If You Can’t Rock Me

It’s obviously an excellent thing to support small local cinemas like the Regency Fairfax (as several Los Angeles demonstrators did last weekend, and like Karina Longworth did yesterday in her LA Weekly blog). But I’m no friend of the cause if projection and sound standards aren’t up to par.

My last time at the Fairfax was seeing the director’s cut of Ridley Scott‘s Kingdom of Heaven. The projection and sound were decent but not wonderful. I knew KOH would play somewhat better when I eventually popped in the disc. I finally watched it on Bluray a few weeks ago — by far the best viewing I’ve had (or am likely to have).

This is why I’ve bought a ticket at the New Beverly maybe twice in the last fifteen or so years, and why I always hesitate before going to see a restored classic at Manhattan’s Film Forum. I know that the projection levels won’t come close to matching the image I’ll get on my 42-inch plasma, and that the sound quality will be at least 100% better on my home system. The sound at the Film Forum is close to awful a good part of the time. I was cupping my ears during a showing of Christmas in July last year.

The only decent places for ticket-buyers to see non-first-run films in Los Angeles are (a) the Academy and (b) the Egyptian American Cinematheque theatre on Hollywood Blvd, and (c) the AC’s Aero theatre on Montana Blvd. And at the two Arclights when they occasionally show oldies.

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27 thoughts on “If You Can’t Rock Me”

  1. The all-round shitty experience at most theaters these days is why a lot of people aren’t going to see The Hurt Locker and whatnot. Unless it’s a “must-see” on a big screen (e.g. Avatar), people weigh up the downsides – high ticket prices, cellphones/talking, overpriced snacks, crummy projection/sound – and decide it’s better just to stay at home.

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  2. the best viewing of KOH: DC that I had was seeing it at the Arclight with Scott and Monahan in attendance, doing Q&A afterwards. f’ing amazing night.

    i’ve noticed some issues upon moving back to CT with screen illumination in some of the local theaters. i’ve said stuff to management but they seem to care less. there is one spot in CT that does it right so I just keep going back to that location.

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  3. Um, what happened to that post with that video of kids putting on a prouction of Scarface, Wells? Would did you scrap it?

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  4. I went and saw a matinee showing of the Crazies a few weeks ago. Twice during the coming attractions I went outside to ask the usher to have the projectionist fix the focus with no response. When the movie started it was ridiculously under illuminated so I went out again and asked the $6 an hour moron once more to have the projectionist check the film. Still nothing. I actually wrote a nasty email to the theater letting them know how useless their employees were and that more than likely I would not be returning to see anymore films there.

    In this day and age of $10 tickets and popcorn, theaters should be doing everything in their power to keep people in seats, and not alienating the return customers. Such bullshit.

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  6. It sucks that in Seattle the best projection and sounds are the theaters that are most committed to showing films that appeal to Jeff’s hated Eloi. The new theater called Thonton and the fairly new Alderwood theater just never ever mess up the projection and the Alderwood has only messed up the sound once. Yet the landmark theaters, which show the artier fare, generally have subpar projection and sound (though WAY better than five or six years ago).

    And the small, independent theaters, like the Seattle Film Forum, has about the worst sound of all. I really love going there because they have so many interesting movies, but the sound is beyond awful. I saw the “1974″ film of the Red Riding trilogy there, and the horrible sound combined with the thick Yorkshire accents made sure that I only heard every other word. From the looks of the movie, it seemed like a british Zodiac. But I’ll never know because I couldn’t understand a bloody thing.

    There probably isn’t much of a solution there because the theater is obviously a non-profit labor of love. But man, I wish a sugar daddy would donate a quality sound system for them.

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  8. The problem with art/indy/revival type houses is that they don’t bring in the big bucks like Loews or the other national chains that mostly cater to the Eloi’s of the world.

    Even general maintenance work on projectors, screens, speakers, etc costs a hell of a lot of money. Do you know what an average movie projector bulb costs? Hundreds of dollars.

    If one wanted to purchase a fairly decent used projector, you’re looking at close to six figures, and that’s a pretty hefty price tag for any business, especially those that are already struggling to being with.

    Frankly, it’s a minor miracle that these smaller houses have continued to remain open at all. With the advent of affordable “prosumer” home theater systems, you can get better sound and better picture quality (even from some the cheaper systems) then you will ever get at a revival/art house.

    It’s basic economics, really. And the only houses that will survive in the future will be those that are not-for-profit and subsidized with grants and support from donations etc.

    It think it’s pretty bleak and sad because movie-going is much more enjoyable as a communal experience, in my opinion. Especially comedies.

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  9. Ah, the sad state of the Bev Fairfax. I remember when it was a decent, neighborhood single-screen theater. (I saw “Babe” there)

    It is/was a dump, but the tickets were cheap (six bucks) and it wasn’t a bad place to see “eh” movies where the tech aspects weren’t as important. I saw the not-funny “The Hangover” there, (whew…glad I didn’t pay full price for that), and “Bruno”, (actually funny).

    My last experience was “Inglorious Basterds”. (relax, nerds.. it was my second viewing… I was bored and I’d already seen it on a decent screen)

    It was raining outside and during the film several of us had to move seats because chunks of ceiling were falling down, along with a steady stream of water.

    I knew that place was doomed. I’ll be shocked if it re-opens as a movie theater.

    I’m still sadder by the demise of the once lovely Showcase on Beverly, though.

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  10. Another sad fact about the Fairfax is that until just a few years ago (I’m guessing around the time Regency took over) you could still make out on the rear the old matinee price of five cents. Then some some idiot painted over it.

    A friend of mine went about 2 years ago and had to leave – a rat had scampered across his foot. When he informed the usher, the guy shrugged and intimated that management knew about the problems but was not going to do anything to fix them. Apparently, it’s current state is because Regency and the building owner’s are both claiming that the other was responsible for upkeep.

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  11. DTG to Jeff Wells – pretty much most everyone simply calls it the Egyptian Theatre. Perhaps you could reword it to “the Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre.” It only has the Rigler moniker to differentiate it from the Spielberg screening room downstairs.

    Might seem trivial, but the place can always use all the patronage it can get.

    BTW – seems that they currently have a policy of running LAWRENCE OF ARABIA in 70MM twice a year at both the Aero and Egyptian. FWIW to those who were interested.

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  12. For those who don’t live in New York, Jeffrey Wells’s complaints about Film Forum are cranky in the extreme. The projection of 35mm prints is superior to a 42-inch plasma and the sound, in my experience, has always been just fine.

    I’m sure he’d be okay if the premier venue of classics, independents, and new documentaries shuttered, but the Forum’s rabid and fun fanbase won’t let that happen. Note to Wells: maybe the problem sometimes…is you?

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  15. Watch a 1930s Ernst Lubitsch film at the Academy or Egyptian or Aero, and then fly cross-country and watch the same film at the Film Forum and tell me the FF experience “rules.” It doesn’t rule at all. At best it’s okay, and in my book it’s not good enough. Every time I see an older film at the FF I always feel a little bit brought down. Every damn time. Because the black-and-white never seems to have that wonderful richness of monochrome values…never does it shimmer like it should with the rich inky blacks and silvery tinselly grays (which you almost always get with Blurays when you’r'e looking at a studio-shot mainstream feature from the ’30s, ’40s or ’50s), and the sound is never that sharp or bassy. It’s always a little on the weak side, and what’s more, it’s never an accident when this happens. The FF management deliberately keeps the sound levels low or muted to appease the biddies who go “oooh, it’s too loud.” And that’s fine for the biddies, but not for me. The projectionists at the Academy, the Egyptian and the Aero don’t turn the sound levels down to the point that I have to cup my damn ears to hear the dialogue. So no, it’s not me. It’s the FF’s projection and sound standards that don’t cut the mustard.

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  16. This theater kind of rules; Big fan of the $1 hot dogs, and usually a fun place to see something on its way out.

    But something weird would ALWAYS go down there: When I saw I’M NOT THERE, I’m sitting there enjoying the movie with a handful of other patrons. And then 80 minutes in, who comes running into the theater but, curiously, a 12 or 13-year old black kid, who proceeds into my row about ten feet away and LIES DOWN ON THE FLOOR. And I’m like, WHAT THE FUCK? Big Dylan fan, kid?

    Kid lays there for a couple minutes on the disgusting floor, I’m totally out of the movie, just wondering what on Earth this could possibly be, and he starts peering up and over the back of the seats, so I look back, and there’s a SECOND black kid racing around the theater up and down rows looking for him, and these weird little bastards are PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK in a movie theater during a Bob Dylan movie. Eventually the one dude found his buddy and the floor and much laughing ensued, then they raced out of the auditorium to continue this elsewhere, I assume. But seriously, WHAT THE FUCK?

    Then when I saw ANTICHRIST there last winner, I’m in the lobby getting my hot dog and I notice there’s a very, very destitute looking homeless men on a bench. I’m thinking maybe he’s some neighborhood fixture and the concession folks let him hang out for an hour or two on a blustery night. Of course then when I had to piss upstairs I was TERRIFIED that I was peeing into the same urinal as this motherfucker, as you will NEVER convince me that urine is sterile or that peeing into the last guy’s you-know-what can’t splash back and crawl into your wiener. So whole movie I’m wondering if I’ve contracted a disease from management letting a bum use the facilities.

    And even weirder, the dude came in and watched the movie in the back row, rattling his plastic bags the whole time. Not every movie theater has a last-legs, Candy Maldonado-looking homeless man watching a Lars Von Trier flick…. Like did he pay the seven bucks, or did they just let him in for free? If you were cold, starving and homeless, would seeing Willem Dafoe arthouse bodily torture be high on your list of priorities as to what to do with your seven bucks?

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  17. Well, okay. If we are comparing them then yes, you certainly have a point, Jeff. But as far as NY revival type places go, Film Forum is great.

    Is there a better revival type house in the city?

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  19. Jeff: Actually, the New Bev projection used to be iffy, too, and they only recently updated it. Not sure if QT had anything to do with it, though.

    Travis: I remember when tixx were $2 there.

    Lex: Some asshole trying to cosplay like Peter Fonda was talking to the screen during the midnite screening of Easy Rider.

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