Giles: Thanks for helping make my point that “three-hour westerns” can bring out the masses. Those are pretty good numbers. Sure Leo helped, but Jamie Foxx? The guy hadn’t done a thing since “Ray”…in 2004. Oh, maybe you were thinking of “Stealth?” I forgot to ask: Have you ever actually seen a 70mm film at the Cinerama Dome? It’s quite an experience, one that would make you wish Hateful 8 would screen there.
Apparently your unfamiliar with another “three-hour western” called Django Unchained that grossed $425 million a few years back. Granted it’s no Star Wars, but the masses still came out for it. There’s no reason to believe Hateful 8 couldn’t have moved into the Dome on Christmas and played to a packed house for its entire two-week Road Show run, especially with Star Wars playing at the nearby El Capitan and Chinese Theatre.
Entertainment Weekly is reporting this morning that Tarantino told EW’s Dalton Ross in a SiriusXM interview that Hateful 8 was scheduled to play on the Dome screen starting Christmas Day but Disney made Arclight “break” their commitment so Star Wars could screen throughout the holiday season. And if they didn’t comply, Disney would pull SW from “all the Arclight theaters.”
Tickets now up for Hateful 8 in 70mm @ Arclight Hollywood starting Christmas Day. As Cliffs reported earlier, no Dome screening, it’s in one of the smaller auditoriums. Five shows daily: 8:30 AM, 12:15, 4, 7:45 & 11:30.
My point, HowardBHaas, was that they maybe should have picked another theater to hold the advance screening, a venue where they could have used one of their restored projectors, avoid embarrassing pre-release issues like they had at the Village East.
I see they already had a 70mm projector break at an advance screening in NY last Thursday (Village East Cinema). Weinstein Co. claims it was the theater owner’s projector, not one of the 100 they restored. Took ‘em an hour to fix it. Kind of odd to hold an advance screening and NOT USE one of the projectors you just had restored.
According to the NY Times, the Weinstein Co. was supposed to announce the 70mm theaters last week, but as of today the only confirmed venues I’ve found are three theaters in Detroit.
Yeah, I’m sure Tarantino wanted Christmas Day for “Hateful 8” since “Django” opened so well there, but they had to know Star Wars was going to take all the premium, large-format screens for at least a month. Does anyone really want to see a 70mm road-show presentation in a cookie-cutter stadium-style theater? Not me, but I guess I’ll have to.
Drove by this theater again last week and snapped a couple of photos. I did notice Regal’s logo on the concrete trash can outside and on one of the floor mats inside.
Yeah, The Hateful Eight in 70mm would be worth coming back for. It’s apparently getting an exclusive two-week Road Show presentation in select theaters starting Christmas Day.
Caught “The Walk” in 3D on the RPX screen last week. Presentation was great, once they got some issues fixed.
The image did not fill the screen and was both blurry and shaky to start. I had to go out twice to ask the lone concession worker to have someone fix it. Luckily the issues were resolved and the rest of the film played without incident.
Regal needs to follow the Cinerama Dome’s lead and have an attendant in the auditorium at the beginning of the presentation to make sure the picture quality is perfect. Especially when you’re paying $16.50 – $19.00 a ticket.
Took the family to see “The Martian” at the Dome over the weekend. First visit in over three years. Saw it in 2D and the presentation was great as always. As soon as the image fills that massive concave screen, you know the hour-long drive was worth it. Had a burger at Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank afterwards. Yes, a pretty good little Saturday.
I see Dome tickets are already on sale for “Spectre.” Nothing yet for “The Martian” which opens next week but they’ve got ‘em for a flick still more than a month out.
Looks like the new RPX screen will host its first 3D engagement this weekend with “Everest.” 3D matinee prices are only $1 more ($16.50) with evening shows $19.00.
I agree with you about the charm being gone, RobertAlex, but I’d still take it over any other theater in Orange County. Everything here is stadium-style and completely devoid of personality. No more Cinedome; no more South Coast Plaza III. The Chinese and Cinerama Dome are still the best movie palaces in So CA, but since I rarely make it up to L.A., I’ll take what I can get down here.
“Ant-Man” is not screening in 3D. They’ve actually offered 3D for many years on the big screen: “Tron Legacy” and “Gravity” are a couple I can remember seeing in the format. Usually they rotate 3D in every other screening. I found it odd they didn’t offer it for “Ant-Man.” Maybe they didn’t want to scare off patrons for the RPX launch my adding even more fees.
Caught “Ant-Man” at the RPX theater today. $15.50 for a matinee before noon. Only one entrance to the big screen now, off to the right. The entrance on the left side is now an enclosed little passage, encompassing the women’s restroom and an employee backroom.
Once you enter the theater, you veer to the right and follow a short passageway around to the newly renovated auditorium. Center aisles are indeed gone, rows stretch from wall to wall now. The seats are of course the leather recliners with the sliding tray tables and all the aisles slope down from the top, each with its own step. Very dark inside. The red velvet curtains have been replaced with blue carpet-like walls. Two big RPX logos are visible on either side of the un-curtained screen.
The new screen seems taller but not as wide as the old.
The laser-projected 1.85:1 image looked great on the screen, crystal clear and bursting with color(especially the red Marvel logo at the beginning). I’ll be curious to see how they handle 2.40:1.
Sound was great, Dolby 7.1, no mention of Atmos. They’ve amped up the bass, as my seat rattled throughout the flick.
Overall, a pretty enjoyable experience. I’d definitely return for “The Martian,” “SPECTRE” and “The Force Awakens.” It’s obviously not like it was, and while that is a bit sad, it’s just the way things go these days. At least we have our memories. Keep those old pictures coming, Richie_T.
I added some pictures to the gallery. Keep in mind it was pretty dark in there and I wasn’t using professional equipment. You really have to see it for yourself to appreciate it.
Big screen officially re-opens today as RPX theater. Per layout on Fandango, center aisles appear to be gone. 14 rows now and each stretch from wall to wall. Looks like a little less than 460 seats. More info to come.
Thanks, JRS40. Would a ticket, though, for the Torrance two-plex say “Theatre No. 1” on it? I wasn’t sure how the auditoriums were numbered, especially since this theater was called 2 & 3.
I recently ordered a copy of the original souvenir program for “The Empire Strikes Back.” Upon opening it, a ticket stub with the address “1370 Torrance Avenue,
Calumet City, IL” fell out. The ticket says River Oaks Theater 1 on it. But theater 1 was on River Oaks Center Sr, across the street from Torrance Ave, right? Was there a “theater 1” at the two-plex on Torrance Ave?
Looking at the page for the original River Oaks single-screen theater, I’m more apt to believe “Empire” screened there instead of the two-plex. Can someone clear things up?
Giles: Thanks for helping make my point that “three-hour westerns” can bring out the masses. Those are pretty good numbers. Sure Leo helped, but Jamie Foxx? The guy hadn’t done a thing since “Ray”…in 2004. Oh, maybe you were thinking of “Stealth?” I forgot to ask: Have you ever actually seen a 70mm film at the Cinerama Dome? It’s quite an experience, one that would make you wish Hateful 8 would screen there.
Apparently your unfamiliar with another “three-hour western” called Django Unchained that grossed $425 million a few years back. Granted it’s no Star Wars, but the masses still came out for it. There’s no reason to believe Hateful 8 couldn’t have moved into the Dome on Christmas and played to a packed house for its entire two-week Road Show run, especially with Star Wars playing at the nearby El Capitan and Chinese Theatre.
Entertainment Weekly is reporting this morning that Tarantino told EW’s Dalton Ross in a SiriusXM interview that Hateful 8 was scheduled to play on the Dome screen starting Christmas Day but Disney made Arclight “break” their commitment so Star Wars could screen throughout the holiday season. And if they didn’t comply, Disney would pull SW from “all the Arclight theaters.”
Tickets now up for Hateful 8 in 70mm @ Arclight Hollywood starting Christmas Day. As Cliffs reported earlier, no Dome screening, it’s in one of the smaller auditoriums. Five shows daily: 8:30 AM, 12:15, 4, 7:45 & 11:30.
My point, HowardBHaas, was that they maybe should have picked another theater to hold the advance screening, a venue where they could have used one of their restored projectors, avoid embarrassing pre-release issues like they had at the Village East.
I see they already had a 70mm projector break at an advance screening in NY last Thursday (Village East Cinema). Weinstein Co. claims it was the theater owner’s projector, not one of the 100 they restored. Took ‘em an hour to fix it. Kind of odd to hold an advance screening and NOT USE one of the projectors you just had restored.
According to the NY Times, the Weinstein Co. was supposed to announce the 70mm theaters last week, but as of today the only confirmed venues I’ve found are three theaters in Detroit.
Yeah, I’m sure Tarantino wanted Christmas Day for “Hateful 8” since “Django” opened so well there, but they had to know Star Wars was going to take all the premium, large-format screens for at least a month. Does anyone really want to see a 70mm road-show presentation in a cookie-cutter stadium-style theater? Not me, but I guess I’ll have to.
Dare I ask if anyone caught the Back To The Future trilogy at the Dome last night?
Drove by this theater again last week and snapped a couple of photos. I did notice Regal’s logo on the concrete trash can outside and on one of the floor mats inside.
Yeah, The Hateful Eight in 70mm would be worth coming back for. It’s apparently getting an exclusive two-week Road Show presentation in select theaters starting Christmas Day.
Caught “The Walk” in 3D on the RPX screen last week. Presentation was great, once they got some issues fixed.
The image did not fill the screen and was both blurry and shaky to start. I had to go out twice to ask the lone concession worker to have someone fix it. Luckily the issues were resolved and the rest of the film played without incident.
Regal needs to follow the Cinerama Dome’s lead and have an attendant in the auditorium at the beginning of the presentation to make sure the picture quality is perfect. Especially when you’re paying $16.50 – $19.00 a ticket.
Took the family to see “The Martian” at the Dome over the weekend. First visit in over three years. Saw it in 2D and the presentation was great as always. As soon as the image fills that massive concave screen, you know the hour-long drive was worth it. Had a burger at Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank afterwards. Yes, a pretty good little Saturday.
I see Dome tickets are already on sale for “Spectre.” Nothing yet for “The Martian” which opens next week but they’ve got ‘em for a flick still more than a month out.
Looks like the new RPX screen will host its first 3D engagement this weekend with “Everest.” 3D matinee prices are only $1 more ($16.50) with evening shows $19.00.
I agree with you about the charm being gone, RobertAlex, but I’d still take it over any other theater in Orange County. Everything here is stadium-style and completely devoid of personality. No more Cinedome; no more South Coast Plaza III. The Chinese and Cinerama Dome are still the best movie palaces in So CA, but since I rarely make it up to L.A., I’ll take what I can get down here.
I see “Pixels” starts tomorrow in both 2D & 3D, but not on the RPX screen.
“Ant-Man” is not screening in 3D. They’ve actually offered 3D for many years on the big screen: “Tron Legacy” and “Gravity” are a couple I can remember seeing in the format. Usually they rotate 3D in every other screening. I found it odd they didn’t offer it for “Ant-Man.” Maybe they didn’t want to scare off patrons for the RPX launch my adding even more fees.
Caught “Ant-Man” at the RPX theater today. $15.50 for a matinee before noon. Only one entrance to the big screen now, off to the right. The entrance on the left side is now an enclosed little passage, encompassing the women’s restroom and an employee backroom.
Once you enter the theater, you veer to the right and follow a short passageway around to the newly renovated auditorium. Center aisles are indeed gone, rows stretch from wall to wall now. The seats are of course the leather recliners with the sliding tray tables and all the aisles slope down from the top, each with its own step. Very dark inside. The red velvet curtains have been replaced with blue carpet-like walls. Two big RPX logos are visible on either side of the un-curtained screen.
The new screen seems taller but not as wide as the old. The laser-projected 1.85:1 image looked great on the screen, crystal clear and bursting with color(especially the red Marvel logo at the beginning). I’ll be curious to see how they handle 2.40:1.
Sound was great, Dolby 7.1, no mention of Atmos. They’ve amped up the bass, as my seat rattled throughout the flick.
Overall, a pretty enjoyable experience. I’d definitely return for “The Martian,” “SPECTRE” and “The Force Awakens.” It’s obviously not like it was, and while that is a bit sad, it’s just the way things go these days. At least we have our memories. Keep those old pictures coming, Richie_T.
I added some pictures to the gallery. Keep in mind it was pretty dark in there and I wasn’t using professional equipment. You really have to see it for yourself to appreciate it.
Big screen officially re-opens today as RPX theater. Per layout on Fandango, center aisles appear to be gone. 14 rows now and each stretch from wall to wall. Looks like a little less than 460 seats. More info to come.
I can remember frequenting 1-2-3 as a kid in the ‘70s, but for the life of me I can only recall one title: Cloak and Dagger in 1984.
I remember movies at 4-5-6 more vividly: National Lampoon’s Vacation, The Lost Boys, Robocop and Coming to America to name a few.
I do have a faint recollection of the waterfall path that filmgeek73if speaks of. It was both neat and weird.
There was also a great stand-alone B.Dalton bookstore in the middle of the parking lot. Anybody remember that?
I posted a photo of the ticket for reference.
Thanks, JRS40. Would a ticket, though, for the Torrance two-plex say “Theatre No. 1” on it? I wasn’t sure how the auditoriums were numbered, especially since this theater was called 2 & 3.
I recently ordered a copy of the original souvenir program for “The Empire Strikes Back.” Upon opening it, a ticket stub with the address “1370 Torrance Avenue, Calumet City, IL” fell out. The ticket says River Oaks Theater 1 on it. But theater 1 was on River Oaks Center Sr, across the street from Torrance Ave, right? Was there a “theater 1” at the two-plex on Torrance Ave? Looking at the page for the original River Oaks single-screen theater, I’m more apt to believe “Empire” screened there instead of the two-plex. Can someone clear things up?
I see Fandango is listing theaters 2 & 3 as now open (the ones on either side of the big screen).