Comments from Ross Melnick

Showing 176 - 200 of 307 comments

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about Uptown Theatre on Aug 4, 2008 at 9:48 am

Please keep your comments focused on the subject at hand.

I want to also warn those of you who make unsubstantiated accusations about an organization that you are subject to our comments policy (which will be strictly enforced). Please remember as well that the relative anonymity of the Internet does not protect you from issues of libel.

As we note in our comments policy: “Unless you have court-documented proof of malice, bankruptcy, theft, vandalism, misappropriation of funds, drug use, violence, etc., do not submit any such accusations on this site. This site is not a venue for your private or public grievances against other people. If you wish to make such accusations, do it somewhere else. If you libel another user here, your account will be deleted.”

This will be enfored.

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about Astor Theatre on Jul 28, 2008 at 9:54 pm

Keep the sniping off these pages. Thank you.

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about The Dark Knight Sets Single Day Box Office Record on Jul 19, 2008 at 7:06 pm

Neither article noted a screen count, but I’m sure the Sunday morning recaps will have a near final total.

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about Ridgewood Theatre on Jul 19, 2008 at 11:54 am

Peter — No, it’s not the same Patrick Crowley. Warren — thanks for letting me know about the Halsey. Off I go to check it out …

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about Ridgewood Theatre on Jul 17, 2008 at 6:18 pm

Thanks Peter — Patrick and I are still very much here and very active (largely behind the scenes). We do our best not to interfere on the theater pages, but we’ve gotten some complaints about this thread. We’re delighted to have you all here as well. :)

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about Ridgewood Theatre on Jul 17, 2008 at 11:03 am

Hi Everyone,

I’m Ross Melnick, co-founder of Cinema Treasures. I just wanted to thank you for sharing all of these memories with our users, but did want to remind you of our comments policy which is to stay on topic about the theater and not crowd the thread with a lot of non-theater related discussions. I hate to be a downer, but it’s getting harder to find information about the theater in here.

Thanks for your understanding.

Best,

Ross

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about New Comment Policy on Jul 8, 2008 at 6:49 pm

CyNdi — let it go …

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about New Comment Policy on Jul 8, 2008 at 12:12 pm

Time to wrap it up people.

This is exactly the sort of bickering and endless nonsense that has required us to restate our comments policy. We value all of your contributions, but if this chiding and nastiness continues everyone involved will have their account suspended.

Seriously. It’s just not that funny anymore.

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about Boyd Update: Philly Mayor Nutter Supports Boyd on Jun 5, 2008 at 2:25 am

I would like to remind everyone of our user policy which you can read in our Terms of Use: “You are prohibited from posting or transmitting to or from this Site any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, or other materials that would violate any civil or criminal law or the rights of others, including without limitation, laws against copyright infringement. Violation of these restrictions may result in limitations on your access to this Site.”

You are welcome to comment that one group is not preserving a theater properly or mishandling their responsibility, but when you cross over the line into insinuations of fraud, you are putting yourself at risk. Comments asserting such a charge were deleted because they violated our Terms of Use as they were made without proving any merit of the claim. We are saddened that we had to delete the comment, close this thread, and issue this statement. While political and philosophical disagreements are healthy and completely supported by Cinema Treasures, we will not let personal attacks on Mr. Haas and some of our other users continue. We tried our best to leave this page unaltered and let the conversation go on, but our users do not deserve this treatment and neither should this site become a place for personal attacks.

It is worth noting that the attacks on the Friends of the Boyd seem wholly out of balance with that group’s recent success in raising awareness about the theater’s plight and are part of the organization’s tireless effort to save the theater. In recent weeks, Friends of the Boyd has helped the theater receive important recognition from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the support of many public officials.

Running Cinema Treasures is a pleasure and an honor for all of us and we support everyone’s right to free speech. But we have a user policy in place to protect our users and your ability to enjoy this site without specific pages being hijacked by arguments and personal attacks. Please, for the love of these venues, please try and keep the level of discussion civil, courteous, factual, and productive.

Thank you for your understanding.

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about Boyd Update: Philly Mayor Nutter Supports Boyd on Jun 2, 2008 at 7:25 am

Mayor Nutter’s support is extremely valuable and appreciated. Saving a theater as large and important as the Boyd requires a mix of private and public capital, a devoted group of volunteers, and political will. Let’s hope Mayor Nutter’s support makes a crucial difference in saving this theater.

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about Los Angeles Times profiles L.A.-area theatres on May 29, 2008 at 8:15 am

Make sure to read the comments about this article on page three of the LA Times website. Readers are incensed that the Vista and Mann Village aren’t included in this list. (Others were skipped over as well.)

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about M Park 4 Theatre on May 20, 2008 at 10:18 pm

Images of the theater can be found at the M Park 4 website.

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about Cinerama Hollywood on May 5, 2008 at 8:17 am

Yikes — this is the first I’m hearing about it. We’ll look into it. Thanks for letting me know.

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about Cinerama Hollywood on May 4, 2008 at 11:22 pm

Just to throw my two cents in here: anything related to the Cinerama Dome and/or Arclight Cinemas, past or present, is fair game. I love hearing about its past as well as its present and future. As someone who enjoys the Dome (and will be attending two shows in the Dome this month), I love hearing about what’s going on. Thanks Rizzo and everyone for keeping these theaters alive through your hard work, your wallets, and your memories.

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about United Palace of Cultural Arts on Apr 22, 2008 at 1:46 pm

Let’s put it this way (again): In my mind, it will always be the Loew’s 175th Street as well, but in 2008 it is The United Palace (I am making yet another change per Warren’s suggestion). As for the “Screw history” remark — as a historian, I’m uncomfortable with that as well. That is certainly NOT what this name change is all about. It’s about consistency, which is the hallmark of any database.

I’d like to think that since the building is no longer known as Loew’s 175th Street, then The United Palace is the more historically accurate name in 2008. I’m sorry this issue has caused so much debate. It won’t be the last disagreement, unfortunately. I wish these decisions could come without name calling and such upset feelings, but I know it’s based on deep love and affection for these theaters. Thanks for your input everyone. See you on another thread. :)

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about United Palace of Cultural Arts on Apr 22, 2008 at 9:20 am

The name Loew’s has been dropped from the downtown LA State Theater. It is, of course, now listed as a previous or aka name.

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about United Palace of Cultural Arts on Apr 22, 2008 at 9:13 am

You are correct that there are aberrations here and there. How Ken and Bryan keep track of over 20,000 theaters boggles my mind. Sometimes, if users haven’t submitted updates to them, the names aren’t changed. I’ve just corrected the State in Los Angeles to reflect its last name (before becoming a church).

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about United Palace of Cultural Arts on Apr 22, 2008 at 7:02 am

Okay — I have made another change to this listing: I have changed it to the United Palace. I have no doubt that will probably not win any more fans, but we’re looking for something that makes sense, is consistent with our policy, and, yes, respects the original name of the theater. The problem with these contentious name battles, and I appreciate all of the enthusiasm and passion, is that if we listen to all involved and make a decision one way or another, we are destined to upset someone (or some people). The buck stops here. This was a Ross & Patrick decision and something that made sense to us. The “Theatre” part has been dropped to reflect the flexible use of the building and the name chosen by those who run it. I am sure this will not stop the debate, and I love the fact that this theater engenders so much passion, but I wanted to make sure you knew why we had made the change. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about Cinema Treasures reaches 20,000 theaters! on Mar 5, 2008 at 7:49 am

The 20,000th theater was the Sansom Cinema in Philadelphia, PA.

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about New Theater Editing Policy on Feb 12, 2008 at 9:19 am

You are far more than a “visitor” using these resources. Cinema Treasures is truly a collaborative website and all of our users are an important part of whatever goes on here. It is for that reason that we posted the editing policy and solicited your feedback. Your advice, questions, and suggestions are of great importance to all of us.

This policy is put in place, in part, to try and curtail the endless debate about theater/theatre on this site and many other stylistic and content-related issues. While some of these will be debated until the end of the time, we wanted to make our style and policies transparent so that changes/edits are understood as part of the site’s guidelines and not the arbitrary opinions of one site administrator or another.

Thanks for all of your input. We have already made changes to the policy based on your feedback.

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about New Theater Editing Policy on Feb 11, 2008 at 12:13 pm

Katie —

You hit the exact right note: consistency. More than anything else, a consistent standard is what we all need. Hopefully, we’ve taken a big leap forward today. :)

Ross

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about New Theater Editing Policy on Feb 11, 2008 at 12:12 pm

Lost Memory,

You are indeed correct. There are inconsistencies as there are with all user-generated content. As you know, we rely on our users' knowledge when they submit a theater and everyone else’s for subsequent edits. Thus is the nature of collaborative knowledge. That nimble structure has enabled us to have detailed information and photos (thanks to you as well!) on roughly 20,000 theaters. Editing is a huge job and one we can hopefully do over time (a long time).

Ross

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about New Theater Editing Policy on Feb 11, 2008 at 12:00 pm

Movie and book names should ideally be in italics not quotes, but it’s technically more difficult to do that given our current system. We’ll hopefully be able to change that soon. Also, it’s difficult for users to italicize something when they submit the theater given the current forms.

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about New Theater Editing Policy on Feb 11, 2008 at 11:46 am

As stated, if the official name of the theater includes the word “theater/theatre,” then it should stay in. When using the word theater in the description, we use the Americanized spelling for American theaters. Cinema should be used outside of North America.

Ross Melnick
Ross Melnick commented about New Theater Editing Policy on Feb 11, 2008 at 11:44 am

Ron,

For now, the editing rules are for our theater editors. This is to make the editing process transparent to our users as well.

You are welcome, of course, to send us updates about problematic entries to date. (Clearly the first 19,750 will not have followed this policy.)

Ross