I really wish Amy Miles would quit her whining and innovate here. I’m happy with REG’s rate of return and dividends as a share holder but imagine what good innovative PR would do – – if they figured out a way to provide high quality low cost health care to their front-line workers, that’d be a good thing. I don’t get why big companies are so anti-labor, after all if people had more money to spend they’d have more customers. Very short term thinking on their behalf, but I’m used to that in the hooray for me and f-you world these CEOs operate in.
RogerA – the idea of clearance is if more than one first run cinema in an area (normally 1-2 miles) exists, they will compete for films. Sometimes this zone is broken by the studio (in the case of the two megaplexes in Ontario, CA) – in other areas like NYC (obviously zones are smaller than 2 miles) certain theaters will divide bookings amongst themselves. The most obvious examples being Times Square (the Empire 25 is showing different films than EWalk across the street) and Union Square – with Cinema Village, Quad Cinema, Regal Union Square, AMC Village 7 and City Cinemas Village East 7 – all sharing, none playing the same film.
IMAX which doesn’t guarantee a movie will be a huge success, but its a competitive advantage for sure (like anything in the movie industry its based on what product is available in the market place). An IMAX screen means you’ll get that title as well as the option to show it at the other theatre (the Chinese 6) – perhaps in a variety of formats (2D, 3D, HFR 3D, etc). I believe this and Arc Light have to compete for bookings – and from my last look the Chinese was showing Tyler Perry’s latest film – a hot flick maybe for the first week but probably not packin' them in three weeks out.
Installing an IMAX is one way to ensure top quality bookings for this theater and the next-door 6-plex: it’s a clearance model – when an IMAX is attached to a theatre they get whatever IMAX feature is out (which is normally a hot movie). I’m thinking this one will get laser projection as a dirty little secret I ran across in my research is the 2 X 2K D-IMAX image falls apart at 6 stories (why else wouldn’t IMAX let Bill Warren build the largest IMAX screen in the world when he wanted to). I’ve seen this first hand on a native IMAX auditorium that was converted to D-IMAX, it’s about 5-6 stories and you can see pixilation from dead center in the auditorium.
Good news is a new operator is coming in and with new seats, digital projection, etc. New seats being essential, the previous owners really ran the place into the ground – last time I had seen a show the projection was under lit, the sound was virtually inaudible (and at a dialogue-centric Whit Stillman movie – no less!) and I had an allergic reaction to how musty the place was. I have no doubt it’ll be awesome with some upgrades. I think this and Bergenfield fill a valuable nitch – Bergen County has some high price tickets and an operator offering an alternative to the $12.50 at GSP and $12 Clearview charges is a good thing (especially since the crowd here was typically older and I got the sense frequented the place weekly – – if only exhibitors would do things to cultivate a frequent audience instead of trying to kill off programs like MoviePass)
I can’t find it now but I did run across a site with DBox movie reviews – I’ve been frustrated by some titles to the point of really not seeking it out after a few bad experiences. When it works, it works, but often its pretty lame. Maybe for the new Fast & The Furious movie. I agree an $8 upgrade is a little too much especially since those seats can be for some flicks mostly dormant.
I’m glad they’re able to show new-ish films but as 35MM prints become less and less available for smaller titles, I should note, 2 of the last 4 films we saw here were projected on a pre-show projector in what I assume was BluRay. The image quality wasn’t great – the blacks weren’t black enough and the whites looked a little too pixilated. I know this is a work around but Clearview it appears is behind the curve on digital installs, so I imagine its either BluRay or nothing for some of these titles, but I don’t want to see this trend continue. (I believe most of these titles alternative would be available as DCPs as other art house theaters have gone digital).
I believe it was 6-screens that was later expanded to 8. It’s a pretty nice community plex run by a good operator (clean, well maintained from what I saw on my one visit). Dipson programs this and a former General Cinema in the mall about mile away like a 10-plex (with the mall getting lesser releases, a second screen for stuff at the 8 plex or move-over product).
Yes mike – Regal has been increasing the number of trailers – 20 minutes is the new normal and I think it’s a tipping point. Before The Last Stand we saw 3 trailers for upcoming Bruce Willis films PLUS a Regal commercial (Go Big or Go Home!) featuring A Good Day to Die Hard. As a shareholder I’m glad they’re a profitable company, but as a customer I wish they’d do a 3-minute montage of upcoming movies for the month like Alamo Drafthouse does followed by 3-4 trailers and the feature.
Remodeled with Century Theaters style murals and I’m guessing new seating (black leather seats – very comfortable). They also have a traditional concession stand and a lobby cafe. The classic series appears to be well attended (I saw Saturday Night Fever with a packed crowd a few nights ago).
It’s a shame a theater named “Retro Cinema” is going to have to convert. If only there was a business model that would allow them to stay open and show 35MM prints (although archival prints are out – they have platters).
That design has origins in Canada – I’ve been to a few Cineplex Odeon sites in the GTA that have similar design to AMC Rockaway (Cineplex Queensway and Cineplex Niagara Square) and sites were on the drawing board before the AMC merger.
Great programing – a nice mix of commercial art house films and micro-budget films. I’m slightly jealous we don’t have anything like that in Northern NJ and have to travel to the city or do VOD. Hopefully the promise of digital will mean more smaller films released in a low risk kind of way…..
That’s very cool and opens up the opportunities to screen non-traditional works in conjunction with academic departments. Hopefully the owners will make that accessible, although its 100% digital so my guess is its not going to be conducive to experimental filmmaking the way a traditional college screening room may be (I used to teach in media study’s screening room at UB and had my choice of digital formats, 35MM and 16MM – – although not always having the luxury of a projectionist, running back and forth between the projection booth and the classroom was exhausting for showing film prints).
@Ron – it’ll be a new concept “Showcase Super Lux” – which I think might be all dinning, reserved seating, etc like iPic (Gold Class) – so the 6-screens makes sense for a high end luxury theater. I wish National had further developed The Bridge brand, although it probably didn’t make sense outside of urban areas – the Philly location was pretty awesome and ahead of its time.
Didn’t Regal originally run it as an arthouse? I remember they got a lot of bookings from smaller distributors like Strand Releasing when they first opened (where they splitting product with someone else?).
It’s run by the Army Air Force Exchange – which has several theaters on army bases (some bases have privately corporate theaters) – but I’m not sure if these venues will convert to digital. Hollywood should do the right thing and as most of these theaters are first run, offer them the option of screening non-DCP (i.e.: BluRay0 with cheaper video projectors. Smaller theaters can get away with it – I was at Cinema Village the other night and on those screens BluRay on a decent projector (total cost 2,000 vs. 60,000+) it works.
Frequently only showing 7 movies (screen #4 still has 35MM equipment but is more frequently used for the Road Less Traveled Theatre – – and has a big stage that has cut that auditorium’s capacity drastically). One screen has a high quality non-DCI digital projector that they use for film festivals, local independent film screenings, and the theatre’s signature program Buffalo Film Seminars (although they occasionally do show a 35MM print at BFS).
Sadly I don’t know what the future for this complex is – and if it will make it and convert to digital (Dipson manages the complex for this NFP – – and Dipson has fully converted Amherst, Eastern Hills and Flix).
A nearly intact General Cinema site – and it did well when they had the right picture (prior to becoming a discount house last year it was splitting product with Quaker Crossing, which unfortunately led to this one often getting lesser Hollywood films they’d have to hold on to – and fortunately a good amount of art house stuff that would sometimes move over from the North Park). Two screens have digital 3D, four are digital, and two are presently 35MM with a digital conversion coming soon.
Dipson is trying to sell the theatre (I’m guessing they’ve made the decision they won’t be the ones to convert it to digital projection) http://thedailynewsonline.com/news/article_229dfbfa-563c-11e2-a485-0019bb2963f4.html
It was a nice alternative for our art house movies to Montclair – now Palisades thanks to cheaper digital distribution is getting more and more art house films (including a few that didn’t come to Montclair). It had originally split bookings with the UA in Spring Valley, and both tanked when Loews opened. Both theaters were successful and became ghost towns when Palisades opened: now Regal is trying its hand at a 12-plex with an RPX screen at the revitalized mall (which will be a hybrid mall and outdoor life style center) – and it will probably work (the AMC at Palisades has seen better days but still serves its purpose).
I just read a post-script to an incident that occurred in 2001 in which an 11-year old was stabbed to death (by another 11 year old) in the lobby of the cinema. I’m guessing that didn’t help the theatre (although the brand loyalty to Showcase Cinemas has been cited as a reason why this Regal didn’t work).
I really wish Amy Miles would quit her whining and innovate here. I’m happy with REG’s rate of return and dividends as a share holder but imagine what good innovative PR would do – – if they figured out a way to provide high quality low cost health care to their front-line workers, that’d be a good thing. I don’t get why big companies are so anti-labor, after all if people had more money to spend they’d have more customers. Very short term thinking on their behalf, but I’m used to that in the hooray for me and f-you world these CEOs operate in.
RogerA – the idea of clearance is if more than one first run cinema in an area (normally 1-2 miles) exists, they will compete for films. Sometimes this zone is broken by the studio (in the case of the two megaplexes in Ontario, CA) – in other areas like NYC (obviously zones are smaller than 2 miles) certain theaters will divide bookings amongst themselves. The most obvious examples being Times Square (the Empire 25 is showing different films than EWalk across the street) and Union Square – with Cinema Village, Quad Cinema, Regal Union Square, AMC Village 7 and City Cinemas Village East 7 – all sharing, none playing the same film.
IMAX which doesn’t guarantee a movie will be a huge success, but its a competitive advantage for sure (like anything in the movie industry its based on what product is available in the market place). An IMAX screen means you’ll get that title as well as the option to show it at the other theatre (the Chinese 6) – perhaps in a variety of formats (2D, 3D, HFR 3D, etc). I believe this and Arc Light have to compete for bookings – and from my last look the Chinese was showing Tyler Perry’s latest film – a hot flick maybe for the first week but probably not packin' them in three weeks out.
Installing an IMAX is one way to ensure top quality bookings for this theater and the next-door 6-plex: it’s a clearance model – when an IMAX is attached to a theatre they get whatever IMAX feature is out (which is normally a hot movie). I’m thinking this one will get laser projection as a dirty little secret I ran across in my research is the 2 X 2K D-IMAX image falls apart at 6 stories (why else wouldn’t IMAX let Bill Warren build the largest IMAX screen in the world when he wanted to). I’ve seen this first hand on a native IMAX auditorium that was converted to D-IMAX, it’s about 5-6 stories and you can see pixilation from dead center in the auditorium.
Good news is a new operator is coming in and with new seats, digital projection, etc. New seats being essential, the previous owners really ran the place into the ground – last time I had seen a show the projection was under lit, the sound was virtually inaudible (and at a dialogue-centric Whit Stillman movie – no less!) and I had an allergic reaction to how musty the place was. I have no doubt it’ll be awesome with some upgrades. I think this and Bergenfield fill a valuable nitch – Bergen County has some high price tickets and an operator offering an alternative to the $12.50 at GSP and $12 Clearview charges is a good thing (especially since the crowd here was typically older and I got the sense frequented the place weekly – – if only exhibitors would do things to cultivate a frequent audience instead of trying to kill off programs like MoviePass)
Ft Bliss now has a commercially operated cinema.
I can’t find it now but I did run across a site with DBox movie reviews – I’ve been frustrated by some titles to the point of really not seeking it out after a few bad experiences. When it works, it works, but often its pretty lame. Maybe for the new Fast & The Furious movie. I agree an $8 upgrade is a little too much especially since those seats can be for some flicks mostly dormant.
I’m glad they’re able to show new-ish films but as 35MM prints become less and less available for smaller titles, I should note, 2 of the last 4 films we saw here were projected on a pre-show projector in what I assume was BluRay. The image quality wasn’t great – the blacks weren’t black enough and the whites looked a little too pixilated. I know this is a work around but Clearview it appears is behind the curve on digital installs, so I imagine its either BluRay or nothing for some of these titles, but I don’t want to see this trend continue. (I believe most of these titles alternative would be available as DCPs as other art house theaters have gone digital).
I believe it was 6-screens that was later expanded to 8. It’s a pretty nice community plex run by a good operator (clean, well maintained from what I saw on my one visit). Dipson programs this and a former General Cinema in the mall about mile away like a 10-plex (with the mall getting lesser releases, a second screen for stuff at the 8 plex or move-over product).
Yes mike – Regal has been increasing the number of trailers – 20 minutes is the new normal and I think it’s a tipping point. Before The Last Stand we saw 3 trailers for upcoming Bruce Willis films PLUS a Regal commercial (Go Big or Go Home!) featuring A Good Day to Die Hard. As a shareholder I’m glad they’re a profitable company, but as a customer I wish they’d do a 3-minute montage of upcoming movies for the month like Alamo Drafthouse does followed by 3-4 trailers and the feature.
Remodeled with Century Theaters style murals and I’m guessing new seating (black leather seats – very comfortable). They also have a traditional concession stand and a lobby cafe. The classic series appears to be well attended (I saw Saturday Night Fever with a packed crowd a few nights ago).
It’s a shame a theater named “Retro Cinema” is going to have to convert. If only there was a business model that would allow them to stay open and show 35MM prints (although archival prints are out – they have platters).
I’m surprised Nitehawk isn’t on here – I’m a big fan of that place!
That design has origins in Canada – I’ve been to a few Cineplex Odeon sites in the GTA that have similar design to AMC Rockaway (Cineplex Queensway and Cineplex Niagara Square) and sites were on the drawing board before the AMC merger.
Great programing – a nice mix of commercial art house films and micro-budget films. I’m slightly jealous we don’t have anything like that in Northern NJ and have to travel to the city or do VOD. Hopefully the promise of digital will mean more smaller films released in a low risk kind of way…..
That’s very cool and opens up the opportunities to screen non-traditional works in conjunction with academic departments. Hopefully the owners will make that accessible, although its 100% digital so my guess is its not going to be conducive to experimental filmmaking the way a traditional college screening room may be (I used to teach in media study’s screening room at UB and had my choice of digital formats, 35MM and 16MM – – although not always having the luxury of a projectionist, running back and forth between the projection booth and the classroom was exhausting for showing film prints).
@Ron – it’ll be a new concept “Showcase Super Lux” – which I think might be all dinning, reserved seating, etc like iPic (Gold Class) – so the 6-screens makes sense for a high end luxury theater. I wish National had further developed The Bridge brand, although it probably didn’t make sense outside of urban areas – the Philly location was pretty awesome and ahead of its time.
Didn’t Regal originally run it as an arthouse? I remember they got a lot of bookings from smaller distributors like Strand Releasing when they first opened (where they splitting product with someone else?).
** aren’t first run – that should read….
It’s run by the Army Air Force Exchange – which has several theaters on army bases (some bases have privately corporate theaters) – but I’m not sure if these venues will convert to digital. Hollywood should do the right thing and as most of these theaters are first run, offer them the option of screening non-DCP (i.e.: BluRay0 with cheaper video projectors. Smaller theaters can get away with it – I was at Cinema Village the other night and on those screens BluRay on a decent projector (total cost 2,000 vs. 60,000+) it works.
Frequently only showing 7 movies (screen #4 still has 35MM equipment but is more frequently used for the Road Less Traveled Theatre – – and has a big stage that has cut that auditorium’s capacity drastically). One screen has a high quality non-DCI digital projector that they use for film festivals, local independent film screenings, and the theatre’s signature program Buffalo Film Seminars (although they occasionally do show a 35MM print at BFS).
Sadly I don’t know what the future for this complex is – and if it will make it and convert to digital (Dipson manages the complex for this NFP – – and Dipson has fully converted Amherst, Eastern Hills and Flix).
A nearly intact General Cinema site – and it did well when they had the right picture (prior to becoming a discount house last year it was splitting product with Quaker Crossing, which unfortunately led to this one often getting lesser Hollywood films they’d have to hold on to – and fortunately a good amount of art house stuff that would sometimes move over from the North Park). Two screens have digital 3D, four are digital, and two are presently 35MM with a digital conversion coming soon.
Dipson is trying to sell the theatre (I’m guessing they’ve made the decision they won’t be the ones to convert it to digital projection) http://thedailynewsonline.com/news/article_229dfbfa-563c-11e2-a485-0019bb2963f4.html
And it’s back!
It was a nice alternative for our art house movies to Montclair – now Palisades thanks to cheaper digital distribution is getting more and more art house films (including a few that didn’t come to Montclair). It had originally split bookings with the UA in Spring Valley, and both tanked when Loews opened. Both theaters were successful and became ghost towns when Palisades opened: now Regal is trying its hand at a 12-plex with an RPX screen at the revitalized mall (which will be a hybrid mall and outdoor life style center) – and it will probably work (the AMC at Palisades has seen better days but still serves its purpose).
I just read a post-script to an incident that occurred in 2001 in which an 11-year old was stabbed to death (by another 11 year old) in the lobby of the cinema. I’m guessing that didn’t help the theatre (although the brand loyalty to Showcase Cinemas has been cited as a reason why this Regal didn’t work).