I wanted to see ‘Star’ but missed it due to work :P
I am glad AFI put together a short video on 70mm movies to educate those who don’t know or were alive when these releases were the BIG events and weren’t the IMAX-lite, XD, Xtreme..etc presentation we have today. Come to think of it, they should have shot it in 65mm with some kind of six track sound mix to show off what the EXPERIENCE could be. They could even employ the older THX sound trailer..the GRAND one with the light show. I think James Horner scored that one. I remember seeing the Grand THX sound trailer, as it was ‘new’ when they released the first ‘Die Hard’ movie in ‘88 and seeing it at the now closed Cineplex Oden Wisconsin Ave 6 (either theater 5 or 6).
I did see ‘Lifeforce’ again, in 70mm, after 28 years, on the big screen. Its amazing that this print looked as good as it does. Hardly any fading or washouts and the soundtrack, itself, was intact..BUT, as with my previous experiences with 70mm presentations at the Silver, where is the surround sound?? I can understand with the older movies that perhaps there weren’t rear/side channel sounds. Just about every sound effect was in front.
For example, the scene where Carlton and the British Colonel fly in the helicopter to the base..there should have been the helicopter flying sound from the rear of the theater to the front. Nothing.
Also, the various visual effects of the ‘lifeforce’ swirling about should have had theater surround effects as it went off screen. sigh
Not to be entirely negative, Henry Mancinci’s score, with the London Symphony was effective, loud and calming, again heard all from the front screen. Observing some of the people in front jump and react to some of the shocking parts was fun given the age and overall campiness of the movie.
I was thinking about seeing ‘The Sound of Music’ but the end of the caption says 35mm. I wonder whose holding up the 70mm print of that movie :P It seems they are giving ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ a rest this time around.
I guess ‘Lifeforce’ was the sci-fi choice this time..but next time..maybe the fall, guys, please book ‘Brainstorm.’ That was shot in 65mm and would be great to see again. If they play it right, you’ll experience regular 35mm mono and 70mm surround, during the point of view scenes, and decent 65mm filmed visual effects. And great performances by Louise Fletcher (she deserved a Oscar nom imho), Chris Walken and Natalie Wood’s last movie.
I saw ‘The Heat’ with Sandra Bullock..no, not WITH Sandra..she was IN the movie. #6 was practically sold out on this matinee Friday. Surrounds were good especially with me sitting all the way in the back. The ticket person, after swiping my BowTie frequent moviegoer card, didn’t even tell me how many points I had..bad bad bad.
My niece and I saw ‘White House Down’ in #7, a few weeks back…not my choice, ok? Jamie Foxx as President? HAHAHAHA.
As with my previous visits to this auditorium, the sound up front is underwhelming. Its as if someone put some kind of sound filter over the speaker to reduce what was coming out. Also, I could hear the air conditioning running..not a good thing. I figured it would be a matter of time before the very nice plush faux leather seats and their power recline feature would break. There is a sign in the front that does not guarantee operable reclining seats. Already 3 months into operation and the place is running down.
The customer service is horrible. We had to wait almost ten minutes before we could buy our tickets. The only reason I waited was so they could swipe the theater’s own movie card, otherwise I would’ve used the kiosk. There was a guy who came out to ‘help’ but instead of opening up another register to help, he just disappeared.
I have yet to see movies in the other auditoriums. Perhaps they aren’t as bad, but since these are the ‘extreme’ theaters with 10.2 sound and 70' wide screens, you’d think it would be the best of them.
I just read that, Tinsel. A possible August opening? If you read further back on the facebook page, they had hoped for a late May opening. I’m optimistic the place will at least look good if it is at least 2/3 as good as the AFI Silver. Now those little itty bitty screening room-sized auditoriums make me wonder how much sound bleed there is going to be either going in or out from the other rooms.
It reminds me of when DC’s MacArthur was triplexed. They made two smaller theaters out of the bowed out parts of the original and even had little balconies! What was decent about that remodel, too, was the dropping and rising curtains between the shows.
Rechecking the AFI site, today, they have the rest of summer’s calendar and from the looks of it they must be having a 70mm series. I see the usual ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ booked. Tobe Hooper’s ‘Lifeforce’ returns, ‘The Master.’ Curiously, they’ve got ‘Star Wars: Return of the Jedi’ but I sincerely doubt its 70mm, especially with the recent tweaking by George Lucas, its probably either Blu-Ray or DP. ‘Sound of Music’ and ‘Hello Dolly!’ could also be in 70mm but there are no hyperlinks or announcements to indicate presentation formats as of this posting. Jedi would be great to see in 70mm especially for the speeder bike sequence on Endor and, of course, the space battles at the end.
I missed ‘Lifeforce’ the last time around. Based on prior AFI Silver experience, I wonder if it will surpass my memory of watching it the first time at the old Ontario in DC. That was an unforgettable experience…I can still smell the ‘paint’ from that theater’s remodel and the skylights beaming against the skies. The last few AFI 70mm showings were subdued soundwise.
Howard, this is true about the 70mm series. I was just hoping we’d have some counter programming to the traditional summer movie fare. Even if its a blown up print, I am nostalgic for the multi track sound that makes that experience of immersion . After seeing the latest Superman movie and paying for the IMAX-lite premiums for the other films, it would be nice to see something different. I believe there’s an anniversary up with Gettysburg (the battle). The bookstore near me has lots of commemorative books and magazines.
I frequently check out the west coast theater websites such as Arclight, Aero and Cinematheque just to see whats going on with their programming. Occasionally, I come across a 70mm booking that would be great if they could get here. Of course, those theaters are close to the studios where it would probably be easier to get bookings .
‘Gettysburg’ is supposedly booked here on 7/5 and 7/7 in 70mm. I vaguely remember this film coming out to not so great reviews and that it runs too long. Something along the lines of a bloated Ted Turner film. I didn’t see it in its first run, not for the aforementioned reasons. So far, this is the only 70mm film booked this summer. July’s calendar isn’t even posted, yet…
I caught ‘Man of Steel’ here in ETX last Sat night. My ears are ringing. Hahaha. I dragged my cousins here to get out of the doldrums of the usually substandard MD cinematic presentations (ok ok..not ALL are bad) they go to (we won’t name the bad plexes they go to in case they happen to read this posting). We arrived early enough but I have to tell you that even the seats here take a toll on the touche. Or, maybe its just me getting older. I know I could sit through any of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies at the old Senator Theater without feeling discomfort on their seats that were probably as old as the theater, itself. On the other hand, perhaps those movies were more engaging. Even with all the amazing fight scenes between Superman and Zod could not get my mind off of how uncomfortable I was feeling towards the end.
Having given the reviews a cursory glance, I did read enough to set my expectations low. The Richard Donner version of Superman forever sets the standard, for me, as the best comic movie adaptation. I’m not a fan of Chris Nolan’s dark interpretation, though many say its truer to the comic’s roots..fine, of Batman. I enjoy going to the movies and there’s a time to see and enjoy the darker toned films but I want to have a good time. To paraphrase what the late Roger Ebert said about movies is that we sometimes want to see them to get away from it all. If I want to be reminded how dark the world is I’d just as well watch Fox News at home for free. :)
For the $17.50 paid to see a film here in ETX, one should expect top notch everything. The projector went kablitz during the preview of next year’s 300 sequel. Then they restarted the trailer and it went out of focus. They started to play with it going in and out, out of focus, move to the right, move to the left. It was funny to hear the reactions of the audience..‘perfect’ ‘oh no..move to the right..’ ‘move to the left.’ Finally, some kid probably 8 or so, exclaimed ‘get it right, people’ to the laughter of the 400 or so in the audience. They didn’t play the Atmos sound trailer. AMC can do better to educate people as to why they should pay more for these premium sound systems by showing the trailers that show off what these systems can do. When I was in line to get my tickets, there was a pair of guys, in front of me, who couldn’t decide which showing of ‘Man of Steel’ showing to see. There were the 3 versions; IMAX(lite), ETX and the other DP showings. I told them to go for the ETX since its $1-less then IMAX, you can choose your own seat and the sound should be superior to IMAX.
I’m thinking they may have some problem with the set up here. What I forgot to mention in the previous post when I saw ‘Star Trek: Into Darkness’ in ETX, was that they had problems showing the preshow video as it had no sound! A patron came out to complain just as I was coming in and the female ‘manager’ that responded said they were having problems with their systems but that it would have no effect on the movie. Hmmmm.
Soundwise as I said before was loud. I’d have to see the movie again in a different sound chamber to tell you the difference. As with my previous experience with Atmos, its more like right and left separation with dialogue. Surrounds were good..I’m not sure if it was the soundtrack or someone’s actual cell phone going off, right rear, during the Daily Planet office scene.
Visually, I loved the look of the movie. The design aesthetic from the Krypton planet sequences to those little droids that resembled 3D etch-a-sketches come to life were real cool! While the Superman fight scenes were engaging, they seemed more like updated versions of the Neo/Smith fights from the final Matrix movie. I get it..its a live version of what you’d see in a comic book. Okay.
Whatever romance there was between the updated Clark and Lois did not have much spark. Maybe it was the tone of this movie that prevented a more comfortable, cozy and more romantic meeting depicted in the Donner directed Superman. In the inevitable sequel, maybe they’ll do better.
I saw Star Trek: Into Darkness in the IMAX-lite theater during a matinee showing in its final week in many local venues in IMAX-lite. I had hoped to catch the movie in the best format available before it gets relegated to the smaller and not so grand shoebox theaters at the local multiplexes. Not surprisingly, there was barely a handful in attendance. The preshow was shown in a small square and with low audio. Its as if no one cared to at make at least the ads top notch given the $18 premium paid for the format. Again, they showed last year’s teaser for the Superman: Man of Steel movie. Ridiculous. They should be playing the final trailer for a movie opening in less than two weeks!
With my Stubs membership about to expire, I decided to go to a few more AMC shows to get my reward credit to pay for the renewal. I would have sprang for one of the outrageously priced concession stand items but as I approached the counter, the attendant went the other way. With the movie about to start, I decided not to waste time or $10 for something I didn’t really want.
Since I was on the fence, had there been better customer service, I probably would’ve bought something even if I had missed the first few minutes of ads anyway.
Presentation was good. What is interesting about this viewing and this is probably the 5th or so I’ve seen in this format, is noticing sound effects that you either didn’t hear or notice from previous viewings. The picture didn’t seem as bright as Regal’s or the new Xcape Brandyine Xtreme auditorium. Maybe the DP is older? or the projection lamp needs adjustment or changing?
Giles, I wanted to see it at the Udvar Hazy, but their shows (Fri/Sat eve) sold out before I could even get the fan sneak tickets! I didn’t want to go earlier and have to pay $16 for parking before 5pm.
When Star Trek II came out way back in ‘82, in 70mm, there was also a sound mix up, during one of the performances. One day I went to see it and the scene where Kirk says 'all right, lets open her up’, after Saavik’s disastrous performance on the Kobyashi Maru, the ship’s ‘screen’ opens from right to left..well, the sound was left to right!
I’m looking forward to ‘After Earth’ but I don’t think its in IMAX-lite here. I’d be happy to see here in ETX. The Superman reboot should be good, but they keep playing last year’s teaser here as it ends with coming ‘next summer.’ Change it already!
Aside from the clarity and blemish free of digital projection and sound, its a shame that we must pay a premium for larger screen movies. When we had 70mm-6 track releases..even if they were 35mm blow ups, more so if you had a THX certified theater or better, THAT made for the immersive performance.
I caught Star Trek: Into Darkness in #1. Perfect presentation, great sound distinction and booms. The one scene before Kirk dies, you can hear his breathing on the left channel before Spock approaches the reaction chamber. Its hard to justify paying IMAX prices when you’ve got an auditorium like this to experience movies.
I caught Star Trek: Into Darkness in the same #7 I saw Iron Man, which is one of the two 70ft large screen auditoriums. The matinee showing was sparse..probably 6 of us. I love the recliner seats. They are perfect. This time, I sat further up and still had stretching room.
Soundwise..it was rather subdued compared to the THX 7.1 presentation at Annapolis Mall’s #1. I did not notice sound bleeding this time. Perhaps the adjoining theater’s soundtrack was not as jarring as the last time.
For its $15 price, its a toss up. Its less than AMC’s IMAX-lite but the bonus are the comfortable seating and leg room.
I caught Star Trek: Into Darkness in the ETX Theater during a matinee showing. Paid $18 for the privilege. No sound during the preshow. There was probably 10 in a theater that holds 499. The AMC trailer played nice and loud and the Dolby Atmos trailer showed off what it could do quite nicely. The opening reminded me of the THX flower trailer. The ETX was spatial compared to the IMAX-lite and the 7.1 presentation I saw in THX. I think the sound mix is somehow messed up because prior to the Kirk ‘death’ scene, I could hear ‘breathing’ in the THX theater on the left, whereas in ETX its at the right. At the IMAX-lite presentation, I don’t recall hearing it at all.
Compared to the Xscape plex in Brandywine, I don’t see the value here, plus there are no leather recliners. I think I’m spoiled now..
My friend and I saw ‘Star Trek: Into Darkness’ here at a fan ‘sneak’ in IMAX-lite 3D. Surprisingly, the line was loooong, the longest I’ve experienced at an opening film day IMAX-lite showing. There were a few dressed in Starfleet uniforms, which got the attention of some special folk, not sure if they were from Paramount or a news organization, who took pictures. They gave out posters to a few hundred of us, which was a nice bonus.
No friendly greeting from the ticket taker.
The movie is quite good. I want to see it a few more times in the different formats. I have some quibbles with the ‘Wrath of Khan’ references and scene homages. I hate the pixie dust warp drive trail. Bad idea. Presentation was very good but sound booms weren’t as they should have been such as during some explosions and warp jump snaps. Not sure if it may have been the soundtrack, as the trailer for the upcoming Superman reboot ‘Man of Steel’ had some good sound booms from just the music, itself.
I noticed that and thought it was a typo. The movie is already opening big, why does management think there needs to be shows every ½ hour? Fandango shows many tickets available. Is #8 still THX certified, or at least the better of the 8 to see/hear/experience a movie there? Aside from the new seating, has the remodel helped the experience there of watching movies? I’m tempted to revisit the place.
There are no distinguishing structural elements to this plex. You can see the steel ceiling and air conditioning ducts when you enter. One item worth noting is that there doesn’t seem to be a traditional box office in front of the building. When you enter, you see self service kiosks, the Customer Service/Manager’s cube and then the refreshment stands. The idea is to buy your ticket AND get concessions at the same time. Not a bad idea and a time saver, too. Opposite to the refreshment/box office cashier area are numerous self service soda fountains and condiment stations. This is a great idea as one can fix their soda the way they want. Single soda refills are free in all sizes. The $15.50 for the afternoon matinee in the 3D Xtreme format is palatable. The first show is even cheaper. Regal Theaters take note.
I had tried to ask the ticket taker(s) about the theater amenities but they didn’t know. The younger guy was trying to say something. The older lady blurted out said..‘oh, you’ll enjoy the nice clear picture and loud sound..’ Okay. I thanked them and went to the auditorium as the show was to start.
7, one of the two Xtreme Xscape auditoriums look like one of AMC’s IMAX installs. There are overhead speakers are there and one would think Dolby Atmos. Unfortunately, its neither advertised as such, nor indicated on the Dolby website as having been installed. In any case, hearing Iron Man 3 in this theater, I couldn’t notice anything of aural significance, except for upper left channel sounds..perhaps it is the Atmos-like experience with the upper theaters. I recall this experience at the Atmos theater in AMC Tysons Corner 16.
There were no pre show ads or format advertising at all. Its no doubt digital, most likely 4K, but I doubt its IMAX since its proprietary and the movie didn’t have that brightness..the laser directed projection I guess its called..to enhance the picture.
One major gripe about #7, and to be fair..the place is new, is the lack of sound insulation. After the beginning of the movie, I would hear these boom boom sounds and thought it was the movie. Unfortunately, it made no sense since there was nothing going on. It had to be sound from the adjoining theater. Very bad. If this place had been THX certified, there would be better sound baffling to prevent sound bleeding.
Entering in, you’ll see regular seats in front of the center aisle. Above the center aisle are rows and rows of LEATHERETTE reclining seats. I was about to take the regular seat to closer to the screen in the hopes of getting that aural and picture immersion experienced in similar venues. Instead, I chose the leatherette reclining seats and boy, was I not disappointed. How many times have you been to a theater where you wish you could s-t-r-e-t-c-h and end up either putting your feet up against the chair in front, or have an idiot do the same behind you? No more. You flip a switch on the right armrest by your thigh and the recliner opens up to the desired angle. Nice. I am curious how these seats will hold up within a year or so after heavy use.
The employees could use better training in customer service. No one greeted me anywhere…okay, the refreshment area, but the guy mumbled so badly, all I could hear was “welcome a;lkaeconweo8."
They need the best looking employee there to greet people at the door. The fact there’s no traditional box office will leave people a little lost but like I said earlier, combining the ticket purchase and concession purchases is a great idea.
Stay away from the pretzel bites. They do warm them up and serve them with the same nacho cheese sauce that goes with the nachos. They are just TOO salty.
Perhaps, the next time I go, I will do more looking around and take some pictures. The leatherette recliners are a BIG PLUS as they are comfortably cozy.
The ticket I had mentioned something about reserved seating. Perhaps, this will be coming to some of the auditoriums in the future. I hope not. I do not like reserved seating. I enjoy sitting where I want and to change my seat if I find out I’m not comfortable with my first choice.
BowTie here in Annapolis, MD is quite good and have been one of my favorite venues for years. The Mall and Harbour 9 are all digital projection and Dolby 7.1. Actually, they continued what was Crown Theaters and, initially, kept with the personal touch by having personal intros to the movies. However, they stopped. :P They also stopped with the in theater advertising for awhile, then that started up, again.
As far as their loyalty program, it needs fixing. I had a BIG disagreement with their staff about their point accumulation system and redemption. When I redeemed a soda voucher, it zeroed out my points to start all over again. It does not continue like the ones for Regal and AMC do. To this day, I am not sure if they’ve fixed it.
There was a lady at corporate, whose number I kept on my old cell phone but now lost it..she was nice enough to restore my points. I’m close to the 100 pt mark to where they give you a free pass, soda and popcorn. I’m hoping to redeem the incremental freebies; more passes, popcorn, etc. since the point values have not zeroed out.
They need to improve their concession offerings. Perhaps they could take a cue from Cinemark and make things more self service. I prefer to get my own soda with the right amount of ice.
The National Cathedral has a 2 to 1 voting advantage as of today..not too good. I’m reading there is money put aside for some upgrade work. They should at least get a digital projector to maintain some operating viability.
The article points to many needed upgrades, but $1M? Are they going for a renovation like the AFI Silver? If so, thats quite ambitious, maybe overly so given the area. You’ve got the Academy 8 a few miles up thats the main competition and they’ve got 3D Digital to boot. Unless they can get their hands on a 70mm projector… ;–) there could be some great counter programming here.
I feel sorry for the people who currently operate this venue. They spent probably $50K for each digital projector..$150, plus more for the carpet and seating upgrades.
Maybe they should stay there and offer counter programming, or maybe second run movies at a discounted price and NOT close.
$5-$7 movies as opposed to $15 at the Arclight wouldn’t be too bad.
The expansion raises the issue of sufficient parking space. I used to work there for several years and parking is at a premium especially during the holidays. If you’ve got a 16 screen plex, with seating for a few thousand..where are they going to park if you don’t build a new garage?
On the other hand, it would be very nice to have an Arclight here where the presentations supposedly exceed THX standards. But..I’d be reluctant to pay more than $15 for regular fare. Then again, if its THAT good, I’ll have to drive there regularly since my friend is closer to that theater than to come to where I am. :P
There was an earlier posting that disappeared for this theater, like many others. I know because I posted! This theater opened around 1995 or 1996. It preceded the Hoyts Bowie theater in opening. I can’t remember what movie I saw there but I’d say they are almost identical in layout, with two huge, two-story type theaters..maybe its four but I remember there being an elevator you could take to the second level. On the second level, it was planned to be an area for people to congregate and eat but like the Bowie multiplex, it never came to be.
The first time I saw ‘2001’ was, around 1980, at the then twinned Flower Theater, in Takoma Park MD, and 35mm MONO! The film still had its visual appeal and it was sci-fi, one of my favorite film genres. I still remember walking out at the end, an older kid saying he would not be seeing “THAT FILM” again, as he just didn’t get it.
When DC’s Uptown had a 70mm ‘virgin’ print around ‘90 or so, now that was something special. As they say, they don’t make em like they used to anymore.
In 2001, when they had another re-release, I took my friend, who absolutely hated it. I tried to tell him it was one of those thinking movies like K-Pax, which came out around that time. He absolutely hated it. Being brought up in the post-MTV generation, movies have to be under 100 minutes, with quick 3 second edits and something BIG happening every 20. No matter how I tried to explain it to him, how the pacing may be slow, its deliberate and for reason. He just doesn’t get it. It reminds me of that comment Rock Hudson allegedly made after seeing this movie..he didn’t get it either.
Its now a joke, between us, that when he gets me to see a movie I don’t want to see or end up not liking, that I will make him sit through and watch this again when it comes to town. Or, when talking about seeing a ‘new’ movie, I will tell him there’s a sequel…2061: The Next Odyssey and its 4 hours with two intermissions! :-D
My friend and I caught a sneak peak of GI Joe: Retribution in 3D, special for Bow Tie Criterion Members in #11. The Dolby 7.1 trailer played nicely, but for some unknown reason, the sound level was not up to what it should be. The trailers, usually played loud..were subdued. The final Star Trek Into Darkness had none of that ‘boom’ ‘boom’ deep bass as in other venues. The film was bleh. Though the one action sequence where the bike splits up and becomes independent weapons was cool.
There’s thesenatortheatre and true friends of the senator on Facebook. The truefriends facebook page seems more aligned with the previous owner and the group organized to save the theater prior to its ownership transfer. There has been no comments since Nov 2012.
The other facebook page appears to be the one run by the current owners, as there are about 11 pics posted on the renovation.
I wished they could have enlarged the screen from 40, to say 60'. Nostalgia sentiments aside, it doesn’t compete with the IMAX-lite auditoriums, although the sound system they had was killer nevertheless. Digital projection should be excellent here.
I saw ‘Quartet’ here midweek, last week. Pleasant film with older stars set in a retirement home for elderly in the arts. No projection problems this time. I had read the place was to close down for remodeling, but they are still showing movies.
I wanted to see ‘Star’ but missed it due to work :P
I am glad AFI put together a short video on 70mm movies to educate those who don’t know or were alive when these releases were the BIG events and weren’t the IMAX-lite, XD, Xtreme..etc presentation we have today. Come to think of it, they should have shot it in 65mm with some kind of six track sound mix to show off what the EXPERIENCE could be. They could even employ the older THX sound trailer..the GRAND one with the light show. I think James Horner scored that one. I remember seeing the Grand THX sound trailer, as it was ‘new’ when they released the first ‘Die Hard’ movie in ‘88 and seeing it at the now closed Cineplex Oden Wisconsin Ave 6 (either theater 5 or 6).
I did see ‘Lifeforce’ again, in 70mm, after 28 years, on the big screen. Its amazing that this print looked as good as it does. Hardly any fading or washouts and the soundtrack, itself, was intact..BUT, as with my previous experiences with 70mm presentations at the Silver, where is the surround sound?? I can understand with the older movies that perhaps there weren’t rear/side channel sounds. Just about every sound effect was in front.
For example, the scene where Carlton and the British Colonel fly in the helicopter to the base..there should have been the helicopter flying sound from the rear of the theater to the front. Nothing.
Also, the various visual effects of the ‘lifeforce’ swirling about should have had theater surround effects as it went off screen. sigh
Not to be entirely negative, Henry Mancinci’s score, with the London Symphony was effective, loud and calming, again heard all from the front screen. Observing some of the people in front jump and react to some of the shocking parts was fun given the age and overall campiness of the movie.
I was thinking about seeing ‘The Sound of Music’ but the end of the caption says 35mm. I wonder whose holding up the 70mm print of that movie :P It seems they are giving ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ a rest this time around.
I guess ‘Lifeforce’ was the sci-fi choice this time..but next time..maybe the fall, guys, please book ‘Brainstorm.’ That was shot in 65mm and would be great to see again. If they play it right, you’ll experience regular 35mm mono and 70mm surround, during the point of view scenes, and decent 65mm filmed visual effects. And great performances by Louise Fletcher (she deserved a Oscar nom imho), Chris Walken and Natalie Wood’s last movie.
I saw ‘The Heat’ with Sandra Bullock..no, not WITH Sandra..she was IN the movie. #6 was practically sold out on this matinee Friday. Surrounds were good especially with me sitting all the way in the back. The ticket person, after swiping my BowTie frequent moviegoer card, didn’t even tell me how many points I had..bad bad bad.
My niece and I saw ‘White House Down’ in #7, a few weeks back…not my choice, ok? Jamie Foxx as President? HAHAHAHA.
As with my previous visits to this auditorium, the sound up front is underwhelming. Its as if someone put some kind of sound filter over the speaker to reduce what was coming out. Also, I could hear the air conditioning running..not a good thing. I figured it would be a matter of time before the very nice plush faux leather seats and their power recline feature would break. There is a sign in the front that does not guarantee operable reclining seats. Already 3 months into operation and the place is running down.
The customer service is horrible. We had to wait almost ten minutes before we could buy our tickets. The only reason I waited was so they could swipe the theater’s own movie card, otherwise I would’ve used the kiosk. There was a guy who came out to ‘help’ but instead of opening up another register to help, he just disappeared.
I have yet to see movies in the other auditoriums. Perhaps they aren’t as bad, but since these are the ‘extreme’ theaters with 10.2 sound and 70' wide screens, you’d think it would be the best of them.
I just read that, Tinsel. A possible August opening? If you read further back on the facebook page, they had hoped for a late May opening. I’m optimistic the place will at least look good if it is at least 2/3 as good as the AFI Silver. Now those little itty bitty screening room-sized auditoriums make me wonder how much sound bleed there is going to be either going in or out from the other rooms.
It reminds me of when DC’s MacArthur was triplexed. They made two smaller theaters out of the bowed out parts of the original and even had little balconies! What was decent about that remodel, too, was the dropping and rising curtains between the shows.
Rechecking the AFI site, today, they have the rest of summer’s calendar and from the looks of it they must be having a 70mm series. I see the usual ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ booked. Tobe Hooper’s ‘Lifeforce’ returns, ‘The Master.’ Curiously, they’ve got ‘Star Wars: Return of the Jedi’ but I sincerely doubt its 70mm, especially with the recent tweaking by George Lucas, its probably either Blu-Ray or DP. ‘Sound of Music’ and ‘Hello Dolly!’ could also be in 70mm but there are no hyperlinks or announcements to indicate presentation formats as of this posting. Jedi would be great to see in 70mm especially for the speeder bike sequence on Endor and, of course, the space battles at the end.
I missed ‘Lifeforce’ the last time around. Based on prior AFI Silver experience, I wonder if it will surpass my memory of watching it the first time at the old Ontario in DC. That was an unforgettable experience…I can still smell the ‘paint’ from that theater’s remodel and the skylights beaming against the skies. The last few AFI 70mm showings were subdued soundwise.
It looks like fun!
Howard, this is true about the 70mm series. I was just hoping we’d have some counter programming to the traditional summer movie fare. Even if its a blown up print, I am nostalgic for the multi track sound that makes that experience of immersion . After seeing the latest Superman movie and paying for the IMAX-lite premiums for the other films, it would be nice to see something different. I believe there’s an anniversary up with Gettysburg (the battle). The bookstore near me has lots of commemorative books and magazines.
I frequently check out the west coast theater websites such as Arclight, Aero and Cinematheque just to see whats going on with their programming. Occasionally, I come across a 70mm booking that would be great if they could get here. Of course, those theaters are close to the studios where it would probably be easier to get bookings .
‘Gettysburg’ is supposedly booked here on 7/5 and 7/7 in 70mm. I vaguely remember this film coming out to not so great reviews and that it runs too long. Something along the lines of a bloated Ted Turner film. I didn’t see it in its first run, not for the aforementioned reasons. So far, this is the only 70mm film booked this summer. July’s calendar isn’t even posted, yet…
I caught ‘Man of Steel’ here in ETX last Sat night. My ears are ringing. Hahaha. I dragged my cousins here to get out of the doldrums of the usually substandard MD cinematic presentations (ok ok..not ALL are bad) they go to (we won’t name the bad plexes they go to in case they happen to read this posting). We arrived early enough but I have to tell you that even the seats here take a toll on the touche. Or, maybe its just me getting older. I know I could sit through any of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies at the old Senator Theater without feeling discomfort on their seats that were probably as old as the theater, itself. On the other hand, perhaps those movies were more engaging. Even with all the amazing fight scenes between Superman and Zod could not get my mind off of how uncomfortable I was feeling towards the end.
Having given the reviews a cursory glance, I did read enough to set my expectations low. The Richard Donner version of Superman forever sets the standard, for me, as the best comic movie adaptation. I’m not a fan of Chris Nolan’s dark interpretation, though many say its truer to the comic’s roots..fine, of Batman. I enjoy going to the movies and there’s a time to see and enjoy the darker toned films but I want to have a good time. To paraphrase what the late Roger Ebert said about movies is that we sometimes want to see them to get away from it all. If I want to be reminded how dark the world is I’d just as well watch Fox News at home for free. :)
For the $17.50 paid to see a film here in ETX, one should expect top notch everything. The projector went kablitz during the preview of next year’s 300 sequel. Then they restarted the trailer and it went out of focus. They started to play with it going in and out, out of focus, move to the right, move to the left. It was funny to hear the reactions of the audience..‘perfect’ ‘oh no..move to the right..’ ‘move to the left.’ Finally, some kid probably 8 or so, exclaimed ‘get it right, people’ to the laughter of the 400 or so in the audience. They didn’t play the Atmos sound trailer. AMC can do better to educate people as to why they should pay more for these premium sound systems by showing the trailers that show off what these systems can do. When I was in line to get my tickets, there was a pair of guys, in front of me, who couldn’t decide which showing of ‘Man of Steel’ showing to see. There were the 3 versions; IMAX(lite), ETX and the other DP showings. I told them to go for the ETX since its $1-less then IMAX, you can choose your own seat and the sound should be superior to IMAX.
I’m thinking they may have some problem with the set up here. What I forgot to mention in the previous post when I saw ‘Star Trek: Into Darkness’ in ETX, was that they had problems showing the preshow video as it had no sound! A patron came out to complain just as I was coming in and the female ‘manager’ that responded said they were having problems with their systems but that it would have no effect on the movie. Hmmmm.
Soundwise as I said before was loud. I’d have to see the movie again in a different sound chamber to tell you the difference. As with my previous experience with Atmos, its more like right and left separation with dialogue. Surrounds were good..I’m not sure if it was the soundtrack or someone’s actual cell phone going off, right rear, during the Daily Planet office scene.
Visually, I loved the look of the movie. The design aesthetic from the Krypton planet sequences to those little droids that resembled 3D etch-a-sketches come to life were real cool! While the Superman fight scenes were engaging, they seemed more like updated versions of the Neo/Smith fights from the final Matrix movie. I get it..its a live version of what you’d see in a comic book. Okay.
Whatever romance there was between the updated Clark and Lois did not have much spark. Maybe it was the tone of this movie that prevented a more comfortable, cozy and more romantic meeting depicted in the Donner directed Superman. In the inevitable sequel, maybe they’ll do better.
I saw Star Trek: Into Darkness in the IMAX-lite theater during a matinee showing in its final week in many local venues in IMAX-lite. I had hoped to catch the movie in the best format available before it gets relegated to the smaller and not so grand shoebox theaters at the local multiplexes. Not surprisingly, there was barely a handful in attendance. The preshow was shown in a small square and with low audio. Its as if no one cared to at make at least the ads top notch given the $18 premium paid for the format. Again, they showed last year’s teaser for the Superman: Man of Steel movie. Ridiculous. They should be playing the final trailer for a movie opening in less than two weeks!
With my Stubs membership about to expire, I decided to go to a few more AMC shows to get my reward credit to pay for the renewal. I would have sprang for one of the outrageously priced concession stand items but as I approached the counter, the attendant went the other way. With the movie about to start, I decided not to waste time or $10 for something I didn’t really want. Since I was on the fence, had there been better customer service, I probably would’ve bought something even if I had missed the first few minutes of ads anyway.
Presentation was good. What is interesting about this viewing and this is probably the 5th or so I’ve seen in this format, is noticing sound effects that you either didn’t hear or notice from previous viewings. The picture didn’t seem as bright as Regal’s or the new Xcape Brandyine Xtreme auditorium. Maybe the DP is older? or the projection lamp needs adjustment or changing?
Giles, I wanted to see it at the Udvar Hazy, but their shows (Fri/Sat eve) sold out before I could even get the fan sneak tickets! I didn’t want to go earlier and have to pay $16 for parking before 5pm.
When Star Trek II came out way back in ‘82, in 70mm, there was also a sound mix up, during one of the performances. One day I went to see it and the scene where Kirk says 'all right, lets open her up’, after Saavik’s disastrous performance on the Kobyashi Maru, the ship’s ‘screen’ opens from right to left..well, the sound was left to right!
I’m looking forward to ‘After Earth’ but I don’t think its in IMAX-lite here. I’d be happy to see here in ETX. The Superman reboot should be good, but they keep playing last year’s teaser here as it ends with coming ‘next summer.’ Change it already!
Aside from the clarity and blemish free of digital projection and sound, its a shame that we must pay a premium for larger screen movies. When we had 70mm-6 track releases..even if they were 35mm blow ups, more so if you had a THX certified theater or better, THAT made for the immersive performance.
I caught Star Trek: Into Darkness in #1. Perfect presentation, great sound distinction and booms. The one scene before Kirk dies, you can hear his breathing on the left channel before Spock approaches the reaction chamber. Its hard to justify paying IMAX prices when you’ve got an auditorium like this to experience movies.
I caught Star Trek: Into Darkness in the same #7 I saw Iron Man, which is one of the two 70ft large screen auditoriums. The matinee showing was sparse..probably 6 of us. I love the recliner seats. They are perfect. This time, I sat further up and still had stretching room.
Soundwise..it was rather subdued compared to the THX 7.1 presentation at Annapolis Mall’s #1. I did not notice sound bleeding this time. Perhaps the adjoining theater’s soundtrack was not as jarring as the last time.
For its $15 price, its a toss up. Its less than AMC’s IMAX-lite but the bonus are the comfortable seating and leg room.
I caught Star Trek: Into Darkness in the ETX Theater during a matinee showing. Paid $18 for the privilege. No sound during the preshow. There was probably 10 in a theater that holds 499. The AMC trailer played nice and loud and the Dolby Atmos trailer showed off what it could do quite nicely. The opening reminded me of the THX flower trailer. The ETX was spatial compared to the IMAX-lite and the 7.1 presentation I saw in THX. I think the sound mix is somehow messed up because prior to the Kirk ‘death’ scene, I could hear ‘breathing’ in the THX theater on the left, whereas in ETX its at the right. At the IMAX-lite presentation, I don’t recall hearing it at all.
Compared to the Xscape plex in Brandywine, I don’t see the value here, plus there are no leather recliners. I think I’m spoiled now..
My friend and I saw ‘Star Trek: Into Darkness’ here at a fan ‘sneak’ in IMAX-lite 3D. Surprisingly, the line was loooong, the longest I’ve experienced at an opening film day IMAX-lite showing. There were a few dressed in Starfleet uniforms, which got the attention of some special folk, not sure if they were from Paramount or a news organization, who took pictures. They gave out posters to a few hundred of us, which was a nice bonus.
No friendly greeting from the ticket taker.
The movie is quite good. I want to see it a few more times in the different formats. I have some quibbles with the ‘Wrath of Khan’ references and scene homages. I hate the pixie dust warp drive trail. Bad idea. Presentation was very good but sound booms weren’t as they should have been such as during some explosions and warp jump snaps. Not sure if it may have been the soundtrack, as the trailer for the upcoming Superman reboot ‘Man of Steel’ had some good sound booms from just the music, itself.
I noticed that and thought it was a typo. The movie is already opening big, why does management think there needs to be shows every ½ hour? Fandango shows many tickets available. Is #8 still THX certified, or at least the better of the 8 to see/hear/experience a movie there? Aside from the new seating, has the remodel helped the experience there of watching movies? I’m tempted to revisit the place.
There are no distinguishing structural elements to this plex. You can see the steel ceiling and air conditioning ducts when you enter. One item worth noting is that there doesn’t seem to be a traditional box office in front of the building. When you enter, you see self service kiosks, the Customer Service/Manager’s cube and then the refreshment stands. The idea is to buy your ticket AND get concessions at the same time. Not a bad idea and a time saver, too. Opposite to the refreshment/box office cashier area are numerous self service soda fountains and condiment stations. This is a great idea as one can fix their soda the way they want. Single soda refills are free in all sizes. The $15.50 for the afternoon matinee in the 3D Xtreme format is palatable. The first show is even cheaper. Regal Theaters take note.
I had tried to ask the ticket taker(s) about the theater amenities but they didn’t know. The younger guy was trying to say something. The older lady blurted out said..‘oh, you’ll enjoy the nice clear picture and loud sound..’ Okay. I thanked them and went to the auditorium as the show was to start.
7, one of the two Xtreme Xscape auditoriums look like one of AMC’s IMAX installs. There are overhead speakers are there and one would think Dolby Atmos. Unfortunately, its neither advertised as such, nor indicated on the Dolby website as having been installed. In any case, hearing Iron Man 3 in this theater, I couldn’t notice anything of aural significance, except for upper left channel sounds..perhaps it is the Atmos-like experience with the upper theaters. I recall this experience at the Atmos theater in AMC Tysons Corner 16.
There were no pre show ads or format advertising at all. Its no doubt digital, most likely 4K, but I doubt its IMAX since its proprietary and the movie didn’t have that brightness..the laser directed projection I guess its called..to enhance the picture.
One major gripe about #7, and to be fair..the place is new, is the lack of sound insulation. After the beginning of the movie, I would hear these boom boom sounds and thought it was the movie. Unfortunately, it made no sense since there was nothing going on. It had to be sound from the adjoining theater. Very bad. If this place had been THX certified, there would be better sound baffling to prevent sound bleeding.
Entering in, you’ll see regular seats in front of the center aisle. Above the center aisle are rows and rows of LEATHERETTE reclining seats. I was about to take the regular seat to closer to the screen in the hopes of getting that aural and picture immersion experienced in similar venues. Instead, I chose the leatherette reclining seats and boy, was I not disappointed. How many times have you been to a theater where you wish you could s-t-r-e-t-c-h and end up either putting your feet up against the chair in front, or have an idiot do the same behind you? No more. You flip a switch on the right armrest by your thigh and the recliner opens up to the desired angle. Nice. I am curious how these seats will hold up within a year or so after heavy use.
The employees could use better training in customer service. No one greeted me anywhere…okay, the refreshment area, but the guy mumbled so badly, all I could hear was “welcome a;lkaeconweo8."
They need the best looking employee there to greet people at the door. The fact there’s no traditional box office will leave people a little lost but like I said earlier, combining the ticket purchase and concession purchases is a great idea.
Stay away from the pretzel bites. They do warm them up and serve them with the same nacho cheese sauce that goes with the nachos. They are just TOO salty.
Perhaps, the next time I go, I will do more looking around and take some pictures. The leatherette recliners are a BIG PLUS as they are comfortably cozy.
The ticket I had mentioned something about reserved seating. Perhaps, this will be coming to some of the auditoriums in the future. I hope not. I do not like reserved seating. I enjoy sitting where I want and to change my seat if I find out I’m not comfortable with my first choice.
BowTie here in Annapolis, MD is quite good and have been one of my favorite venues for years. The Mall and Harbour 9 are all digital projection and Dolby 7.1. Actually, they continued what was Crown Theaters and, initially, kept with the personal touch by having personal intros to the movies. However, they stopped. :P They also stopped with the in theater advertising for awhile, then that started up, again.
As far as their loyalty program, it needs fixing. I had a BIG disagreement with their staff about their point accumulation system and redemption. When I redeemed a soda voucher, it zeroed out my points to start all over again. It does not continue like the ones for Regal and AMC do. To this day, I am not sure if they’ve fixed it.
There was a lady at corporate, whose number I kept on my old cell phone but now lost it..she was nice enough to restore my points. I’m close to the 100 pt mark to where they give you a free pass, soda and popcorn. I’m hoping to redeem the incremental freebies; more passes, popcorn, etc. since the point values have not zeroed out.
They need to improve their concession offerings. Perhaps they could take a cue from Cinemark and make things more self service. I prefer to get my own soda with the right amount of ice.
The National Cathedral has a 2 to 1 voting advantage as of today..not too good. I’m reading there is money put aside for some upgrade work. They should at least get a digital projector to maintain some operating viability.
The article points to many needed upgrades, but $1M? Are they going for a renovation like the AFI Silver? If so, thats quite ambitious, maybe overly so given the area. You’ve got the Academy 8 a few miles up thats the main competition and they’ve got 3D Digital to boot. Unless they can get their hands on a 70mm projector… ;–) there could be some great counter programming here.
I feel sorry for the people who currently operate this venue. They spent probably $50K for each digital projector..$150, plus more for the carpet and seating upgrades.
Maybe they should stay there and offer counter programming, or maybe second run movies at a discounted price and NOT close.
$5-$7 movies as opposed to $15 at the Arclight wouldn’t be too bad.
The expansion raises the issue of sufficient parking space. I used to work there for several years and parking is at a premium especially during the holidays. If you’ve got a 16 screen plex, with seating for a few thousand..where are they going to park if you don’t build a new garage?
On the other hand, it would be very nice to have an Arclight here where the presentations supposedly exceed THX standards. But..I’d be reluctant to pay more than $15 for regular fare. Then again, if its THAT good, I’ll have to drive there regularly since my friend is closer to that theater than to come to where I am. :P
There was an earlier posting that disappeared for this theater, like many others. I know because I posted! This theater opened around 1995 or 1996. It preceded the Hoyts Bowie theater in opening. I can’t remember what movie I saw there but I’d say they are almost identical in layout, with two huge, two-story type theaters..maybe its four but I remember there being an elevator you could take to the second level. On the second level, it was planned to be an area for people to congregate and eat but like the Bowie multiplex, it never came to be.
The first time I saw ‘2001’ was, around 1980, at the then twinned Flower Theater, in Takoma Park MD, and 35mm MONO! The film still had its visual appeal and it was sci-fi, one of my favorite film genres. I still remember walking out at the end, an older kid saying he would not be seeing “THAT FILM” again, as he just didn’t get it.
When DC’s Uptown had a 70mm ‘virgin’ print around ‘90 or so, now that was something special. As they say, they don’t make em like they used to anymore.
In 2001, when they had another re-release, I took my friend, who absolutely hated it. I tried to tell him it was one of those thinking movies like K-Pax, which came out around that time. He absolutely hated it. Being brought up in the post-MTV generation, movies have to be under 100 minutes, with quick 3 second edits and something BIG happening every 20. No matter how I tried to explain it to him, how the pacing may be slow, its deliberate and for reason. He just doesn’t get it. It reminds me of that comment Rock Hudson allegedly made after seeing this movie..he didn’t get it either.
Its now a joke, between us, that when he gets me to see a movie I don’t want to see or end up not liking, that I will make him sit through and watch this again when it comes to town. Or, when talking about seeing a ‘new’ movie, I will tell him there’s a sequel…2061: The Next Odyssey and its 4 hours with two intermissions! :-D
My friend and I caught a sneak peak of GI Joe: Retribution in 3D, special for Bow Tie Criterion Members in #11. The Dolby 7.1 trailer played nicely, but for some unknown reason, the sound level was not up to what it should be. The trailers, usually played loud..were subdued. The final Star Trek Into Darkness had none of that ‘boom’ ‘boom’ deep bass as in other venues. The film was bleh. Though the one action sequence where the bike splits up and becomes independent weapons was cool.
There’s thesenatortheatre and true friends of the senator on Facebook. The truefriends facebook page seems more aligned with the previous owner and the group organized to save the theater prior to its ownership transfer. There has been no comments since Nov 2012.
The other facebook page appears to be the one run by the current owners, as there are about 11 pics posted on the renovation.
I wished they could have enlarged the screen from 40, to say 60'. Nostalgia sentiments aside, it doesn’t compete with the IMAX-lite auditoriums, although the sound system they had was killer nevertheless. Digital projection should be excellent here.
I saw ‘Quartet’ here midweek, last week. Pleasant film with older stars set in a retirement home for elderly in the arts. No projection problems this time. I had read the place was to close down for remodeling, but they are still showing movies.