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The latest movie theater news and updates
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October 14, 2008
Chicago’s Morse Theater reopens as music club
CHICAGO, IL — The historic Morse Theatre has undergone a complete renovation and opened October 9th as a music hall, restaurant and broadcast studio.
The theater was originially built in 1912 as a 600-seat nickelodeon and a vaudeville house. In the 1930s it was converted into a neighborhood movie theater, but from the 1950s until 1977 it was used as a synagogue. Several stores occupied the building after that until the current owners bought it in 2005 to restore it as a theater.
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Nosferatu Returns to the State Theatre
SPRINGFIELD, OH — The classic horror film “Nosferatu” will once again be presented with live music at the historic State Theatre in downtown Springfield.
Showtime is 8:00pm on Friday, October 17th, 2008.
The members of the Springfield-based ensemble Equinox (Doug Baumle, Larry Coressel, Wayne Justice) will perform their original live electro-acoustic score composed especially for this screening. Synthesizers, piano, percussion, guitar, flute and an assortment of unique instruments and sounds created by Equinox are incorporated into this imaginative live soundtrack for F.W. Murnau’s masterpiece of the silent era.
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Crossing Cinema closes
HOPEWELL, VA — The co-owner of the two-screen Crossing Cinema in Crossing Center has some choice words about the film industry as he closed his theater Sunday night, a victim of the economy and a decline in the quality of movies.
“You look at what movies are coming along, and it looks like it’s more of the same. I don’t see anything in there that’s going to be exceptional enough that it looks like (business) is going to be better,” said Roy Tompkins, the independent theater’s co-owner.
“Even if you have five good pictures, you can’t live off that for a year,” he said. “The industry’s in decline. There’s no doubt about that.”
Read more in In Rich.
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October 13, 2008
Landmarks Illinois to Highlight Theater Artist Iannelli
CHICAGO, IL — Landmarks Illinois' Preservation Snapshots lecture series is spotlighting the work of sculptor/architects/designer Alfonso Iannelli (1888-1965), the Frank Lloyd Wright associate well-known for his movie theater ornamentation including the Pickwick Theatre in Park Ridge, Illinois (where Iannelli’s famous studios were located), and the Catlow Theatre in Barrington, Illinois. Also, from 1911 to 1915, Iannelli designed many posters in abstract style for vaudeville acts peforming at Los Angeles' original Orpheum Theatre.
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World’s first IMAX-Dome theater being renovated
SAN DIEGO, CA — The world’s first IMAX-Dome theater is undergoing a complete renovation and will reopen completely remodelled in December.
The theater in Balboa Park at the Fleet Science Center will boast a new screen, sound system, seating and carpeting. The cost of the project is estimated at $20 million. This is the first renovation since it was built in 1973.
IMAX-Dome is a rebranding of the original OmniMax format developed by the IMAX Corporation. The system uses a “fisheye” lens to project images on the inside of a planetarium-like domed theater. The format was specifically developed for the Fleet Science Center which wanted a large-format film system to use in its planetarium.
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Universal Studios hosts Halloween Horror Nights
UNIVERSAL CITY, CA — Universal Studios has converted its 415-acre theme park and movie studio into one big haunted house for Halloween.
Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights is a 13-night event being held on the weekends leading up to Halloween. The park will be haunted by some of the studio’s most notorious villains including Freddy from “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” Jason from “Friday the 13th,” and Leatherface from “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.”
Visitors will feel the splatter of blood (water), the cold of death, and the smell of vomit while they weave through the Universal backlot.
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Cinema to be replaced by Medical Center
MERIDEN, CT — The city has approved plans to knock down its only cinema to make way for a medical center.
Holiday Cinemas took over the operation of the closed Hoyts Meridien 10 in 2002. The theater is still open, but the developer wants to begin construction as soon as possible.
The mayor has said he is disappointed about losing the theater but there’s the possibility a new theater could be built at the Westfield Meriden mall or a restaurant/theater concept could be developed somewhere else in the city.
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October 10, 2008
Remembering Cinerama (Part VI)
REMEMBERING CINERAMA
Part VI: Los AngelesThe following is Part Six in a series of retrospectives on Cinerama, the legendary motion picture process that kicked off the widescreen revolution. The series will not describe in detail the particulars of what the system was or how it worked, as extensive coverage of such is accessible in numerous books and websites. Instead, the series focuses on providing an historical overview of a less-accessible aspect of the Cinerama story: how, when and where Cinerama and its clones were exhibited in selected markets since every region was treated differently. As well, the articles serve to provide nostalgia to those who experienced Cinerama when it was new and to highlight the movie palaces in which these memorable events took place.
Part I: New York City
Part II: Chicago
Part III: San Francisco
Part IV: Houston
Part V: Washington, D.C.And now, Part VI: Cinerama Presentations in Los Angeles!
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Bollywood back to work
Indian directors, actors and crew members were back at work this past Monday after bringing Bollywood to a standstill for three days last week while striking to protest pay and working conditions.
Members of the Federation of Western India CIne Employees said they were being required to work up to 30 straight hours, were having to wait up to six months for pay, if they received any money at all, and were being passed over for non-union workers.
The studios promised to keep to a 12-hour day, pay wages promptly and hire only union members.
Read more at the Financial Times, Reuters and AFP.
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Grand Forks Columbia 4 closes
GRAND FORKS, ND — The Carmike Columbia 4 closed its doors over the weekend. A sign posted in the theater’s window announced its closure and thanked customers for 25 years of patrongage.
The theater originally showed first-run films, but converted to a dollar theater last February and removed its digital projectors due to competition from its own nearby Carmike 10 and the River Cinema 12 in the Riverwalk Mall in downtown East Grand Forks.
Read more in Biz Buzz.