AMC Rockaway 16

I guess they could redo some of the battles and stuff that were primarily CGI pretty well. But the rest will never look 1/10th as good as if it was shot with a 3D camera. You can manually select layers to place items and use some processing to sort of fake 3D out it but you generally end up with slightly off-looking cut-outish look. If you shot in 2D you only recorded 2D info and there is no magic to truly bring back all the missing information. His comments made it sound like he hadn’t been too pleased with the standard tkae the 2D stuff and try to fake layer it and fake shift angles and turn it into 3D process maybe he will redo some of the CGI in real 3D.

slimshady….the showplace at kerasotes in secaucus won’t be run by amc, as it will still be run as a kerasotes theater and not amc. BTW, avatar will still be playing in digital 3d on two screens and in imax 3d. When will more projectors be installed (the digital ones)? I can’t stand the blurry prints but like the loud surround sound.

AMC BOUGHT KEROSATES!! CHECK IT OUT View link

The new Kerosates opened in Secacus by Old Meadow 6 now belongs to AMC… huh

the site is working again.

yup. Better curved screens and awesome sound. Not to mention more comfortable seats and plenty of parking around the theater and beyond. Even the smaller screens in this theater are bigger than the small ones in the clearviews.

Saw it at Reading, Manville on my way back. They couldn’t put it on their largest screen (70' !) since Dolby3D (and RealD3D) don’t support really large screens (as it was on a screen noticeably smaller than the Rockaway IMAX, if still reasonably sized, the projection was dimmer). It was still a cool experience for sure but the smaller screen and wider aspect ratio (2.34:1), and IMO D3D tech, just don’t work as well as either a real IMAX film 3D theater or the reasonably large Rockaway IMAX screen (1.78:1). Still worth it to go there (Manville) for a 2D 2.34:1 movie, but for any 1.85 or 3D stuff definitely not better than Rockaway, in fact, definitely not as good, smaller and dimmer.

Digital IMAX tosses more light to the screen than the other technology and lets theaters use it on their largest screen (well unless they have >70' screens, not in this area).

IMAX screens seem to be doing wayyyyy better business. WAYYYYY better. Early evening Friday showing at manville FAR less full (closer to entirely empty) than a 1:35 wed showing on the Rockaway IMAX or a 3PM Thursday at Palisades (totally packed).

That said I still wish they had designed one of the original two largest screens they had had to 2.34:1 instead of 1.85:1 (at the same height which would’ve made it a 70' or so wide screen), then when they extended it for IMAX even if it had to be side boxed a bit if the ceiling was not high enough it still would’ve allowed for the largest 1.78:1 IMAX projection in the region (Aside from lincoln square) and truly been THE destination theater (noting that palisades doesn’t have bright enough projection to fill there even larger screen when showing 3D movies). COnsidering theaters always end up playing the hits on 2 or 3 screens, including one tiny one, I don’t knwo why they (or almost anyone else in the region) didn’t jsut build one giant palace and elimate one of the shoe boxes…. seems dumb to me on many levels. But they didn’t listen to anyone’s input…. Or why Manville didn’t use IMAX tech and use it on their giant 70' auditorium….

It’s still probably tied for the largest IMAX outside of palisades or NYC though, in the region, AFAIK (although if you head out to Reading, PA I believe they have a 70'x42' digital IMAX monster screen, waht Rockaway should’ve designed for to begin with, for one of the richest counties in the country and one of the more densely populated areas we still dont have the screen sizes that the suburbs of LA, SF, Boston, CO, PA do). Although perhaps Jersey Gardens or the new Paramus (not that anyone wants to drive around Paramus) might have a bigger one???

BTW, Iron Man 2 will be in IMAX when it opens on May 7th. Too bad it won’t be 3D, just a DMR'ed version of a scope movie.

Avatar IMAX must be doing some kick-ass business. The 1:35PM Wed. showing was solidly packed through and through the entire main center section. Not a sellout or anything but pretty full and crazy full for a winter 1:35PM showing…. of a movie already out for a few weeks. Been a long time since that has happened. And I saw lines already forming for later shows. Titantic certainly had insane lines weeks and weeks into the release wrapping way around the old outer theaters (at least for weekends and evenings), but nothing much quite like that since.

I wonder why they didn’t extend the screen up and down a little more so they wouldn’t have to have side boxed about a foot and a half off the edge of the screen. I would’ve knocked out the remaining lower tier row too since that is worthless, you’d see all the grid patterns and yeah worthless seats, better to move screen up another 3-4'.

Screen size is pretty decent for a semi-wider ratio movie and considering how much Palisades IMAX had to box the 3D showing (maybe a good 5' lost on either side of the screen) (to get enough ligth for 3D??) I suppose the Rockaway screen shouldn’t seem too much smaller although something about it didn’t feel quite as immersive not quite as much liek I was really on that foreign world, maybe I sat closer in the Palisades or the extra 8' or so (???) screen width was just anough to kick it over the top or they projected a little taller or something, although I guess the Rockaway had a bit less dual-projecion blur artifacting with the digital system. I might suggest sitting maybe main row 4 at Rockaway. At Palisades best to sit relatively close too (film so no grid lines if you get close, although not row 1 or 2 certainly). When you are close enough to be utterly enveloped then you really feel like you are in that world (when I tested farther back, sure it’s cool and the screens are big, etc. but you lose the incredible feeling that you’ve truly been sucked into their world and are a part of the film itself).

I do have to admit the 3D is pretty cool. I had been pretty down on it or at least very lukewarm about the whole thing. I’m not sure the tech is quite seemless enough for any old regular drama to benefit by it yet (and I think it could even subtract a bit) but certainly for anything otherworldy scifi/fantasy/animation and so on wow I do have to admit it really is amazing. Watching Avatar in 2D onb bluray even on my giant HDTV is gonna feel like watching VHS on a 9" CRT in comparison. :(

and this morning. Clifton Commons, Garden State, and Essex Green have showtimes up for friday.

here’s what moviefone had to say…
“We’re sorry, this theater has not delivered showtimes for Friday, January 15, 2010. We are currently in the process of contacting theater management. Please check back for updated information”.

while at the theater waiting for both movies to begin, as well as for 2012 in mansfield, i saw this great in-theater ad for the national guard…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbfPj00pTNY&feature=related

I went to fatburger with my relatives today and tried to order a meal with my amc movie ticket to save money….the bad news is that they don’t do that anymore. Nathan’s also used to do that before they closed down. BTW, shows are still selling well for avatar 3D, even in IMAX. The next two movies to come out in IMAX are weeks apart, first with Alice in Wonderland in both 3D and IMAX and then How to Train Your Dragon. If Alice does well, then it will still be played in RealD on several screens while Dragon plays in IMAX and also in RealD. By that time, Avatar will still have the most money that any 3-D and IMAX 3-D movie has made.

Starting Friday, the 35mm (2D) version of Avatar has been reduced to one showing at 10:30pm. That says it all about the power of 3D/Imax but I don’t believe it necessarily means people prefer digital over 35mm. I don’t think the average person even cares which format they’re watching as long as they’re enjoying the movie. Furthermore, 3D and 35mm are not incompatible, if done right. Technicolor 3D has plans to bridge that gap and make available high quality 3D for 35mm prints for those exhibitors who cannot yet afford digital projectors. This will also be the year we begin to see 3D in the home. Notice how conspicuously silent the prophets of “3D doom” have been?