Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Smithsonian honors Eastwood at new film venue

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Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 02-02-2012, 11:34 AM:

Mr. Guttag, was this theater renovation some of your handiwork by any chance?

From last night's Japan Today:

quote:
Smithsonian honors Eastwood at new film venue

Entertainment Feb. 02, 2012 - 10:39AM JST ( 7 )

Eastwood, 81, will be honored with the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal AFP

WASHINGTON —

Clint Eastwood helped open a new movie theater on the national mall Wednesday evening and the Smithsonian Institution honored the actor and director for his six decades of work in American film.

Eastwood, 81, visited the National Museum of American History to help dedicate the new Warner Bros. Theater as a space to present the history of Hollywood. Warner Bros. Entertainment donated $5 million in 2010 to renovate the museum’s old Carmichael Auditorium into a modern theater with 3D projection capability.

The new theater gives the Smithsonian its first space dedicated to film history, museum spokeswoman Melinda Machado said. The 264-seat theater will be able to screen silent films and first-run movies.

Eastwood, who was awarded the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal for his distinguished contributions in film, said he was a fan of the museum complex. The addition of a theater will add a piece of entertainment history to the Smithsonian’s collection, he said.

“People are treating it more as a part of our American heritage,” he said.

Eastwood also commented on the recent casting of Justin Timberlake to co-star in his next film, “Trouble with the Curve.” He said he liked Timberlake as a performer and recording artist, “but I’d seen him acting and he does quite well.”

Eastwood, who endorsed John McCain in the presidential race four years ago, joked that he may run for president himself this time. He didn’t say who he was supporting.

Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, presented the Smithson medal, telling Eastwood he was going to “make your day.”

Eastwood said he was proud to help open a new theater that’s worthy of the Smithsonian.

He told a crowd of donors and lawmakers that “it’s very nice to be part of the Smithsonian, at least as the recipient of a medal and not in one of the cabinets.”

Warner Bros. will help present four film festivals at the museum this year and into the future, Machado said. Most programs at the theater will be free to visitors, rather than charging for tickets as the Smithsonian does at its IMAX theaters.

On Friday, the museum will open a three-day film festival to highlight the work of Humphrey Bogart with free screenings of “Casablanca,” “The Maltese Falcon” and other films.

Movie costumes also are going on display at the museum, including those worn by Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman and Eastwood, along with Harry Potter’s robe. The costumes are on loan from Warner Bros., along with animation drawings for Bugs Bunny and other memorabilia.

Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Barry Meyer said he visited the Smithsonian a couple of years ago and saw that it needed more from the entertainment world.

“We realized so much of the fabric of our cultural history of the United States was tied up in film, and there was not that big of a film collection at the museum,” Meyer said.

He said the museum’s old theater was run down and not being used.

“I realized our industry needed to be better represented,” Meyer said, adding that he hopes other film companies help build the Smithsonian’s collection.

Dwight Blocker Bowers, the Smithsonian’s entertainment curator, said the addition of a movie theater means the Smithsonian is taking the history of film seriously. The museum is in early talks with the American Film Institute to develop a daily film screening, he said.

“We’re hoping to make Warner Bros.’ dollar and our tax dollars function for the audience,” he said.

Warner Bros. may also donate some movie objects to the museum, Bowers said.

“We always have a wish list in our hip pocket,” he said.

The James Smithson Bicentennial Medal was established in 1965.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 02-02-2012, 01:17 PM:

finally! a decent Smithsonian auditorium/theater to present movies.

The other theaters all have problems:

Natural History: atrocious acoustics

the Freer: you need really good eyesight to see the subtitles for all those foreign Asian films if you get stuck in the back of the auditorium

The Hirschorn: projection on a white wall - hideous. Peter Greenaway's Q&A at the museum he let it known to all present that he thought the presentation looked terrible due to this fact. The museum staff were royally embarrassed.

not part of the Smithsonian but the National Gallery of Art's theater is the best, raked seating, big screen, excellent programming, but terrible times.

The National Geographic also has a great auditorium: a large drop down screen, three front channels of sound, no surrounds unfortunantly, 35mm and Sony 4K projection.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 02-02-2012, 03:18 PM:

Can we assume (no jokes here) that this new thetre has good sound, Digital vid, and (gasp) 35mm!! Louis

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 02-02-2012, 03:43 PM:

from a Washington Post Sept. 2010 article:

"Warner Bros. donates $5M to Smithsonian"

Warner Bros. Entertainment is donating $5 million to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History to create a theater to present the history of American film.

The gift announced Wednesday will transform the 46-year-old Carmichael Auditorium into a movie theater with digital 3D projection. It will also show original 35mm films. It will be renamed the Warner Bros. Theater when it reopens next year.

Museum spokeswoman Melinda Machado says the theater will offer free programs. It won't be an IMAX theater like others on the National Mall because of the seating configuration.

The museum says the theater will complement its entertainment collection, which includes drawings for the first Mickey Mouse film, a camera used to film "The Wizard of Oz" and the ruby slippers worn by Dorothy in the movie.

-- Associated Press

By Washington Post editors | September 15, 2010; 11:56 AM ET

~~~~~~

joining with the AFI makes sense, by why not the Library of Congress - the library used to do weekend screenings at the Mary Pickford Theater, but not any longer.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 02-02-2012, 04:41 PM:

Inasmuch as WB has made it nearly impossible to screen 35mm films from its vast catalog, the irony is thick.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 02-02-2012, 08:56 PM:

Yes, we installed the Kinoton FP38E Premiere 16/35 projectors and the Barco DP2K-23B DCinema projector. There were several contractors involved in the project.

This is a multipurpose venue so I would NOT get my hopes up on acoustics Jon. The stage speakers, JBL 5672 are excellent but they have to sit on a stage (that has hard surfaces) behind a roll down screen (Stewart). Like so many theatres, it is a compromise of space. In terms of presentation on the mall, the National Gallery of Art is probably still #1 but its programming is more eclectic. Like so many venus like this, it has its strengths and weaknesses. I do hope that it gets a lot of use, there is much potential there.

The folks I met from WB were all very nice and seemingly interested in the venue doing well. I was not there for the Gala so no information there.

-Steve

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 02-02-2012, 10:18 PM:

so are there surround speakers?

another "multipurpose" venue - oh ugh... [sleep]

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 02-02-2012, 11:42 PM:

quote: Steve Guttag
Yes, we installed the Kinoton FP38E Premiere 16/35 projectors and the Barco DP2K-23B DCinema projector. There were several contractors involved in the project.

Yah, but what will they run through those two Kinotons in change-over no less? 5M donation from WB and, sure they get their name on the theatre while the y babble about film and its history and our heritage and how it's not "represented" but they won't spend bupkiss to strike new prints...THAT'S too much trouble. As Martin rightly points out... irony and all is irony.

Wait, I'll bet while WB won't send ME or any of the other art houses across the country a nice print of CASABLANCA, but a pristine print will fly out of Burbank if the Warner Brothers Theatre at the Smithsonian wants to run that iconic title in its original format -- the original artifact, cardinal rule of museums. I bet the WB CEO will make sure they strike new prints for THAT venue, and maybe for the AFI, but that's all window dressing so they can all pat themsleves on the backs and congratulate themselves. It's all just so much mutual masturbation. Sorry if I don't want to jump up and down and join their little self-centered fun fest while am relegated to running a DVD if I want to screen our "cinema heritage" for an audience.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 02-03-2012, 09:27 AM:

Yes there are surround speakers and it is a Surround 7.1 venue. They are a bit small and low in quantity, in my opinion but they are there.

As to prints from WB...if you are willing to cover the cost of striking the print, they WILL strike the print. What they do not want to do is strike a print and have it get trashed before it could ever recoup the cost of making the new print. That is why only some venues have access to such prints.

I'm curious myself to see what film prints they do end up running.

-Steve

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 02-03-2012, 10:24 AM:

sorry to digress here, but I have to give props to the National Archives auditorium/theater - beautiful restoration, with raked seating, large drop down screen and 35mm projection - even though the Landmark has started to show the Academy Award nominated Live Action and Animated shorts, Archives presents them for free and they are 35mm (Landmark is digital projection), Archives also shows the five nominated Documentary features for free too.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 02-03-2012, 11:38 AM:

The Archives is also a Cardinal install...it has Kinoton FP38ES projectors. The screen is not a roll down...it is actually on a track that can move upstage or down stage as needed. There are actually two sets of lenses (and EQ settings) so they put the screen in either location (depending on the event).

-Steve

Posted by Jack Theakston (Member # 4484) on 02-03-2012, 06:17 PM:

quote: Steve Guttag
As to prints from WB...if you are willing to cover the cost of striking the print, they WILL strike the print. What they do not want to do is strike a print and have it get trashed before it could ever recoup the cost of making the new print. That is why only some venues have access to such prints.

Do you know this for a fact? Because the last time I and one other person offered to actually STRIKE new prints of several titles, we were turned down by WB on terms to the effect that WB does not accept outside money for that purpose.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 02-03-2012, 06:26 PM:

This is what I was told by a Warner Bros person as recently as two days ago. The price varied based on if a check would need to be made based on what negative they were striking the print from.

-Steve

Posted by Victor Liorentas (Member # 5272) on 02-03-2012, 06:48 PM:

The Tiff Lightbox in Toronto paid to have a 70mm 2001 with d.t.s struck one year ago.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 02-03-2012, 06:55 PM:

So...will they actually sell prints to venues that want them? Or do they (Warners) keep the print after the engagement? And what about their existing print library?

I don't get all of the rumors that are circulating about Warners' repertory distribution practices. They used to be about the best (as of the early 2000s) about keeping good prints in circulation. Now, I am told that they don't return phone calls. Do they really not want exhibitors' money?

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-03-2012, 10:55 PM:

quote: Scott Norwood
So...will they actually sell prints to venues that want them? Or do they (Warners) keep the print after the engagement?

If a theater or organization I was in charge of paid to strike the print, in no way should that print be returned. It should be kept on the property so it can be properly cared for until the next engagement we ran (obviously with a new booking/license). I HIGHLY doubt that is what is happening though.

It would be cool if some sort of VPF was setup so if Jack's theater paid to have a new print struck and then Steve's theater played it, that Jack would have $100 refunded to him from Steve's engagement, then $100 from the next engagement and so forth until the print cost was recouped. The odds of that happening though are about as good as 35mm making a comeback in mainstream cinema.