Odeon Luxe London Leicester Square

CF100 on February 15, 2019 at 7:42 am

I visited the OLS this to week to attend a mid-afternoon performance of “Alita: Battle Angel.”

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Ongoing building work:

• I asked a member of staff whether the building works had been completed, to which they informed me that they were still ongoing—“behind the scenes” aspects.

Asked about the addition of curtains, the same as previously reported answer was given, saying that they “did not know,” and they mentioned the “safety curtain” animated sequence.

• Incidentally, all the staff were excellent during my visit, including being accompanied by the usher in the circle foyer to my seat in the front row of the Royal Circle.

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Update to fit-out of foyers:

• The floor of the ground floor foyer, opening with a concrete screeded sub-floor, has now been finished. As previously mentioned, containers for a 2-part Flowcrete epoxy resin could be seen outside towards the end of the fit-out works in December 2018. The new floor is white and appears to incorporate reflective decorative “flakes;” a likely product used is Flowcrete Mondéco Crystal Ice, the “blurb” for which describes it as “[A] highly decorative epoxy resin terrazzo floor finish containing a mix of mirrored and clear glass aggregates” that is “suitable for [locations] where design aesthetics and durability are of paramount concern.”

Very nice—except that it looks as though it is impossible to keep it looking clean, with the merest amount of walked in soil being visible.

• Text is “inset” (?) into the floor from the Leicester Square entrance doors, reading:

“FIRST, FOREMOST, AND FOREVER
”—OSCAR DEUTSCH—"

• The clock in the ground floor foyer is working—it is positioned on the right wall just past the entrance from Leicester Square to the former Studios. Contrary to my previous supposition, it does not appear to consist of LED displays, but rather, backlit opal frosted perspex, with the lettering and clock hands “projected” onto it by obscuring the backlighting.

• The wall behind the “glass box” has now been finished in black marble, with a new larger backlit “Double-D” logo/“DOLBY CINEMA” sign.

• Brass (?) edging has been added to the ceiling lighting features in the ground floor foyer, with a very wide band around the central dome.

• Black marble and brass strips added to the front of the ground floor foyer concessions counter.

• Various missing bits and “snags” have been attended to, too numerous to list and impossible to recollect them all. For example, the liquid soap dispenser fittings in the circle level men’s toilets now have retaining rings so that the dispenser bottles do not fall off.

• The overall result is outstanding, and clearly highly specified; however, the fit and finish isn’t quite to the standard that might have been expected—probably due to the headlong rush to get the project completed. For example, some tiles are slightly off position, some of the cutting-in of paint has visible brush marks, etc

• Some “leakage” of low frequency sounds from the auditorium were audible in the circle foyer, presumably due to the overhead subwoofers (equipped with 16 x 18" drivers!) hanging from the ceiling.

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Auditorium update:

• As Ken Roe noted, the “flying ladies” have indeed been flown in.

• This being my first visit, it is harder to indicate any other minor tweaks; however, it appears that the underside of the proscenium has now been properly covered.

• Ceiling supply grilles in some of the “coves” were visible—not sure if they are the same as previous?—and looked as if they could use some tidying up.

• The new dark finish to the 1930s “ribbed” plasterwork seemed to have some marks and one or two small chips.

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Auditorium comments:

• The new lighting could certainly have gone further, particularly at the screen end; however, the white concealed lighting is quite bright; I think it is more like 4000K in colour temperature than a cool white (5000K), which yields a fresh feel, whilst not being overly cold.

The “guideway” aisle lighting, including blue fibre optic strips, remains on during the main feature.

• I did not think to look whilst in the auditorium, but it seems that the flying ladies must have some further “spot” lighting on them.

• The animated “digital” safety curtain sequence shown before the main performance is quite tacky.

• The auditorium is certainly dark once the decorative lighting is off and the house lights lowered, but not to the point of invisibility. The guideway lighting enabled a trip out of the auditorium during the main feature to the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines (at ground floor level!) for a refill. (I had asked the member of staff who served me at the concessions counter whether this was allowed—the answer was “Yes… well, I won’t tell… it should be OK.” And, indeed, it was—I refilled again on the way out!

• The flipside to this, from the perspective of “Dolby Cinema,” is that the “flying ladies” and wooden features to the front splay walls certainly are quite visible.

• I am having a hard time figuring out the colour of the sidewalls/ceiling. They looked near-black in person; however, they seem to have a navy tone in various photos, and my own photos suggested that the stretched fabric ceiling/wall coverings to the stage end are dark navy. However, this may be due to factors including the chromatic aberrations etc. in the lens, or misregistration caused by the colour spectrum of the lighting.

• Non-sync music played just after the feature ended. Light sequencing all looked fine with smooth fades.

• Ceiling lighting was not distracting during the feature.

• The “H” in “HVAC” has been put back, with the auditorium warm throughout. The HVAC was never audible, and a consistent temperature was maintained.

• The recliners are extremely comfortable and very well-padded. Separate controls are provided to adjust the amount of “recline” and the footrest angle. At least in the front row of the Royal Circle, they do not recline as far back as those in the Vue West End; in the “down” position, the bottom edge of the screen is just visible over the balcony edge.

My recollection of the old American Seating Company “rocker” seating in the old Empire 1, in the reupholstered state that they were in when closing, is that I still consider them to be the most comfortable cinema seats ever—but these are certainly among the best.

• Overall, the auditorium still feels like the “Cathedral.” In photos, it does not look like the new front ceiling/sidewalls blend with the 1930s “ribbed” plasterwork, but in person, it works quite well.

The picture is framed by proscenium and, contrary to my expectations, it does not feel like the whole front end of the auditorium might just as well be filled with a “giant” screen. In the front row of the Royal Circle, the screen is slightly too low; it is adequately sized, but it certainly could use benefit from being somewhat bigger. However, these aspects, or moving the screen ahead of the existing proscenium, would seem to be restricted by sightlines. (See above regarding the sightlines to the bottom edge of the screen.)

• The new wide central vomitorium to the Royal Circle means that, for those centrally seated, the nearest regular “Luxe Classic” seating is some distance away, and partially screened off. The downside is that, in my view, all of the centre section of the rear circle is too far away from the screen; however, the upside is clear—this section has a degree of “isolation” from the rear circle—more so since the propensity of patrons is to choose seats towards the back.

Only one other person was seated in the centre section of the Royal Circle, and whilst I am very well behaved, shifting position in my seat lead to a perceived look of agitation on their part. I imagine that the pricing policy screens out the “popcorn munching, mobile phone checking” brigade.

• Thus, by choosing a suitable performance time and a seat in the centre section of the Royal Circle, it feels as though one has the whole auditorium to one’s self. I hesitate to say that this justifies the typical very high pricing, but… if you want “the omega of luxury and of comfort” for a special occasion…

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Picture:

• Masking was in use, and opened out to scope for the main feature, leaving the usual “letterboxing” of scope trailers.

• Alignment and geometry was good, although seemed slightly off in terms of alignment, and an overall consistent “smile” distortion applied across the screen—but this was only noticeable with titles on screen. Centre-to-edge brightness uniformity was exceptional. I can’t be sure, but it seemed like there was a slight visible loss of focus from centre to edge.

• Unlike IMAX’s dual-projection system, both projectors were in use for all content, not being restricted to the specially formatted main feature. This could be seen by wearing the glasses—which revealed a discrepancy between the left and right eye colours, presumably the colour shift caused by the wavelength multiplexing not being corrected for this material.

• Dolby have claimed extremely high brightness levels and contrast ratios for Dolby Vision. Alas, the black levels were somewhat higher than I expected, with some crushing or clipping of low levels. In 3D, the brightness level was certainly very adequate, and quite bright with glasses off, but not amazingly so. This might have been due to matching the output levels required for the content—but, particularly compared to the IMAX across the square, it is not a big screen to fill.

• Whilst IMAX’s system includes their “image enhancer” and special processing to get the most out of their dual-projection systems, the same super-smooth but pin-sharp quality was not apparent.

• I suspect IMAX are using motion interpolation to add synthetic frames to create “virtual” high frame rate—however, this certainly was not the case with Dolby Cinema, as there was visible motion judder. Conversely, the picture was free of some of the odd artifacts that are sometimes visible with IMAX Digital systems.

• Colour rendition was very good, with well saturated colours achieved.

• Overall, unless one is to really nitpick, there isn’t much to choose between Dolby’s dual-laser system and the dual (or even single) IMAX with Laser system—in fact, you may not even notice the difference!

• IME, the IMAX Digital systems have near-perfect geometry, and focus, but tend to have not quite so good centre-to-edge brightness uniformity.

• For the above reasons, overall, the IMAX with Laser system is, IMO, superior. I would include the new “Commerical Laser” single-projector system as well as the original “Grand Theatre” dual-projector system.

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Sound:

• Seat shaking low frequencies, and pin-point rear/overhead imaging, as the Dolby Cinema trailer well demonstrates.

• Reverberation time and room colouration in the OLS has been very significantly improved; but it is still somewhat “echoic,” though not enough to ruin dialogue intelligibility.

• Very high output levels from the system, which I assume was set to be at or near reference levels.

• Presumably, the visible arrays forward from the screen are slightly time delayed to align with the screen speakers. Certainly, there was a good sense of frontal imaging. I can’t be sure, but, it did sometimes sound like it didn’t all quite gel—to be sure, it does work mostly well.

• Very good clarity and balance; however, there appeared to be something of an upper-bass dip, and the high frequencies were at times somewhat metallic. At the highest levels, it sounded—I hesitate to say strained, but it was certainly clear that the system was being pushed.

• I am not convinced that the Dolby SLS speakers, as installed, are superior to the outstanding cinema series of products offered by JBL; but it is certainly a very good, and well aligned, top-end system.

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A tightrope has been walked between the compromises and constraints involved in keeping the OLS intact as an iconic super-cinema whilst modernising and making improvements.

In some respects, such as failing to reinstate the tabs and not having a fully realised lighting design, it might be said that the tightrope has, at times, been fallen off. On the other hand, many the improvements, particularly to the foyers and overall stardust “Rolls Royce” luxury feel, are successful.

Personally, I found the experience to be perfectly relaxing and one in which I became completely unaware of all worries—personal, as well as the disasterous saga that—regardless of your political standpoint—“Brexit” has become!

In my view, that’s as good as it gets to say that an “escape to the cinema” has been successful from start to finish.

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A photo of the reinstated “flying ladies” has been uploaded. More to follow.

vindanpar on February 15, 2019 at 5:43 am

This was a magnificent theater a very long time ago as one can easily see from a period photo. But with every modification it becomes a further eyesore. That last photo is embarrassing. Why bother if they were not going to precisely duplicate the original theater. From the recent photos you might as well be at a multi plex in New Jersey. Tear it down and put up another skyscraper that will further destroy London. Thank god I was in London decades ago before they started destroying it with all these monstrosities. I was sickened by seeing it in Match Point(a film I liked.)

terry on February 10, 2019 at 9:38 am

The ‘flying ladies’ will be the very last concession; there will be no tabs next month, next year or the year after that. AMC do not bother with tabs and, if ever they were to make an exception, the Odeon Theatre Leicester Square would surely have been it – and they would have been in situ and in operation from day one…….

davepring on February 9, 2019 at 6:56 am

Well Ken lets hope the screen tabs are reinstated and they improve the auditorium lighting

Ken Roe on February 7, 2019 at 7:45 am

The blurb given in an announcement of the opening of a cinema in America states that “the large screen curtains protect the screen from dust during cleaning the cinema”.

FanaticalAboutOdeon on February 5, 2019 at 7:11 am

CF100, Just a thought… Could it be that the golden nymphs AKA flying ladies no longer have access to OLS? Taking them out in early 2018 would have been relatively easy not only would the huge scene dock door of the stage house on audience left (leading to the front stalls exit/dustbin storage alleyway to Charing Cross Road) have been available but, for a while, the auditorium was partly “open to the elements” between the removal of 1998’s first floor windows and the creation of the “glass box”.
Given the screen frame and “trolleys” of screen speakers can be moved to the rear of the stage (as it has been for many years)the scene dock door could still offer a way in for such large set pieces OR was it sealed off when the back stage area was additionally soundproofed to acoustically protect the hotel behind?

Hard to believe minor repairs to the replicas could take this long – more likely it’s an oversight, logistically.

CF100 on February 4, 2019 at 9:29 pm

Lionel:

I typically dislike alterations done to such architectural works of art as the OLS cinema. Preservation should be the key word.

Can be difficult (or expensive!) as what were standard methods or systems fall out of use, and to bring in line with current expectations or requirements.

In the case of the OLS, the roof was replaced a few years ago—planning application. To quote from the document “08-1407AA01” (!):

“Odeon seek to replace the existing Asbestos sheet roof which has become unserviceable. It is proposed that the existing roof sheets will be removed and replaced with new Kingspan insulated panels.”

Ironically, the replacement roof was specified to match the existing in look/colour, even though few will ever see it…

Without knowing the state of the rest of the building’s fabric and the access requirements, it is not clear whether the ceilings/walls had to be removed from the circle to proscenium part of the auditorium. But it is known that the strip-out works included the removal of (presumably significant quantities of) asbestos.

Obviously, the OLS was in need of acoustic treatment—keeping in mind that old movies were produced with “echoic” auditoria in mind, today they are not, and thus dialogue intelligibility can be grossly inadequate (a definite problem in the old Empire 1 with its “slap” echo.)

I previously suggested on Cinema Treasures that the existing smooth plasterwork from the balcony to the proscenium could be replaced with acoustic plaster. High performance spray-on systems are available that would allow for curved sections.

Of course, the new lower ceiling position may not have allowed for the existing curves. However, there are plenty of visible speakers within the auditorium, so I’m not clear on why these needed to be covered, if that’s indeed the reason for the new lower ceiling position?

I had been very surprised on learning that the walls/ceiling were being refinished in such dark colours—accepting that the existing white (or near-white) surfaces would highly compromise the performance of the new projection system, surely it is possible to think of other schemes that would work reasonably well, or at least a lighting scheme/system that would help?

The stage end shows no understanding of why elements were designed and shaped the way they were, and it fails to harmoniously integrate with the remaining 1930’s plasterwork above the balcony. The new design looks as if it’s ready for a much larger screen ahead of the proscenium!

Very strange indeed when the new circle foyer in particular is very pleasant indeed, complete with marble tiled walls and the (expensive!) new “glass box.” It may not be the same as the long-removed original, but IMO, it is very large improvement over the 1998 iteration…

would we modify a painting from Leonardo DaVinci under the pretext that the colours he used in his times aren’t trendy anymore in the 21st century?

There is the story of the controversial “cleaning” work that was done to the famous “Elgin Marbles” (controversially!) in London’s British Museum…

A work of art is something unique and final.

Indeed—or at least this needs to be firmly held in mind before tampering…

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Still, I have yet to visit the refurbished OLS auditorium, it seems ridiculous to wait any longer for the “flying ladies” to be put back prior to visiting. Perhaps “Alita” will do for my first visit… (Too bad Cameron is overfocused on “Avatar” sequels—one was quite enough, thank you—to direct!)

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Many thanks for posting your translation of the relevant section of the French article.

Lionel on February 4, 2019 at 11:07 am

For all members on Cinema Treasures, I’ve translated in English the chapter where he mentions furniture that are acoustically problematic. Of course, he tells of his experience in luxury private home cinemas, but we see that the kind of infrastructure of these is now copied in bigger commercial venues.

“The problems never comes from the place, but always from people. However, we have to nuance. With sound engineers and studio professionals, we have consistent exchanges and things are going pretty well. With individuals however, it can quickly become a hell. They have their beliefs and think that the electroacoustic material will do all the work. The acoustics does not matter, they think only in terms of decoration. A cinema seat, for example, is an object that must respond to specific characteristics: its absorption must be the same as that of a spectator so that the reverb remains stable, whether the room is empty or filled. No matter how it sounds, individuals will invariably choose leather, a reflective material. This causes other problems, including the seat-dip (a drop of low frequencies between rows). In order not to dull surround sound, the backrest must clear the head. But giant headrests are a must in most home cinema. I have also come across tiled floors, shark skin on the speakers, chrome ceilings …”

CF100 on February 4, 2019 at 10:56 am

Lionel:

I was reading an interview of French sound engineer Jean-Pierre Lafont

Have you a link to this interview, please?

Indeed, leather does have that drawback, and the seating should be designed with acoustic properties in mind, ideally so that they are as similar as possible whether occupied or not. Of course, if the seat recline, then the seat position would alter the acoustics. Hmm…

The cavity underneath is another problem, and I doubt that the typical use of vinyl floor surfaces instead of carpet helps here. (Even if only in front of the seating, it would help.)

The refurbished largest auditoria (5/7) over at the Vue West End certainly seem to have suffered acoustically—my recollection was that they were outstandingly neutral and well-controlled, but there now seems to be a slight “echoic” quality. Whether this is due to the replacement “leather” seating, or because the acoustic absorption behind the new stretched fabric wall coverings is inferior, I don’t know.

It isn’t hard to imagine seating being replaced (and perhaps stadia adjusted also)without the system being recalibrated.

(Obviously not the case in 5/7 at the Vue since the audio systems were totally replaced, and during the 2017 refurbishment the other auditoria were seen to by Sound Associates.)

Of course, the OLS was hardly up to standard with vast areas of smooth reflective surfaces at the stage end, so all in all it should be greatly improved in this respect.

Lionel on February 4, 2019 at 9:22 am

I typically dislike alterations done to such architectural works of art as the OLS cinema. Preservation should be the key word. Even switching to wide picture formats in the fifties didn’t require alterations, only a bigger screen behind the curtains. would we modify a painting from Leonardo DaVinci under the pretext that the colours he used in his times aren’t trendy anymore in the 21st century? George Lucas is probably the only artist who would find it acceptable, considering the way he “enhances” Star Wars every two years, reusing shots and sound effects in an abusive way with a ridiculous result.

Now if the place isn’t sustainable as a cinema, let’s just drop films and place stage shows instead. No need to alter the foyer or the auditorium. And if it is really not viable at all, then, alas, tear it down and build a hotel or superstore. It hurts but I accept economical reality too. However as long as it keeps running, just preserve it, fix it when needed, but don’t change it. A work of art is something unique and final.

curmudgeon on February 4, 2019 at 7:04 am

CF 100, having worked in the cinema industry for so many years I am fortunate enough to receive complimentary tickets to movies nation-wide, however, complimentary tickets can not be pre-booked and collected from a vending machine in a cinema foyer. Whist grateful for this privilege, it does not preclude me for sympathising with cinema patrons who are either treated like sheep at the concessions counter to purchase a ticket, or indeed, are charged an additional service fee for booking on line. I refer you to Lionel’s post re. the drawback of leather/pleather or leatherette (take your choice) as suggested by a sound engineer. As previously stated, here in Australia, the majority of cinema seating is upholstered in woollen or polyster blend fabric that does not lend itself to a quick clean with a disinfectant wipe. Unlike programming policies of the UK, up until the 1980’s, continuous performances were extremely unusual in this country. Separate performances were always the norm and all major circuits as well as popular independents had a roster of full time (covering 3 shifts daily) day cleaners, late afternoon and night cleaners. After every session the day cleaners would do a quick “pick-up” between audiences as well as supervising toilet and foyer cleanliness. Night cleaners would arrive after the last performance and clean throughout the night including pick-up, vacuuming, seat inspections, mopping all hard surfaces, glass cleaning, cleaning of accessible light fittings, regular carpet shampooing etc. I know, as I undertook a second job as a night cleaner for a short while and it nearly killed me! The current cleaning regime here is pathetic. No employed cleaners anymore, all cleaning contracted out to firms that are in and out as quickly as possible with no attention to detail. Despite air-conditioning, I ask you to consider the discomfort of leather or vinyl in this climate. By all means enjoy your recliner or high backed cinema seats, but for me, I’ll prefer to visit cinemas where my head will not be touching a surface of whom some great unshowered person may have been sharing their greasy hair nasties.

Lionel on February 4, 2019 at 12:47 am

Recently, I was reading an interview of French sound engineer Jean-Pierre Lafont, who designed sound consoles for post-production facilities such as George Lucas' Skywalker Sound and other major Hollywood studios, and is a consultant in projection rooms acoustics. He was explaining this :

Spectators absorb sound but leather seats have a major drawback. They reflect sound instead of absorbing it, thus modifying the theatre acoustics during shows where almost no people attend. The bigger the room, the bigger the effect. For room equalisation done once and for all for a given theatre, whether it’s sold out or empty, and for good sound absorption such as recommended by THX guidelines, seats should not be in leather.