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Topic: Our Last Cinema
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Hugh Thompson Scott
Film God
Posts: 3063
From: Gt. Clifton,Cumbria,England
Registered: Jan 2012
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posted December 21, 2012 09:01 PM
It's the "march of time" lads, and there's little we can do about it but I think that on the whole,we have had the best of it, the great features we have all queued to see, the courting, the fights,they can't take that away, all those happy times shared with like minded people.I'm lucky in that where I live in the North of England, Lake District country, folks are very friendly, and it's great to listen to conversations outside the cinema, of if the picture was a "good 'un",for instance, on leaving the cinema after viewing the very involved spy drama "Tinker, Tailor,Soldier, Spy", one of the patrons said to me "Well who was the "mole",to which I replied "Who the hell cares, it was Tuesday when I came in, what day is it now?" This caused a bit of laughter, and it made me think that in the cities, where life is faster,banter among strangers is not done,and losing cinemas is another step towards losing that all important ingredient we have, the chance to be sociable.These are sad times we live in,but for younger generations it will be worse.
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Graham Ritchie
Film God
Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted February 22, 2013 07:56 PM
Adam
Heritage buildings were protected up to the series of earthquakes, and most folk wanted them retained even after this following photo that taken just after the Sept 2010 one. Up to this point nobody had been killed. But a few months later the February 2011 proved to be a killer, and this time the focus of people's safety around old building was to looked on be more important.
They simply were not built for the sudden and violent on going ground movement...so I am afraid, even for the many that wanted to retain them, came to realize after February 2011 they had to go, and many so far have.
Adam this photo was taken just after the Sept 2010 shake and it gives an idea what can happen in seconds when the ground moves and the kind of energy thats released. What none of us could imagine, what was later to come in the months ahead.
As far as cinemas..well whats left is not much, all the art house cinemas are gone as with a eight screen Hoyts.
A couple of weeks ago I bought some cinema seats that were once in the Rialto cinema. The X manager told me he was horrified to see on a visit, the kind of demolition going on to his cinema, projectors, everything being wrecked, he asked about taking some seats and was told, take what you like...so he took some. I paid $50 for 38 seats that he had and are in nice condition and hope to find a good home for them soon.
It seems a shame, I have 35mm projectors, platters, screens, sound system, and now seats, enough stuff to start a small movie theatre somewhere....but there is know where to go.
Many many seats like those I bought have been destroyed. I thought it would be nice to set up a small cinema somewhere but the rent and cost of digital projection down the line would be to expensive. As to the future of all this stuff and in particular 35mm projectors in general looks uncertain as I have run out of room to store any more stuff.
PS. Got a phone call yesterday, people are coming round to check our ground out and hopefully fix our sinking house in the next couple of years. They are talking about lifting it up, to repair the foundations. Its going to be a big job so we will be moving out for a while when they get round to us.
Graham.
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