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The latest movie theater news and updates
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December 15, 2010
Quonset Hut Movie Theatre for sale in Victoria
VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA — The Roxy Classic Theater is a Victoria Landmark Cinema with a vibrant and rich history and it’s for sale now. Included in this offering is land, business, and building. Located in the heart of Quadra Village, a rapidly revitalized urban center for Victoria’s Avant Garde. This exclusive offering boasts many unique avenues, including the opportunity for a residential/commercial redevelopment, reconfiguration back into a live Venue, or a continuation as Victoria’s only single screen “Art House” theater. This is a genuine opportunity to be part of Victoria’s Heritage.
The current business boasts a steady and reliable income and an established and growing audience. This is a self-sustaining investment with significant upside alternatives. Floor plans, additional photos and more information at Binab Strasser. Presented by Binab|Strasser REMAX Alliance – Yates Street in Victoria BC
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December 14, 2010
Cinema Treasures Reaches 30,000 Theaters
Cinema Treasures is proud to announce that we have now reached over 30,000 theaters listed from a total of 181 countries! The growth of our theater database over the last two years has been incredible and we simply cannot thank you all enough for your contributions, comments, and support.
This milestone comes at a particularly special time for us at Cinema Treasures as December 2010 is the official ten-year anniversary of the site’s launch. It is a time for us to look back to all of our users who have contributed so much to this community and, specifically, to our incomparable and tireless volunteer theater editor, Ken Roe. If you’ve ever added or updated a theater, Ken is the man who has formatted, edited, and/or published your information. In other words, there is no Cinema Treasures without Ken Roe. Period. He and our blog editor Michael Zoldessy make this place what it is.
Reaching 30,000 theaters is not the only achievement worth noting. One of Ken’s more amazing projects is that in addition to editing all of the new submissions he also adds a ton of new theaters to the site from all over the world. If you see a man photographing a cinema in your country, it’s very likely to be him. (Please say hello for me. If it’s not Ken, run!)
Ken and the site’s contributors have now added every cinema to have ever operated in the London/Greater London area, making this the first major international city on Cinema Treasures to have a fully comprehensive listing. The value of that contribution for film/cultural historians is invaluable and worthy of greater attention.
Also in the UK, thanks to Ken, Cinema Treasures now lists all currently operating cinemas in the country, which includes England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland. Cinema Treasures also now lists every historic cinema in the UK which has a designated ‘Grade Listing’.
If you have a moment, please leave Ken a thank you message below. He deserves our undying gratitude for what he has helped build over the past decade.
We are also grateful to have the input of the many members of Cinema Treasures around the world who continue to contribute to the expansion and knowledge that makes this site so great.
I can’t believe this site is ten years old and I can tell you that when Patrick Crowley and I were putting this idea together eleven years ago on nights and weekends in a New York tech incubator, we would have been thrilled with 1,000 contributions. Your support and the site’s growth is simply unbelievable.
We’ll have more to say about the anniversary in the coming days but for now, my sincerest gratitude to you, our users, and to Ken Roe for being Ken Roe. We couldn’t be luckier to have him.
Happy Holidays,
Ross & Patrick
Cinema Treasures Co-FoundersP.S. Thanks to “Camera Slayer” for the image.
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Exclusive one month engagement of “2001” in Toronto
TORONTO, ONTARIO , CANADA — A special presentation of a cinematic masterpiece presented in breathtaking 70mm format, a most visually spectacular widescreen process!
“A rare and epic experience! This is picture quality you have to see to believe!”
“An epic drama of adventure and exploration!”
A movie you may not understand the first time you see it, so see it again and again!
Worth seeing just for the music!
The brand new TIFF Bell Lightbox, home of the Toronto International Film Festival just opened September 12, 2010. Of the 5 Cinemas, Cinema 1 which seats 549 can show 70mm films and as far as I know 2001 is the first 70mm film.
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Tucson’s Century Park 16 to close in January
TUCSON, AZ — An investment group has purchased the Century Park 16 which is currently operated by Cinemark, which acquired the theater when it absorbed the Century chain a few years ago. The theater opened as the Century Park 12 in the late 1980’s and was built on the site of a former drive-in. The investment group plans to use the site for non-theatrical purposes.
The property is zoned for light industrial use, said Buzz Isaacson, a broker with CB Richard Ellis who is listing the property for the investors. That leaves it open to a variety of occupant types, including medical, office or educational. It could include some retail space, though that will not likely be its primary use, Isaacson said.
A new tenant would likely retrofit the existing structures to accommodate its business. “Our prediction is that we will attract a user that will use all or part of the theaters,” Isaacson said.
The full story appeared in the Arizona Daily Star.
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Theater closed by AMC will reopen in Keokuk with new management
KEOKUK, IA — Eisentraut Theatres, based in Hillsboro, IL, will be reopening the Plaza Cinema which was closed by AMC in November.
“We wanted to get a deal done in time to open for the holidays,” Eisentraut said. “Zetterlund worked very hard to make sure there was little down-time during the transition of theater operations.”
Renovations to Cinema Plaza will progress gradually…
There is more in the Fort Madison Daily Democrat.
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December 13, 2010
Hamilton 10 in Hamilton closes
HAMILTON, OH — The sad saga of recent closings by AMC of former Kerasotes properties continues. November 28 was the last day for the Hamilton 10. Kerasotes had acquired this former bargain cinema when it was known as the Danbarry Dollar $aver Cinema and turned it into a first run house.
The Northwest Washington Boulevard theater, called AMC Hamilton 10 for the past 6 months, “was identified as a theater that no longer competed effectively in the marketplace,” said Justin Scott, director of public relations for AMC.
“No decisions have been made yet about the building’s future,” Scott said.
The story appeared in the News-Journal.
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Prima Cinema brings new releases straight to your home…for a minor fee
A California company, Prima Cinema, is rolling out brand new releases directly to your home for the cost of $500 in addition to a one time setup fee of $20,000.
Actually, as crazy as the price tag sounds, Prima Cinema, which has backing from Universal Pictures, as well as Best Buy, is probably the future. For a decade now, Hollywood has been inching closer and closer to simultaneous release of movies in theaters and home video, what’s called day-and-date. Some cable on-demand providers already offer limited day-and-date movies: Time Warner Cable charges about $7 to see indie flicks like I’m Still Here while they’re still playing at your local art house theater. Even for bigger pictures, the window between theatrical release and DVD release has been shrinking, and looks like it’ll be shrinking even more next year, when the major studios will supposedly be unveiling a new VOD window, between theatrical and DVD release, with a premium charge of around $20 to $30.
Read more in Entertainment Weekly.
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December 10, 2010
Ave Atque Vale: Let’s hear it for skilled projectionists as they pass into history
It is probably fair to say that most moviegoers never think too much about film projection (unless something goes wrong during a showing) or about the generations of the skilled technicians that have kept us entertained with little or no recognition. From the earliest days of the movies, getting the show on the screen used to be a craft that required skill and training and incredible adaptability, and in the days of nitrate film, the willingness to work in in a hazardous environment.
Two New York projectionists, Joe Rivierzo and Jose Ramos recently reflected, with anecdotes, on the decline of their profession in a recent fascinating article that appeared at Slate.com by Grady Hendrix. The piece traces the decline of the need for skilled projectionists as changes in technology and other factors are eliminating a position that was once was absolutely essential to a quality cinema experience.
“Digital will eliminate us completely,” Rivierzo says. “All you have to do is load it and play it, and a lot of this stuff can be done off-site. We have theaters now running with 35 percent of the house digital. Once they go over 51 percent running digital, and they run it that way for 90 consecutive days, they can eliminate the presence of a projectionist. Our only saving grace is they can’t manufacture these digital machines fast enough.”
You can read the whole article here in the Slate.
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John Waters gives Christmas present to Roxie Theater
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — John Waters will be holding his annual Xmas Show at the Roxie Cinema tomorrow night as a fundraiser for the new non-profit.
“It’s a small theater with big needs,” Waters said in a phone interview from Baltimore. Tickets will be steep, at $250, but Waters promises to make it worth your while. Here’s some highlights from The Bay Citizen’s chat with the very delightful director, author and artist
Read more in the Bay Citizen.
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Changing Ways of Seeing Movies
An article in The Star looks at not only how we go to the movies these days, but how different generations receive media in general.
Digital media have not only created a world starkly different from the world of a mere 15 years ago, they have changed the way people who live in the world think, behave, create and consume.
They have facilitated a generation gap that makes the divide between Boomers and their parents narrow by comparison, and they have accelerated the pace of cultural and political change to something like warp speed. In this world, The Social Network, set in 2004, can seem like the Dark Ages.