Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: `Big movies are still big'

This is topic `Big movies are still big' - Uptown Theatre D.C. in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 11-19-2001, 01:43 PM:

Kudos to Steve Guttag and the Uptown:

`Big movies are still big'
Old movie palaces like D.C.'s Uptown still add grandeur to a film's premiere.

By Amy Dickinson. Special to the Tribune. Amy Dickinson is a columnist for Time magazine and a regular contributor to National Public Radio
Published November 19, 2001

The Uptown, which was built in 1936, is a remnant of our rapidly disappearing cultural landscape -- it's a real movie house with 830 comfy seats, a large balcony, a screen the size of an ocean liner, and a Dolby Digital sound system that sends a movie sound track caroming through its spacious Busby-Berekley interior.

The Uptown, like many others across the country, is a movie lover's dream, a place where $8.25 for a movie somehow manages to seem like a bargain, and where every movie is an event -- though some movies are bigger events than others. "Star Wars" opened here in 1977, playing an exclusive East Coast engagement from Memorial Day to Christmas. "Apocalypse Now" and "Platoon" each showed here exclusively for months before wider release.

"It was the best time I ever had," sighed 7-year-old Alec. A look down the sidewalk along the theater revealed a line of 2,000 people snaking through the neighborhood, patiently waiting their turn to leave their lives for a few hours and see a really big movie, just the way it should be seen.

Read the full article at:
Chicago Tribune Article about Uptown Theatre, Washington DC

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 11-19-2001, 07:43 PM:

Of course, she got the "Exclusive East Coast Engagement" wrong. I'm sure it played exlusively in the D.C. area for that period of time (as per the distribution pattern for Star Wars in 1977, exclusive one or two theatre engagements were common), but the whole east coast?

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 11-19-2001, 08:08 PM:

John:

Your post brings tears to my eyes! Venues like these are few and far between.

Posted by Jeff Stricker (Member # 224) on 11-20-2001, 08:51 AM:

I read that great article in yesterday's Chicago Tribune.

I wonder what the projection equipment is there?

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-20-2001, 09:52 AM:

There are pictures of the booth here on the site in the "Pictures" section. I wish we had received more pictures of the auditorium as well as some pictures of the lobby and outside of the place.

I'm sure Steve will obtain many more pictures for us soon. Right Steve?

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-20-2001, 01:15 PM:

Be sure to buy USA Today this Friday. There will be an article in the travel section about the 10 best theatres to see a film at in the U.S.
Its also kind of sad that the Chicago Tribune Columnist can't have this sort of experience in Chicago. There used to be many really nice theatres there, but today there are no more that are even passable.
Mark @ GTS

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 11-20-2001, 01:23 PM:

Mark said: "Be sure to buy USA Today this Friday. There will be an article in the travel section about the 10 best theatres to see a film at in the U.S.

Bet more than a few of them will have "ties" to participants in Film-Tech.

Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 11-20-2001, 01:40 PM:

Color me cynical, but what are the qualifications of a USA Today reporter to suggest the best theatres? I suspect the bit will focus on one or two of the restored great houses with a few major circuit houses thrown in for political reasons, as well as one or two independents in the sticks.

My guesses as to the nominees, not in any order:

The Fox Atlanta.
Uptown in DC
The cinerama capable house in Seattle.
Sid's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
Muvico Palace or Paradise in FL
Park City, CO or some art house
Some GCC theatre somewhere
Some AMC theatre somewhere
Some Regal theatre somewhere
A major NYC theatre

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 11-20-2001, 02:19 PM:

Jerry, All theatres mentioned in the article will be in New York City or one of it's suburbs.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-20-2001, 02:34 PM:

Jerry,

I'm sure USA Today is just as qualified as the indie publication Dallas Observer is. Once a year those idiots get together and decide "The Best of Dallas"...and occasionally they even review every theater in town. They don't judge the presentation, nor quality of service, nor quality of concession items. Oh no. They rate theaters based upon things like "make-out possibilities" (or, can we have sex in the theater and not get caught because the lights go completely out and there are never any ushers checking in on things). One year they even said that the AMC Glen Lakes had a "perfect and crisp picture". Yeah right! So...what, the scratches were colorful and in focus? (This theater is notorious for destroying prints on opening day, sometimes with only one run.) Theaters like the Inwood and UA Cine (no longer around, thankfully) get high reviews just because they show art films. Never mind that these theaters have horrible presentations with godawful sound, right? Just try and leave with your shoes. Can't be done! They'll be forever stuck to the floor, just as that seat spring will be forever penetrating your ass. Oops, I'm ranting.

I'm sure USA Today won't sink to quite that level, but I'll bet you're not too far off! It's all fluff.

Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 11-20-2001, 03:25 PM:

Bob, Atlanta IS a suburb of NYC.

Brad, nice description of "the best of" stories. I think these stories are usually foisted off on cub reporters to give them something to do, and keep them out of the way of the real journalists.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-20-2001, 04:40 PM:

Well, I suppose that the USA today person is every bit as qualified as the person from the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun Times, The Dallas Observer , The Miami Herald or the Boise Gazette for what ever reason. I doubt that there will be any newish places or chains new plexes listed in it, or at least theatres that the chains didn't design or build themselves but more like the Uptown that was taken over, and or inherited.
Bob,
I thought that the whole US was a suburb of N.Y.C.????
Mark @ GTS

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 11-20-2001, 06:09 PM:

Sorry mark it is not a suburb of New York but of Toronto

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-20-2001, 06:36 PM:

OK, Here's the poop. The article is about 10 historic theatres to see a film at in your travels across the country. This sounds fair enough to me.....but we'll wait and see the results. Hopefully ALL of the places listed are related to some Film-Techer.

Toronto, or was that Torontino...All I remember is the great Italian food there.....So Its got to be more of a restaurant than a suburb.
Mark @ GTS

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 11-20-2001, 09:28 PM:

Mark i am suprised you remmebred the food considering the electronic surplus places you cleaned out

Posted by John Anastasio (Member # 607) on 11-21-2001, 05:28 AM:

If things keep going the way they have been, NYC will end up being a suburb of Newark! It seems like everyone is relocating from Manhattan these days. Maybe one day we'll actually have a movie theater in Trenton.... with a screen and everything! (There are actually a few here, but all they feature is a lot of Gospel singing.)

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-21-2001, 11:31 AM:

Gord said..."Mark i am suprised you remmebred the food considering the electronic surplus places you cleaned out"

I thought it was the restaurants I cleaned out...I did leave a few things for you to but at the surplus places...
Mark @ GTS

Posted by Keith Madden (Member # 910) on 11-21-2001, 05:36 PM:

I can probably scrounge up some old historic photos to scan and send. George Roher had posted some photos a while back and was threatened with dismissal by Loews Cineplex. All for making their theater look good!

The Uptown is indeed a gem. It's certainly not a palace by the old standards and it has its flaws but it sure beats the typical multiplex for grandeur any day. Converted to Cinerama from it's original 1935 configuration of 1400 seats and a booth above the balcony, the current booth crams a pair of Century JJ's (with the Cinerama logo still on the door glass), Ultra-80 lamphouses with 5k or sometimes 7k bulbs, a CP-200, DTS or Dolby Digital readers above the mag penthouse, and amp racks all in the center Cinerama booth hanging out over the audience in the balcony. The 70 x 27 screen still has the Cinerama deep curve although, alas, the strip screen was torn out in a rash move in 1996. The current one gives awful cross reflection when we get the light up where it needs to be and it sags in places.

There was a great feeling of the power of showmanship when I dimmed the lights slowly for the first Potter screening to screams of delight and applause. Accompanied by two armed Secret Service Agents I ran three shows to packed houses. They were there to protect me from the First Lady I suppose who spoke before the screening. Neither Secret Service Agent had seen reel to reel projection before. But they soon learned to spot changeover cues and move from port to port while I stomped on the floor button and then threaded the next machine. I kept my eye out for bad guys in between cues.

Presidents, politicians, and the Washington elite come to shows here to be seen, as well as to blend in with the crowd. Vice President Al Gore used to slip in the back all the time. Even though he could watch anything he wanted at the White House residence he enjoyed the magnificience of the Uptown. Even Kings have been entertained at the Uptown. King Hussein of Jordan came and saw a film after purchasing up a few extra Harley Davidsons at a local dealership.

What the Chicago Tribune article didn't mention was the two week run of a beautiful 70mm six track print of '2001'. Gosh that was gorgeous. Nothing like a floor to ceiling curtain and walk in music to build dramatic tension for the start of a film. And nothing like ten 70mm reels to build upper body strength and character. Then there is that 70mm image! If you worked at it you could keep a nice sharp image edge to edge over the deeply curved screen. Makes you remember that film still reigns supreme on the giant screen. It was also a treat to hear the warmth and richly fluid magnetic track in a big old house. Sure digital is cool but the old mag felt like home. Comfort food for ears feed a steady diet of techno pop.

The Uptown is perhaps unique in that it has survived in an urban area unlike many of it's long demolished sisters and cousins around North America which have given way to urban decay and suburban sprawl. I remind my boys, Harry Potter book fans of seven and ten, to count themselves lucky for having experienced film magic like this. Who knows how long it will last? This is a piece of history you can experience now.

Happy Thanksgiving (for my US compadres)!

Posted by Dick Vaughan (Member # 540) on 11-23-2001, 04:29 AM:

Sorry Mark and Gord

The US and Canada are still suburbs of the UK!

Posted by Randy Loy (Member # 112) on 11-23-2001, 07:12 AM:

Dick Vaughan said:

"Sorry Mark and Gord. The US and Canada are still suburbs of the UK!"

Good one Dick. Those of us on this side of the pond should have seen that one coming from our British friends!