Good points, Ian M. Judge. As a person who goes to the Coolidge quite a bit and holds a yearly membership there, I’m fully aware of that. it’s dlear that digital cinema definitely has its problems, as many other posts here on this site suggest.
I only wish that the Coolidge would get more 70mm film features, but I guess that’s just me.
The recent Harvard vs. Yale game was on at both the Brattle Theatre, and then the Coolidge Theatre recently. So, yeah, I guess 3-D Sports, as well as sports being shown on an ordinary big screen movie theatre is another order of the day.
Oh, wow!! I don’t live anywhere in the NY/NJ area, but I, too remember briefly seeing scenes from a drive-in movie from the highway while driving on or home from a family trip somewhere. Sure wish I could someday see West Side Story at a drive-in theatre. It must’ve been fantastic.
I wholeheartedly agree, movie534. How I wish this could come to the Boston area, and also include such great, golden oldie-but-goody classics such as West Side Story, Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia and many others.
Tim O'Connor and jnjeisen: you’ve both made some good points.
The multiplex cinemas have become a staple of the American movie experience and they’re also where the money is…that’s true. However, jnjeisen, the reasons that you point out above are what have turned a great many people (myself included) to going to these multiplexes. More to the point, the multiplex cinemas, with rare exceptions, often tend to play much schlockier films
Regarding rude, cellphone using patrons, sticky floors, etc., I have found these to be considerably less of a problem in a true-blue movie palace than in the multiplex cinemas.
Tim: I also agree with your points about embracing the multiplex cinemas being counterproductive to the classic movie palaces trying to stay afloat in today’s market, and about this site’s helping to preserve these great movie palaces.
The Somerville Theatre, in Davis Square, Somerville, MA has a policy of NOT letting children under 8 years of age into their evening screenings due to their propensity for making noise. The more I think about it, the more I think that it’s probably a good pollicy. Young children and infants don’t belong in movies, but, even though I’m not a parent, I can understand why parents of infants and young children don’t want to always get stuck at home with their kid(s), and want to do something else once in awhile. However, a number of theatres do have matinee afternoon showings for parents with infants, and I welcome that change even though I’m not a parent.
I know I’m waaaaaayyyy late in responding here, but the fact that this kind of illegal piracy of movies is allowed to occur at all is a complete and total disgrace. Yes, I really think that it has helped promote the slow death of cinema and the movie business as we all know it. I thank my lucky stars that I’ve gotten to experience great movies on the great big wide movie theatre screens both before and after this kind of illegal piracy of films began taking place. If not for the few movie palaces left here in the United Staes, including the Brattle and the Coolidge, both of which I hold memberships to, I’d probably never, ever see any of my alltime favorite films, including my real favorite, West Side Story, on the great big, wide movie theatre screen again. Thank heavens I’ve got a fuel-efficient ca(A Honda Civic Hybrid), so I’ve been able to make occasional road trips to neighboring states to see a West Side Story screening, too, and not feel bad about using the gas because I don’t drive long distances that much, and my car is fuel-efficient.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand: Now, people are downloading movies on their computers, iPods, etc, or taping them in theatres on occasion, which strikes me as rather parasitic, imho. It’s a case of wanting something for nothing. I honestly wish they’d prohibit this kind of piracy of films, and I often find myself cursing the day that the SCOTUS voted to allow videos to be made of movies.
What a spectacular-looking theatre, both inside and out!! Too bad about the occasional problems with the film, etc. and the lighting. Is there a way to fix it? Just curious. I don’t reside in S. F., or anywhere on the West Coast, but if was a S. F. resident, or West Coast resident, I’d be all ears, if one gets the drift.
“A major component to the ultimate theatrical experience is a wide screen. Yes, the bigger the better is good in this case, too. It would be great if every multiplex had at least ONE auditorium with an Ultra screen or similar”
What a beautiful-looking theatre!! Looks like another cool movie palace for the likes of great golden oldie-but-goody classics such as Dr. Zhivago, West Side Story, Sound of Music, and many others.
I know I’m somewhat late in responding to your post, Simon Overton, but the Waltham Cinemas 1 & 2
complex was located in the Route 128/Winter Street area, pretty much just off of Route 128.
But AlAlvarez, this is the United States and not Britain. Whether people care to believe it or not, sprinklers can be and often enough are a lifesaver, as well as a property saver.
Ian M. Judge, thanks for this. Really..thank you. This post says it all in a nutshell. Because of today’s commercialism of EVERYTHING, including the movie business, digital cinema is yet furthur evidence of that..and this coming from someone who admittedly doesn’t really know diddley-squat about the movie business, except for love of movies, especially older ones. Commercialism, imo, has removed pretty much all understanding of the magical quality of seeing real films at real movie palaces, as opposed to the antiseptic-looking multiplex cinemas that continue to dot the landscape of the USA and play mostly schlocky movies of today.
I would supposed that there may be advantages and disadvantages to both film and digital, but I’d hate to see the revival movie houses, such as Brattle, Somerville, etc., go the way of cinema heaven.
The IOKA looks like a beautiful little theatre, both inside and out. As a movie buff who resides an hour or two south of the MA/NH border, it’s sad to read/hear of yet another movie venue closing. Abiding by the safety code rules, however, really is of utmost importance, though, whether it be a theatre or a nightclub.
Could some of the great, golden-oldie-but-goody classics such as West Side Story, Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, to name afew, be re-printed, cleaned up , remastered and put on digital 3D projection? Just curious, because that might be interesting.
Children barred from most theatres? That I didn’t know about, because I recall going to a number of movies in theatres when I was a pre-teen, in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, accompanied by my parents, of course.
I think that it’s criminal to take movies, burn them on DVD’s, and sell them on the streets to people. it’s disgusting. That being said, I curse the day that the SCOTUS voted to allow all this to happen by voting to permit videotaping and VCR playing of ordinary movies, whatever they may be.
FilmNoir1944: I don’t reside in, nor have I ever resided anywhere in NJ, including Maplewood, but I think that this:
“ The only thing that will motivate them to go to the theatres again are large high quality event pictures—an animated family picture, an excellent horror picture, a restored classic which baby boomers want to see and share with a house full of other boomers. This is what I predict will happen to the Maplewood Theatre. I’m hoping that it will happen faster than we think.”
is right on the money, and, if yours (and mine) prediction is correct, it will not only happen to the
Maplewood Theatre in New Jersey, but to various movie palaces throughout the country.
The Loews Jersey looks like a spectacular movie theatre, both inside and out. At the risk of sounding somewhat obsessive, what would be the chances of showing something such as West Side Story, Dr. Zhivago, Sound of Music, or many other favorite classics there, including Lawrence of Arabia? just curious, because Loews Jersey looks like a perfect movie palace for all of these great films.
Good points, Ian M. Judge. As a person who goes to the Coolidge quite a bit and holds a yearly membership there, I’m fully aware of that. it’s dlear that digital cinema definitely has its problems, as many other posts here on this site suggest.
I only wish that the Coolidge would get more 70mm film features, but I guess that’s just me.
I wish they’d come to the Boston area somewhere. I’d pay to watch afew of them that sound really appealing.
The recent Harvard vs. Yale game was on at both the Brattle Theatre, and then the Coolidge Theatre recently. So, yeah, I guess 3-D Sports, as well as sports being shown on an ordinary big screen movie theatre is another order of the day.
Oh, wow!! I don’t live anywhere in the NY/NJ area, but I, too remember briefly seeing scenes from a drive-in movie from the highway while driving on or home from a family trip somewhere. Sure wish I could someday see West Side Story at a drive-in theatre. It must’ve been fantastic.
Jonathan:
I know that there are new 70mm prints of West Side Story and Lawrence of Arabia.
Fairly recently, West Side Story played at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre on a least a couple of occasions.
Lawrence of Arabia’s played in a number of places, too, recent.y
I wholeheartedly agree, movie534. How I wish this could come to the Boston area, and also include such great, golden oldie-but-goody classics such as West Side Story, Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia and many others.
Tim O'Connor and jnjeisen: you’ve both made some good points.
The multiplex cinemas have become a staple of the American movie experience and they’re also where the money is…that’s true. However, jnjeisen, the reasons that you point out above are what have turned a great many people (myself included) to going to these multiplexes. More to the point, the multiplex cinemas, with rare exceptions, often tend to play much schlockier films
Regarding rude, cellphone using patrons, sticky floors, etc., I have found these to be considerably less of a problem in a true-blue movie palace than in the multiplex cinemas.
Tim: I also agree with your points about embracing the multiplex cinemas being counterproductive to the classic movie palaces trying to stay afloat in today’s market, and about this site’s helping to preserve these great movie palaces.
The Somerville Theatre, in Davis Square, Somerville, MA has a policy of NOT letting children under 8 years of age into their evening screenings due to their propensity for making noise. The more I think about it, the more I think that it’s probably a good pollicy. Young children and infants don’t belong in movies, but, even though I’m not a parent, I can understand why parents of infants and young children don’t want to always get stuck at home with their kid(s), and want to do something else once in awhile. However, a number of theatres do have matinee afternoon showings for parents with infants, and I welcome that change even though I’m not a parent.
I know I’m waaaaaayyyy late in responding here, but the fact that this kind of illegal piracy of movies is allowed to occur at all is a complete and total disgrace. Yes, I really think that it has helped promote the slow death of cinema and the movie business as we all know it. I thank my lucky stars that I’ve gotten to experience great movies on the great big wide movie theatre screens both before and after this kind of illegal piracy of films began taking place. If not for the few movie palaces left here in the United Staes, including the Brattle and the Coolidge, both of which I hold memberships to, I’d probably never, ever see any of my alltime favorite films, including my real favorite, West Side Story, on the great big, wide movie theatre screen again. Thank heavens I’ve got a fuel-efficient ca(A Honda Civic Hybrid), so I’ve been able to make occasional road trips to neighboring states to see a West Side Story screening, too, and not feel bad about using the gas because I don’t drive long distances that much, and my car is fuel-efficient.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand: Now, people are downloading movies on their computers, iPods, etc, or taping them in theatres on occasion, which strikes me as rather parasitic, imho. It’s a case of wanting something for nothing. I honestly wish they’d prohibit this kind of piracy of films, and I often find myself cursing the day that the SCOTUS voted to allow videos to be made of movies.
What a spectacular-looking theatre, both inside and out!! Too bad about the occasional problems with the film, etc. and the lighting. Is there a way to fix it? Just curious. I don’t reside in S. F., or anywhere on the West Coast, but if was a S. F. resident, or West Coast resident, I’d be all ears, if one gets the drift.
This:
“A major component to the ultimate theatrical experience is a wide screen. Yes, the bigger the better is good in this case, too. It would be great if every multiplex had at least ONE auditorium with an Ultra screen or similar”
would be a cool idea, JodarMovieFan. Thanks.
What a beautiful-looking theatre!! Looks like another cool movie palace for the likes of great golden oldie-but-goody classics such as Dr. Zhivago, West Side Story, Sound of Music, and many others.
I know I’m somewhat late in responding to your post, Simon Overton, but the Waltham Cinemas 1 & 2
complex was located in the Route 128/Winter Street area, pretty much just off of Route 128.
But AlAlvarez, this is the United States and not Britain. Whether people care to believe it or not, sprinklers can be and often enough are a lifesaver, as well as a property saver.
Excellent points well taken, CinemarkFan. Thanks.
Ian M. Judge, thanks for this. Really..thank you. This post says it all in a nutshell. Because of today’s commercialism of EVERYTHING, including the movie business, digital cinema is yet furthur evidence of that..and this coming from someone who admittedly doesn’t really know diddley-squat about the movie business, except for love of movies, especially older ones. Commercialism, imo, has removed pretty much all understanding of the magical quality of seeing real films at real movie palaces, as opposed to the antiseptic-looking multiplex cinemas that continue to dot the landscape of the USA and play mostly schlocky movies of today.
I would supposed that there may be advantages and disadvantages to both film and digital, but I’d hate to see the revival movie houses, such as Brattle, Somerville, etc., go the way of cinema heaven.
The IOKA looks like a beautiful little theatre, both inside and out. As a movie buff who resides an hour or two south of the MA/NH border, it’s sad to read/hear of yet another movie venue closing. Abiding by the safety code rules, however, really is of utmost importance, though, whether it be a theatre or a nightclub.
Sounds cool!!
What a sweet-looking theatre! Are there any photos of the interior?
Could some of the great, golden-oldie-but-goody classics such as West Side Story, Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, to name afew, be re-printed, cleaned up , remastered and put on digital 3D projection? Just curious, because that might be interesting.
Children barred from most theatres? That I didn’t know about, because I recall going to a number of movies in theatres when I was a pre-teen, in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, accompanied by my parents, of course.
Peter K and East Coast Rocker;
I think that it’s criminal to take movies, burn them on DVD’s, and sell them on the streets to people. it’s disgusting. That being said, I curse the day that the SCOTUS voted to allow all this to happen by voting to permit videotaping and VCR playing of ordinary movies, whatever they may be.
FilmNoir1944: I don’t reside in, nor have I ever resided anywhere in NJ, including Maplewood, but I think that this:
“ The only thing that will motivate them to go to the theatres again are large high quality event pictures—an animated family picture, an excellent horror picture, a restored classic which baby boomers want to see and share with a house full of other boomers. This is what I predict will happen to the Maplewood Theatre. I’m hoping that it will happen faster than we think.”
is right on the money, and, if yours (and mine) prediction is correct, it will not only happen to the
Maplewood Theatre in New Jersey, but to various movie palaces throughout the country.
The Loews Jersey looks like a spectacular movie theatre, both inside and out. At the risk of sounding somewhat obsessive, what would be the chances of showing something such as West Side Story, Dr. Zhivago, Sound of Music, or many other favorite classics there, including Lawrence of Arabia? just curious, because Loews Jersey looks like a perfect movie palace for all of these great films.
Since when have hotels become more popular than and started to take the place of cinemas? (LOL)