Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Cinearts at Empire (SF) No more art?

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Posted by Mike Croaro (Member # 3123) on 12-20-2011, 09:51 PM:

Hmmmm....I've noticed that the Cinemark Cinearts at Empire has not run any art product in a really long time.

Instead they have been playing big Hollywood films like "Moneyball", "The 3 Musketers", "The Sitter", "New Years Eve" etc.

I asked one of the box office employees and he said that he too wondered why they had dropped the art product.

Down the street, the older UA Stonestown twin continues to show art films, and the "big gun" titles too.

Change is distribition?

Just curious,

Mike

Posted by Robert Grandrath (Member # 6483) on 12-20-2011, 11:31 PM:

I suspect capitalism is at work. The Cinearts art house brand was a Century Theatres product that Cinemark has "molded" to a more profitable model since their purchase of Century. In short it pays more to put hollywood movies on "art house" screens. Cinemark did this to the Cinearts Santana row shortly after the buy out aswell. Though since its a 6 screen there are likely still art movies playing along side the money makers.

Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 12-21-2011, 11:02 AM:

There is a five-screen CineArts-branded theatre here in Pleasant Hill, which includes one of Syufy's old dome theatres (thankfully still intact), located across the freeway from a sixteen-screen Century-branded theatre. In the year and a half I've been living up here, there have been dozens of Hollywood blockbusters that have played at the CineArts and the Century at the same time, most likely because the dome holds a far greater number of paying patrons (nearly 900) than any of the screens at the Century (all sub-450 seats). The one time I've gone to the CineArts, it was to see Moneyball in the dome (I had a pass).

Posted by Mike Croaro (Member # 3123) on 12-27-2011, 07:02 PM:

Folks:

Thanks for your responses.

I just thought of something. Could it be that they have gone "all digital"?

Are the limited release arthouse pictures available digitally?

Mike

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 12-27-2011, 07:38 PM:

Where I work, they have mainstream fare plus various Bollywood and Mexican/Latino movies, based on the demographics here.

And they've not yet received anything in 35mm that needed to be digital since the whole conversion. So, I would imagine that the indies would've converted, by and large, on similar speed toward digital as these not-so-mainstream types I mentioned.

And I seem to recall that indies are more likely to be shot digitally than 35mm to begin with so, having them available in digital seems likely.

Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 12-28-2011, 05:19 AM:

Speaking solely for the CineArts in Pleasant Hill... yes, it has gone all-digital. Or, at least, they're listed on Fandango as being all-digital.