Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Bee Movie

We're bound to get a lot of questions this weekend about why, oh why we aren't playing "Bee Movie" which opens this Friday. (We're playing "Mr. Woodcock" and "The Kingdom" instead.)

Well, we fully planned on playing "Bee Movie," but our booker reports that Paramount is not taking very many smaller, single-screen bookings for the film. That means one of two things:

1. They couldn't find enough small situations to make it worth going into any of them

or

2. The movie isn't going to be as huge as they thought.

Or possibly a combination of both. Personally, being a Jerry Seinfeld fan (he wrote, produced and plays the main character), I'm looking forward to this movie. We'll probably play it either Nov. 16 or sometime in early December.

Also for those keeping score: Disney's "Enchanted" is booked to open on Wednesday, Nov. 21 for the Thanksgiving weekend. I think that one will stick.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Remakes: They can be good (but not usually)

Okay, so one of my all-time favorite movies that nobody under 40 has ever heard of is "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" from 1974. It features several great actors who are no longer with us -- Robert Shaw, Walter Matthau, Ernest Borgnine. It has a terrific story and one of the most satisfying endings of any movie I've ever seen.

In the movie, a New York City subway train (complete with passengers) gets hijacked and held for a million dollar ransom by three armed men. They give the mayor one hour to cough up the cash, or else they will execute one of the passengers for every minute the money is late.

Of course the premise raises some questions. Like, how do the bad guys take over the train? How do they plan to get away? How do you get a million dollars gathered, counted and transported down a subway tunnel in less than an hour? And, how many hostages (if any) will live through the ordeal?

It's a fine movie and well worth seeking out, if only to watch the look on the video store clerk's face when you ask for it.

Why am I bringing this up? Because the movie is getting remade, that's why. There will be a new version coming out in 2008, starring Denzel Washington. I don't know if I'm excited about this or not. The original movie is so good, it really shouldn't be remade. (Think "The Longest Yard.") Do we really want a hatchet job like that performed on one of the best thrillers ever made?

On the other hand, it could be decent. (Think "Ben-Hur.") Of course, the original "Pelham" wasn't a black and white silent movie, like the original "Ben-Hur" was.

Friday, October 5, 2007

One of those nights

Friday nights can be interesting at the Roxy. This week our film came direct from another theatre -- the Carmike Mall Cinemas in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. I don't know who the "projectionist" is there, but the film arrived in about the worst condition I've seen in years. (But don't worry, I was able to fix all the bad spots.)

On top of that: One of the concession people was late for work; we had a computer malfunction; the drain on the pop machine clogged up; and a threading mishap (by OUR projectionist, who we're currently training) caused the show to start out of focus which I hate. AND THEN, thanks to the genius at that Colorado Carmike, we had a film break about ten minutes into the movie.

Well, let's see....SOME things worked. The popcorn was good, the toilets didn't overflow, and we had a nice crowd. So all things considered, it could have been worse.

Upcoming goodies

OK, all two of you who see this... here's a list of what's coming up at the Roxy. Too bad more people haven't found this blog, they'd be more in the know than the average man on the street.

Oct. 5 - 3:10 To Yuma (for 2 weeks)
Oct. 19- The Game Plan (Disney movie starring The Rock)
Oct. 26- The Kingdom (War movie ... looks good)
Nov. 2 - Bee Movie (Animated film featuring Jerry Seinfeld)
Nov. 16- The Heartbreak Kid (maybe)
Nov. 19- Enchanted (new Disney film)

Of course all of this is subject to change, except 3:10 to Yuma which starts tonight. See ya at the movies!

Monday, October 1, 2007

Some personalized plates are just dumb

I was just outside looking at the cars of the people who are at the movies tonight. Among them are two personalized plates:

H82BL8

and

DA WAGON

Now those are pretty good ones. What I don't understand is when somebody buys a '92 Ford and they get personalized plates that say:

92 FORD

Is that to help them remember their plate when they check into a motel? Make it easier to buy replacement parts? I don't get it.

If I had a '92 Ford, I think I'd like to get a plate that says 08 VETTE. It would be more of a conversation starter.

Slow weekend/busy weekend

Movies were pretty slow last weekend, as we expected. I don't mind that so much when we expect it. It's when we plan for a big crowd and don't get one that I get (to use a '70s term) bummed.

Occasionally, people ask me "if anyone goes to the movies anymore." On a weekend like we just had, it might look like not many people do. But our attendance is running ahead of last year; in fact, we've been "up" over the previous year in 12 out of the last 15 years. So yeah, people still go to the movies. If YOU don't, you should change that...you're missing a lot of good stuff.

Next up is a flick we expect to have a better run with: 3:10 To Yuma, with Russell Crowe. It'll run for two weeks.