Comments from MPol

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MPol
MPol commented about Indie cinemas pack houses on Jan 28, 2009 at 10:00 pm

Hi, newt:

I realize that it’s far easier said than done. Didn’t mean to sound flip about it.

I, too, think it’s great that some of the indy movie theatres are still functioning, which is partly why I hold an annual membership at a favorite theatre of mine that’s an indy theatre.

Have you ever thought of having two classic films a month instead of only one? Just curious, because, with the way that lots of movies are now, many people are interested in the older classic films.

MPol
MPol commented about Ridgewood Theatre on Jan 28, 2009 at 5:49 pm

Hi, Peter. K—

Thanks very much. Was glad to be of some help.

BrooklynJim—you made a good point. Thanks.

MPol
MPol commented about Ridgewood Theatre on Jan 28, 2009 at 5:41 pm

Hi again, Peter . K.

You’re welcome. Glad I was able to be some help. Lincoln was fun to grow up in, and Ridgewood, Queens, NY sounds like it was too.

MPol
MPol commented about Indie cinemas pack houses on Jan 28, 2009 at 5:37 pm

Don’t know what to say, newt wallen, except keep on truckin'. you’ll hopefully strike pay-dirt if you keep adding your two cents. As some people say, if you keep hammering the nail on the head, sooner or later, it’s going to go in.

MPol
MPol commented about Ridgewood Theatre on Jan 28, 2009 at 5:34 pm

Also, Peter. K—Here’s something else I might add:

During the heyday of Urban Renewal, back in t he 1950’s and 1960’s, some of Boston’s communities were either completely bulldozed out of existence only to be replaced by not-so-attractive high-rise buildings, resulting in the displacement of hundreds, if not thousands of people, or were ghetto-ized by unscrupulous block-busting tactics. That, too, kindled my interest in communities like Ridgewood and other communities like it.

MPol
MPol commented about Indie cinemas pack houses on Jan 28, 2009 at 5:23 pm

Which place is that, newt wallen? Just curious.

MPol
MPol commented about Ridgewood Theatre on Jan 28, 2009 at 5:19 pm

Hi, Peter. K—

Ridgewood, Queens, and Lincoln, MA, were very, very different places to grow up. Whereas Ridgewood, (Queens), NY, seemed like a very urban area, the southern part Lincoln, MA, where I grew up, was a whole different kind of place—very wooded and idyllic, while the northern part of that town was very much like a typical suburban development—the houses smaller and much closer together. Lincoln was divided by Route 2.

Growing up in Lincoln, MA, I and afew of other kids on my street grew up playing hop-scotch, 10-20, hide-and-seek, “cowboys and indians”, “statue”, kickball, jump-rope and Chinese Jump-rope, particularly on summer days and evenings, too, until we were called in by our parents for dinner.

Often, too, we’d play on somebody’s back or front lawn, and, on snowy winter weekends and during school and holiday vacations, we’d go sledding on the street, or flying-saucering on our lawn, from morning until sunset. ice-skating, too, was a fun thing, though I was rather clumsy at it.

Bicycle riding was great, too, and swimming at a man-made pond near the Lincoln-Weston border was a popular past time, as well.

I first became interested in communities like Ridgewood (though I’d never heard of Ridgewood until I began posting here on CinemaTreasures), back in the mid to late 1970’s, when mandatory school busing took Boston by storm, and, when I began living away from home and coming in contact with all kinds of people, a number of who’d been caught up in Boston’s school busing controversy, and either were Boston public school students at the time, and/or who were parents with kids in the Boston Public School system at that time, or who’d been part of the gentrification movement. It was interesting to meet people who were caught up in that controversy, and I wanted to learn and understand as much as I could about people’s response to the controversey, and what made many of Boston’s communities tick. Doing my own research on this also helped, too. After that, although a full understanding has never been possible for me,
I went to our public schools for most of my years, and to a large suburban public high school.

MPol
MPol commented about Indie cinemas pack houses on Jan 27, 2009 at 7:00 pm

Oh, and I also might add that I’m glad to hear that attendance at these theatres have increased. Here’s keeping my fingers crossed for the good omen!

MPol
MPol commented about Indie cinemas pack houses on Jan 27, 2009 at 6:58 pm

Ahhhhh….love this photo of the Coolidge Corner Theatre, which, along with the Brattle, is my favorite movie theatre.

MPol
MPol commented about Ridgewood Theatre on Jan 27, 2009 at 6:46 pm

You’re welcome, Peter. K. Thanks for all the info on the Ridgewood community and the Ridgewood Theatre. Communities such as the Ridgewood and other places like it throughout the United States have interested me for a long time. I first became interested in communities like that back in the mid to late 1970’s.

Btw—yes, I did enjoy my visits to NYC for screenings of West Side Story, as well as the one stage play of WSS that I saw there back around Thanksgiving of 1980, at NYC’s Lincoln Center.

You’re a transplanted city guy who moved to the ‘burbs. I did the reverse; I’m a transplanted suburbanite who moved to the city more than 30 years ago and has never wanted to look back since.
Different strokes for different folks. When I read all the postings about Ridgewood, yes, it did convey to me much of the flavor of the Ridgewood community from 50 years ago right up to the present. I enjoyed reading it all, too.

MPol
MPol commented about Remembering Cinerama (Part 19: Boston) on Jan 27, 2009 at 11:27 am

Oh, btw, I did see “2001: A Space Odyssey” when it first came out 41 years ago. Good movie. I’ve seen it at least 2-3 times since, each time forgetting how freaky it is.

MPol
MPol commented about Ridgewood Theatre on Jan 27, 2009 at 11:20 am

Thanks, Peter. K.

Yup—I do like it here a great deal. You and your wife have a friend who lives in Lincoln, MA?!?. That’s my old hometown. It was a nice, idyllic place to grow up, but after a point, it no longer held anything for me, if one gets the drift. Lincoln, MA. has changed a great deal; there are a lot of quarter, half, and one-million dollar mcmansions that’ve gone up in that town. I do have friends who still live there, but they live in a very, very old house that my friend from high school and her family lived in when she and her siblings were growing up.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand: The Ridgewood Theatre looks like a wonderful theatre. Here’s hoping they don’t destroy the interior and make it into something like a department store or whatever.

MPol
MPol commented about Ridgewood Theatre on Jan 26, 2009 at 9:10 pm

Thanks, mrbillyc. It’s been interesting to read about how a theatre really was sort of a holding action of a community.

MPol
MPol commented about Remembering Cinerama (Part 19: Boston) on Jan 26, 2009 at 7:04 pm

That’s a good question, KingBiscuits. It wouldn’t be surprising, if that was the case.

MPol
MPol commented about Ridgewood Theatre on Jan 26, 2009 at 7:00 pm

I also might add, Peter. K, that our town didn’t have any movie theatre or anything like that to go to. We ended up going to movie theatres in other nearby towns and even downtown Boston to see movies.

MPol
MPol commented about Ridgewood Theatre on Jan 26, 2009 at 6:57 pm

Hi, Peter. K. Thanks for the compliment.

I’ve lived here in the Bay State all my life. I grew up in an idyllic suburb about 20 miles due northwest of Boston as a kid, and have lived in various places in and around Boston since the mid-1970’s. I presently reside in an artists' community in Somerville, MA., just outside Boston, and like it a lot.

Believe it or not, I have, on occasion, come to NYC (Manhattan) for screenings, and even a stage production of West Side Story.

MPol
MPol commented about Remembering Cinerama (Part 19: Boston) on Jan 26, 2009 at 12:04 pm

Glad to see that there’s now a Boston chapter of the Cinerama. I was too young to see most of those films, since I was a young preteen when most of them came out, but some of the other films that came out in the 1960’s I could’ve seen with no problems. I was a kid growing up in a suburb, so I didn’t get to go to movies as often as I would’ve if I’d grown up in or closer to the city. Too bad about the subway causing the theatre to vibrate. Scary! Didn’t know there were lines for refunds. Nowadays, one has to wait in line with the rest of them in order to get refunds. Wierd. Sign of the times, I guess.

MPol
MPol commented about Ridgewood Theatre on Jan 26, 2009 at 11:49 am

Since I don’t live in the NY area, I don’t really have a dog in this discussion, but, knowing me, I almost always have something or other to say, anyhow.

MPol
MPol commented about Ziegfeld Theatre on Jan 26, 2009 at 11:42 am

Giles: From what I understand (correct me if I’m wrong) is that there are some issues with the 70mm print of the film “West Side Story”: some of the channels or whatever are missing. I know nothing about it, but that’s what I read/heard. Glad that you enjoyed the new stage revival that you saw down in Washington, DC. Too bad if Tony was that bland. I heard a small radio commercial advertising the Broadway revival of West Side Story, with a little bit of Matt Cavenaugh’s singing; too much vibrato, and, often enough, one could sort of skip-rope through the vibratoes, because they were so wide, if one gets the drift.

William: You’re probably right about labor costs being why prices could only continue to go up, as opposed to coming down, especially with something like West Side Story. Unlike most musicals, West Side Story is far too special to have anything or anybody except a top-notch cast, orchestra and director. Otherwise, a musical such as this could be totally ruined.

LuisV: You’re right on that count, I think. From what I’ve heard, a lot of these long-running Broadway shows HAVE closed down, due to lack of buying from consumers. Too bad about that. The only thing about buying tickets online, however, is that one has to really KNOW the online venue that they’re using. A lot of these online ticket venues aren’t very secure. I’ve read/heard a number of stories about people buying tickets online for a show, concert, etc., because they’re anxious to get a discount on tickets, and end up being the victims of identity theft or whatever, because the online venues that they used turned out to be bogus websites. That’s why I’m not willing to do financial transactions online anymore than I can help, including purchase tickets. I have, on occasion, bought advance tickets online for an occasional movie, but that’s because I was thoroughly familiar with the venues that I used, due to their being from theatres that I frequently patronize and therefore am familiar with and know the staff pretty well.

Again though, LuisV, with a stageplay, I prefer to sit closer to the stage and not too far back, so yes, in that respect, I am somewhat fussier.

MPol
MPol commented about Ridgewood Theatre on Jan 26, 2009 at 11:17 am

I see your point, movie534. The “out with the old, in with the new” attitude frequently gets taken too far, especially nowadays, and I agree that many, if not most of these grand old movie palaces could’ve/should’ve been just renovated and restored, at a lesser cost than demolition, but sometimes, just sometimes, some changes are necessary. The newer, more comfortable chairs and stadium-type seating that’s present in some of the newer theatres, for instance, are an asset, which could bring in more money as well as audiences for movies. People like to be comfortable, as well, when they watch a movie. Make ‘em feel a little bit at home!

MPol
MPol commented about Majestic Theater on Jan 25, 2009 at 11:27 pm

I love that rounded marquee. It’s cool!

MPol
MPol commented about Ziegfeld Theatre on Jan 25, 2009 at 9:18 pm

Ouch!! That’s really too bad. Suppose we really do get in a bad, bad recession and the economy totally and completely tanks? They’ll be in trouble too, no?

MPol
MPol commented about Loew's Palace Theater on Jan 25, 2009 at 7:29 pm

Wow!! What a lot of movies that played at this theatre!! Too bad about what happened to it. It sounds as if the robbery and the shootings that ensued in its wake hastened its demise. What a shame.

At the risk of sounding obsessive, did the film West Side Story ever play there at all? Just curious.

MPol
MPol commented about Ziegfeld Theatre on Jan 25, 2009 at 7:19 pm

Hi, LuisV.

This:

“The playing of WSS at the Ziegfeld would be a wonderful complement to the stage production coming soon to the Palace. One generates interest in the other. ”

is something that I totally agree with, and which has always been the case. When the ORIGINAL Broadway stage version of West Side Story opened at NYC’s Winter Garden in late September 1957, toured a number of other large cities, including Boston, the release of the film version of WSS four years later helped popularize this great musical per se. So, in a way, it’s deja vu all over again, only the movie from 1961 is still around. Hopefully, there won’t be a remake of the film version of “West Side Story”, because THAT would be a disaster! The heart and soul would be cut right out of it!

I did see the movie “Hairspray” back in the late 1980’s, which I thought was lots of fun and enjoyed a great deal. Never having seen “In The Heights” on stage at all, I don’t have anything to compare it with if and when “Heights” comes out in film version. Since I don’t live in New York, I don’t get there very often. Lucky you, if you’re able to see that many Broadway shows. Somehow, I have the feeling that musicals aren’t like they used to be, but that’s a matter of taste, I guess. Come to think of it, though, whatever happened to Broadway musicals that originated in NYC’s Broadway going on tour in other bigger cities here in the United States? That’s how it used to be. I’d love to see the Broadway revival of WSS come to Boston, the way the ORIGINAL Broadway stage play of WSS did, but that’s just me.

What are the chances of prices coming down if people DON’T boycott? Just curious.

MPol
MPol commented about Mighty Wurlitzer is star of Paramount's Silent Movie Mondays on Jan 25, 2009 at 11:46 am

Sounds cool, even though I generally lean more towards the “talkies”.