Don’t forget next Friday the 28th at 8 pm is our next movie Jurassic Park. I inspected the film print today. It is in really good shape. I give it an 8.5 out of 10.
Cinecommcentre there is still all the 35mm stuff there. I haven’t looked in that cabinet in 5 years which is the last time we ran 35mm. Im not sure about books. As I said I haven’t been into the cabinet in years. No need to now that the use the Digital projector exclusively.
The entire complex is called Count Basie Center for the Arts. The original main auditorium is referred to as Hackensack Medical Center Theatre. More people know it as Count Basie theater than HMCT.
walterk, my father who was a longtime projectionist in the area mentioned Snapper many times when I was a young boy. He basically ran theatres into the ground. He ran the Royal into the ground eventually selling it to Fernando Bravo who also took over the Fords Cinema. Snapper also ran the State in Woodbridge and the Forum in Metuchen. When S & S theatres saw the condition of the State and Forum (they owned the buildings), they immediately closed the State and moved all the projection and sound equipment to the Forum and remodeled it. They sold the Forum in 1983. My father did not have any kind words about Snapper.
Article on facebook this morning from the local newspaper says most tenants will be out of the mall by the end of Feb. I wonder if the theatre will be closing. No word in the article.
bigjoe59, the answer is simple. First, masking requires motors and cables to operate. They can and do break down. Second, when digital came into theatres, the image on the edges was so sharp, it looked like it was masked. It was better than anything you could get with 35MM. Whenever we filed aperture plates on 35 or 70MM we always went a touch over onto the black masking to get a sharp image. Third, with only managers in the booths now and no one around, its just easier as the digital projectors are programmed to adjust film format for 1.85 or 2.35. Masking could be programmed, but if it broke down that’s it. Its all about the $$$$$$. And as a 44 year veteran, I hate it too.
The 70MM projectors are owned by Warner Bros and are installed in cinema 2, the Kings. I was informed a 70MM release is coming this summer of the new Nolan movie, so Im sure I will be here or at the Regal on 42nd street running them.
I thought they were going to split it into 3. Btw, how was it split?? From the recent photos it looks like a side to side split instead of front to back.
RHETT52, Ive been going to the Cinemark in Hazlet for many years, and I can say that at least there they have kept the theatre in top notch condition and have never had projection issues or any issues.
Don’t know if you would interested but this Sat Dec 21 at the Union County Arts Center in Rahway we will be showing National Lampoons Christmas Vacation in 35MM. 8 pm
Just a quick question, since Ive never been to this theatre. My buddy use to be one of the projectionists here before it went digital. It was a 14 screen theatre. If you split two theatres balconies, that adds 2 screens for a total of 16. Where is the 17th screen coming from??
Tomw, Dec 7, it will be 40 years that this theatre had its Grand Opening. Eventually being expanded to 8, 10, 12 and eventually 14 screens, it lasted until late May 2005.
Don’t forget next Friday the 28th at 8 pm is our next movie Jurassic Park. I inspected the film print today. It is in really good shape. I give it an 8.5 out of 10.
Cinecommcentre there is still all the 35mm stuff there. I haven’t looked in that cabinet in 5 years which is the last time we ran 35mm. Im not sure about books. As I said I haven’t been into the cabinet in years. No need to now that the use the Digital projector exclusively.
The entire complex is called Count Basie Center for the Arts. The original main auditorium is referred to as Hackensack Medical Center Theatre. More people know it as Count Basie theater than HMCT.
walterk, my father who was a longtime projectionist in the area mentioned Snapper many times when I was a young boy. He basically ran theatres into the ground. He ran the Royal into the ground eventually selling it to Fernando Bravo who also took over the Fords Cinema. Snapper also ran the State in Woodbridge and the Forum in Metuchen. When S & S theatres saw the condition of the State and Forum (they owned the buildings), they immediately closed the State and moved all the projection and sound equipment to the Forum and remodeled it. They sold the Forum in 1983. My father did not have any kind words about Snapper.
I am curious if the closing of this theatre is the reason the Cresent eventually changed their name to Royal further up the street?
Article on facebook this morning from the local newspaper says most tenants will be out of the mall by the end of Feb. I wonder if the theatre will be closing. No word in the article.
bigjoe59, Im 61 and I agree. But remember, in todays theatres there is no showmanship anymore.
bigjoe59, the answer is simple. First, masking requires motors and cables to operate. They can and do break down. Second, when digital came into theatres, the image on the edges was so sharp, it looked like it was masked. It was better than anything you could get with 35MM. Whenever we filed aperture plates on 35 or 70MM we always went a touch over onto the black masking to get a sharp image. Third, with only managers in the booths now and no one around, its just easier as the digital projectors are programmed to adjust film format for 1.85 or 2.35. Masking could be programmed, but if it broke down that’s it. Its all about the $$$$$$. And as a 44 year veteran, I hate it too.
The 70MM projectors are owned by Warner Bros and are installed in cinema 2, the Kings. I was informed a 70MM release is coming this summer of the new Nolan movie, so Im sure I will be here or at the Regal on 42nd street running them.
Its AMC. They don’t use masking in any of their theatres.
I thought they were going to split it into 3. Btw, how was it split?? From the recent photos it looks like a side to side split instead of front to back.
I don’t know how you make money with 585 seats. Seems crazy to me
Those heated seats are nice. They have them in Watchung also/ They do shut off after a period of time, so you have to turn them back on again.
I guess this theatre is done. Its been closed so long people have probably forgotten about it, especially with AMC just 3 miles up the road.
Article in recent newspaper says its going to be converted to retail in the near future
RHETT52, Ive been going to the Cinemark in Hazlet for many years, and I can say that at least there they have kept the theatre in top notch condition and have never had projection issues or any issues.
Saw a story on facebook that there was a huge fire here over the weekend
What a crowd tonight for Christmas Vacation. Well into hundreds. The print of Rocky for Jan 10th is in Pristine condition. A 10 out of 10.
Don’t know if you would interested but this Sat Dec 21 at the Union County Arts Center in Rahway we will be showing National Lampoons Christmas Vacation in 35MM. 8 pm
A friend of mine just told me about this. Are you going to reopen as a 5 screen or you going to restore it to one huge theatre?
Thanks. Don’t know if my buddy Bill M. was there as a projectionist when you were there. I know he was there in the later 2000s.
Just a quick question, since Ive never been to this theatre. My buddy use to be one of the projectionists here before it went digital. It was a 14 screen theatre. If you split two theatres balconies, that adds 2 screens for a total of 16. Where is the 17th screen coming from??
This theatre as well as the 13 in North Bergen were dogs since the day they were built.
Tomw, Dec 7, it will be 40 years that this theatre had its Grand Opening. Eventually being expanded to 8, 10, 12 and eventually 14 screens, it lasted until late May 2005.
Yeah my wife has told me that too. Guess I missed the boat.