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Author Topic: THX completely out of business ??? Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 11-06-2003 11:13 PM                     I don't mean to intentionally take the THX conversation off to a different area, but has anyone given the new "Finding Nemo" DVD a spin? On the "foolscreen" disc (I checked this one out for bonus features) I accidentally started the movie when hitting the menu button to get out of one of the "turn your TV into an aquarium" thingies. The "Tex" THX trailer plays, but this time has some extra stuff in the mix for Surround EX. "Tex" saws away at something in the center surround. Is this different mix available for movie theaters or is this yet another exclusive to DVD (such as the "T2" THX snipe)?  |  IP: Logged Scott Jentsch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1061 From: New Berlin, WI, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 11-07-2003 04:16 PM                        Here is a Wayback archive of a list a friend of mine used to keep: http://web.archive.org/web/19981205081507/www.cc.edu/~rhiggins/thx_list.html Ah, the good old days of putting cool stuff on the Internet that didn't otherwise exist...  |  IP: Logged Michael Coate Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1904 From: Los Angeles, California Registered: Feb 2001 posted 11-07-2003 04:42 PM                     Scott, Thanks for posting the link. However, the information I am seeking -- notations for 70mm-equipped screens -- are not present. I am beginning to wonder if 70mm notations were ever present on any THX lists over the years. I could swear that I've seen them before, but then I may be mixing up memories of flipping through Dolby's lists (which did identify 70mm screens...until SR and SRD came around). I've received a few private messages and emails since asking my question, and everyone's copies have had one thing in common: no references to 70mm. Is it my imagination that 70mm notations have ever been included on any of the THX-Certified Theatre lists? Maybe Scott Norwood could chime in as references to THX's Web site appear in the 70mm-equipped Cinemas document he has edited over the past few years.  |  IP: Logged System Notices Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi Posts: 215 Registered: Apr 2004 posted 03-22-2007 08:15 PM                 It has been 1231 days since the last post.  |  IP: Logged Michael Coate Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1904 From: Los Angeles, California Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-22-2007 08:15 PM                     quote: John Pytlak I have the published THX "Certified Theatre" listings from Summer 2000, March 1997, October 1996, September 1995, and January 1994, if that is any help. quote: Gordon McLeod What info do you need specifically? I wish to verify if the GCC MENLO PARK in Edison, New Jersey was ever THX-certified and if it appeared on any official THX lists. If this venue was certified, the likely timeframe would have been the late '80s/early '90s right before its closing and demolition.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 03-23-2007 12:59 PM                        Unfortunately, those THX listings are in my files at work, which I currently cannot access from home. Since my group moved to a new building in December, my work files are still in shipping boxes, so I can't ask a coworker to access them either.  |  IP: Logged Scott Jentsch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1061 From: New Berlin, WI, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 03-23-2007 04:48 PM                        As of January 1996, the only THX certified theaters in New Jersey were: GCC General Cinema Bridgewater | 1 | #2 | Bridgewater |NJ Sony Freehold Metroplex | 2 | #4 & 5 | Freehold |NJ GCC Essex Green Cinema | 1 | #1 | West Orange |NJ That's the best information I have; I don't have anything for the late 80's/early 90's.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-25-2007 08:06 PM                     The biggest problem I see with marketing THX these days is the sheer cost of just adding the THX logo to a chains newspaper ads. It can cost tens of thousands of $$ just to do that yearly aside from the THX re-cert sliding scale fees. It's just not worth it for even in the largest of chains. If the sound is high quality and "digital" which these days is the more important buzz word then people are going to come to a location no matter what sound playback system they have installed. Mark  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 03-25-2007 11:44 PM                     Why should it cost so much money for a movie theater chain to use the THX logo in its directory ads? Provided if the ad is big enough to use the logo in the first place (instead of just small letters), using the logo shouldn't be a problem at all. A lot of ad agencies put together those ads and use applications that can float in a vector based THX logo with no problem. Same goes for newspapers. They all can do it. Now, if THX is charging theater chains a use fee to list that THX logo in the newspaper directory ads or movie stack ads then THX is shooting themselves in the balls big time. Doing such a thing would be an extremely stupid mistake and only encourage more theaters to drop THX entirely. I think the THX program is on the ropes as it is. The folks at THX need to be doing more to encourage theaters to use their system. I think the real problem is the movie theater chains, newspapers and ad agencies making movie ads for newspapers just don't feel like fooling with the "THX," "DTS," "Digital Cinema" and lots of other techie listings they can't seem to get right half of the time anyway. They just want to go back to listing basic, generic movie ads showing only title, MPAA rating and show times. I also think this situation is one of the factors that has helped overall industry standards on presentation quality to drop noticeably. The movie theaters can't market all their tech stuff very well, due to newspaper difficulty. So why spend a bunch of money keeping the auditoriums and related equipment in tip top shape?  |  IP: Logged Will Kutler Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1506 From: Tucson, AZ, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-26-2007 01:08 AM                     When it comes to digital sound, guess what? The last major 20-plex I worked used all three digital sound formats, and all were backed up by good ole analog. And do you know how many times analog saved our asses...for whatever reason? And we never recieved customer complaints about analog sound, and the vast majority of customers did not know the difference. The only time that we would get complaints about sound quality was if the digital sound track for whatever reason (usually SDDS) was bad, and the sound would constantly switch from digital to analog,which the audience would notice. Problem was solved by shutting off the digital and just running in analog, and all customers were happy. As for THX...funny story. A THX certified tech once did an annual recert of a major 20-plex. According to all his fancy computerized sound equipment almost every auditorium was out of kilter. But in reality they sounded very good. Anyhow, the tech readjusted according to his computer readings. Immediately after his visit customer complaints about poor sound quality were en masse....The tech anded up flying back out and putting all the sound adjustments back to their pre-adjustment settings!  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 03-26-2007 09:26 AM                     I don't claim to have a pair of "golden ears," but it's usually very obvious to me when a movie is playing in analog versus digital. The difference is especially noticeable when the theater's sound system is equalized properly. The only times I have any trouble telling the difference is when the theater's sound system sounds like ass regardless of whether the audio is analog or digital. As for THX and its re-EQ computerized stuff, I'll bet that incident described in more an exception rather than the rule. In general, a properly EQ-ed THX certified auditorium is usually going to sound noticeably better than ones that aren't THX certified. And that has to do with the fact the vast majority of auditoriums that are not THX certified will lack many of the things featured in one that is THX certified. They won't have the same level of wall treatment. They will usually skimp on subwoofer drivers, go with lesser quality components and amplifiers and they won't have that baffle behind the screen either. You're also all but guaranteed to have a more noisy (and cheaper) heating/air system and duct work. It is very rare that any movie theater will put in all the kinds of items mandated by THX by choice without also participating in the THX program as well.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-26-2007 10:05 AM                        quote: Bobby Henderson I think the real problem is the movie theater chains, newspapers and ad agencies making movie ads for newspapers just don't feel like fooling with the "THX," "DTS," "Digital Cinema" and lots of other techie listings they can't seem to get right half of the time anyway. They just want to go back to listing basic, generic movie ads showing only title, MPAA rating and show times. In this area, Carmike is using all the appropriate logos (Dolby, THX, DLP) but they are squeezing it all into the same size ad they used before all that came along. To add to the confusion, they are not running the same schedule all week...some shows are "Fri-Sat only," some are "Fri-Sat-Sun only," and some matinee times are "Sat-Sun only." These times are marked by asterisks, which point to definitions at the bottom of the ad...and each of their three plexes has a different array of asterisks and their meanings. All of this information for their 24 screens in three locations, along with the logos, ratings, theatre phone numbers and addresses, and -- oh yeah -- the movie titles, are crammed into an ad that's about 1 column by 5 inches tall. I'll try to scan and post one when I get the chance.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 03-26-2007 11:04 AM                     I think Carmike's newspaper ad in our local paper (The Lawton Constitution) is too small -certainly too small to display logos like those of THX and DLP with any decent legibility at all. Factors like "dot gain" from bleeding ink on newsprint make visual mud out of an ad made way too small. Carmike's Lawton ad is probably half the size it used to be a few years ago. Back in the late 1980's and early 1990's when Carmike was running the Video Triple and Showcase Twin their ads were quite a bit bigger and had things like poster and title art for individual movies. Not any more. I've seen other movie theater chains do the same thing, especially in smaller markets. I'm not sure whether the average price for newspaper ad space has simply become a lot more expensive or if movie theater chains are just slashing advertising costs. Either way, newspapers are becoming increasingly irrelevant when it comes to movie advertising. I check the Internet for show times almost exclusively now. In that area, I think a lot of web sites that list movie show times could improve in quite a few areas. In Carmike's case, they do pretty well on listing a lot of the tech-related stuff. It's just that I think their new design is pretty ugly compared to what they used to have (which featured better reproductions of the logos, larger type, etc.).  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 03-26-2007 12:01 PM                        The thing about newspaper ads becoming less relevant is true, though I don't think the market is at the "tipping point" yet where they can abandon newspapers completely. Also maybe noteworthy (or not), Regal is running TV ads for their new 15 screen here, as well as ads on the side of city busses. The TV ad looks locally produced, shot at the new theatre, probably on the cheap. I see it running very often and on a lot of different TV shows.  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 03-26-2007 12:34 PM                     That's hilarious- "Why are you watching this commercial at home? Come to our theater and see commercials on our BIG (or at least medium-sized) screens!" Almost as funny as advertising cable TV shows in theaters. Somewhere on tape I've got an ad for a nearby discount theater that's now closed, that ran as a local insert spot on a cable channel (my idiot roommate was subscribing, not me!) If I ever find it I'll put it online.  |  IP: Logged

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