Comments from Al Alvarez

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Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about AMC and Regal ban outside food from theaters on Dec 4, 2009 at 8:59 pm

Next time you are asked to pay $8.50 for a hot dog, blame this silly bitch, not Cinemark. All stupid criminals cost all of us.

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Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about AMC and Regal ban outside food from theaters on Dec 3, 2009 at 5:38 pm

No one has ever successfully sued a theatre for not allowing outside food and won.

Theatres can allow what they please inside as long as they are consistent and do not discriminate. They are NOT public spaces.

Remember those discount theatres with discount concession stands? Probably not. They are, with rare exceptions, out of business.

Try bringing your popcorn into a Broadway show or a Yankee game next time. And their snack bars make AMC and Regal a bargain.

I wish to thank those chains in advance for trying to keep their theatres clean and their businesses open and profitable.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about AMC and Regal ban outside food from theaters on Dec 2, 2009 at 11:35 am

Oh, I forgot the video recorder, complete with tripod.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about AMC and Regal ban outside food from theaters on Dec 2, 2009 at 11:34 am

You still have to be careful what you allow in. Fried chicken bones and potato chips can play havoc in an auditorium and you will lose just as many customers if you have no rules.

Those big coats also hide guns, beer and whiskey at the kid shows. Shopping bags can include pets, pet food (live crickets), and bombs. When we started checking we found all of the above.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Times Square Theatre on Nov 30, 2009 at 1:35 pm

The New 42nd Street Project would be a start.

http://www.new42.org/about_history_times.cfm

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Loew's Avenue B Theatre on Nov 30, 2009 at 7:08 am

From the 2005 post above:

Marcus Loew said “This is the most pretentious of the houses on our string, because my better judgment was over-balanced by my sentimentalism and my longing to do something better here than I ever did before.”

Up to the 1930’s “pretentious” meant “luxurious” and did not have the negative connotations assigned to the word today.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Ziegfeld Theatre on Nov 29, 2009 at 10:07 pm

If you check out the website, the $30 tickets are the cheap seats on the sides and back of the auditoriums. Top price in NYC is still around $9 for a child and Clearview is not selling tickets, so I suspect a Disney four-wall gouge fest.

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Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Ziegfeld Theatre on Nov 29, 2009 at 8:04 pm

Those are not really movie grosses. The $50 tickets include Mardi Gras Beads, an Exclusive Limited Edition Collectible Lithograph and the Ultimate Disney Experience at the Roseland Ballroom after the movie.

Reminds me of when we sold “DICK TRACY” T-shirts as part the midnight previews to jack up the opening grosses for that stinker.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Valentino Super Discount Cinemas on Nov 29, 2009 at 6:30 am

The Valentino name started at the 1993 re-opening.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Miami Theatre on Nov 29, 2009 at 6:22 am

Louis,

The old Miami opened in 1937 and became the Town in 1946 when the Miami above was about to open, according to Boxoffice Magazine.

I previously suspected there may have been another silent House called Miami in that still standing tall Hotel building in the postcards but have record of one.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Cannon Lewisham on Nov 29, 2009 at 6:18 am

Thanks, Ken! Reminds me of New York where Cinema 3, a single screen inside the Plaza Hotel, was blocks away from Cinema I & II and it got even stranger when separate companies operated the two locations. The matter was further complicated by the Plaza Theatre located between the two, making it a scavenger hunt for tourists trying to find their movie.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Cannon Lewisham on Nov 28, 2009 at 9:13 pm

Ken, where were Studios 1-5?

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Will movies at home kill movie theaters? on Nov 27, 2009 at 7:12 pm

Well, good films open and close immediately in NYC once that is in the ad. Avoid Magnolia Six Shooter Films like the plague. They kill them before they open.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about 55th Street Playhouse on Nov 25, 2009 at 2:03 pm

The 1942 Film Daily Year Book lists this (perhaps erroneously)as an RKO location.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Brandt's Murray Hill Theatre on Nov 25, 2009 at 1:58 pm

This is listed as the AIR LINES theatre in the 1942 Film daily Year Book.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Will movies at home kill movie theaters? on Nov 25, 2009 at 7:02 am

I recently saw “THIS IS IT” and “PRECIOUS” with disrespectful boisterous audiences in Times Square. Both were weekday matinee performances and both were sold out.

This is the same old argument of “no one goes anymore because it is too crowded”.

Distributors have been stupidly undermining the theatre business for years without success. Nothing says “this movie sucks” as efficiently as the term “also available on VIDEO ON DEMAND”.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Waldorf Theatre on Nov 23, 2009 at 9:13 am

This was already listed as a movie house in the 1937 Film Daily Year Book.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Verona Theatre on Nov 23, 2009 at 9:06 am

This is already listed as the Victory in the 1937 Film Daily Year Book.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Trans-Lux Modern Theatre on Nov 23, 2009 at 9:00 am

This theatre is listed as open in the 1937 Film Daily Year Book.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Rainbow Theatre on Nov 23, 2009 at 8:51 am

Listed in the 1937 Film Daily Year Book as the closed Town Playhouse.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Paramount Theatre on Nov 19, 2009 at 11:01 am

The new Paramount Hotel and theatre post card.

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Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Sunset Theater on Nov 18, 2009 at 1:34 pm

The 1937 Film Daily Yearbook lists as De Luxe theatre at 125th street and St. Nicholas. I suspect it was this site as the Sunset is listed as well.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Princess Theatre on Nov 18, 2009 at 7:53 am

This showed movies as the Princess in 1915-1916.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Houston Theatre on Nov 18, 2009 at 7:46 am

My mistake, it is listed as the Rexy.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Houston Theatre on Nov 18, 2009 at 7:42 am

This is listed in the 1937 Film Daily Yearbook as the closed Roxy.