Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Regal Continental

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Posted by Randy Bowden (Member # 587) on 09-28-2009, 05:57 PM:

I'm posting this at the request of my boss...

So we hear tale that Regal has an 80' screen at the Continental 10 in Denver and filling it up with 35mm no less.

We are curious as to what they are running there for equipment. Projector, lamphouse, what size bulb and how are the light levels, Etc. If you know anything, please speak up as we are most curious to know more.

Thanks!

Randy
American Cinema Equipment

Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 09-28-2009, 08:30 PM:

I saw it in person recently. I don't believe it's 80 feet, perhaps 60. It is, however, deeply curved. Pre-show looked dim, didn't see any film on it though.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 09-28-2009, 08:41 PM:

Brad really loves the GIANT SCREEN at the Continental. I remember that Dwayne and I had to carry him back out to the parking lot because he fainted due to being so impressed. Many people die at the theater each year because they are not able to handle the sheer awesomeness of the Continental GIANT SCREEN.

Mike didn't see the "pre-show", but the trailers running in 35mm scope. Yes, even scope is extremely dim. Remember, Mike?

The equipment is all Christie 35mm. I think 6000 watt bulb AT MOST. I wouldn't be surprised if it is less. The lamphouse just says "SLC", not "SLC-60" or whatnot. Sound is Dolby CP-650 which replaced a CP-500. Pictures are here from when it was a 6-plex. They recently added 4 mediocre screens so that it is now a 10. The new screens use all Strong equipment because Regal likes to mix and match things like that. They aren't very bright (both the screens and Regal's corporate offices themselves). 70mm capability was removed from the "giant" screen when they converted it to stadium seating, though they never used it since it was a 1-plex. I guess they were selling too many tickets for the big screen so they had to get rid of some seats by converting it to stadium for no reason whatsoever. It doesn't even make sense from a financial standpoint since the "big" screen never had any difficulty selling out.

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 09-28-2009, 10:21 PM:

Years ago, I was told by a former manager that the screen is 78' wide x 35' tall. They used to advertise it as "three and a half stories tall."

It is a deeply curved D-150 screen. If you sit in the back, horizontal lines can appear distorted because of the curvature, but up close I find it to be overwhelmingly immersive.

I feel that the seating & sight lines are not as good as they used to be because of the recent stadium remodel, at least up front.

Over the past year or so, I've seen 6-8 films there and haven't perceived a brightness problem. Is it possible that the screen seems brighter up close, because of the curvature, with more light being reflected inwards? Or is it more likely that I'm just not as picky as Joe?

Is it perfect? No. But I think it's a pretty awesome, and I'm glad it's still around. I'm planning to make the 30 minute drive there this weekend to see Zombieland, past dozens of other theatres showing it on screens half that size. Hopefully I won't faint or die!

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 09-29-2009, 12:20 AM:

The UA Galaxy in Dallas has two 78 foot wide screens. They burn a 4.5K lamp because the tech (three techs ago) burned a print of Mission Impossible 1 due to not focusing the bulb properly and decided the lamp power was too great for 35mm to handle. Their lamphouse is a Christie SLC. The best light they ever got was something like 10fl in the center of the screen (with what I would call dark corners). It was acceptable for what it was, but it would have looked better with a 6K lamp in there.

(I've got tons of 6K screens with the same lamphouse with no film damage whatsoever, so his theory was bs.)

Posted by Jonathan Althaus (Member # 5042) on 09-29-2009, 01:58 AM:

wow, might have to make a trip to the galaxy to see that, compare it to the 2 huge screens Cinemark has in DFW

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 09-29-2009, 02:10 AM:

Galaxy has the biggest screens in Texas, or at least they used to. I heard they had to take their signs down that proclaimed as such. I think those screens were definitely bigger than the Continental, though. It's just too bad the Galaxy can't seem to fix the mistakes and poor judgment calls made by former technician Al Remy. Then they had a guy after him called George something-or-other who didn't seem any better. What is it with UA/Regal techs in the DFW area?

As for the Continental, the apertures are kind of "bow-tie" shaped due to the extreme curve. You have to crop a LOT of picture on that screen. It's always fun with any movie that has any amount of subtitles anywhere as sometimes you'll need to frame up a bit so they don't get cut off in the center. The GIANT SCREEN auditorium really isn't that great presentation-wise. A former GM there told me that he felt that #6 was his best auditorium sight and sound-wise. This is the second biggest screen. This was before they stadium-ized #6 and the rest of the theater, so the sound has probably suffered a bit. When I saw Dark Knight in #6, it had a few minor issues. But they had long since changed managers since then, more than a few times. Plus they got rid of their THX certification, if that means anything any more.

Geoff, which former manager did you speak with?

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 09-29-2009, 02:45 AM:

I recall reading on the forums here that Al Remy died several years ago. I know he installed the equipment at the Amarillo UA in 1999, so it must have been in the early 2000's. He was our regional tech in the 80s when I worked for UA in Lubbock, and I butted heads with him a few times.
If George is who I am thinking of, he was originally from Tulsa and had been in the booth since the 40s. He was knowledgeable, but quite prone to errors. He also was bald, but had a gray beard and one of the employees in Lubbock nicknamed him "Pappa Smurf." I butted heads with George a few times, too. He chain-smoked and let his cigarettes burn on the electrical conduit rails. Unlike some of our current techs, he didn't have to send an employee to a convenience store to get a lighter to apply heat shrink tubing - George always had a lighter.
I'm thinking George is probably gone, too.

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 09-29-2009, 08:06 AM:

Rich Vincent

Posted by Randy Bowden (Member # 587) on 09-29-2009, 11:11 AM:

Wow guys! thanks for the response. I have in laws in Denver, so if I ever make it out that way, I'll have to check it out. I really miss the old Eastgate theatre here in Portland and it's massive auditorium. I was pretty ticked off with Regal when they decided to close it down. I used to run the Norelco AA machines there. It was a great place to see a film and could seat nearly 1100.

Posted by Randy Bowden (Member # 587) on 09-29-2009, 02:54 PM:

So now I'm curious, about how wide does the screen at the continental end up measuring out to, from corner to corner in a strait line from where the masking starts. Here is what I'm getting at. If you have an 80' foot screen like this and it's curved how much width do you loose vs. it being a flat screen? So how does the continental measure up against say the Harkins Cinecapri in terms of screen size and picture quality?

Posted by Vern Dias (Member # 5241) on 09-29-2009, 03:16 PM:

That Norelco hiding in the background and I were great friends back many years ago when I used to work the Continental (and the Cooper a few miles north).

I never ran 70 at the Continental, but certainly remember running "Grease" there in 35mm Dolby Stereo. Ran a bunch of 70 at the Cooper, though. The "Star Wars" films, "The Tem Commandments" and a number of others.

No shortage of light with the Ashcraft Corelights that were originally in both houses, either.

Sorry to see it's been altered by Regal, as the old seating had some really great sight lines from the front half of the auditorium.

Vern

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 09-29-2009, 04:28 PM:

They ran that Norelco up until the very last day of it's one-screen operation. It never ran again. I was there last year before they built the new booth and it was still in the same position, same parts missing and more dust.

Rich Vincent was the guy who worked at the Continental for a very long time and handled the 1 to 6 screen conversion. He hung out at Greenwood a lot during the conversion since that's where D.O. was located. He used to tell me horror stories about the CDS machine. I kind of feel bad for Rich, I don't think he was quite prepared for how extraordinarily busy the rejuvenated Continental would be. I think he was replaced by Adam Leiberman and then Barb DeHart (who also got very worn down from the theater). I have no idea who managed after her. Mike Allen eventually managed it, but surely there was someone between him and Barb. Now it is managed by some guy named Brad something-or-other.

Randy, measuring corner to corner in a straight line is probably 55-60 feet.

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 09-29-2009, 11:47 PM:

I'm curious about the big house at the Continental...
Did Regal have to install an elevator after they retrofitted the big auditorium to stadium? Pictures of the sloped floor in that auditorium appears to show an insane amount of seats, like almost 700 or 800.
I believe an stadium auditorium with more than a certain number of seats require elevators to the upper deck per ADA guidelines...

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 09-30-2009, 01:45 AM:

It had around 904 seats before it was stadium-ized, I think. The new stadium retrofit isn't very steep since the original auditorium just wasn't very tall in comparison to its length. The original auditorium did have a step between each row so it was stadium seating, technically. No elevators, but handicapped folks can sit in the middle and front. Before stadium, they could sit back, middle and front. Do not dare question Regal, they know what they are doing! They make sure any applicant's IQ is below 90 before hiring anyone for a corporate position.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 09-30-2009, 03:43 AM:

The "COOPER" - the most exclusive Cinerama house - was that a part of the old Cooper-Hyland chain which then evolved into Commonwealth,which was soaked up by UA, then into the REG banner?

(Dang, that was a small genealogy lesson here..)

Heard many-a-stories about the COOPER as with the Continental.. being the two greatest theatres to see a good presentation in the Denver area ...

(MANN's Tamarack was far behind all of this ...)

..course, we can't forget Aladdin Theatre, C-H's flagship palace..!

-Monte

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 09-30-2009, 04:01 AM:

The Cooper was one of the few real Cinerama houses in the country. I think Commonwealth did own it for a while and then United Artists. I remember seeing Spaceballs in 70mm there as well as a 70mm blowup of the world's most favorite movie, Cliffhanger. It was bulldozed long, long ago because the city needed a new Barnes and Noble, by god. I don't think you mean the Mann Tamarac. I think you mean the Mann Century 21. That was the 3rd single screen big house in Denver. It was the first in the state with Dolby Digital. The building still exists, but it is a shoddy Ultimate Electronics. I'm sure everyone appreciates that store much more than the Century 21. In fact, I bet the employees of the Century 21 would have been super-giddy over the thought that their building would eventually become something legendary like Ultimate Electronics.

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 09-30-2009, 04:54 AM:

Guess they don't use those curtains anymore, since the pre-show is so much more important.

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 09-30-2009, 01:48 PM:

quote: Randy Bowden
So how does the continental measure up against say the Harkins Cinecapri in terms of screen size and picture quality?

The Continental's GIANT SCREEN is 78' wide, according to former manager Rich Vincent.

According to the daily ad in the Denver Post, the CineCapri is the "largest screen in Colorado."

According to the managers I spoke with, the actual size is a confidential proprietary secret.

According to a 2004 press release, the Northfield CineCapri is 70 feet wide.

To my eye, it looks smaller than the Continental's GIANT SCREEN.

quote:
The Cooper... was bulldozed... because the city needed a new Barnes and Noble... Mann Century 21... is a shoddy Ultimate Electronics.

quote: Joe Redifer
The GIANT SCREEN auditorium really isn't that great presentation-wise.

Yes. It's terrible. Atrocious. Hopefully they will tear it down soon and put in a Pei Wei and we can eat bad Chinese and then go elsewwhere to watch movies on 20 and 30 foot screens. Or just stay home.

quote: Jesse Skeen
Guess they don't use those curtains anymore, since the pre-show is so much more important.

Nope, and it's a shame. I'm told they are functional.

Watching them open up on that GIANT SCREEN was an awesome experience. But not as awesome as a Pei Wei would be.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 09-30-2009, 02:11 PM:

The Harkins screen is definitely smaller than the Continental. The Harkins seems not much bigger than most other theaters in town. The "large screen" auditorium itself is really small. Harkins uses their ugly yellow curtains (the color their interior decorator chose reminds me of vomit).

Jesse, you are right, the pre show is much more important than the curtains. When I opened the Continental when it was rejuvenated as a 6-plex, we used the curtains. We'd also run a slide show. The curtains would close two minutes before the movie started. They squeaked really loud as they traveled, too! They replaced the curtains when they did the stadium seating.

Geoff, you seem to be ONLY impressed by size, nothing else. Who cares if the image is dim, who cares if much of the image is cropped away, missing and distorted due to the curve, right? The Century 21 was more more impressive presentation-wise, especially in the sound department. It was stupid to build the screen as a super-curved D150. To my knowledge they never even ran a proper D150 feature there. Geoff, I am not saying that the Continental is atrocious, I am saying that it could be much, much better. Regal made it even worse. It's not the same.

Posted by Vern Dias (Member # 5241) on 09-30-2009, 02:24 PM:

quote: Joe Redifer
I think Commonwealth did own it for a while

Yes, they did, along with the Cooper in Minneapolis MN. I worked at both during Commonwealth's tenure along with Commonwealth's Village up in Boulder CO that also had a fairly deeply curved screen and a pretty short throw. All three were fun houses to work in.

Vern

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 09-30-2009, 03:11 PM:

The films I've seen there over the past year or so haven't seemed dim to me.

I saw District 9 there and didn't have any trouble with the framing of the subtitles, nor the "headroom", though I don't deny that the framing isn't perfect.

I wish the Continental were better. I wish all theatres were better. Most are pretty lousy, especially in Denver, as you have said yourself.

I loved the Cooper and Century 21 too. I saw 70MM screenings of Cliffhanger, 2001, Far & Away, Last Crusade and probably a few others at those two houses. I cry a little bit every day over their loss.

Yeah, I think size is pretty important. When I see 30 foot tall dinosaurs or spaceships or boobies or whatever, it knocks my socks off. I'm glad it's still around, and if a film is playing on the GIANT SCREEN, I won't see it anywhere else.

[Smile]

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 09-30-2009, 03:28 PM:

Regarding the CineCapri Screen size:

quote: Geoff Jones
According to the managers I spoke with, the actual size is a confidential proprietary secret.

Aren't there any ceiling tiles to count? I've only been in one theatre that did not use standard width ceiling tiles. Gets me an accurate screen size every time. Divide the scope width by 2.35 and you get a reasonably accurate screen height.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 09-30-2009, 04:06 PM:

quote: Geoff Jones
Hopefully they will tear it down soon and put in a Pei Wei

Is that anything like Wei Wei, a name which I am not making up? It was faux-Asian restaurant in a mall food court here. Lasted about 6 months. Between the name and the bad food, it was doomed from the day they signed the lease.

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 09-30-2009, 04:30 PM:

Heh - yeah. I think I actually mean to say "P.F. Chang's," but same difference.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 09-30-2009, 08:43 PM:

Harkins advertises their Dallas Cine Capri as the largest screen too...but its not. There are half a dozen other screens in town that are larger.

Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 09-30-2009, 10:05 PM:

quote:
..course, we can't forget Aladdin Theatre, C-H's flagship palace..!

The Aladdin was a Fox Intermountain Theatre, at least as far back as Fantasia (shown here in Fantasound). It became a mostly roadshow house starting with the 70mm Todd-AO engagement of South Pacific (the Tabor ran the first two Todd-AO films). Then the Aladdin went with the rest of the chain to National General, and ended up a Mann Theatre in 1973.

quote: Joe Redifer
It was stupid to build the screen as a super-curved D150. To my knowledge they never even ran a proper D150 feature there.

The opening attraction at the Continental was the D-150 Reserved-seat attraction of THE BIBLE...IN THE BEGINNING. The ads stated that it was filmed and presented in D-150.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 09-30-2009, 10:51 PM:

Someone really needs to out Harkins Theaters for false advertising. I wonder if a call to a local TV or radio station would be in order.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 10-01-2009, 01:11 PM:

We have a guy on Channel 2 here in SLC that does just that... Dick Gephart...have a problem with something,some buisness or product.... he'll get it all set straight.. er else...it'll be all over channel 2.

Mark

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 10-01-2009, 09:31 PM:

Using the ceiling tiles as a judge from pictures I took personally, the Harkins Northfield 18 Cine-Capri screen can be no larger than 64-feet wide or so. Unfortunately I don't have any high resolution pics to be 100% sure. If it is bigger than 64 feet, it isn't much bigger at all. I'm sure Harkins measures without the masking, just like they deceptively list every woofer, tweeter, etc as its own individual speaker.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 10-01-2009, 09:55 PM:

I have two 60+ foot screens at my theatre. We don't advertise it. I think it's become a sad day when the screens have gotten so much smaller EVERYWHERE - that screen size is talked about this much. I have seen several LIMAX locations that have smaller screens than my two big auditoriums.....

Weird....

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 10-05-2009, 11:02 PM:

I saw Zombieland at the Regal Continental tonight. Movie was in scope.

Picture still very dim and looked very washed out (ie: next to no contrast) despite having a brand new bulb. How do I know that they have a brand new bulb? Because during the midnight show of Zombieland last Thursday, the bulb went out and they had to move everyone to a smaller auditorium since they could not fix it. So even at it's best, in scope with a brand new bulb it is still very dim and washed out. Looking at it during the movie, I couldn't help but think that perhaps the Harkins screen IS a touch bigger? Harkin's screen doesn't curve, so it may be smaller in overall square feet, but I think the Harkins might have a bigger actual image. Hard to say. The sound is even worse now after the stadium remodel. It sounds nearly as bad as all other Regal theaters in the Denver metro area despite still having the JBL speakers. Amazingly, the print wasn't scratched. Well, the first trailer (Shutter Island) was and all of the trailers were very dirty, but the movie was OK. I think it was too dim to really see any scratches or dirt. Preshow played ONLY through the right channel speaker, but nobody cares about the preshow. The movie itself must have been played in SDDS or DTS since the sound did not drop out when the cues passed (the Continental places their cues right on top of the Dolby Digital code and it will cut out on a Dolby or BACP reader, I've gotten many prints from them).

It saddens me that out of the Cooper and Century 21 theaters, the friggin' Continental was the one that survived when it has always been the least impressive of the three in every category. Oh well.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 10-05-2009, 11:54 PM:

Would those be the CE or the FM350 cue readers?

-Monte

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 10-06-2009, 12:30 AM:

FM350 with everything set to "outboard".

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 10-06-2009, 01:12 AM:

lol..tell them REG booth monkeys to make a strip of tin about two sprockets long. This way, the digital won't drop out being less than a frame in length and the 350's will still pick it up.

Or, they can fold the tape over the edge edgewise covering only one sprockethole and then take the splicer to punch out the tape..

..dang ... - Monte

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 10-06-2009, 01:18 AM:

What they do is to put it on the edge and let it seep into the Dolby Digital, maybe 2 frames long. Then they splice over it with a piece of clear tape. The way I do it is to put a piece of tape about two sprockets long and fold it over the edge, missing the Dolby Digital code. Then I do the clear tape thingy and that cuts off the folded over portion when the splicer cuts it. SR-D never cuts out.

I was planning on changing everything to inboard, but never got the chance as it would conflict with our 2 Christie automations.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-06-2009, 04:45 AM:

quote: Joe Redifer
FM350 with everything set to "outboard".

Ugh! Hello D-cinema.

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 10-06-2009, 08:31 AM:

Where did you sit, Joe?

I saw it Sat PM. I didn't feel like it was dim (nor exceptionally bright), but I did notice the washed-out-ness. I was wondering if that was due to the digital videography.

I thought the sound was great. But I sat way down close on about the 5th or 6th row. (and I'm also not a trained professional.)

I noticed the right channel on the pre-show also. I give 'em extra points for that! [Wink]

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 10-06-2009, 01:09 PM:

If their DCN equipment is similar to what I work with, it sounds like their P2 card's connection has a loose left phono plug...or RCA plug...whatever the old-style inputs are called.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 10-06-2009, 03:38 PM:

I sat in the middle of the auditorium, we did not climb the stadium part.