MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS OF 2014 (MAY-AUG)

[BanksIsDaFuture]

We got 30 screen multis here in MURICA!

[Chienfantome]

It might be interesting to have a thread dedicated to photos of our favourite movie theatres, although I suspect most of them would wind up looking essentially the same.

Probably yeah, but I'm passionate enough about film theaters to do so. Everytime I go in a foreign country, I take pictures of the cinemas I go to.

We got 30 screen multis here in MURICA!

What I don't like in US multis, and I noticed it's the same in Korea, it's that that is no regulation concerning the number of screens allowed to a single film. When I was in Korea, I saw multiplexes that had 12 screens but played only 3 films because you had Spidey 2 on 4 screens, and two big Korean films with 4 screens each, so with 12 screens available, you have only so few films.
In France such a thing is impossible, you'll never see a multiplex that plays a film on 4 screens, let alone several ones at the same time, which ensures a diversity.

[Buscemi]

You can blame NATO and corporate greed for the lack of regulation on theatre screens. Most members of NATO won't play titles that play VOD at the same time while the studios want their movies to be playing multiple screens on opening weekend. As a result, this creates an easily avoidable product shortage. Some of these titles that the chains won't play (such as Veronica Mars, Joe or dare I say it, Walk of Shame) could have easily opened wide and run on demand (I feel that a film can run in 1,000 theatres and run on demand and still make money both ways) had rules been different. Meanwhile, same chains show a complete hypocrisy by running Son of God in nearly 3,000 theatres despite already premiered on television (also, I find it odd that these religious films do not go the VOD route as I believe they would cut overhead and be wider-seen this way).

And taking on Mr. Mundle's request, here are pictures of some of my favorite theatres (many of these are going to be exterior-only).

Moxie Cinema (this is the second incarnation that closed in January, not the third incarnation that opened at the same time): http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/34639.html
College Station Stadium 14: http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/32962.html
Fremont 3 (closed in 1999): http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/1152.html
Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet: http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/10550.html
Glenwood Arts: http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/901.html
Manor Square Tivoli: http://www.cinematour.com/picview.php?db=us&id=14163

Not pictured due to lack of photos: Plaza Frontenac Cinema

Ironically, the theatre that I go to most (the Campbell 16 Cine) is one of my least favorites. I only go here for convenience and basically force myself to tolerate the poorly-behaved people (lots of talking and excessive hat-wearing in indoor spaces) and closed-mindedness (they book a million religious films or conservative-themed titles in addition to studio titles so they ended getting the easily-offended often).

[Shrykespeare]

Cool website, Boosh, though it doesn't look like it's been updated for years. Case in point: one of the two theaters I frequent the most, listed as Christown 11 in Phoenix, was demolished many years ago and rebuilt as part of the nearby mall. The photos listed did bring back memories, though.

The other one I frequent the most is this one:

http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/26341.html
Westgate 20

This is the one right near the Cardinals' and Coyotes' stadiums, so it was probably erected at around the same time those were. They do a lot of business, but it's pretty well-run and usually clean. They also have reasonable matinee prices, only $8.

[Buscemi]

Yeah, updates can be really slow (they did update a few last week though).

Another good one is http://cinematreasures.org/, though sometimes it can get crazy (too many so-called "purists").

[JohnErle]

Oooh! Thanks for that cinematour site! They have photos of a now demolished cinema in Vancouver I used to love, and when I went looking for photos of it a few weeks ago all I could find was the cinematreasures site, which didn't have much. cinematour is way more extensive, albeit out-of-date for current theatres. I still can't find my hometown theatre where I saw Ghostbusters and Empire Strikes Back as a kid, though.

I'll post a few of my own once I have time to go through that site.

[undeadmonkey]

we just have one shitty 5-screen theater here where we live now. However, LA had some amazing theaters, I absolutely loved going to the Cinerama Dome at the arclight on sunset. never went to grauman's or disney's theater across the street, (the crowds and tourist just weren't my thing, though in hindsight i should have at least caught one movie at each place, would have been nice additions to my movie stub collection). We went to go see one movie in the Regency Village Theatre (formerly the Fox Westwood Village) which was an awesome experience, but my absolute favorite theater in all of LA has to be the Vista theater in Loz Feliz. It's a single screen, looks like it's on a hole in the wall street, they play vintage commercials before the movie, have a limit of one or two previews before the movie, there is leg room galore and the seats are comfy. Damn, if i could have taken anything with me from LA, it would have been that whole theater.

[Buscemi]

Grauman's recently had an IMAX conversion so they are definitely getting more than just tourists again. Though the purists will complain about the conversion, the theatre needed to be saved and couldn't die by running things like Paranoia or Getaway.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

Grauman's recently had an IMAX conversion so they are definitely getting more than just tourists again. Though the purists will complain about the conversion, the theatre needed to be saved and couldn't die by running things like Paranoia or Getaway.

I'm going there for the first time to see Godzilla Saturday.

[Ron Burgundy]

I hear ya UDM, i used to live in a town with that same shitty '4' cinema arrangement. Now i live in a bigger city where i have my own card n stuff, it doesnt sound as good as the one in LA, but its a huge step up. Best cinema ive been to is that Indie one in Dublin, i liked that. Brand new, spacious, foccacia instead of popcorn (that part wasnt good), and best of all, normally nobody is there cause it plays indie movies!

[numbersix]

That would be the Lighthouse, Ron.



A lovely cinema, although I don't go that often as I have to pass two other arthouse cinemas to get to it, so there's no point.

[Buscemi]

Ron was probably expecting this bread.

[JohnErle]

I like the look of the Lighthouse. Very colourful, and bucking the trend of all cinemas looking the same.

Here's a few of my favourites, current and past.

Tinseltown At International Village

A good, modern multiplex with great seats and only 15 minutes away from my place via Skytrain. What makes Tinseltown stand out is its mix of prestige films and spillover from the other downtown theatre that only plays the biggest blockbusters. In the past year I've seen All Is Lost, Philomena, The Lego Movie, and countless others here. This mall was built on the edge of Vancouver's worst neighbourhood in an attempt to kickstart local development, and two-thirds of the shops stood empty for many years. After ten years the neighbourhood is still quite sketchy, but does seem to be improving bit by bit.




The Rio Theatre

My neighbourhood theatre, they fought the government for many years for the right to serve alcohol during movies, and now that they've won the battle they hardly ever show movies. You're more likely to find improv comedy or a burlesque show most nights, and they only seem to screen movies when there's no live entertainment booked. The layout isn't ideal for movies anyway, but there's grilled cheese sandwiches in the lobby and they do cult movies at midnight on Fridays, which is fun if you already know the movie and don't mind people interacting with the screen. Seen in the past year: Blue Is The Warmest Colour, Brian DePalma's Passion, Anchorman 2, and a midnight screening of Beetlejuice.




The Ridge

Recently closed, The Ridge was a home away from home when I first moved to Vancouver. They had cheap double bills of second run films, arthouse fare, and classics. I saw everything from Goodfellas to Goldfinger here. I don't miss the back-breaking seats, but I do miss the double bills, and the nanaimo bars.



And then there's the Captiol 6, also demolished, which had the biggest and best auditorium I've ever seen a movie in, The Park Theatre, another single-screen theatre I used to live a few blocks away from, The Scotiabank Theatre, the downtown destination for all the biggest blockbusters, and The Vancity Theatre, which is homebase for the Film Fest and offers a very arthouse lineup in a comfy, modern theatre.

[numbersix]

Ah, you can't beat a good multiplex, especially for value (we don't have second-run theatres in Ireland). Are there no good arthouse only cinemas in Vancouver (now that the Rio is less film-oriented. Still seems like a good place to go, though)?

Dublin is one of the best cities in the world for cinema attendance, so we don't really have cinemas closing, just new ones opening up. A few years back a 3-screen cinema opened across the road from me, and has expanded to 4 screens with another 4 almost completed. It's great for the blockbusters, especially when I can get a deal for 5 Euro Mon-Thus (which is the cheapest you can get).

[Ron Burgundy]

For goodness sake, those pictures look amazing jerle! I really want to go and find an arthouse cinema here in Perth, and i think you guys have spurred me on. Big thanks