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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
 

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Mark DeLettera
Eastman Kodak Co.
Worldwide Technical Svs.
Rochester, NY
mark.delettera@kodak.com
716-588-4189
 

The plot thickens . . .

 

Many many times more than they could possibibly strike prints for!

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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
 

For a goood list of 70MM theatres, try Scott Norwood's site: http://www.redballoon.net/
I do know that 3 of the 5 listed Rochester, NY 70MM theatres have closed this past year.

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Mark DeLettera
Eastman Kodak Co.
Worldwide Technical Svs.
Rochester, NY
mark.delettera@kodak.com
716-588-4189
 

Here are the direct links:

US theatres

non-us theatres

Please send additions/updates/corrections my way and I will add them to the lists. (which, btw, are totally unofficial and probably have many errors...many theatres have probably closed since I started these lists in 1997, too)
 

It's a shame that there are no 70mm-capable theatres in AL or TN (except IMAX).

Evans

Anyway, the corrections for NYC would show the following theaters closed: The National Twin, the Guild 50th, The Bay, The Rivoli, The 34th Street East, the Criterion Center and (and this one really hurts) the Regency, which at one time was one of the greatest, if not the greatest revival houses in the country. They tore it down and built (are you ready now?) a Victoria's Secret in it's place. Also, the 57th Street Playhouse is now run by the DGA for their exclusive use and is simply called the DGA Theater. And, the Paris is now indepentently owned.
 

Also, apologies for the typos. The list started as a simple web form thing that people could fill out as they pleased. This worked fine when there were only a few dozen theatres on it, but it became unmanageable and needed to be organized by state and city. For now, I'm doing the updates manually, though I'll eventually add a form interface for additions.
 

In Connecticut, two Crown theaters no longer have 70mm.... The Ridgeway (in Stamford) has closed, and the Crown Gotham in NYC will be closing shortly (neither were our choise; the landloards would not renew the leases.)
 

Both of the Guild Embassy theaters in Time Square are closed, thus depriving hundreds of rats their first run entertainment. Hard to belive, but Times Square, once a hub of NYC cinema-going, is down to just the Sony/Loews State 4 underneath the Virgin Records store. And even they are borderline sub-run, having clearence problems with the Loews and AMC humongaplexes on 42nd St.

quote:

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It's a shame that there are no 70mm-capable theatres in AL or TN (except IMAX0

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I thought the Alabama in Birmingham had Norelco's. I've also heard that there's been monkeying around in the booth recently, so that may have changed.

You might want to do some more investigation. It turns out more independents installed 70mm in AL & MS, mostly on what's been described as a sort of personal fascination.

There's a theater in someplace like Thomasville or Dothan that still has its 70mm installation from the 60s. Weldon Limroth coordinated that installation; he mentioned that as about as far south as he thinks 70mm got in Alabama. I haven't been able to find a secondary motivation to road trip to those places to check it out (there's supposedly a Boller Bros. theater in Gadsden I've wanted to seek out also).

I've seen squillions of booths in Mississippi, Alabama, & Florida (& elsewhere, but those states are sort of absent from Scott's list) with a 35/70 projector here & there, a 35/70 platter here & there, never adjacent & associated with anything from Altec mono to whatever, but I certainly would never call them 70mm theaters.

Probably there's no lens, since the equipment seems to be mostly transplants.

They're like little cinematic orphans in foster homes. "Please sir, I want some film." Someone should make it into a heart-touching musical, an all-to-real human drama that's uplifting & fun for the whole family! Hey, THAT sounds like a Disney movie!

Virginia Theater, Champaign Now sports twin Norelco DP-70's. Roger Ebert holds his annual film fest at this theater(Ebertfest). The 70mm print of 2001 was run there by yours truely several years ago. The new print is scheduled to run next month. This is as close to Hal's home of Urbana that 2001 will ever get. Building has been restored and is owned by the City Of Champaign. PHEW!

UTAH
An important Utah location that few seem to know about except the locals here........
The Villa Theater, DP-70, CP-200, DA-20, DTS, AW-3. All 3-Strip Cinerama booths and ports remain, 93 foot wide Cinerama Screen.
Eat Your Hearts out you suckers in Seattle!
We get to watch it on the real screen here all the time......
Mark @ GTS

Anyway, I just submitted a correction and an addition to some theatres in Newport Beach, CA. Total of 10 screens, and neither theatre is closing unless the circuit goes belly up, which isnt going to happen because we just got a lot of money from the guy who is also helping out UA and Regal. He likes digital cinema, bah.

Some people within the tech ranks are trying to get the 70 capability removed from the circuit due to the lack of 70mm films we show. Though with our local film festival there *may* be more 70's, in which case they'll be glad to have the equipment already in place.

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Jonathan Haglund
Edwards Theatre Circuit, Inc
Park Place 10
 

Back in February, I was part of a big two-day Disney event at my theater (which included Atlantis and several other films scheduled for release through 2006; to name them would probably mean my job). But through some lengthy conversations with one of the editors of Atlantis, I found out they're definately not going to release it in widescreen format (just like stated above).

TJM
 

quote:

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I found out they're definately not going to release it in widescreen format (just like stated above).

---

I hate to be pedantic, but "widescreen" and 70mm are not the same thing. If a Disney rep just said "it's not going to be widescreen", then really all that can be gathered from that is that Atlantis will be a 1.85:1 aspect ratio film (as with most Disney animated features these days), but that doesn't mean Disney couldn't still do some 70mm blow-ups. There have been plenty of 1.85:1 movies that were released as 70mm blow-ups (with the images "windowboxed" -- black mattes on the sides of the picture, so that the 1.85:1 aspect ratio was preserved). Heck, Disney even went so far as to windowbox the 1.37:1 "academy" ratio inside the 70mm frame area for their 1990 re-release of the original Fantasia.

I also think there is some confusion going on in the rumor mill. A few months ago, several people kept talking about rumors of 70mm making a comeback. But I'll bet you anything that today's studio execs think 70mm=IMAX, and use those two terms interchangably (they've probably never even heard of 5-perf 70mm). Disney's plans for some upcoming IMAX features (which were recently announced) are likely the source of those rumors. Some exec or other higher-up said "70mm" when they really meant "IMAX", and the rumor mill took off from there.

In any case, based on what Dick Vaughan said...

quote:

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To get back to the start of this thread I just had an e-mail from the mouse himself confirming that Disney are NOT releasing Atlantis in 5 perf 70mm.

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...it sounds like the definitive answer is no, there will be no 70mm release of Atlantis. Although, if they have a large outdoor premier, they might strike a single 70mm print for one-time use, like they did for Lion King, since that's the only way to fully light a really big screen.

By the way, Dick, what did you mean "the mouse himself"? Are you in with Eisner?

Screen 3 at the Mann Cherry Creek 8 in Colorado is not equipped for 70mm. It is entirely a 35mm only comlex. That is interesting that THX's site says 70mm.

Also, Greenwood Plaza 12 (also in Colorado) has 3 70mm screens, not just two. They are screen #'s 4, 6, and 9.

What I meant to type was Large Format, not widescreen. Don't mind me, I think I had some bad fruit.

TJM
 

As far as Kansas City goes. I believe that the AMC Metro North Plaza 6 (MO), the AMC Oak Park Plaza 6 (MO), and the AMC Parkway 14 (KS) can still run 70mm. They haven't for years, but they never uninstalled the equipment.

The real shame is 70mm being excluded from many stadium seated theaters with oversized screens. Cinemas like the UA Galaxy 9 in Dallas brag on the size of their screens. But I certainly can't brag on the arguably dim and blurry quality of the pictures being thrown on those giant screens. I'm pessimistic about 70mm making a comeback. With all the hype going on about DLP, it seems that the "progress" for projecting better images is going the other direction.
 

Does anyone think that Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer might strike 70MM prints of 'Pearl Harbor' in the same way that James Cameron did for 'Titanic'?

The even more difficult thing now is the vanishing sites that served 70mm well. Even though the metro Dallas and Oklahoma City areas near me have some 70mm-equipped houses, they are on the order of smaller auditoriums where 70mm blowups from 35mm are not going to offer much of a visual improvement. Those theaters were built before 35mm digital became common, when the only way to have great quality multi-channel sound was by way of expensive mag-coated 70mm Dolby A and SR prints.

One of the things I still mourn is the loss of the GCC Northpark Mall 1-2 theater in Dallas. The #1 THX screen was just awesome. Sound and projection quality was always superb. Films like "Crimson Tide," "Apollo 13," "Jurassic Park," "Vertigo" and "Titanic" (the last two of those being 70mm DTS shows) had a great impact by way of that cavernous 1100 seat theater. Films just don't hit you the same way when shown in some 30-plex where many of the theaters have fewer than 100 seats. I had no problem at all driving 200 miles to see a movie at Northpark. Now I drive to Dallas only to do other things (visit relatives, see a ball game, hit Six Flags, etc.) and rarely ever watch any movies there anymore.

It seems like the smaller-and-more-of-em trend is just getting worse. Here in Lawton, Dickinson Theaters is opening up a new 12-screen stadium seated site inside Central Mall. The Mall Authority will actually own the theater with Dickinson just being paid to manage the place. 1600 total seats divided up by 12 equals maybe a couple larger screens and a bunch of really small ones. Movie theaters like this are everywhere. It would really be a novel thing if an exhibition circuit could build a new theater in a downtown with 1 or 2 giant screens with 1000+ seating capacity in the same auditorium. Couple that with 70mm projection and the latest sound system gear and you would have the makings of some really great presentation quality.
 

Reading this thread really makes me want to see 70mm. I've only seen IMAX a couple of times and I cant remember mag audio. I'll be seeing Spy Kids in digital tomorrow maybe, gonna sneak upstairs and check out the DLP too. Yum.
 

If you are sure you saw "Traffic" in a 25-plex theatre in New York City, then it was probably AMC's Empire 25, and not the Loews fine establishment directly across the street. I would have to agree with you about the presentations (at AMC), though lately, they have been getting better.

TJM
 

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Jonathan Haglund
Edwards Theatre Circuit, Inc
Park Place 10
 

You probably went to the Loews Kips Bay, on the east side around 32-34th st. They were having the darndest time getting their presentations together in the beginning, but as with all new theatres, they eventually worked out the kinks.

TJM
 

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