Ziegfeld Theatre

Thanks, Bill, I appreciate your comment. I hope more people will decide they want to see a movie at the wonderful Ziegfeld.

Just published! My report on “Interstellar” at the Ziegfeld. Thanks to Joe Masher who commented above for the decision to employ the curtains- both of them! And, yes, let’s hope more 70mm films such as The Hateful Eight are showcased at the Ziegfeld. http://www.in70mm.com/news/2014/ziegfeld/index.htm

Given the good response to Interstellar here, I hope the Ziegfeld also gets The Hateful Eight next year. Seems like a perfect fit for the 70mm roadshow release Tarantino is planning.

Thanks, Vito, for all the cue info. “Cue” is the word I was looking for! I actually tried to count them to see how many reels “Interstellar” would be, but I lost track somewhere after Reel 5.

Bill you understand the reason the cues appear oval on 35mm anamorphic prints and round on 70mm is that they are not photographed in and both 35mm and 70mm have round cues cut or punched into the original or negative so when the cues on 35mm are projected thru an anamorphic lens they appear oval where as the 70mm cues are round since 70mm is not anamorphic. You might notice that all in black and white movies the cues are always black that’s because when a cue is punched into the negative it will appear black in the print and with color prints the bath in development process makes the color of the cue; with Technicolor the cues will almost appear red were as Eastman color they turn up purple or green. I should mention that at one time The cues were added by the negative cutter along with the leaders I assume the same is true today but not sure of that. In addition projection rooms all have cue markers which allow for cues to be added to the print; sometimes a projectionist will go over the cues on the print with a scriber to make them easier to see especially on dark scenes something that has always been frowned upon by most decent projectionists those added cues to the print were also used to mark when to close the curtains and were usually at the bottom right corner as opposed to the changeover cues which are of course at the top of the frame. For a long time changeover cues ruled my professional life being very careful not to blink to long and miss one which was something you just could not do. Heaven forbid!

I’ve seen that too, long ago. There was nothing like that at the Ziegfeld, but the film print did have the circular 70mm reel change markings, as opposed to 35mm anamorphic widescreen markings which are oval. It was good to see the circles again after a very long time.

There was no “preshow” at the Ziegfeld until Clearview, the last operator before now. Even with a preshow, the curtains were still used. I last saw them used in 2009, for “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” I didn’t visit until 2012 as I was seeing movies that were still projected in 35mm elsewhere. I very much like sitting there looking at the closed curtain, so I was also quite happy on Saturday as the curtain was closed for awhile before the preshow began. And, on Saturday, after the preshow, the audience applauded when the curtains closed. The curtains then reopened…and the 70mm show began.

If all goes well I will be at the 245 show on Tuesday. Cant wait

Went to the 2:45 show this afternoon with three friends who hadn’t been to the Ziegfeld in at least 9 years, since Revenge of the Sith. They all enjoyed the movie, and understood it better than I did. This was actually my third time seeing it – the first time I was totally baffled. Now I’ve made my peace with it and see it for the good movie it is.

I’d like to second what Luis said about the curtains. Funny how such a simple thing can add so much good feeling to the show. In fact, they were closed when we came in, which is unusual. There are usually commercials being played at that time. Seeing those beautiful gold curtains while walking in was like going back to the ‘70s in a black hole time warp.

Why is the use of the curtains not a consistent policy? My experience of visiting this venue was one of “why bother” when I entered the auditorium to be confronted by a blank screen. As to all the techno-heads, the average cinema-goer would have no idea whether or not the image on the screen was 35mm/70mm/digital, so apart from a “very” limited number of “techno heads” will the average customer give a damn?. I found my visit to be one of disappointment, and cannot believe that so many are passionate for what is a very basic auditorium, with no consistency of offering “showmanship”.

6:45pm went smoothly. Very immersive, my only complaint was the sound being too strident, a typical Nolan trait. Hardly any dirt, and 100x superior to the 35mm version.

Also I didn’t see the vertical scratch that Tweeter was talking about.

Going tonight! Does anyone know if Into The Woods will open at The Ziegfeld (as most musicals do)?