From what I’ve heard/read, the movie “Frost/Nixon” has been overrated. It only got 2 ½ stars in a Boston Phoenix review in the movies section. That says something right there, imho.
“It seems we live in a complex & technical age where creativity and imgination are secondary to profit.”
is a big part of the rub, ERD. No wonder showbiz, including Hollywood, etc., can’t think of anything creatively new and feel the need to do re-makes of old stuff, which destroys the original, or makes cheap, gaudy stuff, on the long run.
The only trouble is though, Don S., is that there are so few art house/indy theatres left here in our area, and in the United States at large that there’s little, if any choice for many people, unless they want to sit home and watch older classics or whatever on TV. That’s one thing I don’t want to be relegated to doing, which is why I hold memberships to both of the art house/indy theatres that’re left around my neck of the woods.
“ I remember the stage shows from the 1950’s through the 70’s. Although only about 45 minutes long, it had a showmanship element that is missing today.”
is all too true, and it has carried over into almost everything, not just the stage shows at Radio City Music Hall.
I saw the film “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” in the now-demolished VINTAGE Embassy Theatre in Waltham, MA., back in 1963, when it first came out, and loved it. Not sure how I’d feel about it if I saw it today, however.
“ If you go out to dinner one night at, say, The Four Seasons restaurant in NYC, you’re going to be sharing the room with a more respectable, dignified and considerate group of people – THAT’S your independent or art house movie theater.
If you go out to dinner one night at McDonalds, you’re going to be sharing the room with the more common, inconsiderate, intolerable group of people – THAT’S your average multiplex."
is precisely WHY, with rare exceptions, that I avoid the average multiplex cinemas.
Btw, Don S:
Who are you talking to? Just curious, because I have found a solution to the problem and I DO use it.
Cutting 30 whole minutes out of an epic/classic movie?!? That’s an atrocity in itself! What a bummer!
Anyway, hope everybody who attends the screening of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad,l Mad World” enjoys themselves! I saw it when it first came out. It’s a neat film!
Thanks for the link, CWalczak. Here’s wishing that there was a theatre here in the Boston area that could/would show 70mm Classic films. I’d go in a heartbeat, if you all know what I mean! :)
“I totally agree. Hollywood films are for the mostly trash this summer; the choices have been dreadful.”
has been the case for much longer than just this summer.
I know what you mean, Love moviies-hate going. This:
“I’ve been to two movies this summer – THE HURT LOCKER (only okay) and PUBLIC ENEMIES
(excellent!)”
is exactly why I mostly go to see the great older classic movies when they come around. There are afew new ones that I’ve seen, but I read reviews and synopses about them VERY carefully before I choose a newer film to see.
“it seems to me that most of today’s moviegoing audience (young and older) don’t even BOTHER to take in the experience of going to the movies anymore. It seems that they would rather spend their two hours talking, texting or scrolling their brightly-lit and very distracting cell phones – this after paying $10.00 or more for their ticket!
Somebody, anybody, please tell me the logic in this! Why would you bother going to a movie theater to do these distracting things when you can do them in the privacy of your home for free??"
definitely rings true, Love movies-hate going!, I think that it’s far more true in the great big multiplex cinemas dotting the nation’s state and interstate highways. I think that the parents drop their kids off at the movies at the multiplex cinemas for afew hours so they can get them out of their hair for awhile.
However, Love movies-hate going!, I find that to be far less true in the arthouse repertory movie theatres that show far better movies than the schlock that most movie theatres play today.
Again, to reiterate the position(s) on the subject of 3-D, it sort of seems to me that movies that’re well-photographed, with great style, substance, with much action and a great story behind them really don’t NEED to be converted into 3-D.
Why would anybody WANT to convert such great classics as West Side Story, Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago, Sound of Music and a whole bunch of other great classics into 3-D? It beats me….I don’t think it’s necessary.
I don’t remember if I saw the film “Breaking Away” or not, but I DO remember seeing “Chariots of Fire” and “Diner”, as well as “Raging Bull” and “American Graffiti” Although none of them were “West Side Story”, they were all cool movies, which I’ve admittedly seen more than once. Too bad about the dearth of independent art-house movie palace theatres that there are to show such movies as the above-mentioned movies in.
I believe that both the audiences AND the Hollywood studios have changed. Popular culture has been cheapened and coarsened, especially over the past 25-30 some odd years, and most of today’s movies reflect on that. There’s lots of expensive special gadgetry being used to make overly graphic and intense special affects, things exploding on the screen too often, long on style (if one can actually call it that), and short on substance, and lacking any kind of real plot or story behind them. This is generally found at most of the multiplex cinemas that dot the USA landscapes and are located just off of State or Interstate highways.
All of the above having been said, I presently hold memberships at the Coolidge Corner Theatre and the Brattle Theatre, where I prefer to see movies more to my liking, and where the audience, in general, is far better behaved and not inclined to be rude and use their cellphones, or talk, etc. throughout the movie. I believe that the above-mentioned behaviours occur due to the quality of most movies these days, and, especially in the large multiplex theatres, management and the people working there don’t make the effort to reign in that kind of behaviour and warn or toss out disruptive audience members.
Sure, there were plenty of junkier films back in the ‘60’s and '70’s, but there were many more good movies back then, too. I also think, however, that the decline of movies began in the 1970’s, continued throughout the 1980’s, and continued throughout the 1990’s and through the present.
Hi—I just received the same email, rvb. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make the candlelight vigil and meeting because I don’t live in the area. All the best of luck in your fight to save the theatre.
Well: At the risk of sounding overly obsessive, could films such as West Side Story, Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago, Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz and many other great, golden oldie-but-goody movie classics/epics be done in 3-D, and how would they make out if they were?
The good old Orson Welles Cinema! Ahhhh…who could forget it? Another one bit the dust ages ago, so there’s fewer movie art-repertory movie houses in this area as a result.
What a FABULOUS-looking theatre!! It looks like the perfect theatre for all kinds of concerts, movies, and even live stage musicals, operettas and operas! Hope it stays open!
Other great-looking palace theatres I’ve been to are: the Ziegfeld and Radio City Music Hall, both in NYC, the Providence Performing Arts Center, the Albany Palace Theatre, and, more recently, the Music Hall, up in Portsmouth, NH.
The Brattle Theatre, the Coolidge Corner Theatre and the Somerville theatre are all cool-looking theatres too, which also have the aura of real neighborhood/community theatres.
From what I’ve heard/read, the movie “Frost/Nixon” has been overrated. It only got 2 ½ stars in a Boston Phoenix review in the movies section. That says something right there, imho.
This:
“It seems we live in a complex & technical age where creativity and imgination are secondary to profit.”
is a big part of the rub, ERD. No wonder showbiz, including Hollywood, etc., can’t think of anything creatively new and feel the need to do re-makes of old stuff, which destroys the original, or makes cheap, gaudy stuff, on the long run.
Okay. Thanks, Don S. I was just wondering.
The only trouble is though, Don S., is that there are so few art house/indy theatres left here in our area, and in the United States at large that there’s little, if any choice for many people, unless they want to sit home and watch older classics or whatever on TV. That’s one thing I don’t want to be relegated to doing, which is why I hold memberships to both of the art house/indy theatres that’re left around my neck of the woods.
What you’re saying is possible, Michael Coates.
Well, ERD,
Sadly enough, this:
“ I remember the stage shows from the 1950’s through the 70’s. Although only about 45 minutes long, it had a showmanship element that is missing today.”
is all too true, and it has carried over into almost everything, not just the stage shows at Radio City Music Hall.
I saw the film “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” in the now-demolished VINTAGE Embassy Theatre in Waltham, MA., back in 1963, when it first came out, and loved it. Not sure how I’d feel about it if I saw it today, however.
Your analogy is spot-on, Love movies-hate going!
This:
“ If you go out to dinner one night at, say, The Four Seasons restaurant in NYC, you’re going to be sharing the room with a more respectable, dignified and considerate group of people – THAT’S your independent or art house movie theater.
If you go out to dinner one night at McDonalds, you’re going to be sharing the room with the more common, inconsiderate, intolerable group of people – THAT’S your average multiplex."
is precisely WHY, with rare exceptions, that I avoid the average multiplex cinemas.
Btw, Don S:
Who are you talking to? Just curious, because I have found a solution to the problem and I DO use it.
Cutting 30 whole minutes out of an epic/classic movie?!? That’s an atrocity in itself! What a bummer!
Anyway, hope everybody who attends the screening of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad,l Mad World” enjoys themselves! I saw it when it first came out. It’s a neat film!
Woo-hoo, Stepale2!! All the best of luck to you!
Thanks for the link, CWalczak. Here’s wishing that there was a theatre here in the Boston area that could/would show 70mm Classic films. I’d go in a heartbeat, if you all know what I mean! :)
More to the point, BradE41, this:
“I totally agree. Hollywood films are for the mostly trash this summer; the choices have been dreadful.”
has been the case for much longer than just this summer.
I know what you mean, Love moviies-hate going. This:
“I’ve been to two movies this summer – THE HURT LOCKER (only okay) and PUBLIC ENEMIES
(excellent!)”
is exactly why I mostly go to see the great older classic movies when they come around. There are afew new ones that I’ve seen, but I read reviews and synopses about them VERY carefully before I choose a newer film to see.
While much of this:
“it seems to me that most of today’s moviegoing audience (young and older) don’t even BOTHER to take in the experience of going to the movies anymore. It seems that they would rather spend their two hours talking, texting or scrolling their brightly-lit and very distracting cell phones – this after paying $10.00 or more for their ticket!
Somebody, anybody, please tell me the logic in this! Why would you bother going to a movie theater to do these distracting things when you can do them in the privacy of your home for free??"
definitely rings true, Love movies-hate going!, I think that it’s far more true in the great big multiplex cinemas dotting the nation’s state and interstate highways. I think that the parents drop their kids off at the movies at the multiplex cinemas for afew hours so they can get them out of their hair for awhile.
However, Love movies-hate going!, I find that to be far less true in the arthouse repertory movie theatres that show far better movies than the schlock that most movie theatres play today.
Thanks again for the links, DJF7.
Again, to reiterate the position(s) on the subject of 3-D, it sort of seems to me that movies that’re well-photographed, with great style, substance, with much action and a great story behind them really don’t NEED to be converted into 3-D.
Why would anybody WANT to convert such great classics as West Side Story, Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago, Sound of Music and a whole bunch of other great classics into 3-D? It beats me….I don’t think it’s necessary.
Sounds like an interesting program. Way to go!!
Wow!! Glad you had a wonderful time despite your time in horrible traffic.
I don’t remember if I saw the film “Breaking Away” or not, but I DO remember seeing “Chariots of Fire” and “Diner”, as well as “Raging Bull” and “American Graffiti” Although none of them were “West Side Story”, they were all cool movies, which I’ve admittedly seen more than once. Too bad about the dearth of independent art-house movie palace theatres that there are to show such movies as the above-mentioned movies in.
I believe that both the audiences AND the Hollywood studios have changed. Popular culture has been cheapened and coarsened, especially over the past 25-30 some odd years, and most of today’s movies reflect on that. There’s lots of expensive special gadgetry being used to make overly graphic and intense special affects, things exploding on the screen too often, long on style (if one can actually call it that), and short on substance, and lacking any kind of real plot or story behind them. This is generally found at most of the multiplex cinemas that dot the USA landscapes and are located just off of State or Interstate highways.
All of the above having been said, I presently hold memberships at the Coolidge Corner Theatre and the Brattle Theatre, where I prefer to see movies more to my liking, and where the audience, in general, is far better behaved and not inclined to be rude and use their cellphones, or talk, etc. throughout the movie. I believe that the above-mentioned behaviours occur due to the quality of most movies these days, and, especially in the large multiplex theatres, management and the people working there don’t make the effort to reign in that kind of behaviour and warn or toss out disruptive audience members.
Sure, there were plenty of junkier films back in the ‘60’s and '70’s, but there were many more good movies back then, too. I also think, however, that the decline of movies began in the 1970’s, continued throughout the 1980’s, and continued throughout the 1990’s and through the present.
Thanks for the link, DJF7.
Thanks, rvb. Looking forward to reading it.
Hi—I just received the same email, rvb. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make the candlelight vigil and meeting because I don’t live in the area. All the best of luck in your fight to save the theatre.
Hi, JSA. Thanks for the info.
Well: At the risk of sounding overly obsessive, could films such as West Side Story, Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago, Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz and many other great, golden oldie-but-goody movie classics/epics be done in 3-D, and how would they make out if they were?
Just curious.
The good old Orson Welles Cinema! Ahhhh…who could forget it? Another one bit the dust ages ago, so there’s fewer movie art-repertory movie houses in this area as a result.
As I said, though, I still miss it.
What a FABULOUS-looking theatre!! It looks like the perfect theatre for all kinds of concerts, movies, and even live stage musicals, operettas and operas! Hope it stays open!
Other great-looking palace theatres I’ve been to are: the Ziegfeld and Radio City Music Hall, both in NYC, the Providence Performing Arts Center, the Albany Palace Theatre, and, more recently, the Music Hall, up in Portsmouth, NH.
The Brattle Theatre, the Coolidge Corner Theatre and the Somerville theatre are all cool-looking theatres too, which also have the aura of real neighborhood/community theatres.
Glad to hear/read about the Hollywood Theatre’s re-opening.