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Author
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Topic: Movies still being released on film
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Bill Brandenstein
Master Film Handler
Posts: 413
From: Santa Clarita, CA
Registered: Jul 2013
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posted 07-23-2016 03:18 AM
Went to Sherman Oaks 5 tonight to avoid traffic and smoke from a local forest fire. The lineup is now:
Screen 1 - 35mm Ghostbusters, scope, SRD. Tends to look yellowish but otherwise very good, lovely film color and contrast, with loud dynamic sound. Masking and illumination were great for a change, and only the opening "Pacific Theater" snipes were flawed (started with scope, end portion was flat projected scope).
Screen 2 - digital "BFG"
Screen 3 - NEWLY digital, "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates"
Screen 4 - 35mm "Secret Life of Pets" with gorgeous color and brightness (so much better looking than DLP) but had plenty of specks, plus light markings during one reel, and the sharp image was slightly smaller than the flat-ratio masking. Ugg. Worse, the Dolby reader must be broken because the sound was analog, and you could see through the port that the LED wasn't lit and the film wasn't threaded through it. Ugg.
Screen 5 - 35mm "Angry Birds." No show!
Attendance is still tepid. The evening show for "Ghostbusters" had maybe 20 people, and "Pets" had 15. How do they keep it going?
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Martin Brooks
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 900
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: May 2002
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posted 07-29-2016 09:25 PM
quote: Bill Brandenstein
Attendance is still tepid. The evening show for "Ghostbusters" had maybe 20 people, and "Pets" had 15. How do they keep it going?
I'm seeing this more and more - almost no one in the theater. A theater cannot make it just filling up perhaps 3-4 shows a week. This does not portend well for the future of movie theaters. In places where real estate is cheap and plentiful, they might survive for a time, but in big cities, I think more will disappear even though there's been a recent renovation boom.
In NYC, we've lost 32% of the theaters and 18% of the screen count since 2001. Although we are getting an Alamo Drafthouse 7-screener in Brooklyn that's supposed to open sometime this summer and the Regal Market Line 14 on the lower east side of Manhattan in 2018.
The first quarter of 2016 was a "record quarter" for AMC, yet if you break down the earnings report, they're only averaging 105 tickets per day, per screen. Net earnings per location per day is only $808. Net earnings per location for the quarter was only $73,506. But the Dalian Wanda Group must be happy because they're bidding $1.2 billion for Carmike which would make them bigger than Regal.
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Phil Tucker
Film Handler
Posts: 1
From: North Hollywood, CA, USA
Registered: Jul 2016
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posted 08-01-2016 05:40 PM
Hello, I am new to the forum and this is my first time posting here. I am very glad to be here!
Curiosity got the better of me, so I made a visit to the Pacific 5 Theater on Saturday after learning about it from this thread. As others have indicated it is an older theater, a bit run-down by today’s standards yet still capable of delivering a satisfying movie-going experience. I was told that they have three 35mm projectors in service. Indeed, three films (Pets / Birds / Ghostbusters) were being project from release prints according to the card in the lobby. I watched “Secret Life of Pets.” I noticed some light wear and a few brief emulsion scratches but overall it looked gorgeous and relatively clean.
There were maybe 10 other people in the theater. I struck up a few conversations and made some unscientific observations based on an extremely small sample. Surprisingly, none of the patrons I talked with were aware of the 35mm projectors or even seemed to care. That is not what brings them in the door. Rather, they perceive the theater as a friendly, local movie house where they can catch a flick that has been in release for several weeks at a reduced price, far away from the crowds found in larger movie houses. Agreed.
Pacific 5 doesn’t seem to be advertising the fact that they are using technology from the photochemical era. I suspect they may think of it as a liability more than an asset. But I can’t help but wonder, if the “New Beverly” crowd knew about it, how many more seats would be filled? I have to believe, here in Los Angeles, there are plenty of people who would show up if they knew about it.
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Eric Hooper
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 532
From: Fort Worth, TX, USA
Registered: May 2003
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posted 08-05-2016 01:43 PM
Silver Cinemas at the Golden Triangle Mall in Denton, TX actually advertises they are showing 35mm film in the showtime description section for a movie on Fandango. (This is the section that usually states "Real 3D" or "Dolby Atmos" or "Luxury Recliners", etc.)
They have three digital houses and two 35mm film houses. They've had a dry spell lately, not being able to get any 35mm films, and only operating their three digital houses, with the two 35mm film houses dark. But last week they got the Turtles on 35mm film.
I remember about 6 months ago, the Sherman Oaks 5 did the same thing on Fandango, advertising their shows were 35mm film, but they've seemed to stop providing that info on Fandango. The listings now just say "Standard Showtimes" for all titles and showtimes.
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