NH HORRIBLE THEATRES
William Dold
1. Nashua - the wretched Brandt cinema - I think that this may have been
an old Jerry Lewis Cinema at one time. Now triplexed into a few bowling
alley like theatres - imagine a Jerry Lewsis cinema triplexed ? Get the
picture ? Projection horrendous, On occasion someone even walks down to
the front of one of the screen during the film to hand move the masking
!
2. Concord - The Sony/Loews mess - boy could this place use a retrofit -
better yet it should be torn down - horrendous sound - projection very
sloppy - poor masking - one size fits all screens !
3. Salem - owned by National Amusements - if you like to breatb foul
air, this is the place - a cross between bathroom and pop corn odors.
Projection adequate - dolby in all screens (3 screens) - sound adequate
- usually a sub run operation which is unusual for a chain like National
Showcase Cinemas
GILFORD - the HOYT'S 8 in Gilford, NH formerly Entertainment Cinemas -
with the HOYT's name, need I say more ?
Also in Gilford - triple cinema - 3 bowling alleys !
MANCHESTER - HOYT's - 2 locations - need I say more ?
Tom Ferreira
think?
William Dold
>
> How about some decent theatres in NH-I'd be interested to know what you
> think?
From what I can see, having been all over the state, there are not any
real decent movie houses in New Hampshire !
Tom Ferreira
Cinema), I guess you haven't been to all of them. We pride ourselves on
a quality presentation, a clean, family friendly atmosphere with well
patrolled auditoriums, competetive pricing for first run films, and
comfortable, clean seating. There are other theatres in the state,
which I have no vested interest in, which retain some excellent ambiance
and charm, whether through design, booking, or otherwise. What is your
criterion-screen size? There's several single screen houses in the
state with good size screens. Sound systems? There's plenty of digital
houses, too. It's unfair to criticize the Gilford three screen. It's
been there for years, and with all the increased competition in the
area(not just the other Gilford theatre, but three screens in Meredith,
six at the Colonial in Laconia, four at the Wears Beach Drive In, and at
least fifteen forty minutes away in Concord), it's commendable that this
theatre has been able to stay open at all. Somebody must be supporting
it. Want charm and atmosphere? Try the Majestic in Conway, the Twin in
North Conway, the Nugget in Hanover, or other theatres in Berlin,
Bethlehem, or other small towns. This isn't Boston-in a lot of these
towns, these independently owned theatres are the only source of
entertainment. People want a night out, and some of these theatres
barely break even giving it to them. Drive through any small city in
New Hampshire, and you can usually see the marquee of a theatre that
didn't survive. So why pick on the ones that did? I say we're lucky to
have as many as we do. If you want IMAX, go to Boston. If you want to
see Matrix in Framingham, better call TeleTix or whatever it's called,
and reserve for a week from next Tuesday. If you want a simple night
out, maybe dinner then a movie, go to a smaller town. Some people don't
need all the bells and whistles.
John P. Pytlak
Now there's a business opportunity! (If you can book first-run
product).
Scott Norwood
Tom Ferreira <work...@webtv.net> wrote:
>
>There are other theatres in the state,
>which I have no vested interest in, which retain some excellent ambiance
>and charm, whether through design, booking, or otherwise.
[good list snipped]
Thanks for the info, Tom. How's the Wilton Town Hall Theatre? I've been
impressed with some of the titles that they've run, but haven't been able
to visit personally, yet.
I've heard good things about the IOKA (single-screen/first-run/mainstream
pictures) in Portsmouth. They had one of the IB Tech "Wizard of Oz" prints
during its first-run revival engagement last fall, supposedly.
>If you want IMAX, go to Boston.
Nitpick: The theatre at the Museum of Science is OMNIMAX (15-perf 70mm,
but on a domed screen rather than a large flat square.
I will once again complain about the lack of decent theatres in the Boston
area. There's no big, single-screen, "first class" theatre running first-
run mainstream and revival pictures. The two theatres with the most
interesting programming (the Brattle and Coolidge Corner) are both rather
run-down, although the Coolidge is slowly improving, but has a long way to
go, especially the former balcony, which has been walled off and is now
a separate screen.
The shows at the Wang Center (fmr. Metropolitan Theatre, now mostly used for
live performances) have been great, but are few and far between.
> If you want to
>see Matrix in Framingham, better call TeleTix or whatever it's called,
>and reserve for a week from next Tuesday.
Ha! I'm not impressed with the GCC Framingham plex...it's bland and
boring just like the rest of them. And the Sony/Lowes 6-plex across the
street has a terrible reputation for damaging prints on opening weekend.
- Scott
--
Scott Norwood: snor...@nyx.net, snor...@redballoon.net, sen...@mail.wm.edu
Cool Home Page: http://www.redballoon.net/
Lame Quote: Penguins? In Snack Canyon?
Larry Shaw
>
> Tom Ferreira wrote:
> >
> > How about some decent theatres in NH-I'd be interested to know what you
> > think?
>
> From what I can see, having been all over the state, there are not any
> real decent movie houses in New Hampshire !
(you guessed it) Keene. 16/35/70 Kinoton projectors, 6 ratio masking
and lensing, CP200 w/ Acc Rack - split mag surrounds + SR-D, etc, etc.
Mabye most important , they really care about presentation. Point man
for quality is Bob Gunther. Not a big aud., but stadium - and wall2wall
screen. Saw Appocalypse there in 70 a few years ago, it was great. They
also have lots of cool events (EG: ran Todd-AO and had one of the
original lens designers there to speak) as well as "regular" films every
night.
-Larry
William Dold
The Natick Sony unit is a disgrace. They did get SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
after General Cinema across the street lost out in a dispute with
Dreamworks. I donm't know all of the details. One of the employess at
Framingham GCC tells me that ' brainwraps' are common there since the
booth is often unmanned. Told me that the projectionist was cut to 32
hours weekly with everyone else pressing buttons. I don't know if this
is accurate or not.
The CHARLES in Boston, now closed, was very impressive and played the
initial exclusive New England engagement of STAR WARS. It had 70mm great
sound, a large screen and a magnificent red curtain as well as masking
appropriate for all formats.
William Dold
>
> Well, as the manager of a movie theatre in New Hampshire(Claremont
> Cinema), I guess you haven't been to all of them. We pride ourselves on
> a quality presentation, a clean, family friendly atmosphere with well
> patrolled auditoriums, competetive pricing for first run films, and
> which I have no vested interest in, which retain some excellent ambiance
> criterion-screen size? There's several single screen houses in the
> state with good size screens. Sound systems? There's plenty of digital
> houses, too. It's unfair to criticize the Gilford three screen. It's
> been there for years, and with all the increased competition in the
> area(not just the other Gilford theatre, but three screens in Meredith,
> six at the Colonial in Laconia, four at the Wears Beach Drive In, and at
> least fifteen forty minutes away in Concord), it's commendable that this
> theatre has been able to stay open at all. Somebody must be supporting
> it. Want charm and atmosphere? Try the Majestic in Conway, the Twin in
> North Conway, the Nugget in Hanover, or other theatres in Berlin,
> Bethlehem, or other small towns. This isn't Boston-in a lot of these
> towns, these independently owned theatres are the only source of
> entertainment. People want a night out, and some of these theatres
> barely break even giving it to them. Drive through any small city in
> New Hampshire, and you can usually see the marquee of a theatre that
> didn't survive. So why pick on the ones that did? I say we're lucky to
> see Matrix in Framingham, better call TeleTix or whatever it's called,
> out, maybe dinner then a movie, go to a smaller town. Some people don't
> need all the bells and whistles.
Basic bells and whistles should include decent sound and a bright,
focused, and well framed picture. I agree that all of these theatres do
not have the latest technology, but a decent presentation can be made
with older equipment which has been well maintained. HOYT's in NH is a
chain which is long on promise and short on fulfillment. Their quality
is no better than the Gilford 3. Even the Meredith 3 way cinema(Spinelli
owned) has recently taken pride in the way it does things unlike under a
previous manager there. Have you been to the colonial in Laconia ? Give
me a break on that one.
The Weirs drive in is another example of an attitude. Pack as many in as
you can with tiny screens - sometimes picture on the hill behind the
upper screens, filthy and I mean filthy bathrooms, and an 'attitude'.
Bu the way, as a metter of record, there are very few digital houses in
NH. Even some theatres which say they have digital do not have any such
thing.
For a chain, the Sony/Loews in Concord could be a lot better.
Hoyt's Nashua, formerly an Interstate and General Cinema disgrace, now
owned by Hoyts, has nothing to offer but very tinny sound.
Interestingly enough, I used to enjoy the Magic Lantern in 'beautiful
downtown Bridgeton, Maine, a few years back. It had character,
atmosphere, and prided itself on excellent early Dolby sound. They used
to hold their annual Dolby film festival in the early days of Dolby.
Haven't been back - so I don't know if the place has deteriorated.
Not having been to Claremont, I probably should not generalize to
include your theatre - your description sounds quite appealing, and if I
get to Claremeont, I will stop and say hello and identify myself as the
writer of the this message.
William Dold
Is this theatre open to the public or do they only do specialized
screenings ? It sounds much better than most NH venues !
William Dold
>
> Scott Norwood <snor...@redballoon.net> wrote in
> <_%pR2.71$jz6.6...@firenze.visi.net>:
>
> >Thanks for the info, Tom. How's the Wilton Town Hall Theatre?
> >I've been impressed with some of the titles that they've run, but
> >haven't been able to visit personally, yet.
>
>
> I was there last 5 years ago, but it was just an old high school gym
> / auditorium (and a smaller room that seemed to be just a large
> conference room). The screen is up on the 'stage'. The chairs were
> folding metal chairs.
>
> They run great movies, but it's not a comfortable or enjoyable place
> to see them. If you live in Wilton, though, it's better than driving
> 1/2 hour to get to the Brandt :-). And it was the only place in
> greater Nashua to play certain movies.
>
> I saw Ran, The Wall, and Gone With The Wind there, to name a few.
>
> ScottR
The Brandt is really a disgrace. It is owned by a New York group and
they have been promising major renovations for years. They do mostly
subruns, but even at that, they could do a lot better. At the Brandt,
you can often see films shown out of ration, the projectionist has, on
occasion, walked down front to move the masking while a film was on the
screen. Wide screen films shown flat on one visit. Sound very uneven.
Don't know if it is Dolby format or some strange creature made to sound
intermittently like surround.
Occasionally a film comes on with incorrect aperture and then the
aperture is witched while the film is in progress - makes for some
interesting effect down front, but totally distracting. It often reminds
me of some of the old 'drive in days' wshen the intermission refreshment
trailers were shown. There was nothing like seeing the shrimp roll
(sickening to look at) being shown in scope with a flat trailer. The pop
corn trailer used to look worse !
Getting back to the Brandt - it does have lower prices because of
subrun, but prints are rarely new and often well spliced and scratchy.
Early showings can often be loaded up with out of control teenagers.
Bathrooms are barely passable. Parking limited so you have to often park
in the lower mall in back.
Larry Shaw
> > (you guessed it) Keene.
> screenings ? It sounds much better than most NH venues !
Here's their site which has schedules, film capsules and prices:
http://www.keene.edu/studentlife/stuorgs/filmsociety/
If you go, post how you liked it.
-Larry
Larry Shaw
> >One that's little known but the best AFAIK is at Keene State College
> > in(you guessed it) Keene.
> > William Dold wrote:
> Is this theatre open to the public or do they only do specialized
> screenings ? It sounds much better than most NH venues !
As I said, it's the best in NH AFAIK. Screenings are open to the
public. They have a schedule/newsletter, but I don't know how you get
it. I'll try to find out.
-Larry