TCL Chinese Theatre
6925 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
6925 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
159 people
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Showing 426 - 450 of 1,675 comments
Well I went on the tour of the theater today. This is now a state of the art all purpose theater. We were not taken to the projection suite but even from the auditorium one could tell it was huge. The projection suite is two stories with IMAX projectors on the lower level and conventional projection systems on the upper lever. The screen is big and the sight lines are much better than before. We can hope that they show a mix of new films and some of the big screen classics. A good clean print of 2001 or Avatar and many of the other big screen classics would be great now and then.
Well it seems they removed most of the auditorium floor and the plenum chamber underneath.
You can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG3TWcRWHFk
Chris that youtube link doesn’t work it has been taken down by the user
They’d better not let ArcLight snatch IMAX films from under their noses. It’ll be a shame if they do.
In other news – here’s a time lapse video of the reconstruction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mWmeUsfnJE&feature=youtu.be
Yes the Seattle Cinerama is quite spectacular. Saw 2001 there in it’s Cinerama opening back in the day and wow! Just as good as any Imax. This theatre has been completely restored and plays both Cinerama, 70 mil. and 3D. And it has stars in the ceiling. LOL. The Chinese will be great again too.
So ArcLight just put tickets onsale for GRAVITY at every location but Hollywood. However, on their Facebook page, they wrote “*Hollywood tickets for "Gravity” will be on sale soon. Make sure to like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram to be the first to know!"
So I guess we’re still in the dark on whether there will be co-bookings when the Chinese gets the IMAX version.
Edward he said the EXSISTING I take that to mean the speakers that were allready in the theatre previously have been retained for standard non IMAX movies playing there, which makes sense considering they are still going to be playing regular movies as well. plus looking at the pictures from the media days the surrounds are in the same placement that they were at before the renovation
I think Escott meant to say SURROUND speakers instead of DOLBY speakers. Give him a break, Ed! :)
Mark: I have experienced The Cinerama back in Christmas 2005. An unforgettable experience!
Guess it doesn’t matter Dolby doesn’t make speakers. :|
The question is: will they use the masking for regular IMAX presentations (becoming the only IMAX theater in the world to do this, to my knowledge), or just for special presentations like premieres? The “no masking” craze on all premium-branded screens, not just IMAX, makes me think they like to keep the screen maximally opened up just to prove it’s there and is huge.
Cliffs, I was not referring to you. There are plenty of people scared of ANY change to the special place, and many who think it should somehow have been “preserved” as they first saw it! For a while I responded to these folks informing them that I doubt anyone alive remembers the original! The Chinese has been remodeled before many times, and it probably will be again!
This is a private business, and as much as some of us wished we owned it, we don’t! We are lucky that the current owners care as much as they do for both the legacy and the future of this important theatre!
By the way, if anyone wants to see progress photos by me and my fellow L.A. Historic Theatre Foundation photographers, check out our Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/groups/125430125723/
Thanks for the update Escott. I really hope it all works out. I am just sorry my next trip down to LA will be before it reopens. Chris: if you are ever in Seattle, give me a shout. The Cinerama awaits you.
Escott, I hope you’re not referring to me when you say someone will always find something to complain about. I’ve been a supporter of this plan since the tour in April pre-closing. I simply pointed out the differences in geometry between 1.43:1 and 1.90:1 and what that might mean in terms of traditional IMAX fare. That was oddly (and incorrectly) seen as bashing The Chinese by some in an argument that grew akin to someone denying it gets dark at night.
I’m excited to see The Chinese soar again and am even more excited by your first hand account. It sounds like they made all the right choices. Now let’s just hope they get all the IMAX bookings they can to keep that place packed week after week.
I was able to get inside the Chinese today, and it looks fantastic! This will be the premier place to see any movie, so of course they have moveable masking on sides and top and bottom as needed. The manager specifically talked to me about this, and said he has seen tests over the last few days of different movie formats and it looked great!
Existing Dolby speakers will be used, and additional IMAX speaker clusters have been added in the rear corners as well as a small read center speaker.
They are reusing the huge front curtain, and to extend it for the new height they have added a new section to the top.
The side curtains and silver murals on the side walls are still in place as before.
They are relighting the chandeliers so they will glow once again, using long-lasting LED bulbs. They were lowered to the seats when I was there.
The seats are luxurious red high backs, with a nice classical shape, not just a contemporary flat top.
The new carpet in the aisles is color matched to the original carpeting in the lobby. It is a nice pattern, featuring a lotus flower and swirls reminiscent of details in the lobby carpet, which has been carefully protected during construction.
As has been discussed, the stairs at the back of the house are removed so the last row is at lobby level as it was originally, and the slope goes down to the lowered floor in front of the screen, where they have replicated the Chinese dragon from the forecourt in the carpet, nice detail!
No matter what they do with the most famous movie palace in the world, SOMEONE will find something to complain about, but I think they have done a marvelous job, protecting all of the historic elements, and putting a lot of thought into new details! I am very much looking forward to next month’s opening!
Mark: Wizard of Oz looks like an IMAX only version, so 2D/3D for this one seems unlikely. We’ll know their plans for certain when Gravity opens in October.
What about the Chinese 6? Will it be playing the same titles in standard 2D or 3D that the Chinese will be playing in IMAX? Will the Arclight or El Capitan be sharing those titles like they did the last Terminator film? Are they doing anything to upgrade the Chinese 6? Have not been there in a couple years…
Hello-
I have to be frank and say i find much of the tech numbers mentioned a bit confusing. admittedly i’m no techno wiz. to which what I hope is a simple question- when the 3-D TWOO opens the end of Sept. will they be able to mask the screen so all we see is the movie? whatever the dimensions of a screen it drives me up a ****** wall when it is not properly masked and you see unused screen on the top, bottom or sides.
Sorry Chris my comment didnt come out correctly.
Re wording it “My point is that Into Darkness despite being filmed in IMAX for specific scenes didn’t fill the entire screen on the “TRUE” IMAX screens at the Rave or Citywalk.
And even Dark Knight Rises didnt fill it either at Citywalk IMAX as there was several feet of screen on both top and bottom durring the IMAX scenes as well when i watched it at Citywalk. I saw it twice there (because the first time I saw it they had the lights behind the screen on ruining the presentation, so I was given a pass for it again.
But your right Chris time to drop this conversation, just be happy we are going to see the chinese get the great booksings again with IMAX
Cliffs, I am not going to agree with you and definately not going to say your correct, but you have the right to think what ever you want and until we actually see a movie on the screen I have the right to disagree with you.
No, Robert. Saw TDKR at Rave 3 times. The IMAX camera scenes filled the entire screen. The 35MM scenes were the only ones with top & bottom blankage.
I suspect that the OZ screenings at the chinese will not be pillar boxed (and definately not cropped( As we allready know the chinese has top side and bottom masking for its IMAX screen so I suspect that the masking will be drawn in on the sides at the chinese for OZ
My point is that it didnt fill the entire screen on the “TRUE” IMAX screens at the Rave or Citywalk.
And even Dark Knight Rises didnt fill it either,there was several feet of screen both top and bottom that were blank durring the IMAX scenes for that as well.
here here i agree
Now that all is said and done and the screen is mounted, let us cease this great debate…until September 20th when OZ comes home to the Chinese!
Thank you Edward, that was the only point I was trying to make with regard to 1.43:1 on the new Chinese screen.
Robert, you are correct. Trek’s IMAX scenes were 1.66:1, still taller than the 1.90:1 ratio of the new digital screens, requiring either cropping top and bottom or pillarboxing on the sides (but in this particular case it was cropped top/bottom for digital). I don’t understand… does something start to burn if you simply say, “that’s correct?”