Best local theaters?

[Mark Strube]

I hadn't gone there yet when I made that comment... the one time I went, there was only 1 other family there, so it wasn't noisy. To eat I got a chicken parm sandwich... so I can't comment on their food too much. I will say it's not the cleanest establishment and if you're looking for a quality movie presentation, you won't find it there. But, I suppose it has its uses... if for some reason you REALLY can't do both dinner & a movie but can't decide which to do, this is the place to go.

[Paul S.]

I had my 21st birthday party at the Rosebud this past Saturday... their midnight movie Office Space.

The food was good, the setting is awesome, giant comfortable chairs, a nice crowd of people... I'm glad I chose to do that for my birthday.

My one gripe... the movie was clearly being played off of a DVD onto a computer projector they have mounted on the ceiling... and it wasn't even progressive - I could see "S-video" on the screen right before the movie started. I understand for a smaller theater it could be hard to get the film etc etc... but when you go to a movie theater that's kind of expected. I hear all the time about theaters requesting and getting their hands on prints of older movies, it's not that difficult. Also, the sound was so low you could barely hear what people were saying... a few people went back to complain and so they raised the volume... that's another thing - the sound. It was just standard stereo, all on the surround channels. So even when people were talking, it was all around you. I realize it is a bigger undertaking to set these things up in a theater... but I could've set up a better DVD presentation in my bedroom. That's kind of dissapointing.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a cool place to go to for a unique experience... but their whole movie presentation aspect could be improved greatly.

I'm assuming when you watch a newer movie there it's actually played off of film and the sound is closer to being correctly set up?

We were there for Corpse Bride this last Sat. I saw the S Video deal, but I'm betting that was the DVD for the commercial. The sound does suck, but you're there for the atmosphere, not DTS. :guitar:

[Mark Strube]

The sound does suck, but you're there for the atmosphere, not DTS. :guitar:

Well, IMO if they had a better sound/picture presentation, that would greatly improve the atmosphere. When you go to see a movie, that's kind of a big part. It was distracting... even to my non video geek friends.

(I'm not even asking for DTS... Pro Logic set up correctly would've sounded better. :rolleyes: )

[Paul S.]

Well, IMO if they had a better sound/picture presentation, that would greatly improve the atmosphere. When you go to see a movie, that's kind of a big part. It was distracting... even to my non video geek friends.

(I'm not even asking for DTS... Pro Logic set up correctly would've sounded better. :rolleyes: )

I hear ya, it bugged the shite outta me, too. When I said something to the woman, she said 'just enjoy the movie'. I'd bette get used to it, I get hitched to her on Saturday! :rofl:

[Mark Strube]

A gold star for Showtime Cinema in Franklin.

I went to see UltraViolet on opening weekend (big mistake - horrible movie), and I could easily tell that it wasn't in DTS as advertised. It was in Dolby Surround (not to be confused for Dolby Digital)... the sound level was low, slightly unclear, barely any subwoofer action, no directional effects, and almost all the dialogue was leaking to the surrounds.

I emailed them about this... the manager wrote back saying he had to switch it from a DTS screen to a Dolby Digital screen at the last minute (they have 8 DTS, 3 DD), but he assured me it was in Dolby Digital. I wrote back giving all the reasons above as to why I was sure it wasn't in Dolby Digital, and perhaps something was wrong with that screen.

I got an email back today...

Mark,
 
Sorry for the long delay in responding to your last email. Come to find out (to my embarrassment) there has been an ongoing problem with that particular Dolby Digital system of which I was only recently made aware of, thanks to your letter. The system is being repaired and I can only offer you my apologies and some passes for a future visit. If you would forward to me your address I will see that the passes go out to you, immediately.
 
Sorry for all of the inconvenience to you.
 
Sincerely,
Joe Avampato, mgr.

I say great job in following thru... and I get passes on top of it for helping! I'll be going to this theater a lot more from now on.

Note this is the first time I've had ANY problems there, usually everything about the sound & picture is absolutely perfect, which is why this problem stood out.

[Joseph S]

Goodbye, Marcus and AMC.

I'm seeing MI:3 on a 70ft (>5 story) Giant Screen tomorrow. {glug}

[Mark Strube]

Am I insane, or just dedicated to getting a good moviegoing experience? I just sent this email to Capitol Cinemas about their SDDS "Maxiscreen."

Hello,

I've always been a big fan of your SDDS "Maxiscreen" at Capitol
Cinemas. However, I've had some not so great experiences there lately.

I vividly remember the very loud and clear sound there when I saw
Underworld, Stealth, and The Island on that screen. However, when
Superman Returns was showing there, the sound was very quiet and
unclear, completely missing those great dynamics. The sound system was
clearly not in SDDS mode, so either your optical sound reader was too
dirty, or whoever spliced the film somehow spliced it too late,
cutting off the proper sound flags to instruct your decoders to go
into SDDS mode (if it works that way).

I decided to give it another chance this last week, I went there on
Thursday to see Smokin' Aces. The first 2 trailers were clearly in
SDDS, the 3rd one was much quieter and more unclear (trailer for Hot
Fuzz), and then the entire first reel of the movie was that quiet and
unclear standard stereo sound. However, as soon as it went over to the
2nd reel, the SDDS clicked in, and the sound was instantly much, much
louder and clearer. I should also mention that for almost the entire
movie, the picture was a bit off-center, and there was a line at the
top of the screen, where you could see what's supposed to be on the
bottom of the picture, similar to the V-hold on an older TV being off.
It was quite distracting. However, I was happy that the SDDS clicked
in on that 2nd reel and held thru the rest of the movie.

I think you need to instruct your projectionists to either clean the
sound readers more often, or be more careful when splicing the film
together. Or, perhaps to be more careful with both of the far edges of
the film outside the sprocket holes, since that's where the SDDS track
is. I'm not too much of an expert so I'm not sure what's causing the
problem, but those are my best guesses.

You have one of the best screens in the area at that theater... the
picture and sound quality (when it's operating properly) easily beats
Marcus's UltraScreen, it's just a shame that it's not operating in top
shape more often. If you were able to rectify this situation, me and
my group of friends would see every movie possible on that screen.

Oh, and one final thought... this is something I've noticed every time
on this screen. The sound mix is extremely front-heavy... when special
effects or music are supposed to be heard on the surround speakers,
they are often drowned out by the loudness of the (great-sounding)
front speakers. Now I'm not asking you to turn the volume on those
down, I love the loudness, but I believe you should pop up the level
on the surround channels to match.

Thank you for your time, and I hope you forward this email to the right people.

-Mark Strube
Elm Grove, WI