New Luxury Movie House

Sorry Edgar,read this post a few days ago and meant to reply but it slipped my mind.
I am a big fan of IMAX and try to get to my "local" (Waterloo) as often as possible.
Is this new one in your area?
Everybody remembers their first IMAX 3D film.Mine was Into The Deep,back in 1995 but my first proper 3D experience was at Disney on the west coast with Captain Eo (the M Jackson space flick).
I recall someone saying that there will never be a full length IMAX 3D film as our eyes couldn't take in all the detail for that long.It's a bit like that bloke Salierie(sic) saying that Beethoven's music wouldn't catch on as there were too many notes! I easily sat through the U23D "concert" with no ill effects at all and look forward to any IMAX 3D release.

This movie house is a twenty minute drive from home. I have been wanting to go in ever since it opened, but the elements have conspired to keep me away.

IMAX is something I have not yet experienced.

A similar type of thing has opened in a movie cinema near us. We haven't used it yet as we would need a babysitter, but it does sound like something we would like to try. When we took the kids to the movies last time, the cinema was kind enough to give us a tour and explain all the extras. Here is how they describe it:

Lux Level is a luxurious, in-theatre dining experience debuting at Showcase Cinemas Randolph. Movie-goers can indulge themselves with premium reserved-seating, where guests can enjoy in-seat dining before and during the show, as well as other special amenities. The menu features American fare, luscious desserts, and innovative specialty signature cocktails. Lux Level is available to patrons 21 and older only.

2003 was the first feature length film in 3D Imax, James Cameron's "Ghosts of the Abyss." That was, of course, more of a documentary although very imaginatively presented. 2004 was the premiere of "The Polar Express" in 3-D Imax and then "Beowolf" of last year. There have been IMAX feature length with partial 3-D as "Superman Returns," but the promise of James Cameron's all digitally photographed 3-D "Avatar" may give the box office a bit of a boost.

Sharp has developed and demonstrated big screen LCD 3-D images that do not require any glasses and there are others out of development. They are dependent on a frontal viewing angle so I'm not sure we will see any marketing revolution in that respect for many, many years.

I know our IMAX viewing venues in Orange County are pretty sparse, beginning with the Irvine Spectrum refurbished IMAX theater. I'm not sure where they're going with new movie IMAX "palaces" which currently have fairly limited fare.

The marketing sell right now is digital cinematrography which has a great deal more detail but looks so much different from film. "Collateral" was digitally photographed but muted to look closer to film. Theaters have been unwilling to invest in the projection equipment and I don't think that will become better any time soon.

It's going to take a while to recoup the $30 million dollars. I would be pretty nervous about that.

It going to take a great deal more money out of consumer's wallets to recoup their loss buying HD DVD players and software to reinvest in Blue-Ray, which, incidentally, still has a very limited library and many of those titles really don't look much better than standard DVD which is upscaled to HD.

These new movie palaces are multiple screen so they can stay afloat while not limited exclusively to IMAX. Movie going is suppose to be an occasion and they are able to present non-IMAX wide screen 2-D and 3-D and in digitally shot film, and do it in style. I know more than half the theaters in Orange County are now out-of-date in their projection and sound equipment and are more like visiting the local hole-in-the-wall greasy spoon restaurant.

Prior to this, we had one antiquated theater in Tomball, plus a drive in. For something better, we hd to go to The Woodlands or elsewhere for a good experience. The theater in the Woodlands is great Has a giant screen and all sorts of goodies. It does not seem so opulent as the one described at the top of this thread.

I have been angry ever since records were phased out. Then, VHS virtually gone. Then original DVD. A poor soul cannot afford to keep a decent library of film or music.

The major theater chains are all pretty much bankrupt, they don't have the money to modernize. Numbers of tickets sold have been going down since 2003, and there is no end in sight. The cost of a good tv and good sound system continue to go down, the ease of getting digital movies continues to improve, movie houses look to be a dying industry. This is why the theater companies can not attract the capital to stay current on technology. Just about everyone I know has gone to digital TV, they spend a couple grand on a theater sound system, sign up for Netflix, and rarely set foot in a theater after that. Once you get in the habit of watching movies when you want on a good system in your home after the movies come out on DVD the idea of slumming it in a theater and spending $50 for the privilege just to see the movie a few months earlier does not seem appealing.

About the only wide screen films that have a resolution about equal to 420p standard DVD were shot in VistaVision or ToddAO, both with cameras similar to IMAX hi-def where the film runs past the lens sideways in the 16:9 ratio, or those shot in CinemaScope, Panavision and similar anamorphic lens processes using 70mm Technicolor film in 235:1. Those are being restruck, however, in 35mm film as one would unlikely see any difference in the end product.

If you own a 1080p hi-def TV and purchase, right now at really low prices, a DVD player that is capable of upscaling through an HDMI cable connection, you'll be quite satisfied with the picture quality of the standard 420p DVD's. VHS was always a compromising poor product at 100 lines of resolution less than standard TV broadcasts. SuperVHS brought the standard up but the library released in that format was not very comprehensive. Ditto digital tape. I can't even look at my old analog tapes. This is true now of any screen size viewed from a recommended distance. There's a judicious upgrade of detail enhancement in most of the extensive restorations, most notable in films like "Vertigo," although the color benefited more in that particular one.

Fortunately, we have two Century multiplexes within twenty minutes of our house and they are state-of-the-art in projection and sound. It's correct that chains like the dismal Regal chain (who bought the West Coast Edwards Theaters years ago) are mostly mediocre, not to mention the around six to eight minutes of commercials they poor down your throat before they even start the film.

The newest 1080p Panasonic plasmas and a good sound system (Yamaha with B&W speakers, for instance) will put most theaters to shame, especially in the sound. It's really the generally poor acoustics of movie theaters that spoil the sound. If the projectionists cranks up the treble and volume to his own whims, it pretty much turns the soundtrack into a torchering experience.

So I hear you -- I stick to matinees during the week and a small bag of popcorn. Not everyone can do that.

To make it even more competitive, my fiber optic cable now has all new released available in Pay-Per-View hi-def, not to mention HD Net Movies who take most classic older films restruck on new 35mm film (improving the available detail from the original negatives by quite a bit).

Along those lines, has anyone had a chance to see the new edition of Kubrick's "2001" and "Barry Lyndon?" 100% improvement over previous issues.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/business/media/23multi.html?hp

Note: there are 38,000 screens in America....

Excellent article which would be expected from the NYT. What's the old adage about you have to spend money to make money?

The R&D in the digital displays offered to the public for the home has advanced by leaps and bounds in the past two years. Unfortunately, that does significantly mean that if you bought only six months ago, the set is now obsolete. I am thinking of a front projection system but the prices will have to come down a bit more, especially on the screens. The new hi-def screens and a middle-of-the-line LED DLP projector will be the way to go. The daylight performance in a Northern exposure room is really phenomenal. Even with morning or afternoon sun, window treatment for darkening a room would still provide an image as good as a darkened movie theater. Only a handful of theaters have the new hi-def optimum reflective screens, but it could be it would be overkill in that case.

This technology is not available in Venezuela