”
Wow. Thanx for the warning. I’ll be giving the Ziegfeld a wide berth in the future if they are charging $12.50 a pop.
I noticed in today’s Times that the New Metro isn’t listed so I turned to this site and sure enough.
I had only been to the Metro once — way back in the mid 1980s — until recently when I caught three films there to take advantage of $7 bargain prices. Most recently I caught “Ellie Parker” there on a weekday afternoon and there was one other person there. Like I wrote above, I was the sole patron for “Going Shopping.” And the other film I caught there — “The Dying Gaul” — was on a Saturday afternoon and despite the bargain $7 price, there were less than 10 people there.
I enjoyed going to the New Metro. It is a throwback cinema with character. When you patronize a place like the New Metro you realize how soulless the new multiplexes are despite the big screens, stadium seating and cupholders.
I wonder if the once-mighty Angelika is having trouble getting product? This week two lightweights opened at the Angelika, Ellie Parker (also opening at Clearview’s W. 62nd Street theatre, and Cape Of Good Hope, which also opened at the Metro.
Both of these films, before the Landmark and the IFC, would have probably opened at the Quad, Cinema Village or City Cinemas' Village East ‘plex.
I bet by next friday Ellie & Cape will be botha t the Village East complex.
Actually, the NYC libraries have back issues of “The New York Times” on line. It is the full publication with the displays ads. For some reason, you can only access this by using one of the library’s on-line computers. They don’t let you acess this database remotely.
I still live in NYC, but from ‘82-'97 I lived in the West Village and was a frequent patron at the very funky Bleecker Street Cinema. I remember seeing an early Ken Burns documentary there about Huey Long. This was before Burns hit it real big with his tv docs.
Another memorable night was back in the 80s when the cinema was showing a Godard film — “Hail Mary” maybe — that got the relgious folks all riled up. I remember exiting the theatre — I was seeing whatever else was playing in the duplex — and there are all these people standing on the sidewalk praying and chanting. It was eerie. A portent of what would happen in this country.
And I remember the woman who ran the cinema when it closed — she was French I believe — tried to start a rep house where the Thalia SoHo was, but she couldn’t make a go of it. I remember when the Film Forum programmed a film noir retro — ‘92 maybe — and she also programmed a noir retro and I remember running back and forth between the retros.
I haven’t been to the Loew’s since the spring. Has progress been made on the restoration front?
Thanx to this site I am now a regular at the KG Cinema, taking advantage of the $6 tickets on all weekday afternoons, all day Tuesday & Thursday and first shows Saturday & Sunday that start before 2 p.m.
Recently, I caught GOODNIGHT, & GOOD LUCK, THE PRIZEWINNER FROM DEFIANCE, SEPARATE LIES & PROOF. PRIZEWINNER & DEFIANCE lasted only a week at the KG. Over time the savings add up. Some Manhattan Theatres now charge $10.75.
I made my first visit to the Metro in at least 20 years last week. It was only the second film I’ve seen there. Back in the 80’s I caught BREATHLESS there for the first time.
In any event, hard as this is to believe it was even less crowded when I was there than when Jeff Vandam, the Times reporter, visited. I was the sole patron for last Monday’s noon showing of Henry Jaglom’s GOING SHOPPING, which is playing exclusively at the Metro after lasting five days at the Angelika. Down at the Angelika they didn’t even wait until the Friday after GS opened to change the film; I was out of there after five days.
In any event, the Metro does retain a certain charm, especially when you compare it to the soulless multi-plexes. The first time I went I must have been in the other there because I don’t remember the seats being that steep in the cinema in which I watched GS. It reminded me a bit of those upstairs theatres in the old Embassy in Times Square.
The price is right because I think I paid only $7.50 or so and even at full price, evenings/weekends, the Metro is still a couple of dollars cheaper than the other Manhattan theatres. They also sell booklets of discount tickets.
And Lord is there construction up near the Metro, which is a free-standing building. Literally next door they are building some sort of apartment building. And there is a hole in the ground directly across the street so you know another banal apartment building is going up as the obliteration of the New York City we know continues.
I walked by the theater on Saturday on my way to MoMA and the Ziegfeld is indeed dark. The turkey ELIZABETHTOWN played there and tanked so now the Ziegfeld is closed. They’ll fire up the boiler and projecter mid month for RENT. They are also going to show THE PRODUCERS.
Both films' names are listed on the marquee.
I am surprised no one picked this up, but I heard the Film Society of Lincoln Center received “a large donation” and plans to expand the Walter Reade into “cinemas.” I wasn’t there, but I heard they announced it opening night of the recent New York Film Festival.
Anyone else have further info? I haven’t seen anything written about this in terms of the plans.
“L. A. and even San Francisco has more film revival than New york currently does. Not that long ago film revival theaters were the norm in New York City and was something that I completely and thoroughly enjoyed. There were so many of them out there with crazy amazing scedules…There is still film revival here, but not like it used to be. Thanks again Paris Theater people for giving it a try.”
posted by Irv on Sep 6, 2005 at 8:31pm
I find it hard to believe that L.A. & San Francisco have a more vibrant revival scene than NYC. While NYC may “not be what it used to be” in terms of revival houses because of the demise of for-profit revival houses, there are still plenty of places screening classic films, many of which have opened since the 1980s when video killed the rep houses.
MoMA has always been around, but the three-screen Film Forum re-opened on Houston Street in 1989, which is one more screen that the “old” Film Forum had on Watts Street.
BAM has dedicated one of its four screens to rep films since it opened five years ago or so. The Walter Reade Theatre, which also shows rep films, didn’t open until 1980. And AMMI didn’t open until the late 1980s.
And don’t forget that Symphony Space (the Thalia), The French Institute and cultural institutions like Scandanavia House all have film programs.
And IFC is even getting into the mix; since they opened they did an Ozu retro and are now doing Truffaut.
Th
I was walking by here last night and the building is still not rented.
Kind of weird bookings at the Sunshine this week with three films opening Friday exclusively at the Landmark and all look dead in the water.
The strange opening was CARLITO’S WAY: RISE TO POWER, which wasn’t even screened for the press. It is also not an art film. I assume it has something to do with the digital projection and the fact that the film opened simultanseously with the DVD release. This film is an odd booking for an art house. It is the type of B movie that would have been booked on the old 42nd Street.
Also opening exclusively there was MIRRORMASK and THE WAR WITHIN.
I don’t plan to see any of them.
That “Free Movie Thursday” promotion seems to be doing well. A month or so ago I tried to get in to see “A River Runs Through It.” I got there at 7:30 for an 8 p.m. screening and all tickets were gone.
Last Thursday I tried again and got there at 5 for an 8 p.m. screening of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and was able to get a ticket and I asked the ticket taker what is a good time to get there to assure getting in and she told me there were times when all tickets were gone by 5 o'clock so I guess it depends on what the film is.
“Ferris” didn’t come close to selling out by the way.
I just looked at some of the scores the 17 films received from crix on metacritic.com. What a joke! It is flotsam & jetsom time until later in the year when we get the good stuff. Each week a new Miramax turkey that has been sitting on the shelf gets released. The reviews are hilarious.
I don’t think there is enough product to go around. The Angelika can barely fill its screens with prestige product. This cinema is showing 11 films this weekend. 17 Films (and documentaries) opened in NYC this week (1 Wed., 2 Thurs. & a mind numbing 14 today). Most of them will disappear in a week or two at most.
On my way to MoMA the last couple of nights (why isn’t there a listing for that legendary venue?) and THE BAXTER is on the marquee, but the theatre is dark. I think the Ziegfeld’s days are numbered. Theatres that large are anachronisms, unfortunately.
So, what is playing at the Avon these days? The indie and foreign flicks that screen here don’t play for a week right? Don’t they play for two or three days? I bet most of the fare that plays here plays nowhere else in Rhode Island.
And do they still show revivals. I remember, back in the 1980s, I went to a Woody Allen double bill here. I can’t remember the movies, but they were not new Allen films.
I wonder what kind of shelf life this place is going to have. I no longer see any display ads of any sort. To find out what is playing you have to turn to the listings in the Times or Voice.
I had that problem last time I was at AMC. I had to leave the auditorium and find someone and tell them to turn off the lights.
I disagree. AMC is a great place to see a movie and it is disingenuous to divide the 5,000 seats by 25. Some of the salles are huge and others are tiny, but all have stadium seating and fairly large screens.