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Star Wars Digital Projection Theaters
Zoreta writes "Wired Magazine lists the 19 digital projection theaters in the country where Attack of the Clones can be viewed as Lucas intended."
Say what you will, I can't wait for AotC- digital projector or not. I just
wish *blatant non subtle hinting* some kind soul could get me into an early
showing in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area ;) And at least I have spiderman to
tide me over. Sam Rami vs. George Lucas. Gonna be a fun summer.
Only way to see a movie! Reserved seating, big leather seats, individual tables at each seat, and best of all, a FULL BAR (also meaning nobody under 21 allowed!)! Nothing like watching a flick with a martini while sitting in a nice leather chair. Check it out. I can never go to a "regular" theater again.
I don't think Taco will be near so eager to see AotC when he realizes the full title is "Attack of the Clones of Jar-Jar Binks"
We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
Commander Taco, I could suggest contacting someone at Star Theaters. I'm sure you could get into some advanced screening with press credentials. Here's the URL:
http://startheatres.moviefone.com/
I'd shoot for the Star Southfield -- stadium seating and THX r0x0rs.
Speak truth to power.
I wonder how much this is gonna keep the ticket prices going up...
I saw the digital projection of The Phantom Menace in New Jersey, and was impressed. The picture was absolutely perfect. I'm not certain I would have noticed the difference if I hadn't been told, but ever since I've noticed film glitches in other movies--little flecks on a frame or dammage due to having been played too many times.
So this time it's 16 instead of 2. Hopefully in a few years it will become standard.
I wonder about this, seeing as I have been quite unimpressed by digital cable. True, the picture is extremely clear when it is working perfectly. However, it is not very fault tolerant. A bad analog signal might give me a little snow; I can still enjoy the program. Even a slightly bad digital signal causes massive pixelation; when that happens you cannot make out anything on the screen at all. The Moral: digital is better when it works, but worse when it does not.
How is it that a theater in Arizona and one in Kansas get a digital projector before many of the much larger markets? Anyone from either of these towns have any information on these theaters?
-- Adam
Last I heard, the "digital theaters" were working on micromirror arrays, which are great little devices (I spent about a year in college trying to build a microscope with some), except when their pixels get stuck, which although not as frequent as, say, the blue screen of death, is frequent enough to warrant a problem for a theater running the camera for 80+ hours per week. Then again, my last experience with them was 3.5 years ago, so TI and others may have improved the performance significantly since then.
Some men spend their entire lives trying to kill themselves for having been born. --Ross MacDonald
ROAD TRIP!
I saw Episode I digitally projected at the AMC Burbank North 6, and it was magnificent. You don't realize the difference while you're watching unless you really think about it. It's after the movie that you realize there wasn't a single error or marking on the "print".
It's odd that this theater was chosen for digital projection, as there are 2 other AMCs (Media Center 14, and Media Center 8) within walking distance to this one. The North 6 is the least crowded, and the theaters aren't huge. This is a great place to catch movies that you know are released digitally. Went to see Toy Story 2 there, didn't plan to see it digitally, but that's how they were showing it. Animation in particular is much more vivid in this format.
End rambling.
I'm Peggy.
I saw Mission to Mars projected digitally at AMC 30 in Olathe, KS. The picture was so good that I could see the makeup that Gary Sinise was wearing. But it was very distracting to see hime wearing some kind of rouge on his cheeks and some sort of shiny lip gloss. Movie makers need to be mindful of this sort of thing. Also Mission to Mars was one of the shittiest movies ever. That never helps.
Not that I've got anything against digital theatres (presuming that they've got the quality up near what film provides) -- I just don't like the idea of the digital information blackhole that it looks like the media industry is attempting to create for our descendents.
Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
Here's a list of DLP-enabled Theatres from Texas Instruments, includes at least 6 theatres not listed in the Wired article, plus links to the theatres' websites.
DLP = Digital Light Processing and is supposedly better than Plasma/LCD. 4 Million+ mirrors in this sucker less than a micron apart each.
I'm a 2000 man.
AMC Pleasure Island 24 Lake Buena Vista, Florida (which is at Walt Disney World in Orlando)
. . . and I didn't think anything good could ever come from living near Walt Disney World. With the student discount the evening admission is only $5!
SIX out of 19 are in California. Some states don't have a single one, but we get SIX. God, I love this state.
python -c "x='python -c %sx=%s; print x%%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))%s'; print x%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))"
I am there! Okay, so the drive up from wichita for a movie is kind of "re-damn-diculous" but Ill go catch some lame weekday show that no one will be at. I will probably see it opening weekend here in Wichita and then drive up w/in the next week or two (cant wait too long cause they may/may not pull it from digital, and that would suck dickitydick).
I will be very bummed if it is no different from the regular ol projector that Ill be seeing it at here in town.
The ultimate network admin tool needs HELP!
Digital gurus can't send in "The Clones" Article from Variety that appeared back in February.
I saw both Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc. on the DLP at the Cinemark Legacy in Plano. Three things really blew me away.
First, it's bright! When the green "the following preview has been approved..." slate goes up, the sheer amount of light coming back off that screen is just amazing.
The next thing that surprised me is the noise: there isn't any. You don't notice the sound of the projector (that "tuh-tuh-tuh-tuh" sound of the gate opening and closing) until it's gone. When the house lights go down before the movie starts, it's completely silent in the theater, which is pretty cool.
Finally, there's no flicker. That's another thing you don't notice until it's gone. Despite the fact that the image is being shown to you at 24 frames per second, there's either no refresh effect in the DLP at all, or so little that your eye doesn't see it. A traditional screen, lit by a film projector, goes dark 48 times per second, and your eye picks up on that. A DLP screen doesn't. I guess that also contributes to the overall brightness; you're getting something like a third more lumens to the screen just because you're not closing a gate twice per frame.
Oh, and in case you're wondering why there's a DLP cinema in Plano, TX, I think it's because this theater is right across the street from the TI facility where they invented DLP. At least that's the story.
I just wish *blatant non subtle hinting* some kind soul could get me into an early showing in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area ;)
Back in the day of Star Trek IV, a friend got me into an early screening, and it was just me and him. The experience was not all that great. I guess my problem is that movies are more of a group thing for me. The Phantom Menace was a blast to see in a big group, while STIV was relatively boring with just me and that guy (sorry Tag if you are reading this...). The biggest problem is that those early screenings, it is usually just two tickets, you and the friend that got them. SciFi is something best experienced en masse.
Bryan R.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, or $12.50 as seen on eBay.....
psxndc
The emacs religion: to be saved, control excess.
Right here. It is world-wide. I am not sure how often the list is updated. I believe Wired's list is more updated for this movie.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
I'd rather die than admit that my life ....er um, book... came from the likes of amazon!
Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
They've always been consistant; they love quite a bit of the content, they hate quite a bit of the business practices.
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
I saw it in Burbank, CA. I couldn't believe how many stars in space. Wow. :)
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
When he began shooting Star Wars Episode II in an all-digital format, George Lucas imagined that Attack of the Clones could screen in 2,000 digital-projection theaters nationwide.
Because "Digital Is Always Better(TM)", right?
I recently became an usher at a local theatre, I was really excited because I get free tickets for movies. My boss just told me that every cool movie this summer (spiderman, AoTC, etc) is what is called "no passes" where the film company will not allow the theatres to give out free passes to employees for like 60 days. I am still pissed. Atleast Thursday I get to go to the screening with just employees, which kicks arse!
I'm going to drag her there kicking and screaming.
:-)
With the nice plush couches and drinks available, I trust they aren't the only motions she'll be doing...
(sorry man, I couldn't resist...)
I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
The Senator is the best place to see it in Baltimore. This is a very cool independent theater that has survived since the 40s. There is only one screen so you get to see the movie in a huge hall together with 800 other screaming fans. The owner is a cool guy whose's a big Star Wars fan and gets up on stage to personally introduce each showing. It's a great experience.
As an aside, I believe any theater showing the Star Wars movies as a first run (e.g. - first 8 weeks of release) has to be THX certified.
Which, of course, pads Lucas's pocket a bit more (THX certification costs $$$), but also "ensures" that you get the movie experience that the film maker expected.
If, for instance, there's an issue with a THX certified movie in a THX certified theater, you can call 1-800-PHONE-THX to lodge a complaint. THX claims that they investigate every such complaint.
...download it?
You get to see the movie framed by a camcorder, learn a foreign language, and make a political statement all at the same time.
What else could be so much fun?
that they would really want it playing there, it cost them a ton of money to put in digital projection equipment, and you would think that they would want to play as many movies as they can which take advantage of it and use that as a selling point...not to mention that clones will probably have a huge draw.
would semm pretty foolish not to play it there
The picture information is normally compressed and stored using a QuBit compression system produced by QuVis of Topeka, KS. The QuBit uses proprietary wavelet compression technology with a user selectable SNR. The compressed data is stored on four computer HD drives with a total capacity of 72 Gbytes. Other playback servers based on MPEG2 compression have also been used for a limited number of digital releases.
Your guess is as good as mine as to what "limited number of digital releases" really means, but it sounds as if QuBit is the preferred standard for the moment. The list stands.
I'm a 2000 man.
Surcharge for buying my ticket four weeks early: 75 cents
/. geek in Florida for a place in line at the only digital theatre around: PRICELESS!
A ticket to see Star Wars II at the Pleasure Island AMC: $8
Having to fight every
"And like that
Although it might seem odd that, at the moment, only 19 theaters support digital projection, if the whole industry is going to eventually move that way, it will facilitate the transition by having such a large film behind it. Also, DVD production and other digital media formats will be much eaier to provide content for. The will be no film transfers involved, and it will be simpler for them to produce alternate edits for poor suckers like me.
You know, I was just thinking the same thing. Unfortunately, because those two theaters (Loews and AMC on 42nd) are so close together, they have a sort of "gentleman's agreement" in which they don't show the same movies in the same week. One would hope they decide to bend the rules for Star Wars, but ya never know...
I'll say this though: if Disney had the money to install a digital projection system at the El Capitan theater they'll do it in a New York minute, to use to old saying. :)
:-)
You forget that virtually every animated feature Disney has released since The Rescuers Down Under are all actually "stored" on digital masters, thanks to the use of the Computer Aided Production System (CAPS). Gawd, can you imagine a true digital projection of Monsters, Inc. or Atlantis: The Lost Empire? It would be eye-opening clear, that's to be sure.
Yes, they cost ungodly sums of money, but don't be fooled. Lucas isn't pushing DLP because of the great resolution. He is pushing it because a major release (3,000+ screens) means $33 - $35 MILLION in duplication costs.
Digital distribution cuts that to a fraction. Add to that the ability to check dailies in Hollywood via an optical link -- so the execs don't have to get dirty on site, and you have a winner.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
You can get those micromirrors in projection TVs too, it's called 'DLP'. I was really impressed when I looked at a DLP display at a specialty store. Still very expensive though ($10k or so)
Btw, I've seen the term 'contrast ratio' used in the specs of projectors/TVs. AFAIK, LCD projectors often have a contrast ration of 200 or so, the better ones have up to 400. I think DLP has more than that.
--- Hindsight is 20/20, but walking backwards is not the answer.
but star wars interests me only as it pertains to my status as a geek. I'm far more interested in seeing Spider-Man than episode 2. Spider-Man I intend to see on day 1. Episode 2 I'll wait to see until someone tells me something good about it. A Jar Jar death scene would be nice.
-
Whoops!!
:-/
I should have read the Wired magazine article first. I didn't know Disney already installed a digital projection system there.
Screw digital. Lucas had 70mm prints for the initial releases of SW ep. 4-6. Where are they now? Have quality standards dropped this much since 1977? (DLP may come close to 35mm, but will not touch the quality of 70mm for many years to come)
Hmm.
;)
:-)
Say what you will, I can't wait for AotC- digital projector or not. I just wish *blatant non subtle hinting* some kind soul could get me into an early showing in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area
I'm really not sure how that fits in with this, a post from taco earlier today. For the lazy:
just the same as I no longer have any interest in seeing the upcoming Star Wars movie
This is one fickle editor to be sure... PSST! Taco, gotcha
Blearf. Blearf, I say.
Go here.
Click here or here.
- Reverse-commute on the Logan Express bus from the airport out to a short distance from the cinema. Indeed before the trees leaf out you can see the two buildings from each other; later just ask directions from the station staff, it's a trivial 5 minute walk. To catch Logan Express go to the lower level of the Airport and watch for a large red coach-style bus, the one you'll want is the hourly Framingham one.
-
Take the Commuter Rail out to Framingham station. There are buses that connect from there around Framingham but I've never seen a good map or schedule of them, Google or ask on ne.transportaion for current status. Personally I'd just catch a cab over.
- Look into getting a ZipCar or just convincing a friend to drive you out. The cinema is a hop-skip-&-jump from the Framingham exit on the Mass Pike. Offering tickets & popcorn is good incentive.
Finally, contrary to some reports the digital projection isn't in the Premium Theater - that's standard 35mm insofar as I know. Instead I recall the large #9 screen is the one with the digital projection and special audio equipment. While the Premium screen does seem to get the freshest prints and often have the best focus & other projection niceties it appears to be just a well executed traditional film theater sans children & mystery stuff sticking to the seats & floors.I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
There are several perople that are rallying against digital projection. Roger Ebert, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg to name a few. These are people who have a vast amount of experience in this field. Ebert, for one, has been the most vocal about his distaste for digital projection: claiming that it yields muted colors and compression artifacts.
No doubt it's better than DVD quality, but there definitely some compression going on. To match the quality of 35mm print, you need something like a 5 megapixel camera. For 1/1.85 aspect ratio projection you're talking about a 3,000 x 1600 pixel image. Is the resolution on DLP that good? On the DLP website I couldn't get any hard numbers for what the resolution will be for digital projection (there's alot of info there, so be my guest). Even with DVD compression levels you're gonna have to put this thing on a 100gig hard drive, and the compression is quite noticable to film buffs (admittedly, I can only tell with poorely encoded dvd's).
Besides, there are alot of things that influence the quality of the cinema experience. Hardly any theatres use the correct brightness for their projectors. Furthermore, the jump to 50mm or 75mm film would have an astounding leap in quality. You could double the framerate, but you'd also double the number of film canisters (I worked at a theater during high school, those suckers can get pretty big and heavy).
I saw both Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc. on the DLP at the Cinemark Legacy in Plano. Three things really blew me away. First, it's bright! When the green "the following preview has been approved..." slate goes up, the sheer amount of light coming back off that screen is just amazing.
I used to work for a video company. We rented out Hughes/JVC ILA video projectors, $250,000 each, circa 1993. Nothing compared to the ones at the Famous Players down the road from my house, but we'd light cigarettes off the lenses of these things. I loved those Hughes. 1024x768 at 72Hz refresh and x-deflection up to 55kHz in 1993. Man, did I ever love those things.
The next thing that surprised me is the noise: there isn't any. You don't notice the sound of the projector (that "tuh-tuh-tuh-tuh" sound of the gate opening and closing) until it's gone. When the house lights go down before the movie starts, it's completely silent in the theater, which is pretty cool.Not just the audio noise of the film being snapped through the gate and the shutter exposing the screen, but also the video noise - dust, cigarette burns in the film, color differences when the alternate projector spins up and the system switches to another reel. Just a perfect image, silent, solid, stable and bright.
My first ever digital movie experience was The Mummy. I was with friends and we were in a trippy sort of mood. One of them was a roadie, and sure enough, out came the acid. Three hits of good old 1960s blotter, sat down in the movie theater, and I was convinced that my brain was going to melt. The carpet was attacking me. And then I experienced a digital movie projector for my first time. That was powerful enough, but imagine the effects of a digital projector, acid and The Mummy all at once. (Those who don't know what I'm talking about are encouraged to see the movie "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", then view "The Mummy" in that mindset.)
Every scene from that movie is burned into my brain. And I think I'm probably the only person I know who actually enjoyed The Mummy.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
I rather expect "CmdrTaco (editor)" is not the same as "CmdrTaco". I also rather doubt that Tacos user # is 564483. But most glaringly, that post was reasonably well written, with no painful grammatical errors, which almost certainly eliminates Taco from the field of persons who could conceivably have written it...
ehintz
Another decade is probably needed to get this worked out. Right now, it's not cheaper to go digital.
Personally, I hope digital projectors do take over. One potential improvement they can make is in frame rate. Sometimes, if I'm close enough to the screen, strobing is visible at 24fps. Particularly in animated movies where the screen scrolls without blurring, I can see a double image as it pans by. IMAX theaters are aware of this and have film that can run as high as 60fps. Unfortunately, for film that's pretty expensive.
But in the digital world, 60 fps is feasible (or will be before too long.) Even if the resolution's a little lower, the improvement in frame rate'd easily make up for it.
"Derp de derp."
Now that would bring back some memories (after driving back down to the Cincinnati, Ohio suburb where that theatre is located)... saw the first Star Wars movie there, 4 times. Back then, the Showcase was the big new deal in movie-going... all 3 screens of it. The original has since been torn down to be replaced by a 24 or 30 screener... but then I'd guess that's why they have the digital in place... gotta be a new facility to have it. (?)
I'd have a personalized plate on my car, but "toxic bachelor" won't fit into 7 letters.
I can understand deterioration of analog film making a digital viewing better, but if, like I'm sure 99% of us here will be, I'm sitting in the first midnight show of AotC watching a digitally-produced analog film print in an otherwise tricked-out theater, am I really going to see that much of a difference?
I ask only because unless it's appreciably better than a NEW print it's not really worth the 50 mile drive into LA. I'd analogize it to listening to a song on a CD vs. listening to it on a brand-new vinyl disc - the analog printing might even look smoother, I don't know. Hell, just 'cause that's the way Lucas wants it doesn't mean it's better - ask Jar-Jar.
And on the subject of DLP as a whole, the studios are jacking theaters big-time. They want them to foot all the costs of going digital in an age where they're raping them to the tune of about 90% of the profit from ticket sales. After the "cinematic arms race" over stadium seating, many have gone out of business already, and those still running are hurting. I'm amazed they get by on candy/popcorn/soda sales as it is.
If you're ever wondering why your local theater has no money for improvements, look no further than the studios.
The only tool you've got against psychosis is experience.
Funny how all the press coverage and hype about digial cinema always leaves out these facts.
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Digital projection of digitized analog movie sometimes has problems. I saw a movie about white water rafting that disturbed me. The white water spray was fractal, and kept flickering on the screen. Another problem movie was the DVD version of 2001: A Space Odyssey (seen at MIT, of all places). Some of the model details flickered, especially the craters on the moon.
I suspect an "all the way through" digital processing shot with digital camera, post-processing digital and projection digital would have fewer of these problems. Second, proper spatial filtering to reduce jaggies helps. Third, a director who understands the limitations of digital would film scenes that reduce these problems.
I look forward to seeing Lucas's results.
The reason why youcould say that digital is better for starwars, is that a large part of the movie was rendered in digital anyway.
But for movies that film real life, digital projection is terrible - it shows a great reduction in quality.
The DLP website has some information. It is a big task and big expense for theaters to upgrade to it. You need special projectors, although (AFAIK) you use the same screen. The movie is actually stored digitally, which I assume means a big hard drive. The big advantage that I have seen to DLP is that the image brightness higher than film, the color clarity is similarly excellent.
Also the film quality doesn't degrade over time. Ever seen a movie after it's been in the theater for a while? You have probably noticed some aging of the film, such as scratches, fading, and so forth. There is no similar phenmomena with digital, so the 400th showing is just as clean as the 1st.
Saw Episode 1 in two different digital theaters. Had a chance to talk with some of the engineers who developed these technologies.
:-)
The first theater used an infrared-modulated liquid-crystal image light valve, developed by Hughes. An interesting feature of this technique is that the resolution is continuously adjustable (there are no pixels in the projector). Because the transfer function of the liquid crystal is nonlinear, it needs to be calibrated frequently, and that process (at that time) was not very automated -- perhaps that is why the TI mirror chip dominates this application today.
The second theater used the TI mirror chip. It provides fixed HDTV resolution, although it is possible to run this chip at various frame rates.
Both theaters used identical sources, at the same frame rate and HDTV resolution. (The projector uses an appropriate lens to stretch the image into the desired aspect ratio.) The compressed and encrypted movie was stored on a redundant array of disk drives (RAID5 I assume) that had a total capacity of 350 GB. An industry standard [don't remember the name] box was used to decrypt and uncompress the frames on the fly. Episode 1 used up about 250 GB, compressed.
Obviously, the compression used in this application is nowhere near as severe as the compression used on DVDs. I suspect this is one of the most important reasons why the image quality is so remarkably good. Yes, this is merely an HDTV picture writ large, but you will never see an image this good on any home theater -- at least not until you can get a 250 GB file at home....
The biggest improvement I noticed with (both of these) digital projections, compared with film, was the total lack of frame jitter. With film, there is always some wear and tear of the sprocket holes, and even a brand-new print will have the image jittering back and forth a little bit. (Imax, with its film registration pins, is largely immune to this problem.) Digital projection eliminates this annoyance forever.
Although the images looked just fabulous, everything was not perfect. The end credits, in particular, showed some artifacts, although these were not really obvious unless you walked up toward the front of the theater. Perhaps these were due to choices made during the compression process -- after all, Episode 1 was not a fully digital movie, and in fact this version was digitized from a completed film print. It will be interesting to see how a fully digital Episode 2 compares in this regard.
Ultimately, I would like to see digital theaters break away from their current limitations of resolution and (especially) frame rate, but I expect nobody will invest in these kinds of improvements until digital projection is much more widely accepted.
This theatre is old and no longer has the greatest reputation.
See these reviews for more information.
You're the reason, George, why there aren't more digital screens today. You demand 80% of the box for your movies and even a cut of the concessions! (which by the way is unheard of).
Theatre companies don't make as much money off of your movies as you think they do (especially since you take 80%). So where are these theatres supposed to get money from to buy these $100,000-$500,000 digital projectors? Most theatres have a hard enough time trying to pay employess, advertising, and performing maintnance on the theatres without you asking these theaters to do costly upgrades.
Besides, when would the theatres use the digital projectors? Once every 3 years when you release a movie?
Maybe Lucas should open his own Theatre Company and realize that money for upgrades is hard to come by.
"A plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies"- Homer Simpson
those planes were filmed quite a bit before 9/11....in fact, fox delayed release of 24 because of 9/11 and even considered dropping it entirely
I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
Your jaggies are coming from the compression of the image, not just becasue it's digital.
I thought Family Man was pretty good.
A solution to the problem with music today
I was surprised that there was one in Kansas two. Something cool happens in Kansas and its a month after I jumped ship. Are there any digital theatres in Vancouver? Oh well, Kansas sucks in general, it was worth it.
This Wiki Feeds You TV and Anime - vidwiki.org
I just wait for a nice high-quality VCD transfer to be posted to USENET--which always happens within a week of a big film opening--and watch it in the comfort of my own home cinema. Sitting close to 55-inch HDTV is better than sitting in the middle of a theater watching a big scren, as far as my tastes are concerned. And it's completely quiet, unlike the time *Blair Witch Project* was ruined for me when an obnoxious couple kept snickering...
;-)
:-)
;-) Now, which call-girl do I pick? :-o I don't think your theater can compare with *that* kind of service! heehee...
The only problem is avoiding low-quality VCDs with poor image or sound quality or glitches; but there are certain websites where different VCDs get "graded," and the best VCD groups put their wares across all of 2 CDs, for the best possible quality. But since I wouldn't want to change discs in the middle, I just use TMPGenc to combine them into one whole movie beforehand, and play from the HD of the "home theater PC," output to the TV thanks to ATI's beautiful All-in-Wonder. I still remember the looks on the kids' facs when I let them watch Hary Potter all day long, three days after its theatrical release.
Martini? You can have whatever you want without getting gouged by rapacious movie-theater-and-MPAA-monopoly prices, when you watch a top-quality VCD at home.
Hmm, when Episode II comes out and I wrangle a HQ copy, maybe I should do something special that you can't generally do in theaters, even the nice kind. I'm thinking "geek menage-a-trois" with Episode II in place of the PC...
Chasing Amy
(We all chase Amy...)
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws"-Tacitus
It's now owned by AMC, although how this will effect the digital theater I can't say.
Here is the article by Roger Ebert about why he isn't a fan of digital projectors.
And to be fair, here is the response from a film maker in British Columbia.
Since they closed the Foundry, I just haven't had the heart to go out to see movies in DC anymore.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
...does that mean that once theaters go DLP the tickets will be cheaper?!
Sorry, bad joke.
Cool! Amazing Toys.
I learned from the website that the 3 chip projectors use 3 chips each at 1280x1024 (1 for each color). That works out to more than 3000x1600. Also it is my understanding that the picture is much brighter because the lamp isn't being switched. I dunno. I will check it out for myself. There is a theater here in Vegas that has DLP.
Cool! Amazing Toys.
To me the resturant situation is particularly frustrating. My general sub-urban area (a section of unincorporated county that would probably have become a township long ago if it were in a northern state) is home to around 100,000 people. It is for the most part a middle-to-upper-middle class area. There are no less than 20 different national chain resturants (Chilli's, Hops, Outback, Macaroni Grill, etc.) located in a 5 square mile area around two arterial highways. 18 of them feature service that is no better than average and only one (Macaroni Grill) has food that is consistantly better than average. In other words, with over 100,000 people in economic classes ranging from middle to upper-middle and a significant population of high income households (probably 5 to 10 thousand) there are still no premium (or high-quality) resturants, theaters, other entertainment venues, or convienence service companies. On top of that there isn't even a significant population of locally-owned resturants, retailers or groceries. Even the bars seem to be chain stores.
We all still have to drive into the city to eat anywhere that requires a jacket or to find an arts venue other than local "volunteer" theater or the mass-market AMC theaters. Some times it seems like my "home town" is just one gigantic truckstop. Bring on your mass-market sci-fi George Lucas. Appearantly, we all love Jar-jar and we aren't going to leave unless you sell us happy-meal action figures, plastic light-sabers, collector's edition plates, stamps, coins, jackets, books, legos, towels, and any other artifact that can be stamped out by an injection molding machine and painted red and shiney with a Lucasfilm trademark on the bottom.
Not only that, the AMC PI actually has two digital screens, not just one.