What's the latest theatre to close or open you have heard about?

[Geoff Jones]

The Cine-Capri auditorium at Harkins' Northfield location in Denver is open again after a half-year remodel. It has been rebranded as a "Cine1 XL" auditorium.

They have installed a new laser projector and replaced the rockers with reclining seats, which reduced the seat count from around 500 to around 300.

All-in-all, it remains the best place to see a movie in the front range. The image is bright and sharp on their 70-foot-wide screen and the sound is clear and immersive.


A couple of things kept it from being perfect.

I found the blacks to be a little washed out. I believe this is due to new recessed lighting on the side walls, which remained on during the feature.
Cine1 Oval Lights.png

Additionally, curved concentric lines are visible across the top left quarter of the screen when the screen is bright. They look a little like wrinkles. (I don't believe they are wrinkles, that's just the best way I can describe them.)

The low end was very loud, rattling my seat. It seemed a little "muddy" to me - lots of deep rumbling without a real distinctness to it that I have heard at some of the best-tuned theaters (e.g. the Stag).

I passed along my feedback about the contrast/ wall lights and the wavy lines, but didn't mention the bass because that felt overly subjective.

Despite the issues, which were minor, I was pleased with the presentation and am eager to see more movies there.

[Bobby Henderson]

So I guess that means Harkins is phasing out the Cine Capri concept? According to their web site they're down to just 2 Cine Capri locations now, the Scottsdale 101 14 in Phoenix and the Bricktown 16 in Oklahoma City.

One other Cine Capri site I visited previously a couple times, the Harkins Southlake in the DFW metro closed in 2020. Now the building is being remodeled into a EVO Entertainment venue. It's supposed to combine cinema, bowling, video games and other stuff under one roof. I'm not sure how that can work, but I guess we'll see. The chain has its own premium big screen "EVX" concept, which includes Dolby Atmos. So maybe they'll retain the Cine Capri auditorium mostly as is and just re-brand it under a different acronym. EVO is also working on another location in the Prestonwood area. Are they messing around with the former LOOK Cinemas location? (quick Google Earth search, that would be a YES).

At one point a couple or so years ago I thought Harkins was planning a second OKC location on the North side of the city. As far as I can tell plans for that have been put on hold, like the Alamo Drafthouse location that was proposed for the trendy Chisholm Creek development on the North side.

The low end was very loud, rattling my seat. It seemed a little "muddy" to me - lots of deep rumbling without a real distinctness to it that I have heard at some of the best-tuned theaters (e.g. the Stag).

I don't know what it is about modern stadium seated auditoriums, but I have yet to visit one where the sub-bass was "dialed in" just right. The sub-bass is always yielding one of two characteristics (or both). The sub-bass is either thin, lacking and weak overall in character. Or it is powerful yet slobbidy flobbidy muddy. The Cine Capri screen in OKC or the IMAX branded AMC house we have here in Lawton goes into that powerful yet sloppy zone. The issue seems really challenging to overcome in large auditoriums with especially tall ceilings. The best sub-bass I've ever heard in a large auditorium was the GCC Northpark #1 THX screen in Dallas. That sound system had very deep, very powerful sub-bass that would punch you in the chest hard. But the sub-bass character was very tight and punchy. It had a very pleasing (and startling) dynamic to it. Our old (and long dead) Carmike 8 theater in Lawton had two THX screens that sounded pretty damned good back in their prime during the mid to late 1990's. Then Carmike started cutting corners (and maintenance) during the 2000's.

There has to be some way to re-create that kind of Northpark #1 sub-bass in a large, stadium seated house. I don't know if that means more sub-bass enclosures, throwing more wattage at the problem, doing even more with wall treatment. I'm not a sound engineer. But I know what I'm hearing. That Northpark cinema was remarkable for how good it sounded for ALL kinds of movies, not just bombastic action movies. Of course they routinely re-tuned the B-chain frequently and kept up with maintenance. Despite innovations like Dolby Atmos I really think commercial cinema chains have really dropped their focus on surround sound quality in recent years. I think the movie distributors are guilty of it as well. I could be imagining things, but it seems like the movie mixes of today are quite a bit more restrained compared to 5.1 mixes of the 1990's going into the early 2000's. It seems like much of the public is more geared to listening to movies thru sound bars under the TV screen or thru headphones. I'm getting the itch to buy a new AV receiver and speaker system for my living room, maybe even a 7.2.4 kind of setup. But it's a big (and costly) project to undertake. However, contemporary movies need to make such an investment worth it. I've been to enough "Dolby Atmos" movies at the Bricktown 16 theater that sounded like Atmos in name only to make me gun shy at investing in a home-Atmos setup.

[Paul H. Rayton]

The permanent closure of Pacific's 12-screen Winnetka Cinema becomes more permanent, with the announcement that the place will be demolished, to become (ta - DA!) warehouse space. The place was technologically notable because early on it had a theatrical-size LED screen (width almost 34' across), the fate of which isn't mentioned. Article came from: https://www.dailynews.com/2021/12/21...trial-complex/


Pacific Theatres multiplex in Chatsworth will be demolished for industrial complex

The movie theater at 9201 Winnetka Avenue, known for comfortable reclining chairs and friendly personnel, will give way to three industrial buildings totaling 273,500 square feet in the area increasingly known for warehouses and distribution centers operated by retail online giants such as Amazon




The Arclight Pacific Theatres, located at 9201 Winnetka Ave, Chatsworth on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021. (Photos by
Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

By Olga Grigoryants | ogrigoryants@scng.com | Los Angeles Daily News
PUBLISHED: December 21, 2021 -- L.A. Daily News

Winnetka Pacific Theatres multiplex location in Chatsworth, much beloved by Valley moviegoers, will
be transformed into an industrial complex, according to a document filed with the city’s planning department.

The movie theater at 9201 Winnetka Avenue, known for comfortable reclining chairs and friendly, film-knowledgeable
personnel, will give way to three industrial buildings totaling 273,500 square feet in the area increasingly known
for warehouses and distribution centers operated by retail online giants such as Amazon.

Pacific Theatres, the former owner of the multiplexes at The Grove and The Americana shopping plaza,
operated 300 movie screens across the state, including the popular Cinerama Dome in Hollywood.

The Winnetka multiplex canceled its shows and closed its doors in March 2020 amid the pandemic.

In April, Decurion Corp., the parent company of the Pacific Theatre and ArcLight Cinema chains,
said it decided not to reopen any of its 17 locations, following the catastrophic year amid multi-million-dollar
losses and the pandemic-related restrictions.

Earlier this year, Pacific Theatres Exhibition Corp. announced it was filing Chapter 7 to liquidate its
assets for creditors.

AMC Entertainment recently took over the leases of the 14-screen cinema at the Grove in Los Angeles and
the 18-screen theater at The Americana in Glendale formerly occupied by Pacific Theatres.

Another space formerly occupied by Pacific's branded ArcLight cinemas in Sherman Oaks was recently taken
over by Regal Entertainment, which launched a multi-million-dollar makeover and reopened in July as Regal
Sherman Oaks Galleria.

The Sherman Oaks location originally opened in 2001 as Pacific Theatres Galleria 16 and then in 2007 reopened
as ArcLight cinema. The theater was closed in March 2020 due to COVID-related restrictions. A month later, the
theater’s owner announced the closure would be permanent.

The future of the Arclight Hollywood location, an L.A. icon and most recently the flagship of the once-popular
mini-chain of prestige moviehouses, is still up in the air.

Developed by William R. Forman, founder of Pacific Theatres, the Cinerama Dome opened on Sunset Boulevard
in 1963 to showcase widescreen motion pictures and since then was declared a Historic-Cultural Monument. It
was featured in Quentin Tarantino’s movie “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

A group of supporters started a petition on Change.org aiming to save the once groundbreaking film palace, urging
major streaming services to unite to preserve the legacy of the Cinerama Dome. It has garnered nearly 28,000
signatures. Deadline Hollywood reported earlier that Decurion Corp. asked the city to renew a liquor license at
the famous Hollywood theater and might reopen by 2022.

Decurion Corp. didn’t return a request for comment for this story.

[Mike Croaro]

UA Regency in Merced, CA closes. https://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/l...256818177.html

[William Kucharski]

The Cine-Capri auditorium at Harkins' Northfield location in Denver is open again after a half-year remodel. It has been rebranded as a "Cine1 XL" auditorium.

They have installed a new laser projector and replaced the rockers with reclining seats, which reduced the seat count from around 500 to around 300.

All-in-all, it remains the best place to see a movie in the front range. The image is bright and sharp on their 70-foot-wide screen and the sound is clear and immersive.

I've seen two showings (Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Spider-Man: No Way Home) in the past five weeks at the Regal Continental RPX and the original/RPX house is still very impressive with wonderful sound and that bass reinforcement you can only get from a theater built with thick concrete walls and a concrete roof, not to mention a screen that properly gets wider for 2.35:1.

They actually still move their masking, showing 1.85:1 trailers with the masking closed, then opening them for scope.

[Cecil E Inman III]

The independently owned single-screen Capri Theatre in Jackson, MS, which dates to 1930 but has been vacant since 1985, is set to reopen this month. Originally opened as the PIX, the theater ceased operations in the late 1950s but was reopened as the Capri in the early 1960s. A co-owned bowling alley and tiki bar will open adjacent to the theater. It will be the first movie theater to operate within the city limits of Jackson in over 25 years.

[Mike Rivest]

opening ad for the Capri January 11th, 1963
Capri 1963 01 11.jpg

[Ed Gordon]

Seattle’s Neptune Theatre, celebrating 100 years, is full of memories and magic

One hundred years ago next week, in the Seattle Daily News, a small item on Page 9 announced the opening of a new movie theater. Then called the U-Neptune, it was described as “Seattle’s newest photoplay palace and the finest suburban motion picture theater in this part of the country.”

With a capacity of more than 1,000, the U-Neptune (soon to be rechristened as just the Neptune) featured “all of the latest ideas” in theater ventilation, lighting and seating, as well as a men’s smoking room, ladies lounge and “public telephone rooms.” The decorative scheme was nautical, centering on the king of the sea for whom the theater was named, and rendered in shades of blue and taupe; the paper reported that the ushers, puzzlingly and delightfully, “will wear Dutch costumes.”

“Nothing but the best of motion picture entertainment will be featured,” the article noted, “as well as the best of music.”

Flash forward a century and lo and behold — the Neptune Theatre, unlike many of its comrades from the silent movie era, still stands, on the still-bustling corner of Northeast 45^th Street and Brooklyn Avenue Northeast. Those Dutch costumes have, alas, disappeared into history’s mist, as has the smoking room and, for the most part, the movies. But after 90 years as a single-screen moviehouse, most recently under the auspices of the Landmark Theatre chain, crowds are still filling the Neptune in its new role as a live music and entertainment venue. The nonprofit Seattle Theatre Group has operated the theater since 2011.

Full article here: https://www.seattletimes.com/enterta...ies-and-magic/

Credit: Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times arts critic

11012021_neptune03_162042.jpg

[Geoff Jones]

The Regal UA Court Street & RPX in Brooklyn, NY, featured in post #20 in the Exit Lighting in Regal Theaters Film-Tech Thread, has closed.


Brooklyn Heights Movie Theater Court Street Regal Cinema Shutters

The Court Street Regal Cinema has permanently closed after more than two decades, leaving nostalgic Brooklynites devastated at the loss of the quasi-historic movie house.

Former Brooklyn Paper scribe Ben Verde, who described himself simply as a “devastated moviegoer,” shared on social media that he would “physically chain [himself] to the doors” of the defunct screening emporium to prevent its demise.

Others simply took the opportunity of the theater’s closing to share fond memories of seeing films at the time-honored location.

Despite the outpouring of support, the Regal chain had shuttered the Downtown Brooklyn location at 106 Court Street, at the intersection of State, posting signage on the doors to alert neighbors about the closure Sunday.

Regal Cinemas did not respond to a request for comment. A 27,165 square foot space in the building is available for rent, marketed by Cushman and Wakefield. The building also holds a Barnes & Noble.

In 2014, another beloved Brooklyn Heights theater, the long-running Brooklyn Heights Cinema at 70 Henry Street, closed down when the landlord sold the building to a developer, who redeveloped it into condos.

Through the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, movie theaters have been struggling to attract customers, as viewers continue to fear the virus, and movie studios have either pushed back big box office releases, or opted to offer them on streaming services.

A commenter on the Cinema Treasures website named fred1 claimed AMC may be eyeing the lease. “I got a 2nd hand source through an industry insider that AMC will take over the lease,” he wrote.

Newly inaugurated Council Member Lincoln Restler, who represents Downtown Brooklyn, shared his thoughts on Twitter while commemorating his past experiences at the theater.

Pour one out for Regal Cinemas / United Artists Court Street 12. The moving van has arrived. Today’s screenings will be the last,” he wrote. “It was a good 20+ year run since they opened back when I was in HS. For the shouting back at action movie experience — there was no place better!”

[William Kucharski]

[Jim Cassedy]

The last time I went to the Embarcadero Cinema was about 5 or 6 years ago to see a foreign film with my
friend Madeline. It was in the winter and the heat wasn't working right, and I remember the auditorium
was uncomfortably cold. We drank alotta hot chocolate & coffee that day. I was also a bit disappointed
with how dirty the auditorium was. - - and this was the 1st show of the day, so, in theory, it had been
cleaned overnight. .. or not.

I've heard rumors one auditorium will be turned into a restaurant, and the other one will be a health club.
(So, I guess now you'll be able to 'pig-out; in one, and work out in the other! ) lol

Here's a partial copy the of Chronicle story:

Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema, San Francisco’s hub for first-run art-house movies for more
than a quarter of a century, will cease operations after Thursday, Feb. 3, sources told The Chronicle.

A longtime publicist who books events at the theater said they were not able to schedule events past
Thursday because the theater is closing. A theater employee, who was not authorized to speak on the
record, also confirmed the theater will not reopen Friday, Feb. 4.


Landmark Theatres, which is based in Los Angeles, and the Embarcadero Center’s leasing office, have
not yet returned inquiries by The Chronicle, but the theater’s website does not list showtimes or offer
tickets for screenings beyond Thursday.

[William Kucharski]

Not a permanent thing, but I had my ticket refunded today because AMC Flaitron Crossing 14 in Broomfield, CO, is "temporarily closed due to a maintenance issue."

Backed up toilets or lack of employees?

amc.jpg

[William Kucharski]

AMC Flatiron Crossing 14 has reopened.

[Steve Guttag]

Warehouse Cinemas in Leitersburg Maryland just completed their "Phase-2" renovations that included the complete transformation of their two largest auditoriums. The rooms were down for the better part of 3-months. Both auditoriums received the normal Warehouse treatment plus both have SkyVue screens with theatre #2's screen growing by 50% over its previous size. Theatre #2 now sports Dolby Atmos.

277438397_272507575074631_8498008810966230758_n.jpg

[Mike Blakesley]

A theater 45 miles down the road from us closed with heating problems in late 2019, then reopened for a couple of weeks in February and March 2020 before closing for Covid. It was sold about a year ago, and has been converted from one screen to three and is reopening this Friday.

The original auditorium was a single screen with about 600 seats. It had a slope floor in the front half, and stadium seating in the back half. They put a wall across the stadium, and then divided that area in half to create two stadium theaters, each with 49 seats. Here are pics of the "main" screen and one of the stadium screens. The other stadium screen is identical except with different colored drapery.

I'm glad to see them opening it up because I hate when theaters are closed, but we did get a lot of business from that area over the past year and a half so we hope some of those folks will keep coming back!

1.jpg 2.jpg