Movieville | News
- Regular Updates
- Fantasia 2000 IMAX locations 31 Dec 99
- Toy Story 2 digital projection Updated 31 Dec 99
- Movieville gets its own home 26 Nov 99
- Silent Movie Re-Opens Today 5 Nov 99
- Site Updates 5 Nov 99
- Spookathon Info 8 Oct 99
- AFI Fest Info 8 Oct 99
- Aero to close? 8 Oct 99
- New Times article on Silent Movie 8 Oct 99
- Broadway Theater photos 8 Oct 99
- New at Movieville this week 17 Sep 99
- Star Wars Episode I at the Village and Chinese again 17 Sep 99
- More about Silent Movie 17 Sep 99
- Silent Movie to reopen November 5th 10 Sep 99
- UA Warner Center closes 10 Sep 99
- Finally, a links page worth using 10 Sep 99
Regular Updates
- Most Fridays I list my "picks of the week" on the directory page.
Max takes care of When Reviews Attack! on his own, so sometimes he's got reviews newer than my listed update date. Drop by his site and check!(site closed)
Fantasia 2000 IMAX locations 31 Dec 99
- Fantasia 2000 opens tomorrow, January 1, 2000, assuming we haven't slid into the sea at midnight. It will be in IMAX format exclusively for four months; presumably it will then play in standard theaters. You can see Fantasia 200 IMAX at the Edwards Irvine Spectrum, the Edwards Ontario Mills, and the Edwards Valencia. Additionally, Disney has spent nearly $5 Million to build a temporary IMAX theater at the 405 and Howard Hughes Parkway; call 800-DISNEY-6 for tickets and info.
Toy Story 2 digital projection Updated 31 Dec 99
- Toy Story 2 started digitally in a few theaters the same day the film prints rolled. It's the TI system, like was used for Star Wars Episode 1 and Tarzan in Burbank, but I've heard it's much improved since then. It's at El Capitan (with the live show.... $28. Fun.), AMC Burbank 14 and the Edwards Irvine Spectrum 21. I've not yet seen this system in action, so reports would be much appreciated. I'll try to get over to see it in Burbank in the next week or so and give you my opinion of the system.
- I've seen it and have a special report available now.
Movieville gets its own home 26 Nov 99
- For nearly a year and a half now, Movieville has had Movieville.com, but but not a real domain space for it, forcing the ugly movieville.com/movieville URL. No more - I'm moving up in the technical world and movieville.com is now the proper home page I've longed for. Redirects are in place so for those of you using wafflelight.com/movieville or kitsinger.com/movieville your bookmarks will not break; however, if you get the chance, it would be great if you could update.
There may well still be broken links here and there; if so, I apologize and I assure you it'll show in my logs and I'll get it fixed. Note that all of the theater reviews lost their first r, gained the s in .shtml and were moved from reviews/ to details/, so if you linked to a particular theater, that doesn't work anymore. Sorry. Won't happen again.
With the new home comes more server power and options; I will look for ways to improve Movieville with these new choices and will aim to keep the site the most comprehensive and useful site of its kind. Thanks for visiting!
Silent Movie Re-Opens Today 5 Nov 99
- Silent Movie reopens today, after a near three year gap. It's nice to have it back. Tonight and tomorrow are private events, and the public schedule starts Sunday. Check www.silentmovietheatre.com for more details.
Site Updates 5 Nov 99
- Hello! Long time without news, sorry. I've split the movie reviews into their own pages, allowing a full archive of reviews to be posted, and I'm in the process of rebuilding the theater reviews pages - I hope to have a page each for over a hundred theaters soon. Other little tweaks, etc, but nobody reads this so I won't bother to detail them.
Spookathon Info 8 Oct 99
- The Fifth Annual Spookathon will be held at the Orpheum Oct 15, 22 and 29, with a pile of goodies from a Tim Burton tribute to the original The Mummy. Their web site (www.spookathon.com) isn't working as of this writing, but there's an ad on page 84 of the Weekly recommending 213-239-0949 for info and 323-660-TKTS for tickets.
AFI Fest Info 8 Oct 99
- This year's AFI Fest is October 21-29th, at a number of cool Hollywood sites, primarily the Egyptian. Their web site IS working at www.afifest.com.
Aero to close? 8 Oct 99
- Last week's LA Weekly said the Aero is doomed in November without a major turnaround in attendance or whatnot. If the place is near and dear to you, give them a call and see if there's a way to stop it from becoming a Banana Republic. Or at least, get one more film in before the doors close.
New Times article on Silent Movie 8 Oct 99
- There's a full page article on the reopening of the Silent Movie Theater in this week's New Times, focusing on the last couple of rocky years. Of course, since they're the New Times, the link on their home page is wrong. Try this one: www.newtimesla.com/issues/1999-10-07/faultlines2.html
Broadway Theater photos 8 Oct 99
- I've added photos of the marquees to most theaters listed in Blake's Downtown Theater Guide and also posted a full page of photos, with some interior photos of the Million Dollar and the Los Angeles. Write me if you want to see any of the photos in larger sizes.
New at Movieville this week 17 Sep 99
- Added Silent Movie back to the theaters and revival theaters pages.
- Added Old Town Music hall as well. (I think it was closed for a bit the last time I did an update.)
- Posted the November schedule for Silent Movie and the Sept/Oct schedule for the New Beverly on the revival and events pages.
- Voice number for the Mann Plant added.
Star Wars Episode I at the Village and Chinese again 17 Sep 99
- I'm not sure I could explain why, but Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is playing until Thursday at the Mann Chinese and Village both. I recommend catching it (or catching it again) on the two best screens in town while you've got the chance.
More about Silent Movie 17 Sep 99
- They sent along this press release that I thought was interesting...
'SILENT MOVIE' RETURNS!
Blockbuster Creative Team Unites to Create Historic Theatre's First MarqueeHollywood, CA, August 20, 1999 -- In a move that signals the Silent Movie Theatre's resurrection from virtual obscurity, new owner and manager Charlie Lustman has announced the design and construction of the Silent Movie Theatre's first ever neon art deco illuminated marquee.
The Silent Movie Theatre has been closed since 1997, when the previous owner, Laurence Austin, was murdered inside the theater. Lustman, a Santa Monica-based songwriter who bought the theater in April, 1999, has been planning and implementing an ambitious new life for the theatre that was originally erected in 1942. Lustman has planned a comprehensive renovation that will mark the return of the world's only theatre dedicated to the art and presentation of silent films in their original format.
Several of Hollywood's great creative talents are lending their skills in creating the marquee that will be installed and lit as part of the theatre's upcoming grand reopening. Nights of Neon, premier architects and builders of signs for the entertainment industry is currently designing and building the marquee at their North Hollywood facility. Nights of Neon's film credits include Batman, Godzilla, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Armageddon
Kosh, partner at Ten Worlds Entertainment and Kosh Design Studios has created the theatre's logo and will be directing the overall look of the theatre's identity and its new marquee. Kosh was previously creative director at Apple, responsible for design, promotion and publicity for the Beatles. His award-winning work includes the preparation of the Beatles infamous Abbey Road album cover. Glenda Ravello, art director for NBCs Will and Grace has lent her creative touch design to the new marquee's overall look.
As he reviewed blueprints of the magical new marquee, Charlie said, "This is so cool - we're creating a new gateway to the Fairfax District. I'm committed to improving those aspects of the theatre that were not here before. I'm confident that improvements like this marquee will create more excitement, enthusiasm, and awareness for classic movies. This is a very wonderful time for us and we can hardly wait to open the doors to this one of a kind historical Silent Movie Theatre."
The theatre was not permitted to build an illuminated sign during the 1940s due the threat of bombing over the Los Angeles area. In 1968, John Hampton, the founder of the theatre had to saw off the end of his original marquee, "OLD TIME MOVIES" because it extended over the next-door neighbor's property line. So, for thirty years, the sign read "OLD TIME MOVI."
The Silent Movie Theatre, will reopen November 5, 1999, will debut with a screening of Charlie Chaplin's classic Modern Times. The Silent Movie Theatre has been a shrine for silent film since the 1940s and it remains the only silent cinema in the United States. The reopening of the theatre will bring the drama, excitement, and art of the silent film to a new generation of movie lovers.
Silent Movie to reopen November 5th 10 Sep 99
- After nearly three years with only sporadic screenings of silent films, Los Angeles is getting back a landmark: the Silent Movie Showcase reopens November 5th! New owner Charlie Lustman has kept the original 611 North Fairfax Avenue location and changed the name only slightly to The Silent Movie Theatre Company.
As of this writing the new official site (www.silentmovietheatre.com) doesn't have much besides a cool logo, but you can get a preview of the November schedule at The Silents Majority web site (www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/schd1199.htm). With a heavy schedule like this, it looks like Mr. Lustman wants to make up for lost time. As a regular patron of the old Silent Movie, I can only say: thank you! Welcome back, Silent Movie - you were missed.
UA Warner Center closes 10 Sep 99
- It's starting: multiplexes are getting eaten by other multiplexes. Sort of ironic, don't you think? The UA Warner Center 6 has closed permanently, having lost most of its customers to the nearby AMC Promenade 16 and other more recent west Valley multiplexes.
I've removed it from the theaters page, along with the Americana 5 which closed some time ago, it seems, but as an Indie, slipped under my radar. If you live near Panorama City, the Mann Plant 16 is just a little bit down Van Nuys Blvd., not that you'd know it from the street. Look behind the Office Max and you'll find a big building with, inexplicably, no marquee.
Finally, a links page worth using 10 Sep 99
- The horrible rotten links page has finally been updated into the happy shiny links page. All the dead stuff has been removed, a number of new links have been added, and if major corporations who should know better promise to stop breaking not just pages but whole sites, I'll work harder to keep it updated.
Click for older news.