| Joel Stein: You have politics, LA has movies | | Posted Wednesday, November 08, 2006 7:09:15 AM by Blog57 Team | | EVERY FRIDAY night, the producers, directors, writers and, sometimes, actors of new movies drive around Los Angeles to see how full the theaters are and whether audiences are laughing and screaming at the right places. Actually, they're pretending to do this while furiously checking their Blackberrys as the grosses trickle in. Two Fridays ago, I tagged along with the "Saw III" team. If you think watching a woman submerge her hand in a beaker of hydrochloric acid for the key to unlock a metal cage attached to her through the inside of her rib cage is tense, you should be there when the British per-screen average arrives. Not only was I shocked that you can get into any movie for free if you tell the usher you're from "the studio," but also that people in line never recognized the movie's four stars.... | |
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| | | DreamWorks Will Put 'Puss' in Theaters | | Posted Saturday, November 04, 2006 1:26:50 PM by Blog57 Team | | Originally intended for a direct-to-DVD release, DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek" spin-off "Puss in Boots" will now get a theatrical release. DreamWorks Animation SKG announced the "Puss" decision on Tuesday (Oct. 31) amidst excitement over an unexpected third-quarter profit for the company. While kids who loved "Shrek 2" may be thrilled by the idea of Antonio Banderas' Puss character getting his own big screen adventure, that joy may need to be tempered. Those kids won't be kids anymore by the time "Puss in Boots" is released. While the DVD "Puss" was aiming for a 2008 release, the movie now won't open until 2010. "Puss in Boots is a unique creative property that has the potential to be a valuable extension of the Shrek franchise," says DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg.... | |
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| | | Sony's `Grudge 2' Extends No. 1 Horror Film Streak (Update1) | | Posted Monday, October 16, 2006 7:07:36 AM by Blog57 Team | | Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The horror film ``Grudge 2'' debuted as the top film in U.S. and Canadian theaters this weekend, taking in an estimated $22 million in ticket sales for Sony Corp. Martin Scorsese's crime drama ``The Departed'' dropped to second place with sales of $18.7 million, and the Robin Williams political comedy ``Man of the Year'' debuted in third with $12.6 million, box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co. said today. With ``Grudge 2,'' Sony Pictures extends its streak of successful horror films, becoming the seventh to open in first place since ``The Exorcism of Emily Rose'' in September 2005, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Encino, California-based Exhibitor Relations. It's also Sony's 12th film overall to open in the top spot this year, an industry record, he said.... | |
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| | | Older theaters project history | | Posted Saturday, September 23, 2006 11:02:11 PM by Blog57 Team | | The stage is set, the lights go down, and the actors enter the stage as members of the community settle back into their seats for an evening of entertainment. All in a venue thats just down the street from their homes. To an outsiders eye, the performance by local volunteers seems effortless. To an outsiders eye, the old theater that has melted into the landscape and has been there forever seems like just another building in town. Community members may not realize the sweat that goes into putting on one of these unique live shows or the work that goes into keeping these old buildings running. The theater is often a piece of history, though, with its own stories to tell. The show itself is a rare opportunity to witness community members of all walks of life collaborating on a common goal.... | |
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| | | ORIGINAL NIGHTMARE TO RETURN TO THEATERS -- FOR TWO DAYS | | Posted Monday, August 28, 2006 9:05:51 AM by Blog57 Team | | In advance of its release on DVD, Wes Craven's original Freddy Krueger horror flick A Nightmare on Elm Street will be shown in 124 theaters across the country for two days only, Sept. 20 and 21, New Line announced Wednesday. In addition to the digitally remastered film, the theaters will be showing a reel of "Freddy's Best Kills," from seven Krueger sequels -- a reel, said New Line studios, "that can be seen only in theaters during this special event." Tickets are being sold online by www.BigScreenBoxOffice.com for $10.00. 24/08/2006 .... | |
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| | | First 'Elm Street' to return to theaters | | Posted Thursday, August 24, 2006 7:02:03 AM by Blog57 Team | | LOS ANGELES, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- In conjunction with a special edition DVD release, the first "Nightmare on Elm Street" will return to U.S. theaters next month as part of a two-night event. New Line Home Entertainment and National CineMedia announced the initial cinematic offering of the Freddy Krueger horror franchise will be featured in a limited U.S. re-release Sept. 20-21 to recognize the launch of a new special edition DVD of the horror classic. The re-release of the first "Elm Street," which features actor Johnny Depp in his first film role, will air alongside "Freddy's Best Kills," a film montage of the fictional killer's most memorable moments. Since actor Robert Englund first adorned the clawed glove of Kreuger in 1984 for the original film, the franchise has expanded to feature seven more related films and even a short-lived TV series.... | |
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| | | Movie theaters are part of a healthy urban landscape | | Posted Monday, August 07, 2006 1:06:24 AM by Blog57 Team | | Moviegoing always has been a downtown thing in cities such as Salem, but that tradition has eroded in recent years. Much as our shopping has been migrating to strip malls in the suburbs, movie theaters have gone the same way. Next month, Regal Cinemas plans to open its new Lancaster 11 theater, risen out of the bones of the somewhat despised Lancaster 4, which had given moviegoing a bad name in recent years. The new theater, with its splashy exterior, already looks alluring, and it's likely to become a showcase for Lancaster Mall and a lure to businesses. Salem Cinema in the next couple of years could be leaving downtown for a new development on Broadway Avenue NE, giving it more space and flexibility, although the move still is not a done deal. The theater badly needs new digs with a more visible exterior and more flexible interior, much as we love it where it is today.... | |
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| | | Broadway Center names new director | | Posted Tuesday, August 01, 2006 11:06:06 PM by Blog57 Team | | The Broadway Center for Performing Arts, which manages the Pantages and Rialto theaters as well as Theater on the Square downtown, announced a new executive director Monday. David Fischer, a former Tacoman who comes from the directorship of the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa, Calif., will take over Sept. 1. Fischer will be the first director solely responsible to and paid by the center's board of trustees, in a contract being worked out by the center and the City of Tacoma. Formerly, the Broadway Center had been accountable to the city, which owns all three theaters, with the director responsible to both the board and the city manager. That arrangement "got very confusing," according to City Arts Commissioner Amy McBride. The confusion was illustrated when safety code violations closed the Pantages and the Rialto theaters in 2004, forcing tenants such as the Tacoma City Ballet to cancel performances.... | |
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| | | Central Valley movie theaters go digital | | Posted Sunday, July 16, 2006 5:17:04 AM by Blog57 Team | | Three Central Valley movie theaters are switching to state-of-the-art digital projection systems, replacing film projectors which have been the heart of the industry since it began a century ago. Theaters owned by Galaxy Theatres LLC in Porterville, Tulare and Riverbank will now use digital projection developed by Christie/AIX, a subsidiary of Access Integrated Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AIXD) of Morristown, N.J. Sherman Oaks-based Galaxy says the digital systems offer a palette of 35 trillion color combinations along with greater clarity and detail. Galaxy Theatres, a long-time digital advocate, has installed the state-of-the-art digital cinema systems on a total of 67 of its screens in its Nevada, Washington and Texas theaters. .... | |
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| | | TERRY LAWSON: Racing still thrills in '66 film | | Posted Tuesday, July 11, 2006 7:01:23 PM by Blog57 Team | | Though "Grand Prix" was released in 1966, four years after three-strip Cinerama had been laid to rest with "How the West Was Won," the racing drama was filmed in what was dubbed "Super Panavision 70" and released in theaters that had been built or reconfigured for the stunning, ultra-wide-vision process. That may be the primary reason "Grand Prix" is just now being released as a two-disc Special Edition DVD (***, Warner, $29.98). Home theater systems finally have made wide-screen available in your living room. Now you can enjoy a brainless spectacle at home, and yell at whoever's talking on the cell phone without having to worry too much about being pummeled. Not that you couldn't keep up a conversation through most of "Grand Prix"; it isn't exactly great storytelling.... | |
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