The Cinema 57 was built as a twin and was long and narrow like a bowling alley. The sound there was always bad and you had to sit real close to the screen to hear stereo. The left and right speakers were over the exits so you could hear stereo sound beyond the first few rows. What they did to it later I have no idea.
The screen at the Charles was not that big either. Ben Sack liked large screen but when the company got taken over the new management did not like large screens. The screen at the Astor was much larger than the one at the Charles and the screen at the Beacon Hill was also larger than the one at the Charles.
The Astor auditorium was very plain and drab. When they did the Todd-AO install they ripped out all the boxes the stage and put in a screen that was wall to wall.
Well I wont go to an AMC theater to see a cropped picture bad sound and out of focus picture on a postage stamp screen. At those AMC theaters some usher who has never handled film will thread it push the start button and walk away. There will be more than one botched show.
The only auditorium at the Arclight with a 70mm projector (yes just one 70mm and it isnt even a good one) is the Dome. They had to rent a projector for The Master to run in one of the smaller houses.
The New Beverly is a grind house not a roadshow theater.
If they were serious about running roadshow they would run in a real theater with a large screen like The Shrine.
The Village in Westwood still has 70mm projectors so that is a possibility. Of course those projectors have not been used for years.
This isn’t a road show its sounding more like an abortion If it was really a road show they would put in a real theater and run it reel to reel but I guess those days are gone forever.
Then why is the arclight not selling tickets for Star Wars beyond December 24th? There are no advanced sales for Star Wars in the Dome for dates after the 20th of December. If they are not gonna run Hateful in the Dome then they should run it in the Shrine the Dolby or some other large venue. It would be stupid to roadshow it in some small theater.
Star Wars will be an IMAX release. The IMAX version and the 70mm blow up will made off a 4K digital intermediate. So Star Wars will be in IMAX theaters the Hateful Eight won’t be in IMAX. There is a big difference between IMAX and Ultra-Panavision. The Hateful Eight was shot on 65mm and I hope to see a print right off the original negative. The Hateful Eight only needs to be in a few theaters like The Dome so the people who really care about seeing it in 70mm can see it. Why would the Dome want to play Star Wars when it will be at the Chinese and Universal?
Most of the theaters have junked their film projectors. So now they have to rent film projectors to show film there are very few full time 70mm screens left. There are not that many big screens left any more. As Long as The Hateful Eight is in 70mm on a big screen in any theater within 100 miles I will go there to see it! The majority of people will just be happy with the digital version.
It’s the only theater designed for ultra panavision. I expect they will run The Hateful Eight in 70mm film. That will be something worth driving 100 miles to see.
theater management has always been tight with the buck so no wonder they never got top quality people to work for them. Skilled projectionists are a dying breed because management wont pay much more than minimum for a job that should be skilled labor
I wouldn’t call the Bruin a grand old theatre, old maybe but not grand.
I did go to see Interstellar in 70mm IMAX at Grauman’s Looked good the few scenes shot in IMAX. Those rails for the handicapped need to be lowered. And the only reason I went was because of the 70mm IMAX I am still waiting for a movie that is worth going to see so I can check out the laser. Why are they showing stuff shot or mastered in 2K? Arri has a new camera with a 65mm sensor that is higher res than 4K. These IMAX video films that are mastered or shot in 2k look horrible. The blowups from 35mm to IMAX looked bad too. I went to see an IMAX film at Universal when they had the 70MM it was one of the worst blowups from a 35mm (probably 3 perf) The grain and image quality was bad and inconstant some stuff was real bad and this was a major film with Depp. Oh yea the Cinerama film I saw recently had the same problem. Some stuff was shot in Cinerama but the action scenes were shot in Ultra Panavison. There was a big difference in quality. Henry Plitt said it best, “Blow up sh!t and you get big sh!t” I met him when he was testing Showscan at the Cinerama Dome. I can get 2K at home.
Great site. Hollywood history like this needs to be documented so the know how to do it right is not lost. My cudos to who ever put this site together.
bigjoe59 The El Capitan which was the Paramount has been in operation as a single screen first run movie theater for many years. The Egyptian was shut down for many years after it was damaged by the Northridge earthquake but it is no longer a first run venue. The Vista Theater has been in operation since 1923. The Village Theater and the Bruin Theater in Westwood has been in operation as a first run venue for decades.
Well I worked at the Charles and The Astor the screen at the Charles was not that big so I don’t know where you got your information. Yes the Charles had Cinemeccanica 35/70 projectors with carbon arcs. They later converted to xenon and platters so one person could run all three screens. When Sack took over they reduced the screen size even further by masking it off.
The irony here is that while The Arclight maintains a fairly high quality presentation Pacific Theaters owned by the same company is notorious for a horrible presentation.
the 5 perf 70mm prints are going to crop the IMAX footage or letterbox it so all versions will have some cropped or letter boxed footage. It was the filmmakers decision to shoot in multiple formats. I would have seen it at the Dome but I support the projectionists. And yes I expect the Chinese will get it right enough to satisfy the director, Christopher Nolan.
Any good business man know that a shrinking market is bad, so looks like your in the buggy whip business, or would you prefer the pony express.
And you named the only theaters that have a bright picture and good sound and even at those theaters the picture isn’t that bright. I know the business, the current business, just check out any average multiplex and you will find poor quality. More and more I stay at home to watch any movie.
I will go to watch Interstellar at the Chinese and expect they will get it right.
Cinema seat sales has been in a decline for the last five years where have you been? And if the theaters are doing so great why can’t they project a bright clear picture with good sound? Because management hires cheap labor not skilled experts.
The Cinema 57 was built as a twin and was long and narrow like a bowling alley. The sound there was always bad and you had to sit real close to the screen to hear stereo. The left and right speakers were over the exits so you could hear stereo sound beyond the first few rows. What they did to it later I have no idea.
The screen at the Charles was not that big either. Ben Sack liked large screen but when the company got taken over the new management did not like large screens. The screen at the Astor was much larger than the one at the Charles and the screen at the Beacon Hill was also larger than the one at the Charles.
The Astor auditorium was very plain and drab. When they did the Todd-AO install they ripped out all the boxes the stage and put in a screen that was wall to wall.
Well I wont go to an AMC theater to see a cropped picture bad sound and out of focus picture on a postage stamp screen. At those AMC theaters some usher who has never handled film will thread it push the start button and walk away. There will be more than one botched show.
The only auditorium at the Arclight with a 70mm projector (yes just one 70mm and it isnt even a good one) is the Dome. They had to rent a projector for The Master to run in one of the smaller houses.
The New Beverly is a grind house not a roadshow theater.
If they were serious about running roadshow they would run in a real theater with a large screen like The Shrine.
The Village in Westwood still has 70mm projectors so that is a possibility. Of course those projectors have not been used for years.
This isn’t a road show its sounding more like an abortion If it was really a road show they would put in a real theater and run it reel to reel but I guess those days are gone forever.
Then why is the arclight not selling tickets for Star Wars beyond December 24th? There are no advanced sales for Star Wars in the Dome for dates after the 20th of December. If they are not gonna run Hateful in the Dome then they should run it in the Shrine the Dolby or some other large venue. It would be stupid to roadshow it in some small theater.
It looks like the Hateful Eight may go into the Dome and star wars get moved to a smaller screen. Star Wars is also going into the Chinese in IMAX
Star Wars will be an IMAX release. The IMAX version and the 70mm blow up will made off a 4K digital intermediate. So Star Wars will be in IMAX theaters the Hateful Eight won’t be in IMAX. There is a big difference between IMAX and Ultra-Panavision. The Hateful Eight was shot on 65mm and I hope to see a print right off the original negative. The Hateful Eight only needs to be in a few theaters like The Dome so the people who really care about seeing it in 70mm can see it. Why would the Dome want to play Star Wars when it will be at the Chinese and Universal?
Most of the theaters have junked their film projectors. So now they have to rent film projectors to show film there are very few full time 70mm screens left. There are not that many big screens left any more. As Long as The Hateful Eight is in 70mm on a big screen in any theater within 100 miles I will go there to see it! The majority of people will just be happy with the digital version.
It’s the only theater designed for ultra panavision. I expect they will run The Hateful Eight in 70mm film. That will be something worth driving 100 miles to see.
theater management has always been tight with the buck so no wonder they never got top quality people to work for them. Skilled projectionists are a dying breed because management wont pay much more than minimum for a job that should be skilled labor
I wouldn’t call the Bruin a grand old theatre, old maybe but not grand.
I did go to see Interstellar in 70mm IMAX at Grauman’s Looked good the few scenes shot in IMAX. Those rails for the handicapped need to be lowered. And the only reason I went was because of the 70mm IMAX I am still waiting for a movie that is worth going to see so I can check out the laser. Why are they showing stuff shot or mastered in 2K? Arri has a new camera with a 65mm sensor that is higher res than 4K. These IMAX video films that are mastered or shot in 2k look horrible. The blowups from 35mm to IMAX looked bad too. I went to see an IMAX film at Universal when they had the 70MM it was one of the worst blowups from a 35mm (probably 3 perf) The grain and image quality was bad and inconstant some stuff was real bad and this was a major film with Depp. Oh yea the Cinerama film I saw recently had the same problem. Some stuff was shot in Cinerama but the action scenes were shot in Ultra Panavison. There was a big difference in quality. Henry Plitt said it best, “Blow up sh!t and you get big sh!t” I met him when he was testing Showscan at the Cinerama Dome. I can get 2K at home.
Saw How The West Was Won In Cinerama
http://www.graumanschinese.org/projection-1.html
Great site. Hollywood history like this needs to be documented so the know how to do it right is not lost. My cudos to who ever put this site together.
This director should do a good 70mm blow up of There Will Be Blood and run that at the Dome. That would sell some tickets.
Oh so the filmmaker wanted to make it look and sound like a low budget cheaply made film.
I Was going to see Inherent Vice in 70mm but I heard the blowup was grainy and the sound was bad.
I didn’t know that CTC thanks for the input
bigjoe don’t leave out the Vista Theater that has been around for a long time as a single screen and is first run
bigjoe59 The El Capitan which was the Paramount has been in operation as a single screen first run movie theater for many years. The Egyptian was shut down for many years after it was damaged by the Northridge earthquake but it is no longer a first run venue. The Vista Theater has been in operation since 1923. The Village Theater and the Bruin Theater in Westwood has been in operation as a first run venue for decades.
I went to Interstellar in IMAX 70mm. The few scenes that were in IMAX looked great, boring movie but it looked good.
It was the Dome that made it look so good but I saw it at the Chinese in IMAX. I couldn’t sit through it again even at the Dome.
Jsittig wrote “all three digital presentations” so all three are digital
markp yes the studios are destroying the biz they have been wanting to eliminate the theaters and go to pay per view for years and they are succeeding
Well I worked at the Charles and The Astor the screen at the Charles was not that big so I don’t know where you got your information. Yes the Charles had Cinemeccanica 35/70 projectors with carbon arcs. They later converted to xenon and platters so one person could run all three screens. When Sack took over they reduced the screen size even further by masking it off.
The irony here is that while The Arclight maintains a fairly high quality presentation Pacific Theaters owned by the same company is notorious for a horrible presentation.
the 5 perf 70mm prints are going to crop the IMAX footage or letterbox it so all versions will have some cropped or letter boxed footage. It was the filmmakers decision to shoot in multiple formats. I would have seen it at the Dome but I support the projectionists. And yes I expect the Chinese will get it right enough to satisfy the director, Christopher Nolan.
Any good business man know that a shrinking market is bad, so looks like your in the buggy whip business, or would you prefer the pony express.
And you named the only theaters that have a bright picture and good sound and even at those theaters the picture isn’t that bright. I know the business, the current business, just check out any average multiplex and you will find poor quality. More and more I stay at home to watch any movie.
I will go to watch Interstellar at the Chinese and expect they will get it right.
Cinema seat sales has been in a decline for the last five years where have you been? And if the theaters are doing so great why can’t they project a bright clear picture with good sound? Because management hires cheap labor not skilled experts.