I have seen IMAX digital, RealD, and real full size IMAX. IMAX digital has a much smaller screen. AMC Bay Street 16 in Emeryville turned a regular sized auditorium into an IMAX auditorium by installing a slightly bigger screen. I was not impressed by the size. The picture quality seemed pretty good, but I could hardly tell the difference between the IMAX digital quality and regular 35mm film. In fact, IMAX digital looked practically the same as RealD. However, RealD usually can only be used on smaller screens because there is not enough light coming from a RealD projector to fill big screens. The IMAX digital sound system was slightly better than what used to be there. The bass was deeper and the sound was a little louder.
3D movies are in no danger. They will continue to make 3D movies for a long time to come. Avatar looks like it will be a really good movie. The Avatar trailer is on the front page of Imdb.com and it is getting a lot of views. The movie is going to do very good business. X Games 3D didn’t do very well because those types of sports movies really only appeal to a small group of people such as teenage boys or young male adults. The list of major movies coming out in 3D is continuing to grow.
AMC used to own theaters in Mexico. In November 2008, AMC sold its subsidiary Cinemex for $315 million. Once the incubation period passes, things should be good to go and the theaters should reopen.
It is hard to say that all theaters owned by one company are bad or good. I have visited many Cinemark and AMC theaters. It really depends on the manager of the individual theaters. If the manager is good, he or she will keep the theater cleaned and the staff well trained. I have visited many Cinemark theaters and generally they have strict cleanliness standards and a very good customer service training program. I have visited AMC theaters with very rude employees and dirty auditoriums. A pleasant visit depends on the individual employees working that particular day. In any case, if you ever have a bad experience, complain to the corporate office.
The Variety article is just an amateur opinion. Companies routinely shuffle employees into different positions.
Companies merge in order to make money or save money. When Cinemark bought Century Theatres, Cinemark gained the profits of high quality and very popular Century Theatres.
If AMC were to merge with Cinemark, the combined company would have a monopoly in many cities. Due to anti-trust issues, the company would have to sell off many theaters to competitors. This will cause the combined company to lose money from selling off profitable theaters..
Variety is not a reliable source of information. Look at their other articles. It is just baseless rumors and amateur opinions. Look at the article on Obama’s favorite TV shows. Companies routinely shuffle people into different job positions within their companies.
AMC would lose money from a merger with Cinemark. Cinemark has hundreds of theaters that are old, outdated, and without digital sound or stadium seating. These have done so poorly that they have converted them to dollar cinemas. That is a death sentence for most theaters. It is a last ditch effort to survive.
I saw a movie in IMAX Digital at AMC Bay Street today. The screen was only a little bigger than a regular movie screen. They did not change the height or width of the auditorium. It is possible that the screen might have been moved a few feet closer to the seats. The picture looked bright, colorful, and clear. The sound was very loud and had a tremendous amount of bass. You could feel the impact of the sound thundering through you. I saw the same movie on film in another theater which was THX certified. The experience was not much different. The IMAX sound was probably a little better, but not by much. With regards to the picture quality, I could hardly notice the difference. IMAX tickets cost $3 extra.
Since, the new CEO is from Starbucks, I believe that he will add Starbucks drinks to the menu at AMC Theaters. Century Theatres already serves Starbucks drinks in all of their theaters. The cafes in the theaters are very popular. They are not true Starbucks cafes, since theater employees serve you the drinks. They also have very good desserts such as cheesecakes, cookies, and milkshakes. AMC would make a lot of money if they add these items to their menu, and customers will love it too.
I think that the dinner and a movie concept is a very good one. Many customers love the high class ambience. Regular multiplexes suffer from crowds of loud teenagers and dirty auditoriums. This new concept gets rid of the distractions and offers a luxurious and comfortable place to view movies. A big reason why people have avoided movie theaters is due to issues with rowdy people. More people are going to go back to seeing movies in the theater. This theater will see much more business coming in.
This is a reply to rockne. When AMC took over the Loews theaters only some of the theaters had their SDDS units replaced with Dolby Digital. At most theaters now owned by AMC theatres, many of the SDDS units are still in place. The cost of replacing all of the SDDS equipment is way too high.
Usually an average old AMC theater probably has a few Dolby Digital units for backup. These are used if a particular movie is not encoded with SDDS or if the movies is in DLP digital projection. The only sound system compatible with digital projection is Dolby Digital. AMC installs Dolby Digital EX on all screens at their new theaters.
Some AMC theaters show movies in Closed Captioning. When a movie is listed as Closed Captioned, they have to use DTS because the captions are stored on the DTS discs.
From the Fandango listings for this theater, the two movies in DLP are definitely Dolby Digital and the Closed Captioned movie should be in DTS. The rest of the movies could be in SDDS. You can check imdb.com to see if the movie that you want to see has SDDS. Some movies are not encoded in SDDS such as independent films or art films.
What matters most with regard to sound quality is what type of speakers are used. JBL and QSC make high quality speakers with great sound. However, Klipsch on the other hand makes speakers that lack power and dynamic range. The official speaker provider of Regal Cinemas is Klipsch. It is very difficult to tell the difference between the different digital sound formats. Since most theaters use different brands of speakers you can’t really compare. What matters most is that a movie theater sounds good to you.
From the IMAX website, Rockaway is not listed as getting an IMAX until at least after November. Rockaway is not even on the schedule yet. Apparently, the installations are taking longer to roll out than they had thought.
The suspect in the stabbing has been caught in Las Vegas. Police believe he may have been under the influence of psychedelic mushrooms during the stabbing.
These small multiplex theaters that are closing do not seem to be historic or architecturally significant. There is no big loss here. Old and outdated theaters simply do not attract people anymore. Hopefully, a new and better theater will be built in the future. If properly designed and run well, a new theater will attract many more customers than the old theaters.
I checked http://maps.live.com and I can see the theater now. One cool thing about this theater is the giant movie posters on the outside. From the most recent Bird’s Eye satellite images, I can see the posters for The Simpsons Movie, Spider-man 3, and some other movies.
This movie theater was remodeled sometime after it opened. They added a brand new glass front to the movie theater so that the ticket booths are now enclosed in a giant heated lobby. I think that it actually improved the look of the theater and it still has large windows to let in light. Now patrons do not need to wait outside in the snow to purchase tickets. The new AMC Castleton 14 that recently opened in Indianapolis also has an identical enclosed glass lobby for the ticket booths.
All the theaters that are serving the new pizzas are former Loews, Magic Johnson, or General Cinema locations which still have the equipment leftover from when they used to serve pizzas years ago. None of the AMC built theaters have the capacity to bake pizzas.
The pizzas look great! I wish they would have that at a theater near me. I did see the same brand of pizza today at the supermarket in the deli section and they were not the frozen kind. They also had deep dish versions with tons of meat and cheese.
Actually, this used to be Century Dome theater before it became an Art House Theater. There are two others almost like it in San Jose, California: Winchester 21 and 22 (formerly Century 21 and 22). They are unsplit and have huge screens also. This Cinearts Dome has 4 small auditoriums added to the back of the theater. While the dome has a huge screen that is about 75 feet wide, the 4 theaters in back have small screens. I saw a movie in a small theater in the back about a month ago. I recommend choosing the movie playing in the dome for the best experience. The Dome has amazing digital surround sound and you can feel the sound rumble through you.
http://maps.live.com shows the AMC Rockaway when it was under construction and almost completed.
John is right. AMC Rockaway looks almost identical to Loews Alderwood at 18421 Alderwood Mall Pky, Lynnwood, WA 98037. The Bird’s Eye View shows the theater and you can spin around and see from it from 4 different views. It’s like virtual reality.
I have seen red band trailers at several different movie theaters. I am pretty sure that I saw at least one at an AMC theater right before Watchmen.
I have seen IMAX digital, RealD, and real full size IMAX. IMAX digital has a much smaller screen. AMC Bay Street 16 in Emeryville turned a regular sized auditorium into an IMAX auditorium by installing a slightly bigger screen. I was not impressed by the size. The picture quality seemed pretty good, but I could hardly tell the difference between the IMAX digital quality and regular 35mm film. In fact, IMAX digital looked practically the same as RealD. However, RealD usually can only be used on smaller screens because there is not enough light coming from a RealD projector to fill big screens. The IMAX digital sound system was slightly better than what used to be there. The bass was deeper and the sound was a little louder.
3D movies are in no danger. They will continue to make 3D movies for a long time to come. Avatar looks like it will be a really good movie. The Avatar trailer is on the front page of Imdb.com and it is getting a lot of views. The movie is going to do very good business. X Games 3D didn’t do very well because those types of sports movies really only appeal to a small group of people such as teenage boys or young male adults. The list of major movies coming out in 3D is continuing to grow.
AMC used to own theaters in Mexico. In November 2008, AMC sold its subsidiary Cinemex for $315 million. Once the incubation period passes, things should be good to go and the theaters should reopen.
It is hard to say that all theaters owned by one company are bad or good. I have visited many Cinemark and AMC theaters. It really depends on the manager of the individual theaters. If the manager is good, he or she will keep the theater cleaned and the staff well trained. I have visited many Cinemark theaters and generally they have strict cleanliness standards and a very good customer service training program. I have visited AMC theaters with very rude employees and dirty auditoriums. A pleasant visit depends on the individual employees working that particular day. In any case, if you ever have a bad experience, complain to the corporate office.
The Variety article is just an amateur opinion. Companies routinely shuffle employees into different positions.
Companies merge in order to make money or save money. When Cinemark bought Century Theatres, Cinemark gained the profits of high quality and very popular Century Theatres.
If AMC were to merge with Cinemark, the combined company would have a monopoly in many cities. Due to anti-trust issues, the company would have to sell off many theaters to competitors. This will cause the combined company to lose money from selling off profitable theaters..
Variety is not a reliable source of information. Look at their other articles. It is just baseless rumors and amateur opinions. Look at the article on Obama’s favorite TV shows. Companies routinely shuffle people into different job positions within their companies.
AMC would lose money from a merger with Cinemark. Cinemark has hundreds of theaters that are old, outdated, and without digital sound or stadium seating. These have done so poorly that they have converted them to dollar cinemas. That is a death sentence for most theaters. It is a last ditch effort to survive.
I saw a movie in IMAX Digital at AMC Bay Street today. The screen was only a little bigger than a regular movie screen. They did not change the height or width of the auditorium. It is possible that the screen might have been moved a few feet closer to the seats. The picture looked bright, colorful, and clear. The sound was very loud and had a tremendous amount of bass. You could feel the impact of the sound thundering through you. I saw the same movie on film in another theater which was THX certified. The experience was not much different. The IMAX sound was probably a little better, but not by much. With regards to the picture quality, I could hardly notice the difference. IMAX tickets cost $3 extra.
Since, the new CEO is from Starbucks, I believe that he will add Starbucks drinks to the menu at AMC Theaters. Century Theatres already serves Starbucks drinks in all of their theaters. The cafes in the theaters are very popular. They are not true Starbucks cafes, since theater employees serve you the drinks. They also have very good desserts such as cheesecakes, cookies, and milkshakes. AMC would make a lot of money if they add these items to their menu, and customers will love it too.
I think that the dinner and a movie concept is a very good one. Many customers love the high class ambience. Regular multiplexes suffer from crowds of loud teenagers and dirty auditoriums. This new concept gets rid of the distractions and offers a luxurious and comfortable place to view movies. A big reason why people have avoided movie theaters is due to issues with rowdy people. More people are going to go back to seeing movies in the theater. This theater will see much more business coming in.
Video of the theater. It looks really nice inside.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKMdOubY8Tc
I found some photos of the concession stand before and after.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alpha8472/2874276189/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drumaboy/2846945740/
This is a reply to rockne. When AMC took over the Loews theaters only some of the theaters had their SDDS units replaced with Dolby Digital. At most theaters now owned by AMC theatres, many of the SDDS units are still in place. The cost of replacing all of the SDDS equipment is way too high.
Usually an average old AMC theater probably has a few Dolby Digital units for backup. These are used if a particular movie is not encoded with SDDS or if the movies is in DLP digital projection. The only sound system compatible with digital projection is Dolby Digital. AMC installs Dolby Digital EX on all screens at their new theaters.
Some AMC theaters show movies in Closed Captioning. When a movie is listed as Closed Captioned, they have to use DTS because the captions are stored on the DTS discs.
From the Fandango listings for this theater, the two movies in DLP are definitely Dolby Digital and the Closed Captioned movie should be in DTS. The rest of the movies could be in SDDS. You can check imdb.com to see if the movie that you want to see has SDDS. Some movies are not encoded in SDDS such as independent films or art films.
What matters most with regard to sound quality is what type of speakers are used. JBL and QSC make high quality speakers with great sound. However, Klipsch on the other hand makes speakers that lack power and dynamic range. The official speaker provider of Regal Cinemas is Klipsch. It is very difficult to tell the difference between the different digital sound formats. Since most theaters use different brands of speakers you can’t really compare. What matters most is that a movie theater sounds good to you.
AMC Theatres has a policy of letting people bring in outside food.
From the IMAX website, Rockaway is not listed as getting an IMAX until at least after November. Rockaway is not even on the schedule yet. Apparently, the installations are taking longer to roll out than they had thought.
The suspect in the stabbing has been caught in Las Vegas. Police believe he may have been under the influence of psychedelic mushrooms during the stabbing.
View link
These small multiplex theaters that are closing do not seem to be historic or architecturally significant. There is no big loss here. Old and outdated theaters simply do not attract people anymore. Hopefully, a new and better theater will be built in the future. If properly designed and run well, a new theater will attract many more customers than the old theaters.
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougww/465107998/
Photos: View link
I checked http://maps.live.com and I can see the theater now. One cool thing about this theater is the giant movie posters on the outside. From the most recent Bird’s Eye satellite images, I can see the posters for The Simpsons Movie, Spider-man 3, and some other movies.
The listing for Grauman’s Chinese is separate from the Chinese 6. Here is the link for Grauman’s Chinese: View link
This movie theater was remodeled sometime after it opened. They added a brand new glass front to the movie theater so that the ticket booths are now enclosed in a giant heated lobby. I think that it actually improved the look of the theater and it still has large windows to let in light. Now patrons do not need to wait outside in the snow to purchase tickets. The new AMC Castleton 14 that recently opened in Indianapolis also has an identical enclosed glass lobby for the ticket booths.
View link
All the theaters that are serving the new pizzas are former Loews, Magic Johnson, or General Cinema locations which still have the equipment leftover from when they used to serve pizzas years ago. None of the AMC built theaters have the capacity to bake pizzas.
The pizzas look great! I wish they would have that at a theater near me. I did see the same brand of pizza today at the supermarket in the deli section and they were not the frozen kind. They also had deep dish versions with tons of meat and cheese.
Actually, this used to be Century Dome theater before it became an Art House Theater. There are two others almost like it in San Jose, California: Winchester 21 and 22 (formerly Century 21 and 22). They are unsplit and have huge screens also. This Cinearts Dome has 4 small auditoriums added to the back of the theater. While the dome has a huge screen that is about 75 feet wide, the 4 theaters in back have small screens. I saw a movie in a small theater in the back about a month ago. I recommend choosing the movie playing in the dome for the best experience. The Dome has amazing digital surround sound and you can feel the sound rumble through you.
http://maps.live.com shows the AMC Rockaway when it was under construction and almost completed.
John is right. AMC Rockaway looks almost identical to Loews Alderwood at 18421 Alderwood Mall Pky, Lynnwood, WA 98037. The Bird’s Eye View shows the theater and you can spin around and see from it from 4 different views. It’s like virtual reality.