The AMC website indicates that the AMC Causeway will open on 11/16/23. While there apparently isn’t a Dolby Cinema auditorium, the Causeway will be offering AMC’s new laser projection system that is slowly being rolled out (it’s been available in their NYC locations for about a year but this is the first Boston area AMC to offer it). No mention of recliners. For some reason there are no screenings after 8:30 pm, at least during the opening week.
The Embassy reopened in October 2023, 13 months after closing. The six screens have been reduced to two and are no longer operated by Landmark. The other four screens have been repurposed as a gymnastics school, according to an article in the Boston Globe dated 3/9/23. The building is now called the Embassy Performing Arts Center.
The twinning of the original single screen occurred in the same year that Sack took over from Loews and not in late 1975. The twin opened on June 27, 1973. The initial attractions were polar opposites: “Last Tango in Paris” in one auditorium and the reissue of “The Sound of Music” in the other. Source: The Boston Globe.
The Waltham Channel (local community channel) is reporting that the Embassy is closing. Final screenings are on September 5. Sad news but not a surprise. Attendance had been declining for years, and the recent opening of the Majestic 7 in Watertown put the Embassy at a competitive disadvantage. The Majestic (not yet added to Cinema Treasures) features amenities that the Embassy doesn’t have such as recliners, large screens and Dolby Atmos.
City Cinemas may charge an extra fee for 70MM but at least 70MM isn’t exempt from the bargain matinee policy. I paid $11.00 yesterday for a ticket to the morning screening of “Ready Player One” at Cinema 1.
I saw “Ready Player One” in 70MM at the Cinema 1 today. Hadn’t been here since “Blue Jasmine” nearly 5 years ago and the theater looks much better today than in the summer of 2013. I enjoyed the film and the 70MM presentation (and appreciated the reserved seating and recliners). The only odd aspect was that a theater employee made an announcement at the scheduled start time that since the film was in 70MM there would be no trailers and as a result the film would start ten minutes after the scheduled start time (?). The film was preceded by a 70MM trailer for the “Fantastic Beasts” sequel.
I attended a screening of “Mother” today at the Landmark, which opened yesterday. The film was playing in all but one of the auditoriums, which was probably a mistake—-there were three people in the auditorium where I saw the film on Saturday afternoon. According to the seating charts on the theater’s website, all but one of the auditoriums feature recliners. I chose the largest auditorium with recliners, which according to the sign at the entrance has a seating capacity of 80. Some of the other auditoriums appear to be screening room size with several dozen seats. Seating was very comfortable, good sightlines, and an impressive sound system that showed off the complex sound design of “Mother” to good advantage. On the negative side: those interested in a big screen experience should look elsewhere; and the ticket price was $18.50.
Anyone interested in seeing “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” in the high frame rate version shouldn’t wait long. Attendance at the Saturday (2nd day of release) 10:00 am show in the Kings auditorium was startlingly sparse—-probably no more than a couple of dozen people. Having been to many opening weekend bargain matinees at the Lincoln Square, that’s an unusually poor showing, especially since the film is playing there exclusively and in only one auditorium.
Welcome news. This Upper West Sider is delighted that there will finally be an alternative to the Lincoln Plaza for independent film (other than the limited runs offered by The Film Society of Lincoln Center).
Shirley Marquez might have been thinking of the Pi Alley, a good single screen that opened in 1969 that was twinned down the middle less than a decade later, resulting in two long narrow auditoriums with postage stamp screens. Watching a film from the back rows of the twinned Pi Alley was an exercise in frustration. The 57 was better, but not by much. While the 57 auditoriums were fairly wide (I wouldn’t characterize either 57 auditorium as a bowling alley), they were also long, with screens that were surprisingly small, especially in the bigger of the two auditoriums. The large auditorium at the Charles was certainly superior to either the 57 or Pi Alley.
I attended tonight’s 7:00 screening of “Force Awakens.” Decent crowd for the penultimate night; I would estimate about 60% capacity. As soon as the end credits began to roll, the cameras came out as many audience members took photos. Most of the audience remained until the curtains closed. One more thing: there were two women identically dressed in Ziegfeld Girl-style costumes greeting people after they passed the ticket-taker and were posing for photos. Moonlighting Rockettes hired by Cablevision for the occasion?
While I am very sorry to hear this news, the closure of the Ziegfeld as a film theater has been in the cards for years, if not decades. It’s amazing that the Ziegfeld lasted for as long as it did; even in the 1970s the theater closed for weeks or months at a time due to lack of product.
It would be wonderful if the Ziegfeld came to a close with a reprise of its greatest hits, such as screenings of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “That’s Entertainment!,” “Ryan’s Daughter,” and “Gandhi” each in 70MM, “Tommy” in “Quintaphonic Sound,” “Cabaret,” “Barry Lyndon,” and “A Passage to India.” And don’t forget the restored “Lawrence of Arabia” (a huge hit that ran for months in 1989), “Vertigo” and “My Fair Lady” each in 70MM (kudos to the estimable Robert Harris and his colleagues for each of those restorations).
Ain’t gonna happen, of course. Thanks for the wonderful memories.
I attended a screening of “Blue Jasmine” during its opening weekend here. The film was showing in Cinemas I and II, and my screening was in Cinema I. I hadn’t been here in at least a decade, and was sorry to see how far one of the premier theaters in NYC had fallen. Old and uncomfortable seats and threadbare carpeting (held together in numerous areas by duct tape). The audience in the nearly sold out house (at an early afternoon screening,no less) appeared to love the film, and it was fun to see the proverbial line around the block when leaving the theater. “Blue Jasmine” will be shown on all three screens beginning tomorrow, which might be a first in the history of this venerable theater.
I checked the listings for the Loews 84th this weekend and noticed a drop in the number of films playing there. Based on the listings for the weekend (and into the following week), it seems that films are only being shown on three of the six screens. I haven’t had the chance to walk by the theater to inquire, but my hunch is that the auditoriums are being renovated. If so, an overdue development, to put it mildly.
The split of Cinema I occurred no earlier than 1976. I remember seeing “Jaws” in the non-subdivided Cinema I in the summer of 1975 and “Murder By Death” in the same auditorium in the summer of 1976. The auditoriums that were initially named Cinemas III and IV opened before Cinema I was twinned—-I think those auditoriums opened in mid-1974. I recall seeing “Godfather II” in the larger of those two auditoriums in late 1974—you would have thought that “Godfather II” would have been screened in the (much larger) Cinema I at at that time, but “Earthquake”(with its expensive Sensurround equipment) was still playing in Cinema I. In early 1975, I saw “Murder on the Orient Express” in Cinema II and “Earthquake” was still rumbling along in Cinema I.
Cinema II wasn’t subdivided until the early 1980s. The last film I saw in the non-subdivided Cinema II was “Annie” in the summer of 1982.
“Titanic” is currently being shown in the Lincoln Square IMAX auditorium in what the NY Times advertisements refer to as a “Special 70MM Engagement” (the “Titanic” reissue is being exhibited at other local IMAX theaters but apparently not in this format). I went last night and was highly impressed; 70MM IMAX 3D was a truly immersive experience. The film was presented with a 15 minute intermission; the break occurred shortly after the iceberg collision. Music from the film played during the intermission—-just like the old roadshow days. I assume the reason for the intermission was technical —– the maximum running time for films projected in IMAX is 170 minutes and “Titanic” exceeds 3 hours.
I was browsing in the Globe’s online archives and came across a few interesting facts about the Gary’s run of hits in the 1960s.
Only three films played at the Gary between October 1964 and May 1967, and each featured the same lead actress: “Mary Poppins” (October 22, 1964 to March 16, 1965; general admission); “The Sound of Music” (March 18, 1965 to October 18, 1966; roadshow); and “Hawaii” (October 20, 1966 to May 8, 1967; roadshow).
During the final months of the Gary run of “Music,” the Globe ads indicate that “Music” was being shown in two other area theaters, also on a roadshow basis (the GC Brockton and Showcase Lawrence). Apparently GC and Showcase were not permitted to include the title in their respective ads during the Gary run; instead, the ads referred to “Best Picture of 1965, starring Julie Andrews.” As soon as “Music” closed at the Gary, the GC and Showcase ads began to use the title.
The Gary’s string of Julie Andrews hits ended with “Star!” which opened its roadshow run on November 6, 1968 and closed on January 4, 1969. Surprising to see that the renamed and substantially edited version of “Star!” called “Those Were the Happy Times” played the Music Hall exclusively (and, presumably, disastrously) for several weeks in the fall of 1969—-I would have expected a much more low-profile release than an exclusive run at the largest theater in Boston.
The Waltham Cinema opened on May 26, 1971. The initial attractions were second run engagements of the Disney film “The Barefoot Executive” and the Dick Van Dyke comedy “Cold Turkey.” Source: The Boston Globe.
Another Westonian here and I knew that family as well—-the Spencers. A lot of good memories from seeing films there in the 70s and 80s. I remember being impressed when the Spencers invested in a Dolby stereo system around 1980 (and my recollection was that the investment was substantial). It was highly unusual for a second run theater in those days to invest in a stereo system; most first run theaters in Boston and the suburbs were not equipped for Dolby,yet the Playhouse was.
This former Westonian paid many visits to the Waltham Cinema growing up as well—-it was always a buck house. On rare occasions the cinema would show first run films, which were invariably “B” movies that had bypassed nearby first run houses such as the GC Shoppers World or Loews Natick.
According to the March 31, 1971 edition of Variety, the Plaza theater was scheduled to open on April 8, 1971. The article noted that the Plaza would be the second Walter Reade theater to open in Boston (the other being the Charles).
Clarifying a few previous posts (mine included): the Sack Cinema 57 opened in late December 1971 with the long-forgotten “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight” on one screen. The second screen opened about a month later with “The Hospital.” Source: back issues of Variety (now online).
Following up on some of the previous comments about the opening of the Cheri. The first screen opened in February 1966 with “The Chase.” The second screen opened in November of the same year with “The Fortune Cookie.” The third screen (i.e., the smaller auditorium on the upper level with the separate box office) opened in July 1967 with “A Guide to the Married Man.” The source for this info is Variety (back issues are now available online).
The Walter Reade featured a 75th anniversary tribute to 20th Century Fox over Labor Day weekend, including screenings of “MASH” (with a Q&A including Elliot Gould and Sally Kellerman), the director’s cut of “Alien” and 70MM screenings of “Cleopatra” and “Patton.” I attended the “Cleopatra” screening—-I estimate that the auditorium was about 75-80% full. A treat to see it in 70MM on the big screen, with all of the roadshow trappings (overture, intermission, etc.)—-and the quality of the print was stellar. I hope the solid turnout will encourage the Walter Reade to schedule more 70MM showings, as it is one of the few theaters in NYC that remains equipped for 70MM. The only other Walter Reade 70MM screenings that I recall from the last few years are “El Cid” and “Playtime.” More, please!
While reviewing the postings for the old Astor Plaza tonight, I had two comments. First, the summary for the theater states that the final Astor Plaza attraction was “Spiderman 2.” As many pointed out at the time of the closing in 2004 (can’t believe it’s been almost exactly 6 years already), the final attraction was an abbreviated run of “The Village.” Second, and not germane to the Astor Plaza but in response to a series of above postings from 2004 about the 1983 re-release of “Around the World in 80 Days” and whether the re-release was shown in NYC. The re-release played briefly at the Loews 83rd Street on the Upper West Side. It was not screened in 70MM; I don’t believe that any of the auditoriums at the 83rd were equipped for 70MM. BTW, “80 Days” was shown at MOMA earlier this year as part of a tribute to David Niven. I didn’t attend the screening, but saw the MOMA brochure for the Niven retrospective—-no mention of 70MM for the “80 Days” print.
The AMC website indicates that the AMC Causeway will open on 11/16/23. While there apparently isn’t a Dolby Cinema auditorium, the Causeway will be offering AMC’s new laser projection system that is slowly being rolled out (it’s been available in their NYC locations for about a year but this is the first Boston area AMC to offer it). No mention of recliners. For some reason there are no screenings after 8:30 pm, at least during the opening week.
The Embassy reopened in October 2023, 13 months after closing. The six screens have been reduced to two and are no longer operated by Landmark. The other four screens have been repurposed as a gymnastics school, according to an article in the Boston Globe dated 3/9/23. The building is now called the Embassy Performing Arts Center.
The twinning of the original single screen occurred in the same year that Sack took over from Loews and not in late 1975. The twin opened on June 27, 1973. The initial attractions were polar opposites: “Last Tango in Paris” in one auditorium and the reissue of “The Sound of Music” in the other. Source: The Boston Globe.
The Waltham Channel (local community channel) is reporting that the Embassy is closing. Final screenings are on September 5. Sad news but not a surprise. Attendance had been declining for years, and the recent opening of the Majestic 7 in Watertown put the Embassy at a competitive disadvantage. The Majestic (not yet added to Cinema Treasures) features amenities that the Embassy doesn’t have such as recliners, large screens and Dolby Atmos.
City Cinemas may charge an extra fee for 70MM but at least 70MM isn’t exempt from the bargain matinee policy. I paid $11.00 yesterday for a ticket to the morning screening of “Ready Player One” at Cinema 1.
I saw “Ready Player One” in 70MM at the Cinema 1 today. Hadn’t been here since “Blue Jasmine” nearly 5 years ago and the theater looks much better today than in the summer of 2013. I enjoyed the film and the 70MM presentation (and appreciated the reserved seating and recliners). The only odd aspect was that a theater employee made an announcement at the scheduled start time that since the film was in 70MM there would be no trailers and as a result the film would start ten minutes after the scheduled start time (?). The film was preceded by a 70MM trailer for the “Fantastic Beasts” sequel.
I attended a screening of “Mother” today at the Landmark, which opened yesterday. The film was playing in all but one of the auditoriums, which was probably a mistake—-there were three people in the auditorium where I saw the film on Saturday afternoon. According to the seating charts on the theater’s website, all but one of the auditoriums feature recliners. I chose the largest auditorium with recliners, which according to the sign at the entrance has a seating capacity of 80. Some of the other auditoriums appear to be screening room size with several dozen seats. Seating was very comfortable, good sightlines, and an impressive sound system that showed off the complex sound design of “Mother” to good advantage. On the negative side: those interested in a big screen experience should look elsewhere; and the ticket price was $18.50.
Anyone interested in seeing “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” in the high frame rate version shouldn’t wait long. Attendance at the Saturday (2nd day of release) 10:00 am show in the Kings auditorium was startlingly sparse—-probably no more than a couple of dozen people. Having been to many opening weekend bargain matinees at the Lincoln Square, that’s an unusually poor showing, especially since the film is playing there exclusively and in only one auditorium.
Welcome news. This Upper West Sider is delighted that there will finally be an alternative to the Lincoln Plaza for independent film (other than the limited runs offered by The Film Society of Lincoln Center).
Shirley Marquez might have been thinking of the Pi Alley, a good single screen that opened in 1969 that was twinned down the middle less than a decade later, resulting in two long narrow auditoriums with postage stamp screens. Watching a film from the back rows of the twinned Pi Alley was an exercise in frustration. The 57 was better, but not by much. While the 57 auditoriums were fairly wide (I wouldn’t characterize either 57 auditorium as a bowling alley), they were also long, with screens that were surprisingly small, especially in the bigger of the two auditoriums. The large auditorium at the Charles was certainly superior to either the 57 or Pi Alley.
I attended tonight’s 7:00 screening of “Force Awakens.” Decent crowd for the penultimate night; I would estimate about 60% capacity. As soon as the end credits began to roll, the cameras came out as many audience members took photos. Most of the audience remained until the curtains closed. One more thing: there were two women identically dressed in Ziegfeld Girl-style costumes greeting people after they passed the ticket-taker and were posing for photos. Moonlighting Rockettes hired by Cablevision for the occasion?
While I am very sorry to hear this news, the closure of the Ziegfeld as a film theater has been in the cards for years, if not decades. It’s amazing that the Ziegfeld lasted for as long as it did; even in the 1970s the theater closed for weeks or months at a time due to lack of product.
It would be wonderful if the Ziegfeld came to a close with a reprise of its greatest hits, such as screenings of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “That’s Entertainment!,” “Ryan’s Daughter,” and “Gandhi” each in 70MM, “Tommy” in “Quintaphonic Sound,” “Cabaret,” “Barry Lyndon,” and “A Passage to India.” And don’t forget the restored “Lawrence of Arabia” (a huge hit that ran for months in 1989), “Vertigo” and “My Fair Lady” each in 70MM (kudos to the estimable Robert Harris and his colleagues for each of those restorations).
Ain’t gonna happen, of course. Thanks for the wonderful memories.
I attended a screening of “Blue Jasmine” during its opening weekend here. The film was showing in Cinemas I and II, and my screening was in Cinema I. I hadn’t been here in at least a decade, and was sorry to see how far one of the premier theaters in NYC had fallen. Old and uncomfortable seats and threadbare carpeting (held together in numerous areas by duct tape). The audience in the nearly sold out house (at an early afternoon screening,no less) appeared to love the film, and it was fun to see the proverbial line around the block when leaving the theater. “Blue Jasmine” will be shown on all three screens beginning tomorrow, which might be a first in the history of this venerable theater.
I checked the listings for the Loews 84th this weekend and noticed a drop in the number of films playing there. Based on the listings for the weekend (and into the following week), it seems that films are only being shown on three of the six screens. I haven’t had the chance to walk by the theater to inquire, but my hunch is that the auditoriums are being renovated. If so, an overdue development, to put it mildly.
The split of Cinema I occurred no earlier than 1976. I remember seeing “Jaws” in the non-subdivided Cinema I in the summer of 1975 and “Murder By Death” in the same auditorium in the summer of 1976. The auditoriums that were initially named Cinemas III and IV opened before Cinema I was twinned—-I think those auditoriums opened in mid-1974. I recall seeing “Godfather II” in the larger of those two auditoriums in late 1974—you would have thought that “Godfather II” would have been screened in the (much larger) Cinema I at at that time, but “Earthquake”(with its expensive Sensurround equipment) was still playing in Cinema I. In early 1975, I saw “Murder on the Orient Express” in Cinema II and “Earthquake” was still rumbling along in Cinema I.
Cinema II wasn’t subdivided until the early 1980s. The last film I saw in the non-subdivided Cinema II was “Annie” in the summer of 1982.
“Titanic” is currently being shown in the Lincoln Square IMAX auditorium in what the NY Times advertisements refer to as a “Special 70MM Engagement” (the “Titanic” reissue is being exhibited at other local IMAX theaters but apparently not in this format). I went last night and was highly impressed; 70MM IMAX 3D was a truly immersive experience. The film was presented with a 15 minute intermission; the break occurred shortly after the iceberg collision. Music from the film played during the intermission—-just like the old roadshow days. I assume the reason for the intermission was technical —– the maximum running time for films projected in IMAX is 170 minutes and “Titanic” exceeds 3 hours.
I was browsing in the Globe’s online archives and came across a few interesting facts about the Gary’s run of hits in the 1960s.
Only three films played at the Gary between October 1964 and May 1967, and each featured the same lead actress: “Mary Poppins” (October 22, 1964 to March 16, 1965; general admission); “The Sound of Music” (March 18, 1965 to October 18, 1966; roadshow); and “Hawaii” (October 20, 1966 to May 8, 1967; roadshow).
During the final months of the Gary run of “Music,” the Globe ads indicate that “Music” was being shown in two other area theaters, also on a roadshow basis (the GC Brockton and Showcase Lawrence). Apparently GC and Showcase were not permitted to include the title in their respective ads during the Gary run; instead, the ads referred to “Best Picture of 1965, starring Julie Andrews.” As soon as “Music” closed at the Gary, the GC and Showcase ads began to use the title.
The Gary’s string of Julie Andrews hits ended with “Star!” which opened its roadshow run on November 6, 1968 and closed on January 4, 1969. Surprising to see that the renamed and substantially edited version of “Star!” called “Those Were the Happy Times” played the Music Hall exclusively (and, presumably, disastrously) for several weeks in the fall of 1969—-I would have expected a much more low-profile release than an exclusive run at the largest theater in Boston.
The Waltham Cinema opened on May 26, 1971. The initial attractions were second run engagements of the Disney film “The Barefoot Executive” and the Dick Van Dyke comedy “Cold Turkey.” Source: The Boston Globe.
Another Westonian here and I knew that family as well—-the Spencers. A lot of good memories from seeing films there in the 70s and 80s. I remember being impressed when the Spencers invested in a Dolby stereo system around 1980 (and my recollection was that the investment was substantial). It was highly unusual for a second run theater in those days to invest in a stereo system; most first run theaters in Boston and the suburbs were not equipped for Dolby,yet the Playhouse was.
This former Westonian paid many visits to the Waltham Cinema growing up as well—-it was always a buck house. On rare occasions the cinema would show first run films, which were invariably “B” movies that had bypassed nearby first run houses such as the GC Shoppers World or Loews Natick.
According to the March 31, 1971 edition of Variety, the Plaza theater was scheduled to open on April 8, 1971. The article noted that the Plaza would be the second Walter Reade theater to open in Boston (the other being the Charles).
Clarifying a few previous posts (mine included): the Sack Cinema 57 opened in late December 1971 with the long-forgotten “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight” on one screen. The second screen opened about a month later with “The Hospital.” Source: back issues of Variety (now online).
Following up on some of the previous comments about the opening of the Cheri. The first screen opened in February 1966 with “The Chase.” The second screen opened in November of the same year with “The Fortune Cookie.” The third screen (i.e., the smaller auditorium on the upper level with the separate box office) opened in July 1967 with “A Guide to the Married Man.” The source for this info is Variety (back issues are now available online).
The Walter Reade featured a 75th anniversary tribute to 20th Century Fox over Labor Day weekend, including screenings of “MASH” (with a Q&A including Elliot Gould and Sally Kellerman), the director’s cut of “Alien” and 70MM screenings of “Cleopatra” and “Patton.” I attended the “Cleopatra” screening—-I estimate that the auditorium was about 75-80% full. A treat to see it in 70MM on the big screen, with all of the roadshow trappings (overture, intermission, etc.)—-and the quality of the print was stellar. I hope the solid turnout will encourage the Walter Reade to schedule more 70MM showings, as it is one of the few theaters in NYC that remains equipped for 70MM. The only other Walter Reade 70MM screenings that I recall from the last few years are “El Cid” and “Playtime.” More, please!
While reviewing the postings for the old Astor Plaza tonight, I had two comments. First, the summary for the theater states that the final Astor Plaza attraction was “Spiderman 2.” As many pointed out at the time of the closing in 2004 (can’t believe it’s been almost exactly 6 years already), the final attraction was an abbreviated run of “The Village.” Second, and not germane to the Astor Plaza but in response to a series of above postings from 2004 about the 1983 re-release of “Around the World in 80 Days” and whether the re-release was shown in NYC. The re-release played briefly at the Loews 83rd Street on the Upper West Side. It was not screened in 70MM; I don’t believe that any of the auditoriums at the 83rd were equipped for 70MM. BTW, “80 Days” was shown at MOMA earlier this year as part of a tribute to David Niven. I didn’t attend the screening, but saw the MOMA brochure for the Niven retrospective—-no mention of 70MM for the “80 Days” print.