Cinerama Hollywood
6360 Sunset Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
6360 Sunset Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
142 people
favorited this theater
Showing 151 - 175 of 1,416 comments
Thank you
Roger. Warner Bros does not have playable 70mm print of BATTLE OF THE BULGE. Warner’s did make a new print of MGM’s GRAND PRIX but it does not have a soundtrack and takes a hard drive for the film print and will not allow that print to be plattered. Park Circus, distributor for UA classics does not have a playable print of MAD WORLD. The 2 new prints they MGM struck for the 40th anniversary and we played several times are gone. You are correct that The a Dome has 3 strip prints of THIS IS CINERAMA and WEST but those are the only two titles available. BROTHERS GRIMM which we played in 2012 was a collectors print which we had to get signed permission from Warner’s to play and we had to make a new 35mm full coat soundtrack. Other than badly faded and spliced collector prints, there are no other 3 strip prints. As someone who also favors celluloid, I appreciate your enthusiasm.
There are prints they just want to push digital. They have a three strip print of How the West Was Won that’s in great shape. And there are other three strip prints. They just don’t want to run film. If you prefer film push for it.
The Ultra-Panavision 70, which is not exactly the same as Cinerama, and its aspect ratio is 2.76. The digital How the Was Won has more image than originally projected. I applaud Mr. Sittig’s professionalism & dedication to correct presentations! Of course, many of us would prefer film to digital, but unfortunately, I don’t think there’s decent 70mm prints of Grand Prix or Battle of the Bulge, so restored digital is what will be shown- and enjoyed!
Mr. Sittig, thanks for the info! A question, though: Don’t the Cinerama films have an aspect ratio of about 2.6:1? I think this is partly accounted for by the fact that each filmstrip uses a 6-sprocket rather than a 4-sprocket pull-down. If I am correct, then 2.76 can only happen by cropping or horizontal “stretching,” no?
I flew out from Michigan to Hollywood in 2012 just to
see HTWWW since I was out of the country during its original release in 1962. I may do it again! By the way, Detroit was the 2nd city to get Cinerama, after NYC, beating out LA.
I was the Director of Projection and Sound at Arclight Cinemas from its opening to my retirement in 2016. I still consult on projection at The Dome. 2001 was shown it the correct aspect ratio 2:20x 1 in the Dome and one the Arclight screens. The Dome has 3 way masking so we can adjust the height and width of the picture. Some theatres, as described earlier, because of the dimensions of their screens a film or digital copy can be cropped in the field to fit their screen or worst yet, when their bigger picture is flat, filling the screen on a scope picture and cutting off the sides by 20% or more. This does not happen at Arclight. The other format problem that kills me is a theatre playing a classic with an aspect ratio of 1:37 x 1. The print is pillar boxed and the theatre blows up the picture so it fits their flat screen, thus cutting off foreheads and feet. Beginning Sunday Sept 30, Arclight will be playing 4 classic Cinerama titles to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Cinerama Dome. All films will be projected digitally. Sept 30, BATTLE OF THE BULGE, 1965, presented in Ultra-Panavision 70, (2:76 x 1) Others in the series are GRAND PRIX, Super Panavision 70 (2:20 x1) HOW THE WEST WAS WON composite 3 three strip (2:76 x 1) and ending on November 7 with IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD, WORLD Ultra-Panavision 70 2:76 x 1 celebrating the film and The Dome’s 55th anniversary. Tickets will be on sale shortly at arclightcinemas.com. We will be showing HOW THE WEST WAS WON in the future in 3 strip Cinerama but the timing was not right for this engagement as there was not enough time to completely go over the 4 machines as they have only been used twice in the last 6 years. I will make it a priority in 2019 get them in excellent running order again.
Hello-
in response to vindanpar’s 9/2/18 comment about Camelot’s 1968 Labor Day schedule posted on the photos page. in said post vindanpar said the film’s run was pretty good at the Dome compared to its roadshow run at the Warner in Manhattan- “it pretty died as a roadshow in New York”. how is 34 weeks pretty much died as a roadshow in New York?
https://somervilletheatre.com/
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/483
check it out
How many seats does this theater have
eflambert, I know what you mean but cropping takes place in the projector not just the masking. The Somerville theater has all its aperture plates cut to the exact aspect ratio. If you go there ask for a tour. They use making the way it was meant to be. There are some theaters and screening rooms that do it right.
RogerA, thanks for the info. I’m hopin' that the cinema you reference also has the screen width to accommodate the widest aspect ratios. Simple masking can hide many “sins,” and most viewers wouldn’t know the difference.
It is too bad that the Dome can’t continue with authentic Cinerama equipment. I’ve yet to hear any digital sound that can match the quality of the mag stripes. I say that about all the CD’s I still own and occasionally play, too.
To edlambert
There are theaters that can run all the proper aspect ratios. Most of them are privately owned. For instance there is a state of the art theater at Post 43 on Highland in Hollywood. They’re equipped with 2 DP70’s. They are setting up to run everything from 1:37 to 2:76
The Somerville Theater in Massachusetts has 2 DP70’s and can run everything from 1:37 to 2:76. They are about to run a wide screen festival.
The Dome can’t even run the three strip cinerama projectors; they don’t have the people to run it. So instead they are running digital.
By the time they get to their 70th anniversary they won’t be able to run 70mm
Why go to the Dome when I can watch the same digital in my own theater.
Well! My dream has always been to operate a cinema that presents films in the way the director wanted them shown. Thus, the full height of my screen would always be the “1,” and there would always be enough screen for everything from the 1.37 to the 2.76—with sufficient curvature in the screen so that the throw of the projector would be the same distance both to the center of the screen and to the sides. No, I wouldn’t have curvature along the top and bottom. That looks funny. Here’s hoping, too, that the engineering of lenses will soon be able to accommodate deeper curvature so that projector or projection room glass does not require the matting that actually eliminates some of the image. Perfect squares or circles from top to bottom and side to side when the test strip is projected.
RogerA – the new 35mm print of “2001” that I ran back in 2004 was pillarboxed on the sides to preserve the 2.20:1 aspect ratio. The current 2K DCP of “2001” is also pillarboxed, presumably the new 4K will do the same.
To change aspect ratio from one medium to another i.e. film to digital, 70mm to 35mm, then the image is either cropped or letter boxed. Many movies these days are released in several different formats and aspect ratios. The camera original source material is often different formats. It is always cropped to make it fit.
Gone With The Wind was released in 70mm and those prints were cropped the original is 1.33:1 and the 70mm prints were 1:85 matted.
The Ten Commandments was shot in VitaVision so the 70mm prints were cropped.
2001 of course was shot on 65mm film for a 70mm release print (2.5mm extra space on each outer edge for sound tracks) The 70mm prints are not cropped but the 35mm version is cropped a little on the top and bottom and is much shorter than the roadshow version. The digital version is either cropped or letter boxed probably the latter.
AMC and other chains crop 20% or more in the projectors. If a theater does not have movable masking or the masking is limited they will crop the image to fit the screen. It is standard procedure in most multiplexes to crop the image to make it fit the screen or letter box it. Very few theaters bother to run a film in the exact proper aspect ratio that is why the Arclight in Hollywood is a favorite among the film crowd.
2001 is being presented in the Dome on 70mm in it’s correct aspect ratio of 2.20:1, as it was photographed. There is NO stretching or cropping. Period. Full stop.
Roger, but you said that digital presentation is at 2.39:1. That can only mean that the digital presentation stretches the negative or crops it, thereby achieving the same effect.The aspect ratio can be changed in only one of these two ways.
2001 was shot on 65mm with spherical lenses so there was no compression. The aspect ratio of the negative is 2.20:1 The 70mm prints are 2.20:1 There is no stretching or cropping. Some of 2001 was shot in Todd-AO and that was 2.2:1
Roger, that must mean that either the original image was stretched (which wouldn’t be that much of a stretch) or that the frames were cropped to produce the same ratio. Either way, it seems, there was either distortion or loss of image. The mathematics of ratio permit nothing else. No?
2001 was and is 70mm 2.2:1 2.39 is digital scope
what does that mean? are you saying 2001 was projected in 2.39 scope?
I went to 2001 in the Dome it was full frame non anamorphic 70mm. Yes they have adjustable masking to accommodate several different aspect ratios.
What evidence is there that Arclight was not running “2001” in the correct aspect ratio? If the venue (the Dome?) ran the film, the use of mattes on the screen—and not much matting would be needed—could easily accommodate the different ratios. Perhaps you have more information you could share with us.
Hi Jim,
The Arclight does have projectionists; union projectionists. Most shows are digital cinema. The film shows are on a platter so no changeovers. Not much for them to do except make sure everything runs right.
The Egyptian sometimes runs film and they have a projectionist. They don’t have a platter so film is shown reel to reel. No automation. They have full time projectionists
AMC is the company that has managers do everything and have little or no technical support as do most chains. Most theaters have digital projectors only and are fully automated. So the ARCLIGHT in Hollywood is about as good as it gets.
If you are ever in Boston check out the Somerville Theatre. The main house has two 35/70 projectors they run a fair amount of film and have a projectionist.
After reading some of the newer comments, here’s my “2 cents”: In regards to “The Hateful Eight” / “Star Wars” first-run situation that occurred with the Cinerama Dome, the blame lies with Disney. After 2 or 3 weeks of the “Star Wars” film playing in the Dome (and doing its business), “The Hateful Eight” was supposed the Dome’s next attraction (it’s been said that one of the reasons why Quentin Tarantino shot the movie in the old Ultra Panavision 70 format was that “It’s the kind of movie that was made for a theatre like the Dome”.) Unfortunately, the folks who run Disney “pitched a bitch” & threatened Arclight / Pacific Theatres with a lawsuit (something to the effect of “If you move our Star Wars film out of the Dome & into one of your smaller cinemas, we’re gonna sue your asses off for breach of contract!”) Instead of siding with Tarantino, Arclight / Pacific “PUSSIES” its way out of the situation & sides with Disney. (Honestly, if I was the owner of the Dome, I would’ve told Disney to “F..K OFF AND TAKE YOUR STAR WARS MOVIE & SHOVE IT IT UP YOUR ASS! AND BY THE WAY, WE WILL NEVER PLAY ANOTHER DISNEY MOVIE AGAIN!!!” But that’s just me & my opinion.)
In regards to the recent re-release of “2001”, apparently Arclight is not running the film in its correct aspect ratio – Stanley Kubrick shot the film in Super Panavision 70, which has a smaller aspect ratio of 2.20:1. (Ultra Panavision 70 movies, like “The Hateful Eight”, have a wider aspect ratio of 2.75:1.)
Which brings me to the point: If Arcligtht / Pacific TRULY CARES about pleasing their customers & presentations, maybe they should start getting their sh.t together & STOP being another AMC-like movie-theatre business. Meaning: COOL IT with “the manager / assistant mgr.– operator thing” – it seems that the movie theatre biz has gone DOWNHILL for the past 40 / 50 / maybe 60 years. It’s my understanding that it all started with AMC & the multiplex idea – it was a good idea, at first. Then AMC (and companies like it) got greedy & LAZY, all in the name of “making profits”. In other words, BRING BACK THE PROJECTIONIST! (I’m not saying “bring back the union projectionist”. BUT what I am saying is – if you run a movie theatre, you have to treat the projection booth like its “the heart of the operation”. Meaning: NO MORE “BUTTON PUSHERS”! (A “button pusher” is a “manager / operator” or a “assistant manager / operator” who presses “the start button” on a projector & then goes downstairs to worry about, either the snack bar, or the box office, or both. “The button pusher” does the job of 3 people & makes a bit more than minimum wage – if he or she is lucky on that.) Anyway, if things DON’T CHANGE within this business, then sometime, in the near future, there WON’T BE any more movie theatres, like the Cinerama Dome – any more movie theatres, PERIOD! (Something tells me it’s gonna eventually happen. The question is: Sooner or later?)