Well gee, what did they do before 1968?
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
quote: John Joseph FinkWell gee, what did they do before 1968?
Cinemark has a policy against showing unrated movies
quote: Jesse SkeenLuckily they didn't get started until the 80's. Though I do wonder what the larger chains would do if somebody trotted out a list of all the questionable films they played back in the day when they were small upstarts.
Well gee, what did they do before 1968?
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
quote:
Devoted Bay Area moviegoers may feel like Alice Through the Looking Glass when they scan theater listings to locate the latest must-see specialty film. Nothing seems to be playing where logic would dictate it should anymore.
Over the long Thanksgiving weekend, for example, the thought-provoking "Babel," partially subtitled, screened at the new Century San Francisco Centre 9. The offbeat indie "For Your Consideration" and the Dixie Chicks documentary "Shut Up & Sing" -- seemingly obvious candidates for a Landmark theater -- were at AMC's Metreon instead, while "The Fountain," starring Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz and the hot Hugh Jackman, played the Embarcadero.
Before the Sept. 29 opening of the Century theaters at the new Westfield San Francisco Centre, the Landmark chain dominated the independent cinema scene in San Francisco. The most anticipated films typically opened at the Embarcadero at the edge of the Financial District and would remain there until box office dwindled, finding a second life at Landmark's Lumiere on California Street or Opera Plaza on Van Ness -- or both. Foreign-language films often premiered at the Clay on Fillmore on the theory that residents of Pacific and Presidio Heights would be more apt to read subtitles. The Bridge on Geary Boulevard wound up with the occasional big indie, such as "Shakespeare in Love" and "Good Will Hunting."
AMC Loews Metreon 15, at Fourth and Mission, a half-block from the Westfield, almost always was distributors' first choice for Hollywood blockbusters, which usually opened at the chain's 1000 Van Ness simultaneously.
The Century Centre has had the impact of a 7.8 earthquake on the long-standing habits of those who book movies in the city's theaters. Another shakeup is certain to occur when Sundance Cinemas completes renovations expected next spring on the Kabuki, formerly owned by AMC, and pursues the same independent fare the competition is vying for.
Before the public got its first look at the Century's "pleather" stadium seats and spacious lobby, film distributors were courted at a lavish event at the new venue. The catered party was thrown by Raymond and Joseph Syufy, who were on the verge of completing the sale of their family-owned, San Rafael-based theater chain to Cinemark, a Texas outfit that operates 2,700 screens in 13 countries in North and South America.
The Century Centre is designed to be something special, a small (by Cinemark's standards) nine-screen multiplex running big studio fare alongside art films and "the kind of high-profile foreign-language film that might get an Oscar nomination," said Terrell Falk, the corporation's vice president of marketing and communications. Cinemark offers digital projection on only 19 of all its screens, and two of them are at its new Westfield location.
"We are aware that San Francisco is a very film-savvy town," Falk said.
While the Century Centre appears to be getting the pick of the litter of films opening every week, Falk denies that the chain has leverage to demand these movies because of its size. "It would be nice to think that way, but that just never works," she said.
The theater's success at attracting big titles has had a trickle-down effect on venues around the city. Gone is the gentleman's agreement Landmark once had to obtain exclusive first-run bookings. "The Last King of Scotland" and "Babel" popped up at Landmark's Bridge a week after opening at the Century. Because of their proximity to the San Francisco Centre, the Embarcadero and the Metreon have been hit hardest by the opening of Century Centre. Bookers won't give them the same feature film playing at the Century, but will ship that movie across town to the Bridge or Clay, also owned by Landmark, or to the Kabuki and AMC Van Ness.
Some advantages of the intense competition for "product," as exhibitors call it, have begun to emerge. With more screens to fill, it's unlikely that the Bay Area's robust cinema crowd is going to miss much, and films are likely to stick around longer than they otherwise might have. "Little Miss Sunshine," for one, had a 15-week run at the Metreon. "The Last King of Scotland" bounced around to several venues, including the Metreon, although it failed to find an audience anywhere.
On the other hand, some little films requiring special handling already have been lost in the shuffle. "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" mistakenly was put into the Century Centre, where it quickly died. The Lumiere would have been a far better choice because it traditionally draws audiences accustomed to offbeat fare.
"Right now everything is a work in progress, and there's some jockeying going on with weekly grosses," said Gary Meyer, the owner of the Balboa and founder of Landmark Theaters (which, coincidentally, also was purchased by a Texas company, 2929 Entertainment).
Box-office revenue at the Century Centre has generally been going up. For the weekend of Nov. 17, its total grosses were about $760,000, only slightly behind the AMC Van Ness, which has 14 screens. The Metreon, one of the top-grossing multiplexes in the country, was the champ with almost $900,000 at its 15 screens, plus an IMAX theater.
"The distributors have to play a game," Meyer said. "They have to keep all of their major customers happy."
Tom Prassis, who books Sony Pictures Classics, courageously agreed to talk about the impact the Century Centre has had on his decision-making. Representatives of other distributors declined, one of them calling the volatile situation in San Francisco "too political" to comment on.
Prassis put "Volver," the latest from Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar in both the Clay and the Century. "We won't do this on every film, but we feel that 'Volver' is one of the bigger films, and Almodóvar always does well in San Francisco, so we figure the two runs would be worth it," he said.
The plans are to open "Curse of the Golden Flower,'' a subtitled film from Asia starring Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li, on Dec. 22 at the Bridge, the Metreon and the Kabuki, unless construction work makes it unrealistic.
"We try to go where a film will perform best," Prassis said. "I'm not saying that it wouldn't get good grosses at the Century. It's just that the Metreon is a proven entity, and, you never know, we may choose to put it on an IMAX screen, which we did with ('Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'), and the Century doesn't have IMAX.''
Every film will continue to be similarly handled on a case-by-case basis, depending on a theater's track record. Prassis is impressed with Landmark's record "because they specialize in releasing art films." But he's also more than aware of Century's interest in these features, as well as AMC's, which advertises them under the "Select" logo.
AMC decided in May to dedicate at least one screen at each of its theaters to specialty films. For the Thanksgiving weekend, the Metreon labeled "Bobby,'' "Fast Food Nation,'' "For Your Consideration,'' "Marie Antoinette'' and "Shut Up & Sing'' as "Select'' engagements.
Landmark representatives declined numerous requests to comment. But Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of its parent company, rebutted Cinemark and AMC's concept of mixing art and foreign films with big studio fare on his blog posted in July.
Audience complaints about the moviegoing experience "did reinforce what we are doing with our Landmark Theater Chain," Cuban wrote. "It's a place to see a movie that people talk about rather than people in the audience talk to. Movie chains have to start realizing that one size does not fit all, that having 'Saw II' next to 'Good Night, and Good Luck' might piss off both audiences."
Cuban's approach is the one that the Sundance Kabuki will be taking next year.
"We will be playing the best in specialized film, including American independent and foreign language film," said Nancy Gribler, Sundance Cinemas' vice president of marketing. One screen will also be allotted to more eclectic and adventuresome programming. Every screening will begin with a preshow of shorts and features from the Sundance Channel, and TV-style commercials will be banned.
Moviegoers aren't likely to recognize the old Kabuki by the time the Sundance group is finished with it. It will have a bar on the mezzanine and another right off the balcony of the largest theater, both serving bistro-style food. The building will have Wi-Fi throughout. It will also be the first in San Francisco to offer reserved seating.
Alfonso Felder, president of the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation, worries about the impact of additional and upgraded movie houses in central locations.
"Unfortunately it puts neighborhood theaters at risk by centralizing a few places where we can see films in San Francisco, and that's not the neighborhoods," he said.
"The losers are going to be theaters like the Bridge and the Clay, which have done very well traditionally as homes to art and independent film but which are now seeing their exclusive runs taken over by the new Century. If people don't make a concerted effort to patronize neighborhood theaters, then we will be stuck with only the option of seeing movies in big multiplexes downtown."