outafocus, while I agree with a number of your points, I think that having commercials/previews of coming attractions on prior to the feature movie presentation is beneficial for the following reason(s):
I think that they’re probably put there for late stragglers, who, for whatever reason, arrive late, and there are a number of reasons for being late, at times:
A) Public transportation is often unpredictable
B) Parking can often be quite difficult to find.
C) Sometimes, a person just has a slow start.
D) Sometimes, traffic can be really slow and nasty, for whatever reason.
First of all, even though I don’t live in California, much less Oakland, that theatre’s another fantastic-looking theatre, inside and out.
Secondly, now that Bush and his Republican Administration will be out of office come late January 2009, I wonder if they’ll start playing more of the great, old classics in addition to the crappy stuff that gets played reglarly at these antiseptic-looking multiplex cinemas across the country. The old movie palaces that’re left should concentrate more on great older classic films.
This kind of thing is worrisome, imho. It makes me wonder what’s going to eventually happen with other single-screened movie palaces that have converted into multi-screen cinemas.
El Train, I wholeheartedly agree with you and East Coast Rocker about the average duration of in-theatre movies that’re released today. They don’t stay in the theatres, at least not for very long, and they get transferred to DVD in no time. It’s quite sad. When I was a kid growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, blockbuster films would run for months, or even years in many places. Yep…those days are gone forever.
Netflix sounds like the latest convenience and advancement in technology for home entertainment, as does blue-ray, etc, but they’re helping kill the cinema business. Very, very sad indeed. Warren, your post says it all…in a nutshell.
Wow!! Some of those cinema palaces in England would dwarf many, if not most of the remaining movie palaces here in the United States. Fantastic-looking cinema palaces they are, as is the Futurist Cinema.
I remember the Fresh Pond Drive-In quite well. When my sister and I were pre-teens (my brother hadn’t come along yet), our parents would pile everybody into the family Rambler Station wagon, take us out to dinner, and then to the Fresh Pond Drive-In, where my sister and I would lie in the back seat with pillows and blankets. We saw movies such as “The Mouse that Roared”, “Time Machine”, and a bunch of others.
The Loews Jersey looks like a beautiful movie palace of a theatre, and a perfect place to show great golden oldie-but-goody classic films such as Dr. Zhivago, West Side Story, Lawremce of Arabia and many others. However, I do agree that the photo on the front of this page doesn’t look like it does this theatre any justice.
I also might add that I noticed that the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles is scheduled to play the 70mm print of the film “West Side Story”. How cool. Sure wish the 70mm print of West Side Story could and would come to the Boston area!!
Simon, I wholeheartedly agree with you about West Side Story being a beautiful film, but I take issue with the idea that WSS is just a “teen” film. Imho, West Side Story is a film for people of all ages and all walks of life to enjoy. West Side Story is my alltime favorite movie, so that’s the ONLY movie that i’ve made my own road trips to neighboring states to view screenings of. However, if and when WSS isn’t around on the great big wide screen in a real movie theatre, I will watch an airing on TV’s TCM (Turner Classic Movies) Channel when it takes place.
Btw, West Side Story played at the Brattle Theatre last May as part of United Artists' 90th Anniversary film series. I attended both screenings of this great film that day. Then, early last August, I drove down to Hartford, CT. for a screening of WSS at the CineStudio Theatre, and I saw it at the Albany palace Theatre in Albany, NY. I guess roadshows of West Side Story are making a comback. A good sign to see. Let’s hope that this great classic continues to play in movie theatres after the new year, when the new POTUS is sworn in.
Btw, Michael—I’m unable to get to the link. Is there a way to access it?
That I’m aware of, Giles. It would be cool if it were shown here in the Boston area too. I’m aware of the new Broadway stage revival of West Side Story that’s coming up after the new year, and of its pre-Broadway engagement at the National Theatre in mid-December. It’s also scheduled, I think, to show at the Palace theatre in NYC afterwards. As a devout fan of the film version of West Side Story who’s also seen several different stage productions of this great musical, I think it would be interesting to see WSS presented and interpreted differently, but who really knows how it’ll turn out.
Here’s hoping for a national re-release of this great film classic (WSS) in theatres nationwide! That would be cool!
Good point, movie534. That’s why even many, if not most of the independent, NON-profit movie theatres have had to play some of the more mainstream movies in order to survive.
outafocus, while I agree with a number of your points, I think that having commercials/previews of coming attractions on prior to the feature movie presentation is beneficial for the following reason(s):
I think that they’re probably put there for late stragglers, who, for whatever reason, arrive late, and there are a number of reasons for being late, at times:
A) Public transportation is often unpredictable
B) Parking can often be quite difficult to find.
C) Sometimes, a person just has a slow start.
D) Sometimes, traffic can be really slow and nasty, for whatever reason.
The AMC Chestnut Hill Cinema doesn’t really stand a chance of becoming an arthouse, although it would be nice.
First of all, even though I don’t live in California, much less Oakland, that theatre’s another fantastic-looking theatre, inside and out.
Secondly, now that Bush and his Republican Administration will be out of office come late January 2009, I wonder if they’ll start playing more of the great, old classics in addition to the crappy stuff that gets played reglarly at these antiseptic-looking multiplex cinemas across the country. The old movie palaces that’re left should concentrate more on great older classic films.
What a beautiful-looking theatre!! Love that design!
LOL!! That’s a good question, Life’s too short.
Whether people liked the porn films or not, it was foolish and dangerous to burn them, nonetheless.
First Amendment Rights are at stake, first of all.
Secondly, those who decided to burn those porn films are polluting the air and endangering the public, if one gets the drift.
This kind of thing is worrisome, imho. It makes me wonder what’s going to eventually happen with other single-screened movie palaces that have converted into multi-screen cinemas.
El Train, I wholeheartedly agree with you and East Coast Rocker about the average duration of in-theatre movies that’re released today. They don’t stay in the theatres, at least not for very long, and they get transferred to DVD in no time. It’s quite sad. When I was a kid growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, blockbuster films would run for months, or even years in many places. Yep…those days are gone forever.
That’s unfortunate. Here’s hoping that they rectify this situation…sometime soon.
What a beautiful-looking old theatre that was!! Thanks for sharing.
I love all those photographs, hstein and Lost Memory. Thanks for sharing.
Well, movie534, it sounds as if your father has been proven partly right…it’s slowly but surely happening.
Hmmm…The Capitol looks like a nice, old-fashioned theatre, with the ticket booth in the center of the entrance and all.
It’s really a shame that this was all allowed to happen.
Netflix sounds like the latest convenience and advancement in technology for home entertainment, as does blue-ray, etc, but they’re helping kill the cinema business. Very, very sad indeed. Warren, your post says it all…in a nutshell.
Wow!! Some of those cinema palaces in England would dwarf many, if not most of the remaining movie palaces here in the United States. Fantastic-looking cinema palaces they are, as is the Futurist Cinema.
I remember the Fresh Pond Drive-In quite well. When my sister and I were pre-teens (my brother hadn’t come along yet), our parents would pile everybody into the family Rambler Station wagon, take us out to dinner, and then to the Fresh Pond Drive-In, where my sister and I would lie in the back seat with pillows and blankets. We saw movies such as “The Mouse that Roared”, “Time Machine”, and a bunch of others.
The Loews Jersey looks like a beautiful movie palace of a theatre, and a perfect place to show great golden oldie-but-goody classic films such as Dr. Zhivago, West Side Story, Lawremce of Arabia and many others. However, I do agree that the photo on the front of this page doesn’t look like it does this theatre any justice.
I vaguely remember that theatre.
That sounds like a lot of baloney to me.
Is this the same Palace Theatre that will be hosting the new Broadway stage revival of the musical “West Side Story”, btw? Just curious.
I also might add that I noticed that the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles is scheduled to play the 70mm print of the film “West Side Story”. How cool. Sure wish the 70mm print of West Side Story could and would come to the Boston area!!
I love the postcard photo of the entrance to the Egyptian Theatre. How cool!!
Simon, I wholeheartedly agree with you about West Side Story being a beautiful film, but I take issue with the idea that WSS is just a “teen” film. Imho, West Side Story is a film for people of all ages and all walks of life to enjoy. West Side Story is my alltime favorite movie, so that’s the ONLY movie that i’ve made my own road trips to neighboring states to view screenings of. However, if and when WSS isn’t around on the great big wide screen in a real movie theatre, I will watch an airing on TV’s TCM (Turner Classic Movies) Channel when it takes place.
Btw, West Side Story played at the Brattle Theatre last May as part of United Artists' 90th Anniversary film series. I attended both screenings of this great film that day. Then, early last August, I drove down to Hartford, CT. for a screening of WSS at the CineStudio Theatre, and I saw it at the Albany palace Theatre in Albany, NY. I guess roadshows of West Side Story are making a comback. A good sign to see. Let’s hope that this great classic continues to play in movie theatres after the new year, when the new POTUS is sworn in.
Btw, Michael—I’m unable to get to the link. Is there a way to access it?
That I’m aware of, Giles. It would be cool if it were shown here in the Boston area too. I’m aware of the new Broadway stage revival of West Side Story that’s coming up after the new year, and of its pre-Broadway engagement at the National Theatre in mid-December. It’s also scheduled, I think, to show at the Palace theatre in NYC afterwards. As a devout fan of the film version of West Side Story who’s also seen several different stage productions of this great musical, I think it would be interesting to see WSS presented and interpreted differently, but who really knows how it’ll turn out.
Here’s hoping for a national re-release of this great film classic (WSS) in theatres nationwide! That would be cool!
Good point, movie534. That’s why even many, if not most of the independent, NON-profit movie theatres have had to play some of the more mainstream movies in order to survive.