Cohen, Landmark Theatres, and You

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mfunk9786
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Cohen, Landmark Theatres, and You

#1 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue Dec 04, 2018 6:08 pm

Cohen Media Group to purchase Landmark Theaters - outbidding Netflix and Amazon, among others

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: Cohen Film Collection

#2 Post by Matt » Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:10 pm

I hope they put some money into them. One near me reeks of mildew and piss. I wouldn't even go there to see the last Lynne Ramsay or Lucrecia Martel films.

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domino harvey
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Re: Cohen Film Collection

#3 Post by domino harvey » Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:12 pm

That's funny, the one in the Inner Harbor is the nicest movie theatre in Baltimore

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CSM126
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Re: Cohen Film Collection

#4 Post by CSM126 » Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:18 pm

The only problem at my local Landmark is the lack of hot water in the restroom sinks. And that was true of that theatre even before Landmark bought it.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Cohen Film Collection

#5 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:34 pm

The ones in Philadelphia are pretty much exactly the same as before Landmark bought them, except they used to put out booklets forecasting upcoming films and now it's just a one page pamphlet. The prices haven't been notably increased, I think it's still $10 even on a weekend.

But they've notably been slow to adapt to technology that has been useful for exhibiting films from notable auteurs - no 70mm projectors, no 3D, etc. But as long as Cohen doesn't muck anything up with the Ritz East in particular (such a fabulous movie theater), I'll be a happy man.

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senseabove
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:07 am

Re: Cohen Film Collection

#6 Post by senseabove » Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:49 pm

They run the gamut in the Bay Area, though most of them have mediocre-to-acceptable presentation and mediocre-to-acceptable facilities. I wouldn't say any of them are particularly admirable, but Opera Plaza is the only one I tend to avoid of those I have fairly easy access to. Tiny screens in very tiny rooms with seats right up against the screen. I like to sit close, but not that close. Thankfully, Opera Plaza's mostly a theater for movies that've already had runs in other Landmarks but that're still moving tickets, and so need to be moved to a less-prime theater (e.g. Midnight in Paris played there for MONTHS). There are 9 theaters in the greater area, ranging from 2 to 6 screens each, and I'd bet about half of the individual theaters I've been in have at least one blown speaker, and in all of the ones with recliner seats, fully a third of them are unusably squeaky, if not outright broken. They could certainly use some TLC.


This seems like good news, though. I feel like I've only heard good things about the Quad, programming-wise, so here's hoping we get more adventurous programming nation-wide, and maybe a little theater upkeep, too.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Cohen Film Collection

#7 Post by Michael Kerpan » Tue Dec 04, 2018 8:06 pm

The Kendall Square Landmark is pretty decent in most respects -- maybe not enough soundproofing when sitting in a room next to a room in which a noisier movie is playing. And I miss the homemade mint brownies that where abandoned when they remodeled the concession area to include an alcohol section... Lots of good films and better than average popcorn.

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Brian C
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Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:58 am
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Re: Cohen Film Collection

#8 Post by Brian C » Tue Dec 04, 2018 8:12 pm

I've written about the Century Centre here in Chicago before - in short, generally mediocre all around - and I honestly don't remember what the Highland Park one is like in the burbs up north.

But the Inwood in Dallas was one of my favorite places to go back when I lived there. It had been there forever with minimal upkeep, but I used to think it was the perfect environment to watch an old movie. I still remember seeing Grand Illusion there, what, 20 years ago now, I guess, when Rialto reissued it. It was also the last place I went to before I moved to Chicago, to see the new Final Cut of Blade Runner. Naturally, it seems like they only play new wide-release movies there now. No idea if they've spruced it up over the last decade since I was there last.

I went to the Magnolia often too in Dallas, especially when it first opened. It was a nice place. Super trendy at the time.

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whaleallright
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Re: Cohen Film Collection

#9 Post by whaleallright » Wed Dec 05, 2018 8:57 am

The Quad has been pretty great since Cohen took over. there's nothing to be done about the tinier auditoria, in which you have to count on the audience walking right into the projection beam if they get up from their seats, but the programming has been consistently good, sometimes downright strange in an appealing way (the upcoming series of films starring but not directed by Orson Welles is a case in point; it's almost all 16mm and 35mm, and includes some real ringers). and while the visual aesthetic they went for during the remodel is not exactly my cup of tea, they've clearly put a ton of money into it.

I do wonder if Cohen taking over Landmark means there's any possibility of repertory programming at these theaters. I can see Cohen wanting a nationwide venue for some of the films his company has acquired, and not just the new ones. that said, a 70-year-old Cocteau film (for example) is a harder sell in a lot of the smaller markets than in downtown Manhattan.

prior to the Cohen purchase, are Landmark theaters programmed locally or from corporate? (or maybe a mix?)

the bottom line is I think we're a lot better off with Cohen owning Landmark than Amazon or Netflix, who would likely just see it as a (potentially quite expendable) way of extending their brand and creepy consumer surveillance-based business models.

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Oedipax
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Re: Cohen Film Collection

#10 Post by Oedipax » Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:02 pm

My local Landmark in Atlanta does some repertory programming - there's a recurring "classics" series that groups 8 or 10 films under a loose thematic banner, once a week, with introductions and post-film discussions. The upcoming series is pretty good: Eraserhead, Andrei Rublev, Hiroshima mon amour, I Am Cuba, The Exterminating Angel, The Color of Pomegranates, Kurosawa's Dreams, and Breathless. While I kind of bristle at the program description ("some of the most experimental films ever made!"), I'm happy the films will be shown and will attend many of the screenings myself. If Cohen's acquisition allows this type of programming to expand beyond one-off screenings and venture beyond just mostly canonized Film History 101 type selections (not a knock on any of the films, but you know...), that would be an excellent development.

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senseabove
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Re: Cohen Film Collection

#11 Post by senseabove » Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:54 pm

The closest we get to rep screenings at our Landmarks is the occasional restoration screening, e.g. some recent Rialto-managed and Merchant Ivory restorations like Battle of Algiers, La Notte, and Maurice. Those I've been to were pretty poorly attended, though. Battle of Algiers played for two weeks, I think, and when I saw it, I was one of maybe seven people in one of the medium-sized rooms at the 6-screen theater. Meanwhile, when the same restoration played at the rep house one block away several weeks later, the two or three screenings they had completely sold out. (And the rep screening hadn't been announced when the Landmark screening was happening, so it wasn't like folks were just holding off to see it in the better venue.) So if they do more rep screenings, I hope CMG is better at advertising them...

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domino harvey
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Re: Cohen Film Collection

#12 Post by domino harvey » Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:57 pm

We don't get reps at the Landmark here (which is fine, because the other three movie theatres in Baltimore all do them) but we do get a lot of live theatrical performance broadcasts

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