Dan416
Senior Member
You would think a big company like AMC would plan things better to ensure that crowding doesn't become a safety issue :S
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- Thread starter smuncky
- Start date
adma
Superstar
Chuck
Senior Member
Incidentally, I saw I Am Legend on Tuesday night, and I have similar feedback. I was extremely impressed with the actual movie theatre. The picture quality and sound were super, and I liked the auditorium as well. However, the clientele were appalling - they wouldn't stop talking, whispering, and shouting throughout, a couple of them answered their phones, and they were in general rude and annoying.
I'll go back when the movies are no longer free, as people will be more likely to take the movie seriously when they actually paid for it. I think that my favourite movie theatre is still Varsity though.
MetroMan
Senior Member
^ sounds like my debut feeling of the Michael Lee Chin Crystal @ The ROM. The night of the opening was quite frustrating. I got a bad first impression because the patrons were running around shouting, running up walls, breaking all museum etiquette, etc.
I peaked into the theatre. It did look quite good. In fact, it's the best looking part of TLS.
There is definitely a lot of work to be done on the foodcourt. I wonder if they'll eventually cover up that hideous low exposed ceiling. A little bit of hope though: most of the foodcourt is open via the windows to the city. It'll be quite a nice panoramic view to look at while enjoying a fast food meal.
I think that a solid "first" impression of Toronto Life Square can only be had in about one year from now when all the stores will be open, all the kinks will have been worked out, everything will be nice and polished and interesting ads will begin to emerge along the billboard wall.
I peaked into the theatre. It did look quite good. In fact, it's the best looking part of TLS.
There is definitely a lot of work to be done on the foodcourt. I wonder if they'll eventually cover up that hideous low exposed ceiling. A little bit of hope though: most of the foodcourt is open via the windows to the city. It'll be quite a nice panoramic view to look at while enjoying a fast food meal.
I think that a solid "first" impression of Toronto Life Square can only be had in about one year from now when all the stores will be open, all the kinks will have been worked out, everything will be nice and polished and interesting ads will begin to emerge along the billboard wall.
Cast_Member
Active Member
That was the old Odeon Coronet.
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eustache
Guest
Here is a link for the film schedule at the new AMC theatre starting on the 28th.
http://www.movietickets.com/house_detail.asp?house_id=10818&rdate=3/28/2008
A truly atrocious selection of films. Any notion of the AMC Younge Dundas theatre adding anything to the local cinematic landscape is thrown out the window. Even the AMC in Whitby has a more diverse film selection than this. The film list is nothing more than the worst mainstream also rans Scotiabank disposed of more than a month ago + 21 on 3 Screens!!!!!!!
If you look at the list of films the Amc in Montreal plays, with an English speaking population of less than 100 000 it only makes one cry.
http://www.cinemaclock.com/aw/ctha.aw/que/Montreal/e/AMC_Forum_22.html
It seems not a single one of the 24 screens will be reserved for any independent/foreign/arthouse fare. Secondly these types of films are available only in the Superior 35mm format so it is safe to assume this situation is permanent. Truly sad for a city and its film culture to be subjected to this gross homogeneity.
http://www.movietickets.com/house_detail.asp?house_id=10818&rdate=3/28/2008
A truly atrocious selection of films. Any notion of the AMC Younge Dundas theatre adding anything to the local cinematic landscape is thrown out the window. Even the AMC in Whitby has a more diverse film selection than this. The film list is nothing more than the worst mainstream also rans Scotiabank disposed of more than a month ago + 21 on 3 Screens!!!!!!!
If you look at the list of films the Amc in Montreal plays, with an English speaking population of less than 100 000 it only makes one cry.
http://www.cinemaclock.com/aw/ctha.aw/que/Montreal/e/AMC_Forum_22.html
It seems not a single one of the 24 screens will be reserved for any independent/foreign/arthouse fare. Secondly these types of films are available only in the Superior 35mm format so it is safe to assume this situation is permanent. Truly sad for a city and its film culture to be subjected to this gross homogeneity.
MetroMan
Senior Member
Don't worry eustache, you'll have a place to go once the TIFF Bell Lightbox opens on John & King.
Hypnotoad
Senior Member
While I only expect AMC to exhibit commerical movies (as opposed to indie or heavy doses of foreign films) I am honestly blown away by the number of movies listed here that came out months ago. This list reads more like the showtimes for a discount-second run movieplex charging $2 on Tuesdays than it does a brand new complex. I guess the movie industry is hurting right now for content.
(this rant has nothing to do with TLS because I had no expectations that AMC-Dundas Square would be anything more than any other AMC).
(this rant has nothing to do with TLS because I had no expectations that AMC-Dundas Square would be anything more than any other AMC).
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
It's not unusual for a new cinema complex to open with some second-run fare until the film booker can negotiate the number of screens, seats and terms that a distributor demands for a given film. As new films open they will replace the "filler" films that AMC is opening with this coming weekend.
I have every confidence that AMC TLS will test the theatre for demand for such product. Keep in mind that independent/foreign fare has a limited audience and with Carlton, Varsity and Cumberland in the area they face a competition that some other AMC's cinemas don't have.
Now that digital projection is available the smaller distributors will be motivated to make their films available in the digital format if they can get booked into a theatre such as AMC.
To my eyes 35MM is no longer a superior format in today's cinema. What I saw this weekend at AMC challenged some of the best 70MM presentations of the 1970's & 1980's.
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eustache
Guest
The notion of Digital Projection improving upon 35 mm Film projection is simply propaganda projected by the industry. The public assumes new technology + digital equates improvement however the motivation for this format switch is not related to image quality but simple economics.
Studios save on film print costs and theatres expand their programming options, more 3D cartoons and live Celine Dion concerts. The only advantage of the digital 4K projectors you saw is sharpness and so called "clean images". Kodak’s 2393 film print stock has greater resolution, contrast ratio, and a wider color spectrum than any Digital projector, including even better ones than those Amc is using. With films shot on digital or films which are processed with heavy effects the difference is less visible, however a film shot on film and projected on film is still substantially superior.
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eustache
Guest
The problem is not the supposed limitations of the fare, why do smaller cities like Vancouver or Montreal have 5 times the amount of foreign/ independent films playing locally in a year. Why was Gus Van Sant's new film Paranoid Park able to open in 6 theatres in Montreal including their Amc for 3 weeks running.
The venues you mentioned are hardly solutions. Carlton is an antiquated relic, the Cumberland is a little less outdated but hardly a bastion even for these types of films, and you're lucky if the Varsity plays even a couple of these in any given week.
The likelihood of these smaller films being available in Digital Prints is unlikely anytime soon. Most independent and arthouse chains in North America will stick to film projection, only the suburban megaplexes will adopt the dlp format. Put simply expect more of the same for years to come. My only hope for the new amc was a slight increase in diversity, instead you will see the same shit pojected on more screens for years to come.
whatever
Senior Member
Today they were busy doing cleanup and preparation for the grand opening. A pile of new LED boards were installed in the public areas (including an almost too-big-for-the-area one right above the escalators to the basement), the hoarding for Starbucks was removed and their signage is up (one hanging sign by the front door and then the signage on their unit). Looked like lots of activity on the lower level as well.
lordmandeep
Banned
I think they are appealing to the University student crowd with those movies...
You know the type who like movies like Saw 4...
You know the type who like movies like Saw 4...
marcus_a_j
Senior Member
As dt_toronto_geek mentioned, it is not uncommon for some theatres to open with older movies playing as it saves on cost for the prints (in this case maybe not so much because of the digital format). The thing I did notice is that AMC Y-D 24 is not showing any of the same movies as Scotiabank Place. Scotiabank, friday March 28
Chances are that new movies being released will only be shown at one of the two cinemas and each cinema will have to lobby to the distributors to show the movie at theirs. It's the same case as in Scarborough (KC 20 vs. Coliseum (STC)), and in Vaughan (Interchange 30 vs. Colossus) where only one cinema will show a certain movie. Maybe things will change and both Y-D 24 and Scotiabank Place will both show the same movies.
Chances are that new movies being released will only be shown at one of the two cinemas and each cinema will have to lobby to the distributors to show the movie at theirs. It's the same case as in Scarborough (KC 20 vs. Coliseum (STC)), and in Vaughan (Interchange 30 vs. Colossus) where only one cinema will show a certain movie. Maybe things will change and both Y-D 24 and Scotiabank Place will both show the same movies.
MetroMan
Senior Member
A little off topic but for the first time ever, I didn't like any movie on the menu @ Paramount. This season has been pretty crappy for movies. What's going on?
Can't wait for the summer blockbusters. DARK KNIGHT baby! Woo!
Can't wait for the summer blockbusters. DARK KNIGHT baby! Woo!