I won 2 tickets to a noon press screening at the Coronet in San Francisco from a local radio station (KYA I think) which was 2 days before the actual opening. I remember how loud the sound seemed and thought R2D2 and C3PO resembled Laurel and Hardy. At the conclusion of the film the audience went wild. It felt more like going to a major event than a movie, you could tell it was going tom be really popular. I went back several more times during the initial 7 month run and enjoyed it more each time. My friends and I would get stoned first, then sit in the front row.
The review of The Magic Flute that was in yesterday mornings SF Chronicle was mostly positive. It was shown in suburban Dublin at the Hacienda Crossing 20 as a HD simulcast. It was sold out. The reaction from movigoers was enthusiastic. The article said it was shown in 100 theatres in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan with 48 of the 60 US theatres sold out.
The new Westfield Center in downtown San Francisco (which has a new Century 7 screen multiplex) was built without any parking. Why? Because the Center faces Market St and the Powell St subway station which has 9 different lines running on 2 levels. The back of the Center looks like a “front” also and faces busy Mission Street with a Bloomingdales and closer to the theater’s actual location within the mall. At least a dozen bus lines use Mission St. Good urban planning can make a difference in not encouraging the use of the automobile in planning these large developements.
The “art” of seat saving now includes saving the seat for your hat, coat and umbrella. At a recent and very crowded showing of Casino Royale I heard numerous people ask a woman 2 rows back if the seat next to her was being saved (the one with her hat coat and umbrella). She said yes. After the movie started I noticed her hat, coat and umbrella having a wonderful time watching the new James Bond film.
The theater has been open about a week. The re-opening of the Cerrito finally brings a sense of place to an otherwise downtown-less downtown. Banners have been strung from the lightpoles and at night the marquee and verticle sign are a beacon along San Pablo Ave. Good luck to the Cerrito.
The Laurel (and the Carlos about a mile away) were my homes away from home while growing up in San Carlos in the 50’s and 60’s. I spent nearly every Saturday afternoon at one theater or the other. The “kiddie matinees” were quite popular. This was a top notch place on the Peninsula that showed a lot of top notch films. At one point I remember they had Korla Pandit (turbaned and bejewelled) playing organ concerts at intermission (don’t think the theater had an organ – he must have brought his own). The seats were large and comfortable.
This 4 screen theatre had 2 large screens and 2 screening rooms. The 2 large screen theatres had great sound and projection (showed 70mm prints occasionally).
I was being facetious August, by putting restoration in “ ”. I’m no expert but I would think (as a former painter) that a restoration would include first a good cleaning of the surface before putting on a preservative. As I said, I think they were in a hurry. The Castro is my neighborhood theatre and I feel lucky to be able to walk just a few blocks to see a film there. The multiplexes leave me cold also.
In 1989 I worked for a local paint store. Blumenfeld Enterprises managed the theatre then and had an account with the paint store. After the 1989 Loma Preita earthquake the Castro closed for several months to patch up the damage. One of the Blumenfeld’s painters came in one day and bought all the shellac we had off the shelf and asked me to order another 10 gallons. When he came in to pick up the rest of his order several days later I asked him what he was doing with the shellac (noting that the Castro was listed as the job site). He said they were “restoring” the tented plaster ceiling. I asked him what they used to clean off the decades of nicotine and grease, he said they were just applying the shellac as ordered by the foreman. I told him that shellac darkens with age, did they think about that? He said they were in a hurry to finish the work so that the theatre could reopen. If anything in the Castro is “tarnished” it’s the tented ceiling. It has gotten much darket than it was before the “restoration” and details that were clearly visible and much lighter are now hidden.
Just wanted to clarify for longislandmovies what I said about admission prices (I’m in SF) since I am the one that mentioned the $10 admission price. I resent paying so much for admission when the audience is noisy and cell phones keep going off. The commercials were the final nail in the coffin. My business goes now to usually single screen theatres that don’t show commercials and some multi screen theaters were the audience is at least respectful. The admission price is still $10 or close and I don’t mind paying it if I can sit in peace and not be constantly distracted. The multiplexes (AMC, Loews)are the biggest offenders and not what I would call “great theaters” with their box look and $1.98 decorating.
I hardly ever go to theatres anymore that show commercials. That pretty much means I see a lot of films at home on dvd. I’m one of the defectees that couldn’t stand the rude audiences, the cell phones andplunking down nearly $10 to get in. Instead,I patronize the theatres that don’t have commercials. Don’t believe I’ve ever seen a commercial at any of the Landmark Theatres, the Grand Lake in Oakland or the Castro in SF. The Kabuki has just been sold to Sundance, possibly another 8 commercial free screens. I don’t own a car so bought a good audio/video system but it’s not the same as sitting in a theatre with an audience. The commercials killed it for me.
I never received my agenda either and I’m thoroughly out of the closet and have been for 35 years. I think someone has got the gay agenda confused with the straight agenda. Brokeback was made by straight people for a straight audience. It’s theme (according to the straight author of the story) is homophobia in rural America. We see this form of psychological terrorism inflicted on Ennis at a young age and the repressed and fearful person that Ennis turns into. We see that it destroys his marriage— and the love of his life. Rural America (and the big cities for that matter) can still be a very dangerous place for gay people and this is not 1963. The high profile murder of Matthew Sheppard comes to mind. My own personal opinion is that I thought Brokeback was a far superior film to Crash although I liked it also. The fact that it didn’t really have an agenda is one of the reasons the film has done well in all it’s bookings nationwide and will probably have a huge dvd audience next month when it comes out again. Might not have won best picture but I think Brokeback, as a story and a film, will have a long life.
According to an AP story today Brokeback placed 9th in last weekend’s ticket sales but still has the highest per screen average at $10,330 per screen and is still going strong in every market it is playing in, despite it’s gay theme. Last night it won 4 Golden Globes including best picture, director, screenplay and song.
Wondering if jn’s theatre will show Transamerica (Felicity Huffman-Best Actress Golden Globe) – about a transexual or Copote (Phillip S Hoffman-Best Actor Golden Globe) about an openly gay writer??
Noticed that GabeDF’s Mar ll entry of the largest theatres ever built left out the Fox here in San Francisco. According to it’s listing on the Cinema Treasures website, the Fox had 4651 seats making it the 8th largest American theatre.
Bought a copy of this fantastic book this afternoon at my neighborhood Noe Valley bookstore. What a gem it is. I’ve lived in the Bay Area all my life and here in the City since 1969. So much has been lost but this book makes it all come back to life. Thanks so much to Jack Tillmany for his efforts.
The Castro Thetare is my neighborhood theatre. Not quite familiar with some on the list but just wanted to say that it is a 1920’s movie palace, still in pretty good condition and not part of a multi/mega plex. And still doing pretty good business.
Just wanted to add to brubec…..I’ve been going to the Grand Lake more and more to see the big screen movies (Aviator, Chicago, Lord of the Rings III, etc.) in the downstairs main theatre. Nice big screen and great accoustics and sound. It’s worth the trip to Oakland, easy freeway access, an easy ½ hour walk from the 19th St subway station, if you drive parking is fairly easy, especially on Sundays. Bargain prices at matinees are indeed bargains. Going to this theatre is fun!!
Re:Evolution concerns prompt censorship. This seems unbelievable. The right wing religious zealots can now dictate which movies are going to be shown in our theatres? This sounds more like communist Russia or China than the “land of freedom”. Can’t the people who don’t believe in evolution just skip this IMAX film and let the rest of the people in Texas and the Carolinas see it? The stranglehold these intollerant people have is going to suffocate the rest of us.
Went to the 3:45 matinee this afternoon. The projectionist Mr Garcia mentioned gave a short history of the theatre before the show started. He said the theatre would be open for a few weeks more but that Million Dollar Baby would be the theatre’s last film. In the 50’s Mike Todd supervised the installation of the current screen (for Todd AO presentation), the orginal “surround” speakers were in the ceiling and the 2 sound systems installed now are Dolby Digital and Sony’s SDDS. The projectionist said they use the Dolby Digital system because it “sounds better”. The projectors also were modified in the 50’s for 70mm showings so that the correct aspect ratios could be achieved. Unless somehow this theatre can be saved from the wrecking ball, in a few weeks we will just have our memories of the Coronet.
Went to the 3:45 matinee this afternoon. The projectionist came down to the front of the auditorium and gave a short history of the theatre then told the audience that Million Dollar Baby would be the last film shown there and that the closing date would be in the next “couple of weeks”.
The first time I went into the Coronet was during the long run reserved seat engagement of My Fair Lady. The top of the marquee was festooned with plastic flowers and I believe flags of many countries sprouted from the flower baskets. All the seats had clean white covers over the tops of the seatbacks. The house curtain was a deep yellow and besides the huge screen the Coronet had about the best sound system in the City. Going to the Coronet was an event. Over the years I’ve seen many films there. The last time I went in some jerk sitting behind me yacked on his cell phone until 3 of us asked him to shut up. They didn’t even use the deep yellow curtain anymore – it was permanantly open. The show started with a bunch of commercials. It was sad to see the theatre go down the tubes. It’s corporate (don’t care) ownership was showing very badly.
Seems like it would be economic suicide to change the programming to the point that people would stop going. The Nassers have owned the theatre for decades, and I doubt they want to see it close due to a lack of patronage. I wonder if they are considering twinning or triplexing which was kicked around in the late 70’s or early 80’s. The theatre is a national historical landmark but don’t know it that protects the interior as well as the facade. There was a noisy demonstration in front of the theatre Saturday (18th)over the firing of Anita Monga and the hiring on an LA programmer who obviously doesn’t know the local film scene (according to an interview with him in a recent SF Chronicle column by Ruthe Stein – “The Movie Insider”). Time will tell whether his programming will bring movigoers into the Castro or whether it was the wrong employment decision. The “Film Noir” series that has been so popular at the Castro has pulled out and will be at the Balboa.
I won 2 tickets to a noon press screening at the Coronet in San Francisco from a local radio station (KYA I think) which was 2 days before the actual opening. I remember how loud the sound seemed and thought R2D2 and C3PO resembled Laurel and Hardy. At the conclusion of the film the audience went wild. It felt more like going to a major event than a movie, you could tell it was going tom be really popular. I went back several more times during the initial 7 month run and enjoyed it more each time. My friends and I would get stoned first, then sit in the front row.
The review of The Magic Flute that was in yesterday mornings SF Chronicle was mostly positive. It was shown in suburban Dublin at the Hacienda Crossing 20 as a HD simulcast. It was sold out. The reaction from movigoers was enthusiastic. The article said it was shown in 100 theatres in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan with 48 of the 60 US theatres sold out.
The new Westfield Center in downtown San Francisco (which has a new Century 7 screen multiplex) was built without any parking. Why? Because the Center faces Market St and the Powell St subway station which has 9 different lines running on 2 levels. The back of the Center looks like a “front” also and faces busy Mission Street with a Bloomingdales and closer to the theater’s actual location within the mall. At least a dozen bus lines use Mission St. Good urban planning can make a difference in not encouraging the use of the automobile in planning these large developements.
The “art” of seat saving now includes saving the seat for your hat, coat and umbrella. At a recent and very crowded showing of Casino Royale I heard numerous people ask a woman 2 rows back if the seat next to her was being saved (the one with her hat coat and umbrella). She said yes. After the movie started I noticed her hat, coat and umbrella having a wonderful time watching the new James Bond film.
The theater has been open about a week. The re-opening of the Cerrito finally brings a sense of place to an otherwise downtown-less downtown. Banners have been strung from the lightpoles and at night the marquee and verticle sign are a beacon along San Pablo Ave. Good luck to the Cerrito.
The Laurel (and the Carlos about a mile away) were my homes away from home while growing up in San Carlos in the 50’s and 60’s. I spent nearly every Saturday afternoon at one theater or the other. The “kiddie matinees” were quite popular. This was a top notch place on the Peninsula that showed a lot of top notch films. At one point I remember they had Korla Pandit (turbaned and bejewelled) playing organ concerts at intermission (don’t think the theater had an organ – he must have brought his own). The seats were large and comfortable.
This 4 screen theatre had 2 large screens and 2 screening rooms. The 2 large screen theatres had great sound and projection (showed 70mm prints occasionally).
I was being facetious August, by putting restoration in “ ”. I’m no expert but I would think (as a former painter) that a restoration would include first a good cleaning of the surface before putting on a preservative. As I said, I think they were in a hurry. The Castro is my neighborhood theatre and I feel lucky to be able to walk just a few blocks to see a film there. The multiplexes leave me cold also.
In 1989 I worked for a local paint store. Blumenfeld Enterprises managed the theatre then and had an account with the paint store. After the 1989 Loma Preita earthquake the Castro closed for several months to patch up the damage. One of the Blumenfeld’s painters came in one day and bought all the shellac we had off the shelf and asked me to order another 10 gallons. When he came in to pick up the rest of his order several days later I asked him what he was doing with the shellac (noting that the Castro was listed as the job site). He said they were “restoring” the tented plaster ceiling. I asked him what they used to clean off the decades of nicotine and grease, he said they were just applying the shellac as ordered by the foreman. I told him that shellac darkens with age, did they think about that? He said they were in a hurry to finish the work so that the theatre could reopen. If anything in the Castro is “tarnished” it’s the tented ceiling. It has gotten much darket than it was before the “restoration” and details that were clearly visible and much lighter are now hidden.
This will leave only 5 single screen theaters in San Francisco, the Castro, Bridge, Clay, Red Vic and the Vogue.
Just wanted to clarify for longislandmovies what I said about admission prices (I’m in SF) since I am the one that mentioned the $10 admission price. I resent paying so much for admission when the audience is noisy and cell phones keep going off. The commercials were the final nail in the coffin. My business goes now to usually single screen theatres that don’t show commercials and some multi screen theaters were the audience is at least respectful. The admission price is still $10 or close and I don’t mind paying it if I can sit in peace and not be constantly distracted. The multiplexes (AMC, Loews)are the biggest offenders and not what I would call “great theaters” with their box look and $1.98 decorating.
I hardly ever go to theatres anymore that show commercials. That pretty much means I see a lot of films at home on dvd. I’m one of the defectees that couldn’t stand the rude audiences, the cell phones andplunking down nearly $10 to get in. Instead,I patronize the theatres that don’t have commercials. Don’t believe I’ve ever seen a commercial at any of the Landmark Theatres, the Grand Lake in Oakland or the Castro in SF. The Kabuki has just been sold to Sundance, possibly another 8 commercial free screens. I don’t own a car so bought a good audio/video system but it’s not the same as sitting in a theatre with an audience. The commercials killed it for me.
As of 9/6/06 the theatre sits with it’s verticle sign gone and the entire front boarded over – looks like the taqueria project was abandoned.
I never received my agenda either and I’m thoroughly out of the closet and have been for 35 years. I think someone has got the gay agenda confused with the straight agenda. Brokeback was made by straight people for a straight audience. It’s theme (according to the straight author of the story) is homophobia in rural America. We see this form of psychological terrorism inflicted on Ennis at a young age and the repressed and fearful person that Ennis turns into. We see that it destroys his marriage— and the love of his life. Rural America (and the big cities for that matter) can still be a very dangerous place for gay people and this is not 1963. The high profile murder of Matthew Sheppard comes to mind. My own personal opinion is that I thought Brokeback was a far superior film to Crash although I liked it also. The fact that it didn’t really have an agenda is one of the reasons the film has done well in all it’s bookings nationwide and will probably have a huge dvd audience next month when it comes out again. Might not have won best picture but I think Brokeback, as a story and a film, will have a long life.
According to an AP story today Brokeback placed 9th in last weekend’s ticket sales but still has the highest per screen average at $10,330 per screen and is still going strong in every market it is playing in, despite it’s gay theme. Last night it won 4 Golden Globes including best picture, director, screenplay and song.
Wondering if jn’s theatre will show Transamerica (Felicity Huffman-Best Actress Golden Globe) – about a transexual or Copote (Phillip S Hoffman-Best Actor Golden Globe) about an openly gay writer??
Noticed that GabeDF’s Mar ll entry of the largest theatres ever built left out the Fox here in San Francisco. According to it’s listing on the Cinema Treasures website, the Fox had 4651 seats making it the 8th largest American theatre.
Bought a copy of this fantastic book this afternoon at my neighborhood Noe Valley bookstore. What a gem it is. I’ve lived in the Bay Area all my life and here in the City since 1969. So much has been lost but this book makes it all come back to life. Thanks so much to Jack Tillmany for his efforts.
The Castro Thetare is my neighborhood theatre. Not quite familiar with some on the list but just wanted to say that it is a 1920’s movie palace, still in pretty good condition and not part of a multi/mega plex. And still doing pretty good business.
Just wanted to add to brubec…..I’ve been going to the Grand Lake more and more to see the big screen movies (Aviator, Chicago, Lord of the Rings III, etc.) in the downstairs main theatre. Nice big screen and great accoustics and sound. It’s worth the trip to Oakland, easy freeway access, an easy ½ hour walk from the 19th St subway station, if you drive parking is fairly easy, especially on Sundays. Bargain prices at matinees are indeed bargains. Going to this theatre is fun!!
Re:Evolution concerns prompt censorship. This seems unbelievable. The right wing religious zealots can now dictate which movies are going to be shown in our theatres? This sounds more like communist Russia or China than the “land of freedom”. Can’t the people who don’t believe in evolution just skip this IMAX film and let the rest of the people in Texas and the Carolinas see it? The stranglehold these intollerant people have is going to suffocate the rest of us.
Went to the 3:45 matinee this afternoon. The projectionist Mr Garcia mentioned gave a short history of the theatre before the show started. He said the theatre would be open for a few weeks more but that Million Dollar Baby would be the theatre’s last film. In the 50’s Mike Todd supervised the installation of the current screen (for Todd AO presentation), the orginal “surround” speakers were in the ceiling and the 2 sound systems installed now are Dolby Digital and Sony’s SDDS. The projectionist said they use the Dolby Digital system because it “sounds better”. The projectors also were modified in the 50’s for 70mm showings so that the correct aspect ratios could be achieved. Unless somehow this theatre can be saved from the wrecking ball, in a few weeks we will just have our memories of the Coronet.
Went to the 3:45 matinee this afternoon. The projectionist came down to the front of the auditorium and gave a short history of the theatre then told the audience that Million Dollar Baby would be the last film shown there and that the closing date would be in the next “couple of weeks”.
The first time I went into the Coronet was during the long run reserved seat engagement of My Fair Lady. The top of the marquee was festooned with plastic flowers and I believe flags of many countries sprouted from the flower baskets. All the seats had clean white covers over the tops of the seatbacks. The house curtain was a deep yellow and besides the huge screen the Coronet had about the best sound system in the City. Going to the Coronet was an event. Over the years I’ve seen many films there. The last time I went in some jerk sitting behind me yacked on his cell phone until 3 of us asked him to shut up. They didn’t even use the deep yellow curtain anymore – it was permanantly open. The show started with a bunch of commercials. It was sad to see the theatre go down the tubes. It’s corporate (don’t care) ownership was showing very badly.
Pam Trent’s just published “Midnight at the Palace” details the outrageous Cockettes shows held at the Palace in the early 70’s.
Seems like it would be economic suicide to change the programming to the point that people would stop going. The Nassers have owned the theatre for decades, and I doubt they want to see it close due to a lack of patronage. I wonder if they are considering twinning or triplexing which was kicked around in the late 70’s or early 80’s. The theatre is a national historical landmark but don’t know it that protects the interior as well as the facade. There was a noisy demonstration in front of the theatre Saturday (18th)over the firing of Anita Monga and the hiring on an LA programmer who obviously doesn’t know the local film scene (according to an interview with him in a recent SF Chronicle column by Ruthe Stein – “The Movie Insider”). Time will tell whether his programming will bring movigoers into the Castro or whether it was the wrong employment decision. The “Film Noir” series that has been so popular at the Castro has pulled out and will be at the Balboa.