The lease at the Lafayette is very restrictive. There can be no modifications done to the auditorium, so there should be no worries that it will be split up.
Not yet, Fred. I’ll be getting some new photos of Cedar Lane and Newton Theatre this week and will be re-vamping the Big Screen Classics website with that information.
Nelson is no longer an operating partner at the Lafayette. His partners with the management company for the theatre have decided to move forward on their own with the venue. No politics, no acrimony in any way. We’d love to continue with shows up there, but that’s not in the cards right now. We look forward to 2009 with the Cedar Lane series as well as having other events in different historic venues in this area.
MariaMaria – Yes, My Summer Story was the movie, starring Charles Grodin and Mary Steenburgen and released in 1994. It was also known as “It Runs in the Family”.
Bill – Were they showing Che digitally as well? I have zero interest in the subject matter, so I don’t think I’ll be seeing it anytime soon. perhaps the Ziegfeld has the new 4K projectors?
MPol – that was most likely film grain you would have seen in 1976, there was no digital at that time (or you were seeing the perforations of the screen sitting that closely). Sadly, the 70s were the beginning of the end of well-photographed films and many films from that time were underlit and had very visible grain.
Digital projection, for the most part, sucks. Pixelation readily visible to the naked eye on anything over a 30 foot screen, a lack of the dynamic range in color compared to a properly made 35mm print, compression artifacts during fast-moving scenes, and an artificial digital ‘hardness’ to the image that is not present with organic 35mm (to say nothing of 70mm) film.
No. The movie starts with curtains opening on a short little 4x3 black & white sequence showing the comic book pages and then moves into a shot of the Daily Planet building. Then as the camera moves into space, the screen widens and the music comes up loud for the very long title sequence. For another 45 minutes or so, we’ve got a great movie. Then Clark Kent comes to Metropolis and we end up with a silly farce. ;)
Blu-ray as good as 35mm? Really? Cinema DLP isn’t even as good as 35mm, so how could a consumer format with lower resolution equal it? When was the last time the Ziegfeld ran a 70mm print other than Lawrence of Arabia a couple of years ago? And those ‘fully restored 35mm prints’ that Clearview gets are the same that circulate to other theatres. Hopefully, the other theatres get them first before Clearview’s platter jockeys tear them up.
The above information re: Universal is not exactly correct. They did not lose all of their rep prints in the fire. Many, many prints of theirs were stored off-site at various depots/storage facilities, etc. And they have been going back and striking new prints of several titles lost in the fire.
Bill – glad you enjoyed the show. Our friend Jeff S. reminded me that he wanted the CinemaScope logo and fanfare LOUD, so that’s what you got :) And who else would have thought to run that unused Herrmann finale as exit music but me? You probably left before the next piece came on, the full recording of the unused “Twice as Tall” vocal.
It’s always possible, though the studios are strange sometimes with older films in a series. This year they withdrew from theatrical showings the first three Indiana Jones films with the new one coming out, which seems backwards to me. Although that might have been Lucas.
For Trek, I’d love to show the first one as it’s the ‘biggest’ of all the films. But I’d want to show the Director’s Cut and I’m not sure they made 35mm prints of it. A marathon of all would be fun, that’s certain, although I think everyone would fall asleep during Nemesis :)
Finished inspecting the films for the weekend last night – we’ve got some real beauties. The War of the Worlds is virtually brand new (fantastic color), the Journey to Center of the Earth is amazing with a really big-sounding stereo track. The Creeping Unknown is the longer British version, the Rodan is genuine Technicolor, the Man from Planet X is in excellent shape and almost never shown anywhere, the Earth vs. the Flying Saucers is an original release print as approved by Ray Harryhausen, and the Metropolis is Kino’s best print and the longest version currently available.
Hope to see you there – or make sure to listen in on the radio Friday night at 8pm (Eastern, we’ll be on about 8:07 after the national news): 1300AM or www.wrcr.com
Just noticed an embarrasing typo I made – that should be “Rodan”, not ‘Roadan’. Too many late nights getting everything ready ;)
Finished inspecting the films for the weekend tonight – we’ve got some real beauties. The War of the Worlds is virtually brand new (fantastic color), the Journey to Center of the Earth is amazing with a really big-sounding stereo track. The Creeping Unknown is the longer British version, the Rodan is genuine Technicolor, the Man from Planet X is in excellent shape and almost never shown anywhere, the Earth vs. the Flying Saucers is an original release print as approved by Ray Harryhausen, and the Metropolis is Kino’s best print and the longest version currently available.
Hope to see you there – or make sure to listen in on the radio Friday night at 8pm: 1300AM or www.wrcr.com
Thursday night, October 30 at 7:30 pm, we’re happy to present – by popular demand – the 1925 silent horror classic THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, starring Lon Chaney, with LIVE musical accompaniment by Jeff Barker on the Mighty Wurlitzer. Tickets are $10 for this special event and are on sale at the door.
=====
Then, on Friday, October 31, the Lafayette Theatre’s SCIENCE FICTION SPECTACULAR begins!
Here’s the complete SCIENCE FICTION SPECTACULAR 2008 line-up:
Friday, October 31 – War of the Worlds Tribute Night!
7:30pm – THE WAR OF THE WORLDS – LIVE ON STAGE & ON THE AIR! Our tribute begins with a 70th Anniversary live presentation of the 1938 Orson Welles ‘panic broadcast’, performed by a 5-person professional cast along with chilling sound effects using the original 1938 Howard W. Koch script. This special once-in-a-lifetime event will also be broadcast live on WRCR, Rockland County Radio, AM1300, or streamed on the internet at www.wrcr.com beginning at 8:07 pm (after the national news).
9:45pm – THE WAR OF THE WORLDS – The 1953 film will be shown, in tribute to the Centennial of the birth of its visionary producer George Pal. Presented in an archive vault print from Paramount Pictures.
(separate admission required for each event)
Saturday, November 1
1:30pm – EARTH V.S THE FLYING SAUCERS, featuring special visual effect by Ray Harryhausen, print courtesy Sony Pictures.
3:45pm – THE MAN FROM PLANET X, starring Robert Clarke and directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, rare showing of MGM’s vault print.
7:45pm – JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, starring James Mason and Pat Boone. Presented in CinemaScope & stereophonic sound via the East Coast premiere of a new vault print from 20th Century Fox!
Sunday, November 2
1:30pm – RODAN: THE FLYING MONSTER, presented in its original American release version and in Technicolor.
3:45pm – THE CREEPING UNKNOWN (aka THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT) starring Brian Donlevy – uncut British version.
7:30pm – Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS, this silent science fiction epic will be presented in its 2002 restored version and feature LIVE musical accompaniment by John Baratta on the Mighty Wurlitzer!
All tickets – $9 per show. Separate admission required. Doors open 30 minutes prior to each showtime and you can buy your tickets at the door. Go to: View link for more information.
It’s an illusion. The screen masking is a correct rectangle, but the aperture plates in the projector are cut in a keystoned pattern which would project as a perfect rectangle from that high angle. You can see that the image is actually wider at the bottom when the end credits roll, especially if they go from side to side. The image is actually being cropped slightly on left and rights sides, varying from a tiny bit at the top to a bit more at the bottom. Most of the time, it’s not noticeable.
The Lafayette continues its first-run status. The BCG web page for the Lafayette is here:
View link
Rhett –
The lease at the Lafayette is very restrictive. There can be no modifications done to the auditorium, so there should be no worries that it will be split up.
Not yet, Fred. I’ll be getting some new photos of Cedar Lane and Newton Theatre this week and will be re-vamping the Big Screen Classics website with that information.
Hi, Rhett.
Nelson is no longer an operating partner at the Lafayette. His partners with the management company for the theatre have decided to move forward on their own with the venue. No politics, no acrimony in any way. We’d love to continue with shows up there, but that’s not in the cards right now. We look forward to 2009 with the Cedar Lane series as well as having other events in different historic venues in this area.
MariaMaria – Yes, My Summer Story was the movie, starring Charles Grodin and Mary Steenburgen and released in 1994. It was also known as “It Runs in the Family”.
Bill – Were they showing Che digitally as well? I have zero interest in the subject matter, so I don’t think I’ll be seeing it anytime soon. perhaps the Ziegfeld has the new 4K projectors?
MPol – that was most likely film grain you would have seen in 1976, there was no digital at that time (or you were seeing the perforations of the screen sitting that closely). Sadly, the 70s were the beginning of the end of well-photographed films and many films from that time were underlit and had very visible grain.
Digital projection, for the most part, sucks. Pixelation readily visible to the naked eye on anything over a 30 foot screen, a lack of the dynamic range in color compared to a properly made 35mm print, compression artifacts during fast-moving scenes, and an artificial digital ‘hardness’ to the image that is not present with organic 35mm (to say nothing of 70mm) film.
Not a theatre.
Standard definition DVD? On a theatre screen? Too bad…
OK, sorry I misunderstood. When I saw it opening night at the Route 4 Paramus in NJ, there was nothing on the screen except the massive curtain.
No. The movie starts with curtains opening on a short little 4x3 black & white sequence showing the comic book pages and then moves into a shot of the Daily Planet building. Then as the camera moves into space, the screen widens and the music comes up loud for the very long title sequence. For another 45 minutes or so, we’ve got a great movie. Then Clark Kent comes to Metropolis and we end up with a silly farce. ;)
Very cool, Howard!
Blu-ray as good as 35mm? Really? Cinema DLP isn’t even as good as 35mm, so how could a consumer format with lower resolution equal it? When was the last time the Ziegfeld ran a 70mm print other than Lawrence of Arabia a couple of years ago? And those ‘fully restored 35mm prints’ that Clearview gets are the same that circulate to other theatres. Hopefully, the other theatres get them first before Clearview’s platter jockeys tear them up.
The above information re: Universal is not exactly correct. They did not lose all of their rep prints in the fire. Many, many prints of theirs were stored off-site at various depots/storage facilities, etc. And they have been going back and striking new prints of several titles lost in the fire.
Bob – Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated.
Jeff – Thanks for posting those pictures, I will have a complete gallery of your shots posted on the Lafayette website this weekend.
Yes, please post some photos, Jeff. It’ll be a while before I can add them to the Lafayette’s website. Don’t forget Ro-man!
Bill – glad you enjoyed the show. Our friend Jeff S. reminded me that he wanted the CinemaScope logo and fanfare LOUD, so that’s what you got :) And who else would have thought to run that unused Herrmann finale as exit music but me? You probably left before the next piece came on, the full recording of the unused “Twice as Tall” vocal.
I’ll certainly try, JMF.
I’m off for the show – everyone please tune in tonight! 8:00 pm at www.wrcr.com or 1300AM in the Rockland County area.
It’s always possible, though the studios are strange sometimes with older films in a series. This year they withdrew from theatrical showings the first three Indiana Jones films with the new one coming out, which seems backwards to me. Although that might have been Lucas.
For Trek, I’d love to show the first one as it’s the ‘biggest’ of all the films. But I’d want to show the Director’s Cut and I’m not sure they made 35mm prints of it. A marathon of all would be fun, that’s certain, although I think everyone would fall asleep during Nemesis :)
Finished inspecting the films for the weekend last night – we’ve got some real beauties. The War of the Worlds is virtually brand new (fantastic color), the Journey to Center of the Earth is amazing with a really big-sounding stereo track. The Creeping Unknown is the longer British version, the Rodan is genuine Technicolor, the Man from Planet X is in excellent shape and almost never shown anywhere, the Earth vs. the Flying Saucers is an original release print as approved by Ray Harryhausen, and the Metropolis is Kino’s best print and the longest version currently available.
Hope to see you there – or make sure to listen in on the radio Friday night at 8pm (Eastern, we’ll be on about 8:07 after the national news): 1300AM or www.wrcr.com
Just noticed an embarrasing typo I made – that should be “Rodan”, not ‘Roadan’. Too many late nights getting everything ready ;)
Finished inspecting the films for the weekend tonight – we’ve got some real beauties. The War of the Worlds is virtually brand new (fantastic color), the Journey to Center of the Earth is amazing with a really big-sounding stereo track. The Creeping Unknown is the longer British version, the Rodan is genuine Technicolor, the Man from Planet X is in excellent shape and almost never shown anywhere, the Earth vs. the Flying Saucers is an original release print as approved by Ray Harryhausen, and the Metropolis is Kino’s best print and the longest version currently available.
Hope to see you there – or make sure to listen in on the radio Friday night at 8pm: 1300AM or www.wrcr.com
Very cool! I’ve seen a few similar messages over the years, including ones with electioneering such as “Vote Tony D. for Local 1234”.
We’ve got a busy week in store for you!
Thursday night, October 30 at 7:30 pm, we’re happy to present – by popular demand – the 1925 silent horror classic THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, starring Lon Chaney, with LIVE musical accompaniment by Jeff Barker on the Mighty Wurlitzer. Tickets are $10 for this special event and are on sale at the door.
=====
Then, on Friday, October 31, the Lafayette Theatre’s SCIENCE FICTION SPECTACULAR begins!
Here’s the complete SCIENCE FICTION SPECTACULAR 2008 line-up:
Friday, October 31 – War of the Worlds Tribute Night!
7:30pm – THE WAR OF THE WORLDS – LIVE ON STAGE & ON THE AIR! Our tribute begins with a 70th Anniversary live presentation of the 1938 Orson Welles ‘panic broadcast’, performed by a 5-person professional cast along with chilling sound effects using the original 1938 Howard W. Koch script. This special once-in-a-lifetime event will also be broadcast live on WRCR, Rockland County Radio, AM1300, or streamed on the internet at www.wrcr.com beginning at 8:07 pm (after the national news).
9:45pm – THE WAR OF THE WORLDS – The 1953 film will be shown, in tribute to the Centennial of the birth of its visionary producer George Pal. Presented in an archive vault print from Paramount Pictures.
(separate admission required for each event)
Saturday, November 1
1:30pm – EARTH V.S THE FLYING SAUCERS, featuring special visual effect by Ray Harryhausen, print courtesy Sony Pictures.
3:45pm – THE MAN FROM PLANET X, starring Robert Clarke and directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, rare showing of MGM’s vault print.
7:45pm – JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, starring James Mason and Pat Boone. Presented in CinemaScope & stereophonic sound via the East Coast premiere of a new vault print from 20th Century Fox!
Sunday, November 2
1:30pm – RODAN: THE FLYING MONSTER, presented in its original American release version and in Technicolor.
3:45pm – THE CREEPING UNKNOWN (aka THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT) starring Brian Donlevy – uncut British version.
7:30pm – Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS, this silent science fiction epic will be presented in its 2002 restored version and feature LIVE musical accompaniment by John Baratta on the Mighty Wurlitzer!
All tickets – $9 per show. Separate admission required. Doors open 30 minutes prior to each showtime and you can buy your tickets at the door. Go to: View link for more information.
$54 to see bad 70s and 80s movie ‘villains’, no thanks. Give me Karloff, Lugosi, Cushing, Lee and Price any day of the week.
It’s an illusion. The screen masking is a correct rectangle, but the aperture plates in the projector are cut in a keystoned pattern which would project as a perfect rectangle from that high angle. You can see that the image is actually wider at the bottom when the end credits roll, especially if they go from side to side. The image is actually being cropped slightly on left and rights sides, varying from a tiny bit at the top to a bit more at the bottom. Most of the time, it’s not noticeable.