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I think you're remembering incorrectly.

I think you are guessing wrong. The theater told us it was "to change reels". Whether they were lying is something to take up with them, though looking for it, it seems it was demolished http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/23588

When I worked as a projectionist (10 years later), the theater I worked at had single-reel systems only at AMC Glen Lakes 8 (opened in 1988, and when I worked there the equipment was all original, as far as I could tell, except for two screens that had upgrades, one for picture and one for sound. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/21637, coincidentally, also closed and demolished now.

I think you're remembering incorrectly.

I think you are guessing wrong. The theater told us it was "to change reels". Whether they were lying is something to take up with them, though looking for it, it seems it was demolished http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/23588

When I worked as a projectionist (10 years later), the theater I worked at had single-reel systems only at AMC Glen Lakes 8 (opened in 1988, and when I worked there the equipment was all original, as far as I could tell, except for two screens that had upgrades, one for picture and one for sound. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/21637, coincidentally, also closed and demolished now.

The Cooper had not one, but TWO concession stands IN the theater at the sides, totally unobtrusive, it was glorious. 800+ seats, Cinerama (146-degree arc) screen.
I saw one of the last movies shown there - re-mastered Lawrence of Arabia.
I sat at the absolute focal point of the screens, having skipped my morning classes to catch that. I was one of 5 people in the theater.

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/930

It sounds like you saw TESB at the Uptown

Lol. Good guess, but no. Saw it a few miles north, across from WTTG. Not sure that theater's even still there (can't find it on Street View, looks like a furniture store now). [Ha! Found it! "KB Cinema." And the link even describes TESB, complete with the line. :) ]

I used to love the Uptown (saw reissues of 2001 and the "director's cut" Blade Runner there, among other films), but now it's just too far to go. And the last couple times I'd been there I had bad experiences -- for one, the doors to the lobby open RIGHT INTO the auditorium, so anytime anyone came in our out of the theater you'd get bright light flooding onto one or the other side of the screen. (Maybe they've fixed this in the last 10 years).

Agreed, though, if it were anywhere, I'd've banked on Uptown.

OK, I'm one of those "cranks" who remembers how moviegoing USED to be, and considers the current "experience" extremely inferior.

It used to be, you'd go to a big, beautiful PALACE with thousands of seats and a gorgeous environment. Even if you lived in a small town, the local movie theatre was a glamorous, special place.

This was before mobile phones. And there would be a special room for mothers to take squalling babies or toddlers having a tantrum, called the "women's lounge."

In the 1960s, theatre owners, in an industry maybe didn't DIE because of TV but took a big, big hit, came up with the concept of the "cinemaplex." More choice! More people can go see movies suiting THEIR taste, not the programmer at the local movie palace. I live near where one of the first American multiplex theatres, The Americana 5 in Panorama City, CA, was built in 1964. It had one "big room" for what was then known as "road show" releases, the big movie expected to be the blockbuster of the moment. It also had four smaller rooms...and I really mean smaller. 200 seat shoeboxes as opposed to the 1,000 seat "big room." People went anyway, and the theatre chains realized they could make more money because they'd go to the movies regardless of the amenities or lack of them. They didn't really have a choice in the pre-home video and pre-HBO/Showtime days. You either saw the movie in the theatre or you waited for it to come on TV, and that wait would be literally years.

Eventually the "big room" was subdivided in two in the mid '70s, and the Americana 5 became, for a time, the Americana 6. It was only due to the decline of the neighborhood and the competition of cable and home video that the Pacific Theatres knocked down the thin subdivision barrier and turned the two theatres back into "the big room" again. Amazingly enough, the Pacific Americana underwent a bit of a renaissance for a while. They would have events, geared towards the local predominantly Latino populace, where Spanish-language movies, free concerts after the movie and appearances by local Spanish-language radio personalities would be part of the fun. Selena did one event and the immediate area surrounding the Americana was mobbed. The LAPD had to be called in to do crowd control.

Eventually the Mann Theatres chain put in the Mann's Plant 16 a couple of miles down the road at the big-box mall that replaced the long shuttered GM assembly plant. This was what killed the Americana. The Pacific Theatre Group unloaded it on a couple of locals who went indie. It got more and more run down, started playing second-run movies in both English and Spanish for bargain prices, and when things broke, they stayed broke. The last movie I saw in the "big room" there was Prince of Egypt. The movie theatre that every year around Easter would play "The Ten Commandments" had its swan-song with another retelling of the Moses myth. It was sad to see the place go. The area where the four small theatres stood is now a school of cosmetology. The old "big room" was once an indoor futbol arena where people would play pickup soccer games, and is now a banquet hall which, ironically, boasts a nice big movie screen. It is also more ornate than the "big room" at the Americana ever was.

Anyway, huge digression. The multiplex movie theatre encouraged a degradation of movie theatre etiquette. Going to a little shoebox theatre was less special than going to the community movie palace. People didn't have the same sense of "occasion" going to the movies. In a lot of respects, the experience of going to one of these theatres was like the drive-in experience. Often a theatre chain would knock down a drive-in and replace it with a mega multiplex. They could show more movies to more people and it was a more intelligent use of land. And with the competition of cable, home video, "sell-through" home video, and finally the DVD, there were now real choices about how to see a movie.

So yeah, theatres are not exactly

I live in Oregon. I don't think I've ever been in a theater that held more than a few hundred people.

Take a look at the site below. You might find a nice older large capacity theater in your area. It's quite a different experience than modern theaters and well worth the money. Large theaters designed like these are a dying breed so if you get a chance, check one out.

http://www.cinematreasures.org/location/country=18 1&state=38/

The only things worth a crap in Urbana-Champaign are the university...

Given that the cities are so utterly dominated by the size and population of the University, that's not really saying much. Almost (but not quite) like saying that the only thing worth a crap on Manhattan island is New York City.

And, anyway, during the years I lived there, '90-'96, I found plenty of off-campus things to appreciate: The Blind Pig; the Courier Cafe; Espresso Royale on Oregon; several great local bands including Poster Children, The Moon Seven Times and The Suede Chain; Bikeworks bicycle shop; the New Art Theatre; WEFT community radio, and many others.

I'll give you that it's not the most exciting place on earth by a long shot, but there's a lot to do if you have any immagination at all, and compared to the other rail-side corn depots on the line to Chicago, it's a real oasis.

Actually, Peter Jackson *has* arranged for the special edition to be shown in the Embassy theatre, here in Wellington, New Zealand where the film was made... But only once, the night before the special edition DVD is released.

The Embassy theatre is a kick-ass old theatre that has been refurbished recently. Its got an amazing sound system and what I was once told is the biggest screen in the southern hemisphere. It used to have nearly 1800 seats!!!
Apparently Peter wanted the world premier of FOTR to be held here, but New Line Cinemas said no (they wanted it somewhere on the map, like, say, London...) but agreed to let Peter show the special edition here instead. Some info about the embassy theatre can be found here

I had an opportunity to get tickets for the screening, but I decided against it - we're talking about FOUR hours of sitting on your arse without moving, once you include the previews etc. Maybe if they had an intermission...

Also, apparently Peter doesn't like the term 'Directors cut' because he always intended to make two versions, the full version and a shorter version for the box-office.