Comments from bigjoe59

Showing 201 - 225 of 1,248 comments

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Halsey Theatre on Oct 15, 2020 at 8:36 pm

Hello-

the intro at top should point out this was if I’m not mistaken the first theater managed by Willian Fox.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Ziegfeld Theatre on Oct 7, 2020 at 7:30 pm

Hello-

to ReadeLegacy- my friends and I always referred to the
Ziegfeld’s décor as Victorian Bordello.

also on pg. 2 of the photo section second row is a photo of the marquee for Les Misérables. I saw the film the day after Christmas(Dec.26) 2012 and all the marquee had was
plain block letters spelling out the title. I thought to myself they could have at least had big block letters in the same type face as used in the as. but here we have the marquee with a full panel which was not up the day I saw it. wouldn’t they have put up a full panel before the film opened not after?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Palace Theatre on Oct 7, 2020 at 7:07 pm

Hello-

thanks to Cine Tech for your detailed post. though I saw the 1969 re-issue at the Palace twice I don’t remember how different it was from the Nov. 1959 cut which premiered at the Loews State. was the fact that the June 1969 roadshow re-issue the Palace was an edited version ever mentioned in the publicity prior to the engagement?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Palace Theatre on Oct 6, 2020 at 8:22 pm

Hello-

in fact I saw the 10th Anniversary Re-Issue of Ben-Hur twice. I remember the size of the screen was large and the sound was great but I can’t be sure how the picture and sound related to the technical specifics you asked about.

they did sell a souvenir program that was the same as the 1959 original expect is was softcover rather than hardcover.

also this site is acting really odd. you posted your question on May 21 yet I didn’t get the notification from CT until today Oct. 6th.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Cinema 1, 2 & 3 by Angelika on Sep 29, 2020 at 9:32 pm

Hello-

hdtv267 will probably post a witty sarcastic reply to this post but was the escalator fixed before the movie theater shutdown on Mon. March 16th.? its a simple question.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Cinema 1, 2 & 3 by Angelika on Sep 29, 2020 at 8:34 pm

Hello-

since I believe in free speech I have to accept your slightly curt replies to it seems all of my posts.

to which since having a working escalator is part of good theater management it would be a critique on the uneven degree of proper management at this theater if by the theater shutdown on Mon. March 16th the escalator which had been out of order since Oct. 2018 still hadn’t been mixed.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Cinema 1, 2 & 3 by Angelika on Sep 18, 2020 at 10:12 pm

Hello-

I hate to sound like a broken record but was the escalator
fixed before the NYC movie theater lockdown on March 16th?
as I have stated before it had been out of service since
Oct. of 2018.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Sep 13, 2020 at 11:37 pm

Hello-

to Cine Tech. last nite I watched the Criterion blu-ray and enjoyed it yet again. in terms of the richness of the colors and the crispness, clarity and sharpness of the picture image and audio tracks it was everything I’d want in a blu-ray disc of a film from 1953. plus according to the extras the restoration was dome in conjunction with Paramount. so without getting too technical could you please again explain your main problem with the Criterion blu-ray. thanks.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Sep 11, 2020 at 10:10 pm

Hello- to CineTech. its my understanding that during the Golden Age of Hollywood(the beginning of sound to the early 60s) the studios operated very much on the A movie and B movie production levels. so I don’t understand how you can say the A and B production levels didn’t exist?

also are you saying the current Paramount Hone Video
dvd of TWOTW is better than the restored Criterion
Blu-ray?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Sep 11, 2020 at 12:36 am

Hello-

I recently purchased the Criterion Collection blu-ray disc of The War of the Worlds from 1953. when it opened here in 1953 was it considered an A film or a B film?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Vista Theater Hollywood on Sep 10, 2020 at 8:14 pm

Hello-

to stevenj many thanks for your replies. I first visited L.A. April of 1980. so if the theater was “rescued” by the end of 1980 than it couldn’t have been a gay porn house for very long.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Rivoli Theatre on Sep 10, 2020 at 8:07 pm

Hello-

to Al A. and Mike(saps)on your witty comments on my taste in films. last Fall two films were released that garnered critical praise and both won Oscars. I saw them after all the critical praise had been around for a while and as I was leaving the theater I thought to myself- what were the critics smoking when they were watching the films? either that or REALLY strong brownies. in other words beauty as they say is in the eye of the beholder.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Sep 10, 2020 at 12:16 am

Hello-

maybe there was audience fatigue for roadshow epics about Ancient Rome. on the other hand the roadshow engagement of The Greatest Story Ever Told the next Feb.1965 at the Warner lasted 44 weeks. TFOTRE is one of those roadshow epics with a somewhat off reputation that is in fact better than said reputation.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Sep 10, 2020 at 12:08 am

Hello-

while the ad proclaims the change to continuous performances at popular prices it doesn’t state that its a cut version of the film and not the original cut used during the roadshow engagement.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Vista Theater Hollywood on Sep 9, 2020 at 8:10 pm

Hello-

I just asked a simple question no need to get hyper about it. your 5/2/20 post states that “Heavy Equipment” opened here in 3-D in July of 1978. so since I first visited L.A. in April of 1980 the theater would have been a gay porn house
for at least 2 years at the point I visited. so I was wondering how long it stayed a gay porn house. again a simple question.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Vista Theater Hollywood on Sep 8, 2020 at 11:10 pm

Hello-

I first visited L.A. April of 1980. so according to hdtv267’s 5/2/20 post the theater had been a gay porn house for approx. 2 years at that point. how long did it in fact stay a gay porn house?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Sep 7, 2020 at 9:11 pm

Hello-

to Al A.– there are a number of classic films where its known the current blu-ray disc isn’t the same cut of the film as when the film opened in whichever of Manhattan’s many 1st run theaters. to which I never knew the cut on the vhs, dvd and 50th Ani. blu-ray wasn’t the same cut as opened at this theater. did you know?

also the differences while minute in terms of the film’s
running time will still be noticeable to anyone who has
watched the 50th Ani. blu-ray countless times. for instance
when Mr. Arbogast falls down the stairs after being stabbed
by “Mother” and lands at the foot of the stairs in the
version everyone knows “Mother” stabs him 2 more times. in
the June 1960 original cut she stabs him 4 more times.

also I don’t think an original cut of The Current War which finally opened last Oct. 2019 at the Angelika ever existed. it was originally supposed to open Nov. of 2017. they started showing in theaters in Sept. but then the Harvey scandal broke and all of the Weinstein Company films were put in legal limbo. it took almost 2 years for the director and a new distributor to buy the film from TWC. my point being simple. when they started showing the trailer in Sept. of 2017 its my understanding a theatrical cut had not actually been agreed upon by TWC and the director before the scandal hit. so when he got the film back “the directors cut” as the film was tagged is his personal preferred cut.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Sep 6, 2020 at 11:40 pm

Hello-

hey you learn something new every day. Psycho opened here June 1960. in Oct. 2010 Universal Home Video released a perfect HD transfer on blu-ray as a 50th Anniversary Edition. to which I was always under the impression the cut on the 50th Anniversary blu-ray was the same as the one that opened here June of 1960. but it isn’t. on Tuesday Universal Home Video will release a blu-ray of the original June 1960 cut of the film.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Metro Theatre on Sep 2, 2020 at 7:45 pm

Hello-

many thanks to Eric for your reply. interestingly I even thought the name of the theater I was looking might have been the Cinema or Century 21. I had no idea of the name change. this site apparently lists theaters by their current names and not the name they were known by for the majority of their existence.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Metro Theatre on Sep 1, 2020 at 9:12 pm

Hello-

to stevenj thanks for your reply. I did see a film at the Presidio on a subsequent visit. the theater I saw Titanic at was a large theater so it definitely wasn’t the Presidio. plus it was on the opposite side of the street that the Presidio is on. I remember the theater I saw Titanic at was the 1st theater in S.F. with a certifies THX sound system.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Rivoli Theatre on Aug 31, 2020 at 10:00 pm

Hello-

to vindanpar- I read with interest your recent post about the roadshow engagement of Star at this theater. I am both a roadshow engagement buff(I’m in my 60s) and a Julie Andrews devotee. I saw the film say a month after it opened. I do remember liking it. whether I’d like it today is another matter. I have always enjoyed listening to the soundtrack album first on Lp then on cd. I have always hoped for a perfectly remastered Blu-ray disc of the original roadshow cut.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Metro Theatre on Aug 31, 2020 at 7:52 pm

Hello from NYC-

when I was vacationing in San Francisco the Spring of 1998 I saw Titanic for I think the 12th time. I think this might have bee this theater. I remember it was at a decent size theater om Union or Chestnut Sts.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Square Theatre on Aug 20, 2020 at 8:31 pm

Hello-

I did likewise. my friends and I stood outside the theater
online for say an hour and a half till the next showing of Bye Bye Birdie.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Rivoli Theatre on Aug 20, 2020 at 8:26 pm

Hello-

on pg. 2 of the photo section is a first rate photo of this theater’s front done up for the premiere of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Fredrick March. its to bad that though the currently available dvd of the film is referred to as “restored” its still not the complete film that opened here in 1933.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Lincoln Theatre on Aug 20, 2020 at 8:03 pm

Hello-

to Al A. its always nice to read one of replies. as I have said in the past your font of knowledge makes me look like an amateur. now to my use of the statement “with the intent of showing films” in a recent post about the Crescent which was a stone’s throw from this theater. in Dec. 1909 when the Crescent opened the use of the word “films” in the phrase “with the intent of showing films” would have of course referred to 1 reelers. granted the Crescent was built as a combo vaudville/film theater the fact it was built with the intent of showing films as part of the program I should think it can be referred to as the 1st movie theater built as such.