Comments from Danny Baldwin

Showing 1 - 25 of 301 comments

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about Vineland Drive-In on Jun 4, 2023 at 3:39 am

Clearly not re-opening for first-run this summer, but they are running what is being called “Pacific Theatres Summer Movie Series” (the first reemergence of the Pacific brand post-bankruptcy!?) every Saturday starting June 17th with “The Pope’s Exorcist.” None of the other films are listed yet but check back here: https://www.clover.com/online-ordering/VinelandDrive-In

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about TCL Chinese Theatre on Aug 23, 2017 at 10:57 pm

Mark— It’s 1.90:1. When they ran INTERSTELLAR on 70mm there, they brought the curtains in to mark the sides for 1:43:1.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about AMC Wiegand Plaza 8 on Jan 28, 2017 at 9:57 pm

This theater closed 10 years ago today. A blog post in memoriam: http://www.criticspeak.com/amc-encinitas-8-closed-10-years-ago-today/

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about Pacific Sherman Oaks 5 on May 8, 2016 at 5:52 am

I called on Thursday and they indicated they were having issues with Fandango. They also said they’d be getting GREEN ROOM.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about Fine Arts Theatre on Mar 19, 2016 at 6:55 am

According to the Laemmle rental form, they still have both 35mm and 70mm capabilities. Not sure if it’s platter or reel to reel.

DCP projector is 4K… Christie I think.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about AMC Wiegand Plaza 8 on Feb 3, 2016 at 10:02 am

Closed January 28, 2007 and demolished shortly thereafter. Now a Staples. I worked there for the final two years of its operation.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about AMC Factoria Cinemas on Dec 19, 2015 at 12:21 am

Unmasked screens are the new thing at AMC when they renovate (at least for fixed-width screens). It’s an entirely unwelcome development, but at least they aren’t decommissioning the masking at existing/non-redone venues like Regal is. (Who decided this was a good idea, I have no idea.)

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about Cinerama Hollywood on Nov 20, 2015 at 9:36 pm

I’m hearing that Disney is mandating all theaters that book “The Force Awakens” play it in their biggest house for 4 weeks. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if “The Hateful Eight,” at least initially, only plays the New Beverly, the 70mm-equipped multiplex auditoriums at the ArcLight and the Landmark, and perhaps some newly-equipped AMC screens at Burbank and Century City (as AMCs seem to be where most of Boston Light & Sound projectors are going). Hoping to be proven wrong.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about El Capitan Theatre on Oct 20, 2015 at 8:21 pm

It depends. “Ant Man” opened just at the Chinese.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is opening at the Chinese as well.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about TCL Chinese Theatre on May 18, 2015 at 11:26 pm

The overall increase has been much more than 15% to 20%, I’d say, but more because they can book desirable films again and don’t have to compete for booking with the Dome. Anybody remember when “Book of Eli” played 12 weeks in the big Chinese in the late Mann days. Before TCL and especially the IMAX conversion, the Chinese in recent years just did not have the booking leverage to get more than 3-4 of the biggest blockbusters per summer.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about Cinerama Hollywood on Apr 27, 2015 at 9:09 am

Today’s shows of 2001 were cancelled on the spot due to a projectionist walkout in support of the ongoing wage protests. It was something!

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about Cinerama Hollywood on Dec 24, 2014 at 10:20 pm

I thought the presentation was great. I saw it on both DCP and 70mm. The movie is naturally very, very grainy. The movie is also Flat, so it doesn’t have as many of the funky illumination at the sides of the frame you get with full 2.20 in there.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about Moviemax Carlsbad on Nov 28, 2014 at 7:27 pm

Closes Sunday, November 30.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about Moviemax Carlsbad on Oct 9, 2014 at 11:31 pm

Correct. The new theater should be opening very soon because it’s already on Fandango (though no tickets on sale yet). All reporting says MovieMax will close, although I’m a little skeptical about that, because the owner (who only owns this theater) paid to upgrade to digital AFTER the new theater was announced. I spoke with him years back and he said he had considered going arthouse… wonder if that could potentially happen / what his lease terms are.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about TCL Chinese Theatre on Sep 26, 2014 at 7:42 pm

No no, as with any other IMAX screen, ‘Scope is shown “letterboxed” with no masking. I was saying 1.44:1 content is usually cropped to 1.90:1

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about TCL Chinese Theatre on Sep 26, 2014 at 6:41 pm

For all IMAX presentations (i.e. not film festival), the screen is kept at 1.90:1. Masking isn’t used for ‘Scope, per IMAX standard, but does exist. IMAX releases cropped 1.90:1 versions of most 1.44:1 content (i.e. it was not pillarboxed in the games scenes in the most recent 'Hunger Games’ film, but rather shown in 1.90:1).

I was told the screen would be getting a bit bigger with laser, but don’t have any dimensions info.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about TCL Chinese Theatre on Sep 26, 2014 at 4:30 pm

They’d have to bring in the masking on the sides quite a bit for film because at full size, the screen isn’t 1.44:1, it’s 1.90:1. Is there a single IMAX anywhere that isn’t wall-to-wall width?

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about New Beverly Cinema on Sep 1, 2014 at 7:12 am

Will be dark for all of September, reportedly to resume a regular schedule in October. Word is that Michael Torgan will no longer be the operator. Details are hard to come by beyond that. Hats off to him for all the years; the New Bev has been a seminal part of my (and so many others') film education.

I have to wonder if this is somehow connected to the rumors that Quentin Tarantino put in a bid on the Rialto in South Pas. Although that’s total idle speculation.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about TCL Chinese Theatre on Dec 12, 2013 at 8:22 pm

No, the screen is at its largest dimensions in 1.9:1.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about TCL Chinese Theatre on Dec 10, 2013 at 2:42 am

Yes, the movie does utilize the full screen when the games begin. However, the Chinese IMAX does not use masking for any ‘Scope IMAX feature (this is standard IMAX policy). The masking is only used for special presentations like the AFI Fest galas.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about TCL Chinese Theatre on Sep 7, 2013 at 12:48 am

So ArcLight just put tickets onsale for GRAVITY at every location but Hollywood. However, on their Facebook page, they wrote “*Hollywood tickets for "Gravity” will be on sale soon. Make sure to like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram to be the first to know!"

So I guess we’re still in the dark on whether there will be co-bookings when the Chinese gets the IMAX version.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about TCL Chinese Theatre on Aug 30, 2013 at 7:58 am

The question is: will they use the masking for regular IMAX presentations (becoming the only IMAX theater in the world to do this, to my knowledge), or just for special presentations like premieres? The “no masking” craze on all premium-branded screens, not just IMAX, makes me think they like to keep the screen maximally opened up just to prove it’s there and is huge.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about TCL Chinese Theatre on Aug 20, 2013 at 1:35 am

Yep, 1.9 is the standard for digital IMAX. I saw The Dark Knight Rises in 1.9 projected on a 1.44 screen—similar to the scenario RobertAlex describes above.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about Cinerama Hollywood on Jul 19, 2013 at 4:29 am

As a $15/year member, you get a $5 gift card, a free ticket the month of your birthday, and two free tickets to ArcLight Presents shows in addition to the other stuff. That’s totally worth it to me.

Danny Baldwin
Danny Baldwin commented about Cinerama Films at the Gaslamp Theatre on Jul 6, 2013 at 2:46 am

Not always. It just became the name of the series. Although the biggest house at the Gaslamp, which they’re sometimes shown on, is that big (if not bigger).