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Topic: Ultra Star Theatres

Kurt Zupin
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 989
From: Maricopa, Arizona
Registered: Oct 2004

posted 08-15-2007 02:14 AM

Has anyone heard of this company out of California? We've heard rumors that they are going to be opening up a couple in the valley of the sun. Anyone heard about this or any info on the chain. Thanks in advance.

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 퍼항시, 경상푹도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 08-15-2007 02:48 AM

http://www.ultrastarmovies.com/

Looks like their an all-digital chain if that helps any.

edit:
They also appear to love the phrase "Pure Digital Cinema" as opposed to other locations using the "impure" variety.

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Kurt Zupin
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 989
From: Maricopa, Arizona
Registered: Oct 2004

posted 08-15-2007 03:17 AM

Thanks Chris, I can't access there site from work. I'll check it out when I get home. Don't get it, only two websites other then our company page I can access are IMDB and Film-tech.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-15-2007 07:33 AM

Ask MIchael Schaffer about them... he was their tech for a few years....

Mark

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Chad M Calpito
Master Film Handler

Posts: 435
From: San Diego, CA
Registered: Apr 2006

posted 08-15-2007 09:18 AM

Yeah, I heard of this company. I used to work for them about 6 years ago before they went to Digital. I worked as an Assistant Manager at La Costa 6 as well as being a full-time projectionist.

Michael Shaeffer might know if they are going to your area.

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Cameron Glendinning
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 845
From: West Ryde, Sydney, NSW Australia
Registered: Dec 2005

posted 08-15-2007 11:10 AM

Pure digital cinema LOL, experience the future of marketing bullshit today! [thumbsup]

I tend to think that generally people love hype! When I was a kid, I was at one stage very impressed with the "This Film is presented in Eprad Starscope Sound" Slide.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-15-2007 06:42 PM

Indeed some of the DLP snipes that accompany films today are quite impressive and way different from anything you'll see on film!! They do grab your attention for sure... The last film I saw was in D-Cinema and they had the TI DLP snipe followed by the Dolby Digital Cinema snipe and then by the THX snipe which at the end of all the snipes was so lame I can't begin to describe what a let down it was. Ha!

Mark

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Mike Croaro
Master Film Handler

Posts: 394
From: Millbrae, CA
Registered: Apr 2005

posted 08-15-2007 08:07 PM

Hi Folks:

Is this the "Star Cinemas" that once operated the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz, CA (and whose president is Robert Reis)? Does anyone know.

Mike

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Michael Schaffer
"Where is the
Boardwalk Hotel?"

Posts: 4143
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Apr 2002

posted 08-16-2007 01:51 AM

No, they don't have anything to do with that. They are and have been only in southern California so far, and then there are some locations in Mexico under the brand name Xtreme Cinemas. Before UltraStar, the same owners operated the CinemaStar theaters in southern California.
I indeed used to work for them as Director of Engineering for a while, and they are also one of the customers of the company I work for now (Universal Cinema Services). We will be installing the equipment in a new location in Apple Valley, CA very soon (due to open in late September), but since I do not know at what stage of planning some of their possible future projects are, I can not tell you anything about these. Which means I don't know exactly what they are planning to do anyway, but apart from that, I can not divulge any information about possible future projects of our customers until they decide to release that information themselves. But you could simply contact and ask them.

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Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 08-16-2007 02:54 PM

quote:
Indeed some of the DLP snipes that accompany films today are quite impressive and way different from anything you'll see on film!! They do grab your attention for sure... The last film I saw was in D-Cinema and they had the TI DLP snipe followed by the Dolby Digital Cinema snipe and then by the THX snipe which at the end of all the snipes was so lame I can't begin to describe what a let down it was. Ha!

I remember the good old days when theaters cared enough about marketing to run the digital sound and THX trailers before the movie started. As much as technical people like to rail against marketing campaigns and slogans, it's the marketing that brings in the traffic.

After all, isn't exhibition show business? It would seem to me that many theaters have forgotten that fact...

After having had to watch 20 minutes of commercials and movie trailers (and that's just the amount of time after the advertised movie start time), digital sound and THX trailers are a great way to cleanse the palate, so to speak, before the movie begins.

From my understanding, digital cinema makes it much easier for theaters to insert such things, so there's yet another reason for why I'm looking forward to the advancement of DC into the Milwaukee area!

Any chance we could get UltraStar to come to Wisconsin? [Smile]

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 퍼항시, 경상푹도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 08-16-2007 03:44 PM

quote: Scott Jentsch
After having had to watch 20 minutes of commercials and movie trailers (and that's just the amount of time after the advertised movie start time), digital sound and THX trailers are a great way to cleanse the palate, so to speak, before the movie begins.

I disagree. To me, it's yet another ad. And to me a feature presentation snipe does a much better "job" at "cleansing the palate" in the sense that it lets you get prepared for seeing the actual movie.

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Mark Strube
Master Film Handler

Posts: 322
From: Milwaukee, WI, United States
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 08-16-2007 05:26 PM

I could maybe get behind a feature presentation snipe that has respectable 5.1, or even integrate DTS/THX snipes within the feature presentation snipe. Now that would be cool. If not, I think a seperate sound system logo is the way to go. Anyways, people still love the THX snipes, as little as we see them, since it seems certification isn't very important to theatres anymore. (Not that I blame them, it's semi-useless beyond marketing purposes.)

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Brad Allen
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 688
From: Evansville, IN, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 08-17-2007 01:48 PM

Anyone see the Bee Movie Dolby Digital snipe?

Stupid and non effective. The sound on it is simply loud, not impressive in the least.

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Thomas Pitt
Master Film Handler

Posts: 266
From: Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
Registered: May 2007

posted 08-17-2007 03:19 PM

I haven't seen a 'Feature Presentation' snipe for many years now, but I do distinctly remember some of them. Warner Village Cinemas (now VUE) used to have a Feature Presentation snipe featuring the Looney Tunes characters.
Cineworld, between the ad reel and trailer reel, has a snipe that says something like "It's nearly time for the movie, but there' still time to get refreshments". They don't have a feature presentation snipe though.

At cinemas in this country, when they play a movie digitally, they often use a mixture of 35mm and digital projection. They take an advert/trailer reel from a movie that's the same rating as the digital movie, and run that first. However, when it comes across the 'switch to scope' cue on film, it switches over to the digital projector almost seamlessly. The fact that the digital image has no bob, weave or film dirt (plus a different reflectance) makes it more noticeable.

Maybe this is the 'impure' digital cinema variety? [Big Grin]

Also, the 'gold spot' between the final trailer and the actual movie has changed in recent months. It used to be occupied by an Orange ad, but now a 1-minute Pizza Hut ad is there for all family films. The reason I mention this is that it contains many sound effects that appear to move round the auditorium using the screen and surround speakers. Apart from a good way to test if the surrounds are working, I don't think this ad is very effective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N70NSsPUsD0 if you want to see it.

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 퍼항시, 경상푹도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 08-17-2007 08:15 PM

quote: Thomas Pitt
I haven't seen a 'Feature Presentation' snipe for many years now, but I do distinctly remember some of them. Warner Village Cinemas (now VUE) used to have a Feature Presentation snipe featuring the Looney Tunes characters.

AMC uses a Feature Presentation snipe. It's pretty basic but gets the job done for getting the people in the mode of "my movie's coming up NOW."

But obviously, there are no AMC's in the UK for you to compare it too.

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