AMC Kips Bay 15
570 2nd Avenue,
New York,
NY
10016
570 2nd Avenue,
New York,
NY
10016
19 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 79 comments
I want to like this theatre- its clean, comfy, and in a great location. But nearly every auditoirum has dim, purplish projectioN and/or improper framing despite no windowboxing. Its a sin. I have sent complaints to AMC.
New imax capacity 308 seats, down from 666 when the theatre first open.
The IMAX with Laser is now open and playing Doctor Sleep. Aspect ratio looks like it stayed the same, as well as seat count. New seats, entrance and obviously IMAX system though.
Stopped bye last week and asked the manager if they plan to go ahead with the new IMAX installation, in light of the possible sale of the mall land to NYU Hospital. She mentioned they plan to have the new IMAX theater open for showing STAR WARS in Dec. I live in Kips Bay and haven’t seen any activity since the demolition stopped a month ago. I’ll report as I see any.
Total capacity 1439, theatre was installed AMC Signature Recliners a few years ago.
Update: IMAX Laser constructions here seems to have finally begun, as the area is now closed off.
@klstra Right now there is no Laser projection here. You saw standard xenon projection and it sounds like there was something off with the bulb there. Or maybe they left the 3D polarizer on. Might be worth messaging AMC about it on twitter or facebook. This issue of dimness shouldn’t happen with laser projection, as the colors become much more vivid there.
If this NYU rumor is true then it would be a bit awkward for AMC since they are spending so much money on renovations here.
It’ll happen. What NYU wants, NYU gets. Damn shame. There’s nothing special about the Kip’s Bay AMC but it is close to my work so I go there often.
I’ve heard through a Kips Bay neighborhood group there are discussions of selling the entire mall where the theater is located, which also includes Fairway Market, Rite Aid and others. NYU Medical Center wants to buy the area then demolish the entire mall and put up a taller 61 story medical building in its place. Hard to fathom!!
Saw Aladdin here on May 30 in Theater #7. Screen brightness was very low. All the beautiful colors were subdued and could not make out images in the dark scenes as in the cave where the lamp is kept. Is it a matter of laser strength? Very disappointing.
Al Alvarez, 5 years ago I did the renovations at the AMC Mountainside 10 in NJ. They closed 4 screens right after Memorial Day, opened for July 4, and on July 7 closed the other 6 until mid August. Being in the business since 1976, I said it was crazy, but who am I to say.
I didn’t even knew that Kips Bay IMAX screen was a scope size, the AMC Boston Commons IMAX is scope screen. It horrible, what happens when the IMAX film full IMAX like Dunkirk, Captain Marvel or First Man, you lose image on thease screens.
Until last Fall, never knew they had scope on screens
What kind of theatre closes during summer for conversions? They obviously do not need 15 screens.
Some update from talking to a manager here: Construction on the IMAX is currently halted because the crew lacked proper city permission. That’ll probably delay the construction a bit, so it might not be August after all. They did however rip out the seats and do some fixing on the stadium seating already. I added some pictures of the current state. Original screen is still in place, so no work done on that yet.
It’s unclear whether it’ll remain scope or not, I heard conflicting things on that. They may want to try to expand it
Also: the reason Kips Bay won’t receive a Dolby is apparently due to their projection booths being to small for both projectors and ventilation units, which Dolby standards require to be together in the same place. However, AMC plans to put in an AMC prime auditorium here that will also be Laser.
So in around a year we might very well have two Laser auditoriums here: one IMAX and one Prime.
@xbs2034 Thanks for the heads-up. I was able to confirm with an AMC spokesperson that they’re upgrading both of those to IMAX with Laser. It’s expected to be completed by August. The screen’s scope aspect ratio is supposed to be preserved.
I also was told that Kips Bay will for sure not get a Dolby Cinema, as the auditoriums here don’t fit the criteria for that.
https://www.rereleasenews.com/2019/05/24/amcs-kips-bay-and-34th-st-imax-theaters-to-receive-laser-upgrade-by-august/
The theater doesn’t have IMAX showings now (at least for the last couple days it looks like) or pre-sales for any upcoming movies in IMAX. 34st is the same thing, so I’m guessing they are doing some renovations, whether full laser upgrades, or some kind of sound or seating upgrades.
have they upgraded imax with laser yet?
I saw a movie there two weeks ago. They not only have the self-service ticketing machines in the front but they also now have them at the box office. They had two people at the box office to help patrons. Soon we won’t have any one selling tickets.
markp I grew up in Bellerose. The projectionist there was a real showman. Made for a great experience. Some details on the Bellerose site.
Not with me. I grew up with a family of projectionists. I was taught SHOWMANSHIP.
Unfortunately, this kind of thing happened all the time WITH full time projectionists.
This is what happens when A) there is NO projectionist, the whole thing is run by a computer, and B) you have people who have no idea how to handle showings of movies like this. When I ran H8 at the Regal E Walk, or 2001 at the AMC Garden State, the first thing I did was tell management to take the entire theatre off automation. I started, raised and lower lights and shut down everything myself. 2001 at Garden State was perfect. Its just too bad it only played one week.
It wasn’t just that showing, I went on Friday here and indeed they kept the lights off for the entire intermission (I’m guessing they programmed the DCP to bring down the lights at the overture and not raise them till the credits, pretty standard for movies these days and didn’t feel it was worth mentioning to the staff, but would have been nice if they went extra step).
I had heard from people who saw it Thursday in digital IMAX that it would be in roadshow format with no trailers, overture, and an intermission so I knew what to expect and got up for a few minutes. But I think a number of the audience members were perplexed (I did have to explain about the overture and intermission to my friend who had never seen that with a movie before) and just stayed in their seats quietly, expecting it to begin again any moment.
Still, despite that one little odd presentation quirk I really enjoyed 2001 here, I had never seen the film on the big screen before and found there was a lot to appreciate with that.
Continuing my “2001” adventure. On Aug 26 I gave my review of viewing the 70mm film version at AMC Lincoln Center at that theater’s comments. The focus/detail was incredible but the sound was ONLY from the screen. This morning I tried my best to enjoy the “restored” digital version at Kips Bay. I didn’t!! First, the surround sound was 100% better than the sound at Lincoln Square, in that it was surround!@! It did lift me out of my seat and sonically and placed me in the images. Bless von Karajan!! et.al. BUT, there was at time, and usually during the BEAUTIFUL dead space silence, very loud rumbling and bass sound bursts from a nearby theater. Terrible!!
The presentation I saw, as the theater manager informed me.. in digital format.. was a great disappointment as far as screen clarity. I would say there was a 10-15% loss in clarity over the film I watched at AMC Lincoln Center. I’m so glad I heard of those few presentations!! It was bad enough to make most of the effects look like effects.
I stuck it out until INTERMISSION appeared on the screen and for the lights to come up. They didn’t, so I slowly made my way to the side aisle and down to the exit. Since the lights were still not on I spoke to the 30 or so patrons in the dark saying I had seen the film on Sat and the lights should come on, mentioning I would tell the manager on the way out. A lady exiting with me thanked me for the announcement!!
I asked for the manager and met him in the lobby at the ticket counter. Told him of the theater sitting in the dark and he mentioned, to my wonderment.. that persons had come down to the lobby on prior showings saying they thought there was a problem with the projectionist.. (not aware there isn’t one!) He went up to turn the lights on, but did mention he had thought that the darkness was there to keep the audience in outer space mode????!!:):) Yep.. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to visual displays??!! But I want to help everyone get what they pay for!! I’m concerned this digital version is NOT as awe-inspiring as the original!!
WE CAN/SHOULD DO BETTER THAN THIS??!!
Though it’s important to note it’s the E Walk IMAX VR location which closed. Still, from what I’ve seen, I don’t think this one does great business either.