8mm Forum: Grand Torino

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Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on February 28, 2009, 07:17 PM:

Today we were trying to catch up on some
releases before they are gone to DVD.

Although Grand Torino has been out for some time, it was worth
seeing its' theatrical performance. If non PC films are not offending,
this is worth it. - scratches and all. [Eek!]

And about those scratches, afterwards I complained to the manager and his reply was: "oh, the lines?" [Confused]

I glared if he was for real? [Mad]

As if he cared to listen - playing a deaf ear.

He walked over to the guest desk
and handed me a complementary pass.

I told him: TWO, then continued on to why they did not "wet gate" the film with
Film Guard? Had he ever contacted Film - Tech? [Confused]

His reply was: "Oh, I'll tell the projectionist."

[Embarrassed]

Posted by Mark Mander (Member # 340) on March 01, 2009, 04:09 AM:

Hi Michael,
When i went to see the latest Bond film that had some terrible scratches on it,i found myself watching them coming and going throughout the film,i know they get quite a few showings but should this happen?...Mark.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on March 01, 2009, 10:35 AM:

Sadly, most projectors are manned by high school kids who are more interested in the cute chick in the lobby than the movie playing upstairs. This is made worse by those "platter" projectors that you basically turn on and let the whole film play.

A person can just abandon the projector and flirt with that cute blonde downstairs!

Posted by Lars Pettersson (Member # 762) on March 01, 2009, 02:28 PM:

That´s sad to hear, as I´m sure it´ll add to the general audiences idea that "film is scratched and jumpy, while video is problem-free".

Happily I can report that I haven´t seen a bad scratch on a feature in a cinema here in Stockholm in years. I think everyone in theatres here in town take their work very seriously.

Cheers
Lars

Posted by Mark Mander (Member # 340) on March 01, 2009, 03:51 PM:

Maybe it's because we're into film that we notice these imperfections,the scratches i saw were green in places to the right of the picture so i'd say it was quite bad,my mate who i went with said "what scratches" which i was quite surprised at and thought how could you not see them,oh well...Mark.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on March 02, 2009, 05:13 PM:

Speaking of Grand Torino again ...

It might be good to see this in the theater, as it is rumored that Steely eyes Clint may be retiring from the big screen after this film.

Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on March 02, 2009, 08:20 PM:

Osi,

That was one of the reasons to pursue
the program in a full theatrical format. Eastwood is 78.
God Bless him.

Eastwood has grown in depth as a sophisticated
story teller. OK, one might add that he is playing
his old "Dirty Harry" persona, however I appreciate Eastwood
and over the last 10 years he has grown. He always promises
a good program.

I have not seen The Changeling, which was also released
this year. However I'm not clear why he was not
recognized for this project, or in as much that
he had two projects out at the same time and of
brilliant acclaimed caliber?

Two acclaimed films in one year and not a directorial nod? Seems strange? [Confused]

I remember in 1974, Coppola released The Conversation
and Godfather Part II, and both picts were nominated for Best Picture.

I also needed to get a good flavor of a mint 1972 Ford Grand Torino,
and seeing it in 35mm is the next best thing to almost being there.

Film is great.

[Smile]

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on March 02, 2009, 09:04 PM:

Michael,

What theater was it? Maybe I remember it from my Nassau days!

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on March 03, 2009, 04:57 AM:

We just secured a print starting it on the 12th March anyone want to come? [Wink]

I have already watched this film thought it was one of his best.

Regarding scratches its something we dont do or have where I work, we ran "Bond" for 3 months every day "not a mark" still mint its a shame to read of this happening else where all the films that we screen here are checked on make-up and if we find a scratch etc I fill in a damage report which is sent to the film distributor. If we were to scratch a film we can get charged for the cost of that print and could find ourselves unable to obtain another one, added to that with the loss in revenue "if its bad" it can be a very expensive excercise, with three screens running 12-14 hours a day the Cinema is owned and operated within a shopping mall 7 days a week and we can run up to 10 features with a 15 minute gap between sessions it usually takes 3-5 minutes to thread up. I do the weekly schedule as well as full time head projectionist we have one other thats full time and young Chris still 15 years old "part time" been working 8 months on his own now and is doing a great job comes in after school 3 nights a week "one of the best projectionist I have come across" and runs things through to around 11pm he did pick up on a "on screen scratch" on "Twilight" [Roll Eyes]

all of 1-2 seconds worth I had to fill in a report on that [Eek!]

it was so quick that if you blinked you would miss it. Picture and sound is checked in each theatre on every session by the projectionist at the start of the feature. I still like the idea of keeping an eye on things and giving the customer the best that we can offer "its still very much a hands on cinema" and as for the projecting team "all three of us" its a job we do enjoy....well until they boot us out and go digital. [Smile]

The Simplex in Cinema 1 back up and running in less than 5 minutes, [Cool]

the others are the Bauer U4 Cinema 2 and a new Kinoton in Cinema 3 "a nice projector that one".

Graham.

Posted by Lars Pettersson (Member # 762) on March 03, 2009, 02:27 PM:

"until they boot us out and go digital"

Not an imminent risk I hope?

The company that run the majority of cinemas in this country have stated that they´re in no hurry to go digital (I´m happy to say [Smile]

)

Cheers
Lars

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on March 03, 2009, 04:38 PM:

Hi Lars
The owners have looked into it but at present its to expensive so hopefully 35mm will be around for a while yet, although there is a push going on is this country at the moment. The standard of 35mm presentation here I think is very high, the problem that seems to be getting worse is the condition of used prints coming in from the "US" [Eek!]

. I think the cinema industry in most countries [Roll Eyes]

should spend, not the money on the digital stuff but better staff training instead.

Regards Graham. [Smile]

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on March 03, 2009, 05:15 PM:

Hear Hear!!

Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on March 03, 2009, 05:25 PM:

Steve,

The multiplex is the Lowes Raceway. The sound system is
terrific in the theatre, but now the seats need replacement.
The theatre multiplex is adjacent to the
property that ran the trotters (horses with the carriage behind).
The Raceway has been demolished for years.
Remember? It is behind Fortunoff's.

The Loews theatre chain is now renamed AMC Lowes,
and Fortunoff's has filed bankruptcy and they
are liquidating the store. A grand store, and now part of
a bygone era.

Michael

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on March 03, 2009, 07:49 PM:

I remember when the Raceway was the Raceway...

...and I remember when the Westbury Home Depot was the Westbury Drive-in Theater too!

Fortunoff's has traumatic memories for me: Mom dragged me there for years....and then so did my wife!

(I'm more an on-line kind of shopper...)

Posted by Michael De Angelis (Member # 91) on March 03, 2009, 09:29 PM:

Steve,

The Westbury Drive-In was good. I miss it too.
At least they provided a new stadium seating on the same
grounds of the Depot, BJ's etc.... and movie
multiplex, in place of the Westbury Drive-In
and they kept the original marquee. Just
some minor updating to the sign, but the rest
is still there.

I also recall going to the Drive-In that was on Rt. 110
in Farmingdale, and passing the one that was once in Valley Stream
next to the Green Acres Mall.

Posted by Lars Pettersson (Member # 762) on March 04, 2009, 01:15 AM:

Graham,
I can see your problem clearly, as you´re in an english-speaking country, I guess many of the prints you receive have been elsewhere (and trashed) before. We need to have prints with swedish subtitles so they´re of interest to NOONE but us up here amongst the polar bears [Big Grin]

. Sometimes though we get crappy prints for other reasons; cranked out at a mile-a-minute by some giganic lab best left unmentioned, then soft focus and image weave are already built into the print itself [Mad]

. Also, we still have many theatres with really large screens that used to run 70mm prints "back then" -unfortunately in some instances here they´ll run 35mm 1,85:1 or cinemascope on those screens, with 50 year old projectors, so it really is stretching it to the breaking point. Not a good idea if you ask me.

Still, a good presentation is what it is; the Swedish Film Institute Arthouse cinema often has to run prints (of old/rare films) that are not in great shape, but you can bet your last dime it´s going to be in pinsharp focus and treated with respect. [Smile]

And, on the subject of screen size, they have a really big screen and reserve the biggest screen size for 70mm. So whenever you catch something in 70 there, part of the pleasure is the screen opening up FOREVER [Eek!]

when the show starts.

Cheers
Lars

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on March 14, 2009, 11:31 PM:

Regarding "Grand Torino", this afternoon I allowed our 15 year old projectionist into a cinema to watch this movie, with a Restricted R16 rating, allowing anyone to watch an underage movie is usually a "no no" however after listing to my ramblings about Clint Eastwood in the past [Roll Eyes]

I broke a few rules "shot at dawn material" [Eek!]

and afterwards mentioned that he had never seen a Clint Eastwood film before, gauging the reaction "Grand Torino" was a good introduction, might be a "Dirty Harry" DVD next week [Wink]

Graham.

Posted by Robert Wales (Member # 502) on March 15, 2009, 09:56 PM:

Hey everyone - the movie is called Gran Torino without the D at the end of GRAN. It refers to the model of his beloved car.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on March 18, 2009, 10:23 PM:

Thanks Robert for pointing that out.

Although I have already seen it, we are all going to the cinema tonight to watch Gran Torino before it finishes.

Graham. [Smile]

Posted by Patrick Walsh (Member # 637) on March 18, 2009, 10:40 PM:

Im screening as now as I type! on it's 1st session in my cinema, I had to wait a while for a copy to come up but hopefully it will do ok (no good now as I have only 2 people in!)
Pat [Big Grin]

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