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Topic: D Cinema in trouble?

Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 03-27-2007 02:28 PM

(Yea Essaness Theatres - "S and S" - Silverman and Spiegel out of Chicago. Dad Silverman died and Jr. took the company out of Chicago and moved west with it, spent too much money and "you know the rest of the story.")

With the move, Jr. decided to rename the company to Excellence since it's theme was "projecting into the future" due to the westward expansion.

Lot of good people worked in Excellence. Now, some of them are with REG and are doing well with REG

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Martin Brooks
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 900
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 04-22-2007 05:51 PM

quote: Frank Angel
Well, if digital is going to get its reputation from theatres like the Pavillion, then it really IS in trouble....BIG trouble.

The Pavillion is the what happens when single screens are tortured into rooms that are not fit for man nor beast.

Word has it that the Pavillion is being closed and turned into condos. The two main screens in the Pavillion (which I think comprise the main part of the auditorium of the original theatre) aren't too bad - decent sized screens and pretty good sound. I was recently stuck near the back row at a crowded screening and thought it was going to be terrible sitting out of the sweet spot, but it was really nice being able to hear the surrounds for a change. But all of the other screens that I've been in really suck. Some of them have tons of broken seats, you can smell the bathroom and the air conditioning was set way too high.

I don't think you can permanently blame a theatre for one lousy employee behind the popcorn stand. That can happen anywhere. This is what happens when we live in a world of minimum wage employees who are given little or no training.

The bigger issue is not the Pavillion: it's why are Manhattan theatres not presenting much in digital anymore (aside from 3D)? Is it because the equipment was pulled by the manufacturers? Is it because they saw no increase in business? Is it because they decided to wait for 4K? Is it because they don't like the quality? Is it because there have been unreported problems and the studios don't want to "blow it" in Manhattan where critics might see the films? What's the story?

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Brian Guckian
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 594
From: Dublin, Ireland
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 04-22-2007 07:23 PM

aside from 3D

That is a telling comment. IMHO I think the whole thrust of D-Cinema has been in the wrong direction, bigtime.

It should be treated as a completely new medium, complementing Film, not replacing it. That model is full of possibilities. You extend the cinema experience into areas current technology can't reach satisfactorily, such as with 3D. You do completely new types of programming such as factual, events, etc. alongside the existing tried and tested format. You show new types of movie shot digitally, such as animations but also material such as 300. And so on.

The beauty of this is that theoretically what you're doing is creating an additional new market which should also pay for the equipment.

This daft "we'll replace 35mm" ethic was dreamt up by guys who know nothing about the cinema industry. Time to leave all that behind now and embrace the true possibilities of Digital, whilst continuing with what people know and love already... [Wink]

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