Loew's Jersey Theatre

Theater Rat,
Nobody knows more than me what you are saying. I happen to love GWTW though Michael Feingold of the Village Voice who is probably the best drama critic in the New York area called it rascist sludge. And Stanley Kubrick ,one of my favorite directors, said Vivian Leigh gives absolutely the worst performance in a movie he has ever seen.
What they were watching I have no idea. In my estimation she gives one of the greatest of all time.
But paying to see a film even in a great theater like the Loew’s I want to see it as it was meant to be seen. Off colors are like hearing a soundtrack full of distortions.
The print of Guys and Dolls was great and it was in stereo!! I had never liked it before until I saw it at the Loews. And there was nobody there!
I had never liked Oklahoma and a friend forced me to see it in Todd AO and I was stunned. It suddenly became one of the great film musicals.
It’s just that seeing a bad print drives me crazy and I’d rather not see it at all.

The prints from the 68-80’s re-releases were Metrocolor prints.

Vincent…Im sure the people who obtain and screen the prints at the Jersey DO give a damn.Staying home and watching it on VHS or DVD just does not have the same impact as seeing it on the big screen. Most of the films that Ive seen at the Jersey over the last 2 years I do have on Vhs or Dvd, but there is just no comparison . This is a non-factor for me. I will pay to see a great film at a great theater.Besides that, I consider the Jersey experience a great night out, and one that I look fowards to when a fine show is planned.

Thanks Peter. I hope so. I remember when this film was re released in late 1974- possibly its last re-release before going to TV.I went to see it at the Highway and De Luxe theaters in Brooklyn- 2 long closed `nabes. The print was sharp and crisp and the Technicolor was beautiful.

Re GWTW…I understand from some of the posts that I`ve read that the version screened was not of the highest quality.I really would like to go see it at the upcoming screening. Can anybody out there help me and tell me just how good- or bad the last screening of it was? How was the color and the sound? I remember seeing it at Radio City Music Hall in the mid 70s.The print screened- wich was obviously “blown up” for the big screen looked like all the color was bleached out of it. Mostly dull reddish browns and yellows. I did not enjoy it at all. Hope the Jersey can do better and present this landmark film in a better print.

Yankeemike:March 30,31.Its on the Loews website.

Swampy

Yankeemike: Films were chosen strctly from strongest theater goer feedback,nothing else.Hence GWTW,BTTF & Casablanca.

Double Indemnity and Out of the past are the 2 films on tap so far for the noir weekend.The Lafayette in Suffern had a similar weekend scheduled in 06 but had to cancel for some reason.

The Gypsy comment above was great. Also Thoroughly Modern Mille, Music Man, Bye Bye Birdie, Viva La Vegas, Gigi and Love Me or Leave Me(with Doris Day and James Cagney!)are great choices.
But except for the real biggies like Wizard of Oz, My Fair Lady and Sound of Music there really doesn’t seem to be any real interest in musicals at the Loews Jersey which is a pity as they come off so much better in a movie theater than they do on DVD.
There are a number of musicals which I didn’t like very much on TV and just thought they weren’t very good, but after seeing then in a theater they were absolute knockouts.
Could it be that they think they wouldn’t draw a crowd or do they just don’t like musicals very much?

Star Wars is not available for theatrical booking at the moment. Lucas is working on converting all of them to fake 3D digital video, and these “new” versions are scheduled to play in Los Angeles and maybe New York in the springtime, prior to yet another home video release. In the mean time, they have ordered all the prints pulled from circulation.

/Mitchell
Loews Jersey Projection Staff

Another great Saturday night show – the January 27th screening of “The African Queen”. The audience was, as always, in excellent form – great turnout too (I estimated over 500 – the orchestra level was about half-full). The audience’s average age was skewed slightly higher than at other shows I’ve attended, but still a wide variety (quite a few seniors, but I also noticed many in their 20s and 30s and did not see anyone under adult age).

Titles were announced for the upcoming “Audience Choice” February shows. Based on the suggestions submitted, the most popular were chosen as follows:
“Casablanca"
"Gone with the Wind"
"Back to the Future” (an exception â€" chosen as a sci-fi substitute for “Star Wars”, because no prints are available for the scheduled screening date).

Theater Director Colin Egan also mentioned March’s “Film Noir Series”, although I cannot recall what, if any, titles were mentioned. Does anyone know what they are?

Incidentally, I notice previous posts mentioned Staten Island and Tony Bennett. Well, Staten Island has the renovated St. George Theater, and Tony just played there ! In fact I saw Gloria gaynor and “Mame” there. “Cats” (UGH !) is coming next year.

Divine â€"what better way to describe Dec. 9th’s screening of “The Sound of Music”? The previous comments summarized it quite well. I was nervous when I saw toddlers and children being wheeled, carried and cajoled into the theater…but surprise: not one incident involving crying or screaming children – an amazing feat for a three-hour-long screening! A few restless ones, on two occasions running up and down an aisle unaccompanied â€" a very minor distraction, but still one that none-the-less could have been easily prevented with a proper adult escort. Thank goodness for the “built-in” intermission. Overall, adults comprised the vast majority of the audience.

As for the adults, one or two brief instances of conversation that were obvious simply because the theater was so utterly quiet â€" and a few audience members apparently weren’t going to have any part of it â€"these elicited almost immediate responses of “shhhh!” â€" I love it! You will be hard-pressed to find better audiences or movies than at this theater. There is clearly an unwritten code of silence in operation here. This place is like a church â€" for movie worship, that is.

I wonder if theater director Colin Egan reads these posts, because in his welcome and introductory comments to the audience, he remarked how many people have mentioned that this was the very first film that they can recall seeing as a child, in a movie theater! I agree that although it is not a “holiday movie” in the true sense (which may account for the lighter-than-I-expected attendance), seeing it has become an intergenerational tradition shared by members of many families (“The Wizard of Oz” and “The Ten Commandments” are others that I can think of). After all, the holiday season is about memories, families and tradition. Well-stated.

Saw the “Sound Of Music” at the Sat. Dec 9th screening at the Jersey.What can I say. Another first rate presentation. There were a few minor glitches during the first few minutes, but nothing too serious.Went with my mother and my friend Phil Phil. There is absolutely no way I can ever enjoy this movie on TV again after seeing it on the big screen. We were all impressed by the presentation and the very well behaved audience. I think the Jersey should begin a new holiday tradition and screen this movie every year at this time.Truly excellent entertainment, especially when viewed in light of today`s hard sell high concept so called family fare.