Western Film

Cool Mark Wahlberg trailer.

2011-09-30T00:25:00.003-04:00

This movie comes out in January. Looks like nothing extremely special but should be entertaining. I think the trailer could have been shorter, it gives more information than it needs to. I had decided to see the movie about half way though...

This looks like a cool movie.

2011-09-22T03:10:00.003-04:00

This played at TIFF Midnight Madness and apparently was quite a hit. The trailer doesn't show any dialog so it's probably in a foreign language. I think I read it was made in Indonesia. I imagine Hollywood is already trying to remake it.

Interesting trailer for movie no one wanted.

2011-08-31T00:10:00.002-04:00

This movie premiered 3 years ago but for some reason no US distributor wanted it. It's finally coming out this Fall. I think it looks interesting, especially considering the talent involved.

Oldboy Remake with Josh Brolin, not sure how I feel about this.

2011-08-30T23:54:00.004-04:00

Oldboy is a cult Korean film about a man who is imprisoned for 15 years and doesn't know why or by who. When he gets out he goes looking for revenge. It's one of the coolest and most violent films I've seen. Now word comes that Hollywood is remaking it with Josh Brolin in the lead. I don't see how that could possibly turn out well, maybe for people who haven't seen the original. The Korean version is very violent in a way that's probably too much even for American audiences. It's also got a couple twists that deal with subjects Americans are very touchy about.

Do yourself a favour and watch the original , even if you do have to read it. It's got one of the neatest fight scenes ever, all in one hallway, shot from outside, and all one shot if I remember correctly.
I might even play it for the Midnight Series.

Trailer for Korean version.

The Fight scene, although you may not want to view if you plan to see the film. Hard to imagine Hollywood could improve on this.

Next Week's Film Sep 2 - 8

2011-08-30T23:33:00.005-04:00

There wasn't much to chose from this week. Final Destination 5 is available but we don't play horror films. The only other new film available was Captain America which I booked in. Disney said we could have Fright Night as of the 16th but I don't think I'll play it. It wasn't a bad movie and shouldn't have bombed the way it did but I don't think anyone will come see it at Western Film.

I was hoping Horrible Bosses would come off as it would make a good Frosh Week movie but it didn't, maybe the following week.

For a late show I decided to bring back Bridesmaids. It did quite well even the second week we played it before and it's a good Frosh Week comedy.

Frosh week is quite crazy with regular customers plus the Frosh, if the weather is bad or they don't want to go to whatever event is planned for the night we can get as many as 200 Frosh show up.

Early Plug for upcoming film. Attack The Block

2011-08-26T03:15:00.004-04:00

Sony contacted me about whether we wanted to play a film called Attack the Block. We would be the only place in London to play it. It's a British film about kids in a poor neighborhood in England who fight off an alien invasion. Looks like a horror / comedy hybrid. It's played at festivals and gotten a lot of good reviews. I saw the trailer months ago and wanted to see it.

I'm a little nervous as no one I have asked about has heard of it. Hopefully I can change that over the next couple moths. It's currently scheduled to start Oct 21, playing as a late show. There's only 4 prints for all of Canada which is why we have to wait so long.

Trailer is below. Let me know if you think it looks good.

Next Week Movies Aug 26 - Sep 1

2011-08-26T03:03:00.003-04:00

This is a bit of an experimental week. The Tree Of Life was already booked in which I'm nervous about. It doesn't have the highest profile and the Hyland played it for weeks which will have cut down on the number of people who can come see it here. At least if it bombs I'll have something to point to next time someone says we should play more art product. It's a long movie as well so the late show would have had to be at 9:45. There wasn't anything available I thought would work that late at night.

I'm trying something I haven't done in years, bringing in a movie for matinees only. Cars 2 will play Sat and Sun afternoon only.

The new movies available were Captain America and Cowboys and Aliens. I'm not sure about playing Cowboys. Captain may play the following week depending on what is available. That week is Frosh Week which is one of our busiest weeks of the year. I try to have suitable movies available. I'm hoping Horrible Bosses comes available.

Midnight in Paris is tentatively scheduled for Sept 16th. The two weeks before that cover Frosh Week which would be a bad time to play it. The students who are here won't be interested in seeing it and off-campus people avoid the campus because of the chaos that week.

Next Week's movie Aug 19 -25.

2011-08-15T22:58:00.004-04:00

I booked in Transformers which was available last week. It's so long it needs to play by itself which worked out because the only other film available this week was Cowboys and Aliens which I haven't decided whether to play or not.

The Hyland is dropping Tree Of Life finally but the print is going to another city so we couldn't have it for next week. It is booked in to start Aug 26th though.

I was told I could have Cars 2 as of Aug 26th. Disney puts two weeks between when it finishes at other theatres and when we can have it. I've been unsure what to do about this one. I wanted to play it but not once school starts up again. Disney wants a higher percentage again but unlike Pirates 4 I expect it will do at least good business and it isn't three hours long. I decided to try something I haven't done in years. I'm going to play Cars 2 for just weekend matinees with no evening shows. I don't normally do it because the minimum fee now has to paid for by just 4 matinees instead of a whole week of evening shows. If it tanks it'll suck but based on how Kung Fu Panda 2 did for matinees it should work.

I'm going to wait and see if anything is available the following week to play with Tree Of Life. Tree of Life is fairly long so the late show would be at 9:45. Only something like Horrible Bosses would work that late during the summer.

Funniest trailer I've seen in a while.

2011-08-15T22:52:00.003-04:00

The title says it all. I'll definetley see this one in 3D. One of the few other films I've seen that was really worth the 3D was Jackass 3D. It really used the 3D in interesting ways.

The new Harold and Kumar film looks to be getting somewhat self-reflexive. ( acknowleding that the charaters know they are in a movie such as when a charater talks to the audience.) If done right that can be really funny.

Why Western Film may not play Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tide

2011-08-03T22:49:00.004-04:00

There's three reasons why we may not play Pirates 4 even though I had stated on my coming soon page that I would be playing it. They all kinda interact.

Disney wants a higher percentage than usual. Often if I wait they will drop the percentage but I've been told it won't drop.

Despite the fact it made a billion dollars I don't expect it to do well at Western Film. Basically because most of the people who wanted to see it already went out and did so. The word of mouth wasn't great so I'm not likely to get many that just didn't want to pay full price. word of mouth is key these days.

It's so long I can't play another film afterwards. During the summer we get a different crowd than in the school year and generally they won't go to a late show, especially if it gets to around 9:45 or so.

So basically I would have to play the movie by itself, don't expect it to do well and have to give most of the ticket sales to Disney...That's a recipe for not playing the film.

If I get a week soon where nothing else is available I'll play it then, otherwise it won't be playing.

Next Week's Movie Aug 5 - 11

2011-08-03T22:42:00.002-04:00

We finally got Bridesmaids. It came out in May and did steady business at the first run theatres so we had to wait until now. As a contrast, I've already played some films that came out in July. I don't think I've had to wait this long for a Hollywood film in ages. I sometimes have to wait a while for small Art films but that's usually more because of a lack of prints.

The local Art theatre The Hyland is holding on Tree Of Life and Midnight in Paris so I can't play those yet.

The only other films close to coming off were Transformers and Zookeeper. I plan to play Transformers but do not plan to play Zookeeper.

Midnight Movies Return.

2011-08-03T22:39:00.003-04:00

The Midnight Movies will return as of Sept 16th. The series last year did quite well and turned a profit. If anyone is actually reading this and has any suggestions please e-mail them to wfilm@uwo.ca . A lot of the films will be the same ones we played last year but I want to try some new ones, especially to replace the movies that bombed last year.

Want some Fight Club Soap?

2011-06-28T20:43:00.007-04:00

Came across an interesting ad on kijiji. Not sure how legit it is but it's an interesting collectible to have. I should try to sell some at the snack bar when we play Fight Club for the midnight series next year. Although we probably wouldn't sell many as the guy wants $70?!

This is the text of the ad:

"This is a plastic resin FIGHT CLUB soap bar made from a cast of the ORIGINAL mould used to make the bar seen in movie posters. I am asking $70 for this bar since it is a blood relative of the one used to promote the film. Measuring at 3" 1/2 W by 2" 1/8 L by 1" 1/4 H THIS IS THE CLOSEST REPLICA POSSIBLE TO THE ORIGINAL MOVIE BAR!!
I am a hobbyist prop maker with an appreciation for this very clever film... and I'm not the only one. This bar was made 100% by me, is made from a very durable plastic resin which has been tinted the appropriate colour pink and will last forever! This bar comes WRAPPED as depicted in the film.
Also with the purchase of this soap you will get a FREE replica Tyler Durden business card. But shhh...! Don't tell anyone I told you all this. Cause the first rule is... I'm not supposed to talk about it.
(Real FC soap also available)."

Someone has seen a lot of movies...

2011-06-03T01:01:00.004-04:00

An interesting video comparing Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill to many of the movies that inspired it. Some would say Tarantino steals from other movies but I find he mixes things up and changes them enough to make then fresh. It's hard to do anything these days that can't be compared to something else before it.

Everything Is A Remix: KILL BILL from robgwilson.com on Vimeo.

Cool article about Easter Eggs hidden in movies and tv shows.

2011-05-31T23:36:00.004-04:00

An interesting article about how various things are hidden in some movies and TV shows. A couple of these I knew about, such as how the Inception music was created, others I think they are trying a little to hard to read something that may not be there on purpose, such as the Indiana Jones poster entry.

Someone has a twisted imagination...

2011-05-19T01:52:00.001-04:00

This picture reminds me of Ghostbusters.

Trailer for New version of Fright Night.

2011-05-18T00:28:00.004-04:00

The original is a mini-classic 80's horror film. This one looks good, Colin Farrell should make a good vampire.

Is this a movie trailer?

2011-04-26T20:19:00.004-04:00

Apparently this is on a new video game but at this point I'm not sure if it's a trailer for a video game or a fake trailer for a movie. It looks kinda interesting, maybe it will actually get made like Hobo With A Shotgun.

Trailer for The Devil's Double.

2011-04-26T20:14:00.004-04:00

This looks like an interesting film. Dominic Cooper plays both Saddam Hussein's son and a man forced to be his double. Could get confusing if they don't figure out a way of differentiating the two.

It was picked up by LionsGate in the US so will be released by Maple here in Canada. Current release date is Aug 5th. Hopefully it doesn't just play the larger cities.

Interesting Trailer - Another Earth.

2011-04-26T20:11:00.003-04:00

Never heard of this film before but trailer looks interesting. I wonder how much sci-fi content there is or if it's just a backdrop for the drama?
It's from Fox Searchlight so likely will never play at Western Film.

This looks Cool. 4 minute trailer for Green Lantern.

2011-04-08T02:22:00.005-04:00

I'm a sucker for comic book movies, especially ones starting Ryan Reynolds. Comic Book movies always seem to either work really well or not very well at all. The first trailer didn't get too many people excited but this new footage looks pretty cool.

This looks cool. Attack The Block

2011-04-08T02:18:00.002-04:00

A British film that's been picked up for distribution in the US. I haven't heard about Canada. I hope it plays around here.

Trailer for Crazy Stupid Love.

2011-04-08T02:14:00.004-04:00

This movie looks like it has potential. I'm not sure Ryan Gosling pulls off his character but he's usually pretty good so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Pretty much everyone in it is good so hopefully the whole package will come together.

New Trailer for Warrior with Tom Hardy

2011-04-08T02:09:00.004-04:00

I'm normally not into fighting films. I find it weird that people get paid to do what can get you arrested in other situations. This movie does look interesting though. I'm already hearing that Nick Nolte will be up for awards.

Funny trailer for upcoming film.

2011-04-08T02:04:00.008-04:00

Not quite sure what to make of this one.... I think Helen Mirren is so cool, She can act the pants off anyone but still be in on the joke. The only reason I would see Arthur is for her.

When Harry Met Sally 2 with Billy Crystal & Helen Mirren from Billy Crystal

Midnight Movies and The Room aftermath.

2011-04-08T01:42:00.005-04:00

This was an interesting year as far as Midnight movies go. I was able to bring back the series after not doing it for a few years. We stopped doing it because so many movies were no longer available on 35mm film.

With the purchase of a high definition professional video projector I was able to bring the movies back by playing them off Blu-Ray. The new projector made an image about the same size as our flat film picture and almost as good. I wasn't comfortable charging money to see anything with the old projector we had in the room but that's not the case now.

Overall the Midnight series made a good profit. Only a few films lost money, there were some surprises as to what didn't do well ( Office Space, The Notebook) and what did do well ( V For Vendetta, Christmas Vacation).

The biggest surprise was The Room. A movie I had never heard of until students started asking for it. In case you are unfamiliar, it's a very bad movie that people see to laugh at how bad it is as well as some Rocky Horroresqe actions like throwing plastic spoons as certain points. We ended up playing it three times, the first two times we did about 300 people, the last time 150. Considering the last showing was just before exams started I was expecting about that number.

We made quite a bit of money off The Room showings as not only did we sell a lot of tickets but they bought a lot of food. I forgot to bring my camera for the last showing or I would have taken pics of the hundreds, maybe thousands, of plastic spoons all over the theatre.

The midnight series made money even without the money from The Room so it was definitely worth doing, plus everyone had a great time at the movies.

The series will be back next year with some of the same movies and some that haven't shown before. Some of the films after Christmas didn't do as well as I thought they would which I think is purely timing. Students are busier in the spring than fall. As an experiment I'm going to play some of those films earlier next year and see if it make a difference. For example Monty Python's Holy Grail did about 100 people in September but Life of Brian only had about 45 in March. Next year I'll play them in the opposite order and see what happens.

I'll be doing up the Fall schedule in August so feel free to e-mail suggestions to wfilm@uwo.ca

Vintage video about how Disney made Snow White in 1938.

2011-04-08T01:35:00.004-04:00

I bet a lot of younger people used to computer animation don't realize just how much tedious work it used to take to make a animated film.

Next Weeks movie Mar 4 - 10

2011-03-04T00:15:00.004-05:00

Next week worked out pretty well. I was afraid we wouldn't get Black Swan until into the exam period but the other theatres finished with it earlier than I expected. It was actually available to us last Friday but I didn't take it which turned out to be a bonus. To play it last week Fox wanted what are called Per Caps which basically means we pay percentage based on fictional ticket prices they set rather than our actual ticket price. It usually means paying about 15% more. I didn't take it last week because I had already planned to play Fighter and True Grit and started the advertising on the Holiday Monday. Once we did the booking on Tuesday I could have chosen to play Black Swan but then I would have had to redo and resend all the advertising. I figured one week wouldn't make that big a difference. As it turned out Fox dropped the Per Caps so we will pay the usual amount. They did say I couldn't split it so it's playing two shows a night. In this case I don't object because I think it will do well enough. Natalie Portman just winning Best Actress likely won't hurt either?!

Some of the films available that will play in the next couple weeks, Tron Legacy, Tangled, Green Hornet. I don't think I'm going to play The Dilemma. I had been planning to play 127 Hours but it came out surprisingly fast on DVD, it was still playing at Westmount so I hadn't had a chance to play it yet. Knowing Fox they will still expect me to play it both shows. If they let me split it I might try it.

I'm planning to play Blue Valentine but there are only a few prints so it may be a while before I can get ahold of one.

How many 80's movie references can you spot?

2011-03-04T00:08:00.003-05:00

This is a music video for a 80's song from TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT, a movie being released tomorrow that is set in the 80's. Apparently the movie was shot 4 years ago under a different title but for some reason is just coming out now.

The video has a ton of 80's movie references, a cameo by one of the stars of one of those movies I found funny.

Can't Decide if this is good or bad.

2011-03-03T23:57:00.002-05:00

Press Release: SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (March 3, 2011) – Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox announced today that the 3D theatrical launch of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace now has an official release date – February 10, 2012! Set against the thrilling and exotic backdrop of a “galaxy far, far away,” Star Wars is perfectly suited to the immersive 3D theatrical experience, and Episode I delivers some of the Saga’s most stunning and spectacular sequences – from the Naboo invasion to the Tatooine Podraces to the climactic lightsaber battle between Darth Maul and the Jedi. Supervised by Industrial Light & Magic, the meticulous conversion is being done with utmost respect for the source material, and with a keen eye for both technological considerations and artistic intentions.

I'm one of many with a love/hate relationship with George Lucas. I love the Star Wars films but haven't always appreciated what he's done with them. It really pisses me off that he won't let movie theatres play them. That's why none of them have played in our Midnight series. It also annoys me how hard he makes it for people to see the original three movies as they were originally released.

Still, I imagine I'll go see Phantom in 3D. I don't think I've seen the movie in about 10 years.

Funny trailer for Arthur remake

2011-02-19T22:15:00.004-05:00

Here's the first trailer for the remake of Arthur starring Russell Brand. It looks pretty funny, he's trying to sound a bit like Dudley Moore I would say. The joke involving two European countries made me laugh out loud which I don't do often.

Interesting Video about Visual Effects from Hereafter

2011-02-19T22:09:00.001-05:00

I find this kind of stuff fascinating. It's amazing what they can do with effects these days. I never saw Hereafter but I heard it was worth seeing just for the Tsunami sequence at the beginning.

Cool Trailer - X-Men First Class

2011-02-17T00:56:00.004-05:00

Hopefully this prequel will be more like the first two X-Men films than the third one, they have a good director (Matthew Vaughn) so that's a good sign.

Next Week's Film Feb 18 - 24

2011-02-17T00:32:00.004-05:00

Next week is Slack Week AKA spring break so it's usually a dead week since the majority of the students are gone. I usually try to play a film that primarily appeals to adults if possible, or, I try to play a film I don't expect to do great but feel I should play. In this case it's Little Fockers, it didn't get great reviews or word of mouth but it was one of the Big Christmas releases so I feel I should play it. I think the students aren't all that interested in it but the adults who saw the first two movies when they were new might be interested.

I decided to play only the one show, there wasn't anything suitable for a late show available. Monday is a holiday so it's a good week to only have one show in terms of saving some labour costs.

We won't be having a showing of Fockers on Wednesday as we will be having an advance screening of Nicolas Cage's new film Drive Angry at 7pm. It will be free, check the website at westernfilm.ca for details.

There were two other films available:

The Dilemma- I'm not sure I'm going to play this one, it didn't get a lot of press, got bad reviews and generally bombed.

Barney's Version- I'm also not sure about this one, it has low awareness but is apparently a good film.

The Fighter was already available but I didn't want to play it during Slack Week. I'm currently planning to play it starting on the 25th. The weekend is part of Slack Week but the students will be back for the weekdays.

True Grit has done well enough to keep for another week but again I didn't want to play it next week. I'm planning to bring it back starting Feb 25th as a late show unless something more interesting is available. It will be back at some point. True Grit has done pretty well this week and the numbers are low because the students start leaving for Slack Week early or have assignments right before Slack Week.

I was quite surprised True Grit came available when it did so that leaves me some hope Black Swan and King's Speech may come available during March.

The Room aftermath.

2011-01-25T03:10:00.004-05:00

I kicked myself that I forgot to bring my camera to the screening of The Room this previous friday. I wanted to take pics of the mess the theatre was in after the screening. The Room is a very very bad movie that got the Rocky Horror Picture thing going. There's actions done at certain times and lines spoken at certain points. It's not as regimented as Rocky Horror but also not as messy.

When I restarted the Midnight series I had several people ask for this movie The Room that I had never heard of. I decided not to play it and when I e-mailed one of the guys who suggested the film he sent back a link to a newspaper article about how monthly shows at a theatre in Toronto were selling out. I mentioned it at the next couple midnight shows and got quite the audicence reaction.

I decided to book it for Nov 12th and see what happned.

We had 295 people show up, one of the biggest crowds we've had in years. We sold $800 worth of snack foods. Most of the patrons were drunk or stoned so they all had the munchies I guess.

The screening went over okay, the crowd was a bit loud but everyone had a good time, except for the few people who left becuase they were expecting to watch the actual movie.

I booked it again this previous Friday. We had about 30 fewer people but it was bloody cold that night. We sold about the same amount of food. I know this becuase again it took me about 40 minutes just to pick up the garbage?!

One of the elements of the audience participation is the throwing of plastic spoons at certain places. There must have been at least a couple thousand spoons all over the floor.

I didn't have a Midnight film scheduled for April 1, for some reason I thought it was easter weekend when I initially did the schedule. I decided to book The Room in for one more screening this year. It's just before classes end so it will be a good way for the students to blow off some steam.

The image below I found on the net. Imagine a floor with about 20 times as many spoons and you'll see what Western Film looked like.

The clip below gives a good idea about what to expect from the film.

Funny yet thought provoking article.

2011-01-25T03:03:00.003-05:00

I came across this article on cracked.com today. I didn't even know they were still in business. I thought it was interesting and correct in many ways. It's about how 9 famous movie villains were actually correct and maybe not the bad guy they were made out to be. The one about the Wizard of Oz sounds pretty legit to me.

Check it out.

http://www.cracked.com/article_18417_the-lighter-side-dark-side-5-villains-who-were-good.html

Ironic blog redesign.

2011-01-25T02:53:00.002-05:00

You may have noticed the blog has a new look. This was not intentional but worked out. I had noticed when I embedded YouTube videos they always seemed to be cut off at the side. The new wide screen format wasn't translating properly. I started looking around at how to fix it and discovered that you could change the look of the blog. As it so happens the one I choose looks very similar to the new look of the Western Film website. I was quite happy.

Next Week's Films. Jan 28 - Feb 4

2011-01-25T02:40:00.004-05:00

There were two movies available but there was a bit of a conundrum. To do well both would need to be the 7:00 show so I decided to experiment.

The Tourist I booked in for 7pm. This movie got some bad buzz but people have been asking for it so I think it should do okay. Even if it's a bad movie it's still got Depp and Jolie.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1- This has to play at 7pm for at least the first week so I booked it to start Feb 4th.

So for a late show for next week I had to get creative. There wasn't anything left that we had chosen not to play in the past. I briefly toyed with playing Jackass 3. I decided to try bringing in Inside Job a documentary about the global financial crisis narrated by Matt Damon. I'm not sure if enough people have heard of it to do well but we'll see. There are two other factors at work. The Oscar noms are being announced tomorrow and Inside Job has been mentioned as a likely nominee for Best Documentary. There is a local teacher that bring a couple classes of high school students to educational type films sometimes. I had asked him a few weeks ago if he would bring them to Inside Job and he said he probably would. Hopefully the timing is good and he can bring the students. That would cover about half of what the film needs to break even.

So Harry Potter is the following week. Not sure what or if there will be a late show since Harry is fairly long. Maybe I'll bring in Jackass, it's short and might be popular. We didn't do great with the second one though.

I can't tell if this is real or fake.

2011-01-16T22:34:00.003-05:00

This is supposedly a trailer for a real movie. If it is it's already in the running for worst.movie.ever. If this is really David Carradine's last film that would be a real shame. He should be remembered for the Kill Bill films.
Since three of the cast of the Kill Bill films are in this film I wonder if it's some sort of joke trailer made by Tarantino?

I want this guys job!

2011-01-14T00:42:00.004-05:00

The first is a cool little short film making the rounds. I didn't want to give anything away by making the title of this point more specific.

According to Cinematical this short's creators have now attracted the attention of Hollywood. This adds it to the growing list of short films from the internet that are either being made into films or have gotten the filmmakers noticed. Just as an aside I'll post one of the other ones below. The second short is supposedly being made into a feature length film. It's an interesting little film, I wonder how they'll make it full length?

MODERN TIMES from BC2010 on Vimeo.

PIXELS by Patrick Jean from ONE MORE PRODUCTION on Vimeo.

This is just the credits for Enter The Void.

2011-01-14T00:31:00.003-05:00

I've heard of the film but I'm not sure what it's about. However if this is the just the opening credits for a 161 minute film I'm not sure if my nervous system could take watching the whole film?!

New Trailer for Battle: Los Angeles.

2011-01-13T03:29:00.005-05:00

Sci-Fi is my favorite genre and I'm a sucker for big blow it all up action films so this looks like the perfect combination for me. If any of this looks familiar there may be a reason for it. The company that did the visual effects for Battle: Los Angeles just happens to be owned by the guys who directed Skyline which has awfully similar effects. I heard Sony was thinking of suing them but I'm not sure if they did.
I like the song near the end of the trailer. I'll have to find out who sings it.

Advance Screening of The Mechanic Jan 24th!

2011-01-07T00:17:00.005-05:00

Alliance Films called me today and asked about doing an advance screening of Jason Statham's new film The Mechanic. Naturally I said yes, advance screenings are cool to do, especially a movie I think will be popular. We are doing the screening on Monday the 24th at 7pm. The movie opens Jan 28th.

I don't yet know how Alliance wants to handle distributing the passes. Usually they are given away as prizes by various media and groups. If there are any leftover we usually have them at the door for walk ups. It's a pretty big theatre so there's usually extra passes.

Here's the Red Band trailer: Red Band also means NSFW.

An Interesting Map.

2011-01-07T00:08:00.004-05:00

I found this on another site, it's a map of the US with the movies most associated with each State. Kinda interesting but since I'm Canadian I don't know all of the states locations. I wonder if they had included Canada what film it would have listed? Or would Canada just be a big grey blob like it is on most US tv channel maps?

Click on map for bigger version.

This looks interesting.

2010-10-20T17:44:00.001-04:00

I don't know if this movie is going to get a Canadian release, probably not, but I'd go see it.

Midnight Movies so far update

2010-10-15T00:45:00.003-04:00

We've only done three midnight films but all have done quite well so I'm optimistic the series will work.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail did about 70 people and they quite a few bought snacks.

The Shining did about 53 people but they bought more snacks and the dollar total was almost the same as Holy Grail.

I expected it to do less but Princess Bride did the best with about 85 people and a ton of snack bar sales.

So far each movie has done more than double what it needed to break even. This is good as some of the later movies may not break even. As long as the series as a whole doesn't lose money I can keep doing it.

This week is Clockwork Orange which I expect to do about the same as The Shining.

I purposely front loaded the schedule with the obvious Cult films to give the series a kick start, after Clockwork we get into some movies that are less obvious and I'll be curious to see how they do. I'll also be watching carefully what does well to help decide what to book for next term.

I'm still taking requests at wfilm@uwo.ca.

Next Week's movie Oct 15 - 21

2010-10-15T00:33:00.002-04:00

I had already booked in Inception to start on the 15th. It was available last week but I had already booked Eat Pray Love. I think Inception will do well, we've been waiting for it for a while.

My only decision was whether to play a late show next week. Inception is so long a late show would have been at 10pm, really late for us. Only certain movies will work that late, generally movies aimed only at younger people. Scott Pilgrim might have worked but I had already played it for two weeks. I considered bringing back Toy Story 3 since it was popular and is short so it wouldn't end too late at night. I decided not to. I also briefly considered playing Inception for two shows a night. I think it's popular enough to do so but the late show wouldn't finish until 12:45 which is after the last buses. It would also mess up the Friday Midnight movie.

Let Me In turned out to be available for next week. I wasn't expecting it to come off so fast. I considered playing it after Inception but decided I should wait for a week when I can play it earlier. I don't get a lot of movies that are good late shows so I wanted to make the best of it. Let Me In is basically a horror film but has enough other elements that it might play well at Western Film. It got good word of mouth as well. It may tank but it seems worth the risk.

So in the end Inception is playing by itself at 7pm.

Let Me In will be the late show the following week. I'm not sure what to expect for the early show.

Sometimes I think we should play this trailer before each movie.

2010-10-15T00:24:00.002-04:00

Let's just say occasionally I find things up in the back row I don't want to touch after the movie.

3D Discrimination - Jackass 3.

2010-09-22T17:46:00.004-04:00

UPDATE: Paramount moved the 2D release back to Oct 15th, the same date as 3D. I find it funny I never heard anything about this anywhere else but somone must have complained pretty loudly.

I just found out that anyone who can't play Jackass 3 in 3D has to wait 3 weeks before they can play it in 2D. 3D runs open Oct 15th but 2D runs open Nov 5th. This is new, up til now 2D always opened the same day as 3D. Yet more discriminatory practices against smaller theatres that can't afford the $100,000+ it takes to convert one screen to 3D.

I think they are doing this because more and more people are choosing 2D screenings over 3D because it's cheaper when given a choice. They are attempting to make more people pay the 3D surcharge as most admissions for any movie are in the first two weeks. However this movie is actually shot in 3D, not converted, and is probably one of the films that the 3D will be beneficial. Although I'm not looking forward to what they 'throw' or 'point at' the audience, I imagine gross substances and body parts not normally seen on screen will be involved.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. I don't think Western Film will play the movie anyway, we'll see how it does.

Midnight Movies return.

2010-09-14T01:50:00.003-04:00

We used to run a series of cult films Fridays at Midnight. It was quite popular however most of the films people wanted to see were no longer available on 35mm film for various reasons, mostly age and worn out and not replaced. I couldn't do the series on video because the video projector in the room generated a small, dim picture I would have been embarrassed to try to charge money for.
That's not the case any more.
The USC has invested in a new, high end video projector for the McKellar room for Western Film to use as well as other users of the room. It isn't a Digital Projector like some theatres use, those are still about $100,000. One of the main reasons I listed in my business case for buying the projector was the possibility of bringing back Midnight movies and playing them on video. People still ask about midnight movies all the time.
So now we can play the films off a DVD or Bluray. The new projector makes an image almost as good as the film projector and fills most of the screen.
Now we can play anything available that we can get the rights for. We can also play some movies that were never available on film in Canada such as Donnie Darko.
There's still some movies we can't play. Fox and George Lucas have all the Star Wars films out of service which means we aren't allowed to play them.
The most requested film is Rocky Horror but it's too messy to play in our nicely renovated theatre.
I've booked the first few films, however as of this writing only Holy Grail is confirmed so the list may change. I'm having trouble finding who owns the Canadian theatrical rights to Evil Dead, it's not the same as who owns the DVD rights which is unusual.
Now hopefully people show up. I'll be quite embarrassed if I've talked this series up to get them to invest in the new projector and not many people show up.
In the previous series we had more than 100 people show up for a few of the movies, however almost all of them were the movies with horrible prints. (Shining, Clockwork Orange)
If anyone has any suggestions please e-mail or leave them in the comments. However, take note, I reserve the right to ignore suggestions. I kept track of the movies suggested before, one of the most requested films, Taxi Driver, has one of the lowest attendances. I've had 4 people suggest a movie called The Room which I had never heard of. Since three of those requests arrived in one day I suspect one person had his or her friends request it as well. I'll embed the trailer below. Anyone think I should play it?

I'm a sucker for this kinda film...

2010-09-14T01:45:00.003-04:00

My favorite genre is science fiction and I hate to admit but I like the cheesy ones as well as the good ones. I can't quite decide which one Skyline is. It could be good like District 9 or a low rent version of Independence Day. I'm not sure how big a release it's getting, hopefully it will play here.

Next couple weeks films. Sep 3- 16

2010-08-31T02:26:00.002-04:00

Since we were closed for three weeks we built up a backlog of available movies. This resulted in us not playing a couple films we would have otherwise, but also allowed me to book the Frosh Week movies early. We try to get the new students into the theatre during Frosh Week so I booked the films ahead so the orientation staff and sophs can tell them what we are playing.

Here's some of the films that came available.

A-Team- from Fox so couldn't split, this movie wasn't worth playing by itself.

Knight and Day- also Fox and even less worth playing by itself.

If we had been open the three weeks I would have asked Fox if we could play both movies the same week, they will usually split with their own movies. Now better movies are available so I won't be playing either one.

Predators- Fox, no splits but probably wouldn't have played it anyway.

The Last Airbender - no words are needed.

Sorcerer's Apprentice. If we had been open I might have played it just to fill space but now I don't need to. It was a fun movie, I don't think it deserved the horrible death it got.

For re-opening I ended up booking The Girl Who Played With Fire. I'd rather have reopened with a big movie like Inception but it wasn't available. Also I wanted to play Girl before school started as a lot of the non-students stop coming during the first couple weeks of school. The other movie I reopened with was Grown Ups.

For Frosh Week I booked Twilight Eclipse and Dinner For Schmucks. Twilight isn't the best Frosh Week movie as mostly only the girls will go. Dinner For Schmucks is good for anyone.

For the last part of Frosh Week I booked Toy Story 3 and Salt, both good films. I wanted to play matinees of Toy Story but the theatre was already booked by someone else. Not an issue I would have had to worry about if we had got it before school started.

Renovations complete!

2010-08-31T02:23:00.002-04:00

The new seats are in, along with the new floor and some of the walls have been painted. As soon as I remember to take my camera in I'll post some pics.

The new seats are more comfortable than the old ones and have higher backs. The cupholders were delayed for some reason but are supposed to be installed soon.

The floor is now vinyl, not the prettiest things to look at but much easier to clean than carpet considering how much stuff is spilled in the theatre.

The new video projector hasn't come in yet. I'm looking forward to seeing the image it puts out. We are bringing back the midnight shows on video as a result.

Going to be an interesting year...

This trailer make no sense but looks cool.

2010-07-29T02:04:00.001-04:00

The movie is directed by Zack Snyder who did 300 and Watchmen. I like the imagery but have no idea how it all compiles into a movie?!

Next Week's films Jul 30 - Aug 5

2010-07-29T01:48:00.003-04:00

I've gotten behind on these again. The only new movie available to play for next week was The Last Airbender which I don't plan to play. The Karate Kid and Prince of Persia had both come available in the last couple weeks so I choose those. I'm not sure how Prince of Persia will do as it wasn't exactly a huge hit but I think it will do well enough to play it.

The A-Team is available but I can't split it so it probably won't be played. We are going to be closed for three playweeks for renovations as of Aug 6th. The timing is actually kinda good. I'm running out of movies to play. This has been a weird summer with a lot of disappointing movies, most of which we have either already played or won't be playing. Most of the movies currently playing now are hits that will keep playing first run for a while like Toy Story 3 and Inception. All the big summer movies have opened so there isn't a lot of new product coming out to bump older films off the screens. Whereas something like Iron Man 2 takes up several screens in a multiplex opening weekend the films left this summer are the kind that only take one.

About the only film that might have been available for the following week is The Girl Who Played With Fire and I think there's still no extra prints so even if The Hyland drops it the print will go off to another first run theatre.

I expect to reopen on Aug 27th with Toy Story 3 and Girl Who Played With Fire but we'll see what happens.

Bollywood Films.

2010-07-29T01:39:00.002-04:00

Just a quick post regarding a comment left on a previous post asking about Bollywood (Indian) Films. The ones that have played over the last couple years were put on by others renting out Western Film. They sold the tickets etc. I haven't heard from them for a while so they may not wish to do any more. The attendance was never super high.
I tried to put on Bollywood films myself a couple times but I didn't know how to market to the proper community.

The basic problem is we have to wait 2-3 weeks after the films have been released in order to play them. We have to wait until a theatre in Toronto is done with a print before we can show it. The piracy is so bad on Bollywood films they are basically dead by the time we can show them.

I do find it frustrating as I'm constantly being asked to show Bollywood films but then not enough people show up when we do. Piracy is a two way street, if people are willing to watch the pirated versions then theatres won't be able to play them.

Next Week's Films Jul 9 - 15

2010-07-07T00:04:00.005-04:00

I'd already scheduled in Robin Hood so I only needed to decide on what late show to play. Shrek 4 was available but obviously isn't well suited to a late show. It will play starting Jul 23 at 7pm and matinees. The only other movie that the booker was checking on was Get Him To The Greek which ended up holding so it wasn't available to us. I would have put it in a the late show if it had come available. I was considering keeping Iron Man 2 as a late show but wasn't sure. Robin Hood is quite long which would make the Iron Man 2 show at 9:45 and Iron Man isn't exactly a short film. The evening shows of Iron Man have done quite well. The matinees were a bust but I think a lot of that was due to the holiday weekend and people being out of town. Bringing back Date Night as a late show has worked reasonably well. So I decided to keep Iron Man 2 for a late show. I'm also doing a bit of experimenting with matinees. I'd going to run matinees of Robin Hood to try to gauge how non kid's movies will do. I'm also going to run matinees of Iron Man 2 partly to see if the first weekend was a fluke and to give people who didn't come last week a chance to see it.

Considering how the matinees for How To Train Your Dragon did I was truly shocked we didn't get more people for the Iron Man matinees. It was very out of character as Sundays are almost always busier than Saturday but we ended up having no one show up for the 1:45 show on Sunday?!

So the Robin Hood matinees are at 1:30 and the Iron Man 2 matinees are at 4:15. This is the first time I've run two different movies as matinees, I hope it's not too confusing.

Sex and the City 2 is already booked for the following week and will probably be followed by a late show of Get Him To The Greek. I doubt Robin Hood will do well enough to keep for another week.

Now accepting Debit and Credit Cards (at the Snack Bar)

2010-06-29T22:45:00.005-04:00

I finally gave in and put in debit/credit at the snack bar. I've been reluctant for a couple reasons. The main one is speed. It takes a lot longer to do a card transaction than a cash one, especially for those who are a little slow putting their PIN in. I'm not as concerned about speed at the Snack Bar as we can get the popcorn or whatever while they finish paying.

The second reason I was reluctant was cost. It will cost about $100 a month to rent the equipment and the phone line and they take a fee every time debit is used and a percentage every time a credit card is used. It's not a huge amount per transaction but it will add up.

You may be asking why did I put the debit machine in then? Basically I noticed a lot of people wanting to buy stuff and not having cash and walking away. For tickets people have come to the movie so they will usually go to a bank machine in the building for ticket money but for snacks they are more optional so people are less likely to go to the bank machine. A ticket is only $4.20 and most people have a little cash but the concessions can cost more for a combo or whatever. There's also a fair number of people in the building studying who aren't going to the movie so again it's more optional.

We are selling tickets at the Snack Bar for those who don't have cash. I'm nervous too many people will want to buy tickets with debit and cause back ups. We are going to wait and see.

I suppose it's only a matter of time before I have to put in a card machine at the Box Office but I don't want to. The speed factor will create nasty lines. We only have one til and I can do about 10 cash transactions in the time it takes to do one debit. Since most people show up in the last 10 minutes before the movie we sometimes have to sell anywhere from 50 to 150 tickets in that time frame.

We'll see what happens.

Next Week's Movies Jul 2- 8

2010-06-29T22:29:00.004-04:00

This is one of those weeks that's a bit annoying. There were 4 movies available, 3 of which I plan to play. The 4th one was Jonah Hex which I'm not going to play as it bombed very, very, badly and wasn't a very good movie.

Of the three I do plan to play I picked one for next week and I've slotted the other two in for later weeks. I decided to play Iron Man 2 first. This is basically a long weekend and the kids are just out of school so I figured it was a good week for something somewhat kid friendly and light. It's playing at the 7pm show and I'm going to run matinees on Sat and Sun.

Neither of the other films available I wanted to play as a late show so I decided to bring back Date Night. It did better than I expected when I played it for both shows and most nights the late show was actually busier than the early show. It's also quite short.

Robin Hood is scheduled to start Jul 9 and Sex and the City 2 for Jul 16th. I don't see anything else coming off that I would rather play then these so I thought I would just go ahead and book them in so I can advertise them. They will play the 7pm show. I think I'm going to try another experiment and run matinees of both. I've noticed a fair number of people show up to matinees that I never see at evening shows. I don't see either matinees being really busy so I'm going to try running with only two staff instead of the usual three to save money in case the matinees don't do well. Two staff is only a problem for the couple minutes when the projectionist is in starting the film. For that period we will sell tickets at the snack bar.

Late shows for those weeks will depend on what's available and how other films do. I might keep Iron Man for example if it does well. However both Robin Hood and SATC2 are fairly long so would make the late show start time fairly late.

Helen Mirren with a Machine Gun?!

2010-06-29T22:25:00.002-04:00

I hope this film coming out in the fall is anywhere as near as good as it looks.

Next Week's movies Jun 25 - Jul 1 - a little late.

2010-06-29T22:15:00.004-04:00

Got busy last week and didn't make this posting when I usually do.

The only new movie available was Killers which I wasn't sure about playing. Letters To Juliet had been available for a couple weeks but other films kept coming off so it hadn't been played yet. I decided to go with Letters To Juliet at 7pm, it's one of those films that has to be the 7pm show.

I thought a bit about whether to play Killers. I had previously decided not to play it but it came available quite quickly. Since we got it that fast I figured we might as well try it. It didn't get the best word of mouth but the stars are fairly popular. It's also a bit of an experiment to see if negative buzz is having the effect I think it is. If Killers doesn't do well I think that's pretty much it for negative buzz films. I tried playing MacGruber which turned out to be better than most thought it would be but it still had a negative buzz to it. It bombed at Western Film and didn't even break even. I saw Killers and found it entertaining enough but it wasn't the best movie I've ever seen.

I wish I could play this before every Film.

2010-06-23T01:52:00.003-04:00

One of the most common reasons given for people not going to theatres are the behaviours of the audiences. Noise, talking, lighted devices and other distractions. I find I avoid the busy nights at other theatres to try to get distracted as little as possible.

I found this video on the web. I'd like to show it every night before the films but the numerous regulars that come often would probably get sick of it.

Let me know what you think...

Cinema Etiquette from Damien Ferland on Vimeo.

Cool TRON stuff

2010-06-23T01:32:00.004-04:00

I remember seeing the original TRON movie back in 1982 and being absolutely enthralled. I convinced my father to buy me a Vic-20 which was one of the first home computers. It was called the Vic -20 because it had 20 K of memory...yes you read that right, 20K not M. The entire computer ran on what now is the size of an average picture file. The back-up device was a cassette Drive which was also how one loaded programs. Needless to say I was disappointed when I couldn't recreate the world of TRON in that computer. It could do the horizon look pretty good though, but not the Light Cycle.

The sequel comes out Dec 17 and the trailer makes it look amazing. I hope it lives up to it.
I found these videos of a couple of cool-tie-in Toys that are also coming out. The remote control car actually drives up the wall?!

Check out the videos and then the trailer if you haven't already.

Next Week's Film Jun 18 - 24

2010-06-17T02:19:00.003-04:00

There was only one new film available which made a couple decisions easier. Date Night was available but since it's from Fox I would only be able to play it by itself, not split it with another movie for the week. I had been trying to decide whether to play it as I wasn't sure it warranted a week all to itself. Since it was the only film I didn't have to decide.

I had been trying to decide whether to keep the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for another week. It had done well on the weekend but not spectacular and it's really long. Since I couldn't split it with Date Night that made up my mind for me.

The other decision I had to make was whether to play just one show of Date Night at 7pm or play two shows a night. Date Night is quite short so the late show could run at 9pm so I decided to run the late show. It won't cost too much extra staffing so it's worth the risk of experimenting. If the movie had been a full two hours long I would have just done one show. My staff like it when I run two shows so they get in a full shift. If there's only one show they only get two hours work.

Date Night is a funny movie so I suggest seeing it, and stay for the scenes in the credits.

The only movie I've got in the backlog right now is Letters To Juliet which I could have played a couple weeks ago but other films I wanted to play more kept coming available. It looks like we won't have space to play The Last Song which I was kinda iffy about anyway.

Robin Hood should be available soon and maybe Iron Man 2. I think I'll try running matinees for Iron Man, we did some for How To Train Your Dragon and they did okay.

That was Close...

2010-06-17T02:05:00.004-04:00

I was working as projectionist tonight. The movie playing was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which is a long, intense thriller. The movie was in the credits and only one guy was left in the theatre watching the credits. Suddenly the power went out for no apparent reason. Initially he gave me a bit of a dirty look thinking I had turned the film off on him but the entire building was dark. I was so glad the power didn't go off even 5 minutes earlier, imagine sitting there for 2 1/2 hours and suddenly the screen goes blank right at the climax of the film?! The power was only off for a few minutes so I could have finished showing the film but sometimes it's off for hours.

It was kind of odd, the power usually only goes off during thunderstorms and it wasn't even raining.

It reminded me of a time that did suck. I was working at the Galleria Cineplex back in 1998 for a matinee of Saving Private Ryan. That movie is almost 3 hours long. It was about 10 minutes from the end and suddenly the bulb went dark, so the screen went dark, but the sound would have continued. The manager wanted me to change the bulb but it's dangerous to change a bulb when it's hot so I said I had to wait 20 minutes. The people got passes or whatever but I wasn't able to finish running the show for them because it would have screwed up later showings. When I started running the film through I noticed it had gone dark right when a major character was having his big death scene. Ouch.

Upcoming changes at Western Film.

2010-06-11T03:58:00.003-04:00

There's a few things afoot at Western Film over the next few months. Some good and some not so.

The Good.

New Seats- Probably in August all the seats and carpet on the main floor are going to be replaced. The carpet is pretty old and stained. There is going to be vinyl under the seats and maybe carpet still in the aisles. The seats haven't been chosen yet but will look similar to the pic. We aren't changing the layout in terms of elevation. The new seats may or may not be the same size so I'm not sure if the total number of seats will change. The new ones will probably have cup holders instead of the tablets, the tablets aren't needed since the room isn't being used for classes any more.

Website redesign- we are going to redo the website, I'm going to add a lot of pics and start embedding trailers. The current design doesn't match the decor of the theatre or the atmosphere I'm trying to create.

No Classes- Since the new classrooms opened downstairs the McKellar room isn't being used for classes any more. This should help with people thinking we aren't a 'real' theatre since we ran in a classroom. I always tried to get people to think of McKellar room as a movie theatre that also held classes rather than a classroom that showed films. There will also be more opportunity to rent the theatre out to show films to high school classes, student clubs etc.

The Not So.

New admission price- Come July 1 the ticket price will go up. I'll do another post on it later but basically we have to go up because of the HST.

New Snack bar prices- our costs for supplies have steadily gone up and with minimum wage raises driving up all the wages we pay we are going to have to raise prices at some point. I'm trying to keep it as low as possible. We aren't sure when the change will be.

I'm Back...

2010-06-11T03:44:00.003-04:00

As anyone who's actually reading this knows I kinda stopped posting a while ago. It was a combination of things, busy at work and buying a house and all the work and time that entails.

I had set myself the goal of posting each day but sometimes didn't have time so got frustrated and basically stopped altogether.

I realized i missed writing the posts and have had a few people comment that I should start again which implies someone is reading.

So I'm going to start again but not give myself any kind of preset number of posts and just do them as I can. I'll at least do the Next Week's Movies posts as those are probably interesting.

Changes in attendance patterns

2009-09-04T01:08:00.003-04:00

I've noticed a couple things over the summer I thought were interesting. They may or may not continue during the school year.

Fewer Children to kid's movies. - Even for UP which was a big hit most of the attendance was adults, the other kid's movies we played didn't do great. The matinees just barely broke even. I was planning to play ICE AGE 3 but I don't think I will now. I don't think adults want to see it enough.

Yet more spreading out of business over the nights. - When I first started at Western Film we had a fairly standard pattern, busy weekends and discount Tuesday, the rest of the week was fairly quiet. Over the last few years it spread out until most nights were at least somewhat busy. This summer it got even weirder. Sunday and Monday were often busier than Friday or Saturday?! Tuesdays aren't as busy but sometimes Wednesday or Thursday are busier than Tuesday.

During the school year I attributed this to more night classes plus students going out to other places on the weekends. For the summer I think it's people going away or whatever on the weekend and seeing the movies during the week. I kinda like this trend, it takes the same number of staff to man the theatre for 10 people or 60. If we get the same number of people spread over more nights then we have less problems with lineups or the theatre getting too crowded and people not getting to sit where they want.

In very general terms people seem to be willing to see films they haven't heard a lot about but have heard are good. I'm not sure how much this affects it but a couple people have said they decided to see a film because we were playing it on the assumption that it must be good. It makes sense, as a single screen theatre I'm not going to play a film that isn't good if people also haven't heard of it. I only play bad films that were big hits (I'm looking at you Twilight).

Next Week's Movies Sep 4 - 10

2009-09-04T00:57:00.002-04:00

Next Week is one of the most important of the year. We try to get as many of the new students as possible to know Western Film is here and hopefully go to a film as part of thier orientation. This year I got two movies I consider to be perfect Frosh Week movies. Both have general appeal and are comedies good for going to in groups. THE PROPOSAL is at 7pm and THE HANGOVER plays at 9:20.

My current plan is the switch THE HANGOVER to 7pm starting Sept 11. I think I can get a third week out of it and there's probably a lot of people who want to see it but don't want to go to the late show for whatever reason. I'll decide on Tuesday what to play as a late show that week.

The Ugly Truth should be available, MOON is still on my list to play. Harry Potter may come off soon. I may try Star Trek for another week once the students come back. That's one of those films that can be watched more than once. I've seen the whole movie 4 times, the beginning 5 times and the ending about 8 while working.

The last couple weeks.

2009-09-04T00:39:00.002-04:00

I've been bad about posting again. I'll go through what I've played the last few weeks in case anyone cares.

UP- I decided to try to do both evenings shows plus matinees for this one. The late show was surprisingly busy. The matinees did okay but we got mostly adults, not a lot of kids. I may bring it back.

STAR TREK- Did well enough it's second week that I may bring it back during the school year.

PUBLIC ENEMIES- did okay

TRANSFORMERS- was surprisingly quiet, not dead but not what I would have expected.

FUNNY PEOPLE - didn't do very well, I understood why after I watched it. How can so many funny people make a movie that's not very funny and way too long.

AWAY WE GO. - this was a bit of an experiment. I had an opening after Funny People and no other new movies were available. I wasn't sure how to full it as the show would be rather late starting because of the length of Funny People. My first choice was MOON but there weren't any prints available. If AWAY WE GO had not been available I would have put in UP for another week. In retrospect I should have switched the order and played AWAY WE GO at 7pm and FUNNY PEOPLE for the late show. AWAY WE GO probably would have out grossed Funny People then.

THE HURT LOCKER - another bit of an experiment, got a lot of great reviews but awareness was low. It actually did better than I expected and it's a good sign that people will take a chance on good movies.

BRUNO did okay but I expected more. The people that did come tended to laugh a lot.

THE HANGOVER- did quite well for a 10pm show. I'm bringing it back from Frosh week as the late show and plan to play it again the following week at 7pm to give people a chance to see it who don't want to see the late show.

These movies I rejected.

ALIENS IN THE ATTIC- Fox was unusually nice and was going to let us split it but it wouldn't have done any business.

I LOVE YOU BETH COPPER- Fox plus wouldn't have done any business.

A PERFECT GETAWAY- a okay little action film but wouldn't have done any business.

Next Week's Movies Jul 31 - Aug 6

2009-07-30T02:56:00.003-04:00

I already knew My Sister's Keeper was available and had been planning to play it as the 7pm show. It didn't do great first run but we have had a lot of people asking about it so I expect it will do well. For the late show I decided to bring back Star Trek, it did really well its' first week. The late shows did okay that week with it playing for both shows.

The only New film that would have been available for next week is Public Enemies. I decided to hold off on it for a couple reasons. We had already been telling people Sister's Keeper would be playing and I couldn't play both the same week as both need to be the 7pm show. Public Enemies is also fairly long so I'm not sure if I will play anything after it.

It could get interesting as Up is also available the following week. Disney sets the dates we are able to get movies in advance. They usually leave a week between when the films leave first run and can start at Western Film.

I was trying to decide whether to play Public Enemies or Up the following week. Both have to be the 7pm show so they need to be separate weeks. It doesn't really matter which week they play though. I would have liked to have UP this upcoming weekend since there is a holiday Monday and we could have had extra matinees but it's not available until the following Friday. I checked to see if anyone else had booked the theatre during the weekend afternoons as that would affect my decision. No one had so that's not a problem. I figure the only thing I should do is try to play Up the week with the lowest kid's film competition. Opening it against Harry Potter would have been a bad idea for example.

According to the booker, The Proposal is getting close to coming off and The Hangover may come off soon to my mild surprise.

Interesting article about how 1989 Batman changed the movie business.

2009-07-30T02:48:00.004-04:00

The title pretty much says it all. I remember the hype around Batman was something that seemed new. Everyone wanted to see it. This article from Salon.com has some interesting things to say about it.

The main change it created was the emphasis on the opening weekend and movies making a lot of money in as short a time as possible. Previous to this films tended to play a lot longer in theatres. Even as late as Titanic which played in theatres for about a year. Of course the availability of home video started affecting the theatre business about the same time.

Next Week's Movies Jul 24 - 30

2009-07-30T02:43:00.003-04:00

As mentioned in the last Next Week post I already knew Year One and Taking of Pelham 123 were available so I booked those two in. The only new film available was My Sister's Keeper which I'm going to play next week.

I think I may start getting backed up with new films available. I wish more movies worked as late shows. There's some interesting small films I'd like to play like Away We Go but the 7pm show usually needs to be a Hollywood film.

Feedback requested on something I hate doing.

2009-07-17T03:02:00.003-04:00

One thing I hate doing is changing the phone message on the Movieline. It usually takes several tries and hence a lot of time. A while ago someone suggested putting a synopsis of each film on it but the message is already several minutes long.

It's also where I get into some interesting situations, for example next weekend we have a Bollywood film called Kambakkht Ishq, I have no idea how to pronounce that.

I once asked the IT department if there was any thing similar to a hit counter for the phone message to give me an idea how much it's used but I guess there isn't.

If anyone is curious I'd like any comments on whether the message sounds okay. There's a couple things I tend to do that I think may be annoying but maybe no one notices. I won't say what they are so I don't influence your opinion.

The phone number is 519-661-3616 then hit 1 for the movie listings.

Response to comment.

2009-07-17T02:49:00.002-04:00

This comment was left on one of the Next Week posts:

Star Trek, then Night at the Museum.... I feel like I just watched their trailers on cable tv. What allows movies like these to come to campus so quickly?(I'm thinking the answer is likely either my lack of a sense of time or something to do with the industry. Perhaps they were set up from the start to quickly be put up for sale on DVD?)

During the summer the high number of new blockbusters released tend to push films off faster than at other times of year. When Harry Potter opens on 4 of the 12 screens in a multiplex they have to drop something to make room. It also depends on the film. Something like Transformers 2 is heavily front loaded, it will have made about half it's total gross on opening weekend. It won't play more than few weeks first run. It's also a long film so that encourages theatres to drop it as long movies make less money since fewer showings can be done in a day.
On the other hand there are films like Up and The Hangover. Hit kid's films like UP tend to drop down to matinees only and play for a couple months. The theatres like the 3-D ones as they can charge extra. A movie like the Hangover is one of those occasional word of mouth hits that just keep chugging along. Recent examples were Juno and Wedding Crashers. Hangover has had some of the lowest week to week drops in grosses of recent memory. A big action film will typically drop 50-60% in it's second week. The Hangover has been dropping only about 20% a week. I'm planning to play it during Frosh Week but there is a possibility I might not be able to get it by then.

The DVD window is now about 4 months so that doesn't come into play except for the occasional film that's still playing in theatres when it comes out of DVD. Regular readers of this blog will probably be able to guess which studio tends to do this the most...Fox.

Next Week plus the last couple.

2009-07-17T02:24:00.002-04:00

I've missed a couple of the Next Week posts which normally I'm pretty consistent on so I'll put up a kind of summary of what the last couple would have said.

The week after Angels and Demons played I booked in Terminator Salvation. It was the only major film available that week. I decided to try playing a late show and see how it would do. The movie overall did okay but the late show didn't do very well.

The Week that just ended I played Star Trek. I did a late show and this time it worked. Star Trek was the busiest movie we've had in a few months. I'll probably bring it back if there is an opening in the next couple weeks. Angels and Demons might also return. A mildly weird thing happened. I was told Pelham 123 was available but didn't book it because I wanted Star Trek. It ended up still playing at Westmount. I don't know if Sony has decided we are in different zones and will let us play the same films at the same time. They may also have made a mistake or Cineplex may have changed their minds and decided to keep it. That last one could have gotten interesting if I had booked it in.

The week of Jul 17 - 23 I booked in a couple different films for the first time in a few weeks. Night At The Museum 2 was available. Since it's from Fox I asked if they would let me split it with Wolverine which is also their title. They said I could but had to pay a higher percentage. I could have waited longer and they probably would have dropped down to the usual percentage. I didn't wait for a couple reasons, I wanted to get Wolverine played before it gets too much older and we have a Bollywood film scheduled for next weekend afternoons so I wouldn't be able to play matinees of Museum if I played it that week. As Museum is basically a kid's film I figure playing matinees are important. I have this nasty feeling both films are going to bomb but I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

The only other film available for next week was Year One which I think will do as a late show. So currently the following week will probably be Pelham 123 at 7pm followed by Year One as the late show and the Bollywood show on the weekend afternoons.

The only other movie that looks like it will come off soon that I want to play is My Sister's Keeper. I figure Up will be at least a month and Hangover we may not get until late August.

One film that came available during the last couple weeks was My Life in Ruins which I had never planned to play. It's from Fox so I couldn't split it anyway. They really have got to be kidding sometimes.

Drag Me to Hell probably was available but the booker didn't even mention it to me as she knows we never play horror films.

Not really movie related but really funny.

2009-07-16T02:35:00.002-04:00

I found this on another blog and I haven't laughed so much in a while. My excuse for putting it up here is that the song and video have been in so many movies and parodied so much. I still like the song though...

I doubt this will play in theatres but I would see it if it did.

2009-07-16T02:28:00.003-04:00

Found this wacky trailer for a Japanese film that probably defies description. Apparently it doesn't come out in North America until 2010. Probably will go straight to DVD but I think it would be fun to see in a theatre with an audience.

Quick Post.

2009-07-16T02:22:00.002-04:00

Someone mentioned tonight that I should update the blog more often. I know I've been bad lately. It was largely due to a relative (two actually) being in the hospital for about a month. I had to take my Grandmother up quite often to visit which usually meant going to bed 'early' for me. Late nights is usually when I did blog posts. There wasn't any one to be his executor so I said I would do it so my Grandmother wouldn't worry about it. It's amazing how much time it takes to be an executor, and he didn't even have a lot of assets.

I'll try to be better.

Pulp Fiction playing at a theatre in London but not Western Film.

2009-06-26T01:07:00.004-04:00

The presence of the Pulp Fiction trailer on the 50 Top Trailers list below reminded me that it's playing in London on Jun 26th at 11:30 pm. Empire Cinemas Wellington 8 has been playing old films once a month. Last month was Grease and the month before was Ghostbusters.

I haven't decided whether to go or not. I've seen it so many times.

I don't normally mention films playing at other theatres for competition reasons but I figure this is a special case as it's only once a month and we aren't offering the same types of films currently.

I went to the last couple and there were a fair number of people there. Apparently they did Fight Club the month before but I never heard about it. How annoying, I love that film.

They are doing the screenings the last Friday of the month so check their website for details.

Next Week's Film Jun 26 - Jul 2.

2009-06-26T00:55:00.003-04:00

The booker told me last week ANGELS AND DEMONS might come off so I held off on booking in Wolverine which I knew was available. Angels was available so I booked it in. I thought for a bit about whether or not to play a late show but decided not to. It's a long film and caters more to adults who tend not to come to the late show.

These films were also available.

LAND OF THE LOST: I can't believe this came available after only two weeks?!, talk about a huge bomb. If I get a dead week I might throw it in but I don't plan to play it.

IMAGINE THAT: another huge bomb and too aimed at children for us to play it anyway.

WOLVERINE: I'm so pissed at Fox and their rules. This film has been off screen for two weeks and the only reason I couldn't play it already is because they make us wait two weeks. I ended up playing TWO LOVERS this week just to fill the space and it has rewarded me by being one of the worst attended movies ever at Western Film. It's a good film but the studio didn't do a good job promoting it and people haven't heard of it.

There is a possibility STAR TREK may come off for the following week so I didn't book Wolverine in. As I mentioned in a previous post I don't really think we will be losing much if we don't play Wolverine at all.

I just spent an hour watching Trailers.

2009-06-26T00:31:00.004-04:00

IFC.com has this really cool list of the 50 Best Movie Trailers. I watched quite a few of them. It's interesting to see how creative some of the older trailers were, some were practically short films. The trailer for Psycho was almost 7 minutes long?! Imagine how well that would go over these days when most trailers are 2 -2 /12 mins long.

#42 was the first trailer I thought of when I read about the list.

There are a couple I would have put on the list.

Needful Things: This is the only version I could find online but I'm almost sure there was a version using the same music but with no dialogue. I've always loved this piece of music and I remember going out to watch the trailer over and over again when it played in the theatre I was working projection at. I don't think I would have done that if it had the dialogue.

Needful Things (Trailer)
Uploaded by Tower-of-Dark. - Check out other Film & TV videos.

CLIFFHANGER: Again this isn't quite the right trailer. I'm pretty sure there was a trailer for this film edited to match almost perfectly with the same piece of music as the Needful Things trailer. I guess I'm either remembering things wrong or there are unusual versions of some of these trailers. There is a possibility they were Canada only trailers but I don't know if they would have made trailers for use just in Canada.

Next Week's Film Jun 19 - 25

2009-06-19T00:42:00.003-04:00

Again there wasn't anything new coming off so I had to be creative. This week there was a print of TWO LOVERS available so I booked it in. It's got low awareness but Sunshine Cleaning was in a similar situation and did surprisingly well here. It's also a good movie.

If that hadn't been available I was going to book in 17 AGAIN. I wouldn't have expected it to do well but I might have been surprised.

Wolverine is available to start Jun 26th but I decided not to book it in yet. The booker says Angels and Demons will probably come off since Transformers 2 is opening. I'd rather play that than Wolverine. I wouldn't be particularly upset if I didn't get a chance to play Wolverine. It's Fox with all the conditions that go along with that. While it wasn't a terrible movie it got a lot of negative buzz, I've noticed movies in that situation don't seem to do well at Western Film anymore. I think the fact it's a big movie would outweigh that but I wouldn't be surprised if I'm wrong.

A hard decision is going to be whether to play a late show of ANGELS AND DEMONS or WOLVERINE. I know my staff will want me to so they can get more hours but will enough people show up to justify it? I was way wrong on the late show for MONSTERS VS. ALIENS. The late show was a complete bust. We did 5 people on Tuesday?! Something I wouldn't have thought possible since it's our discount night and usually the busiest.

New Trailer for 2012.

2009-06-19T00:27:00.004-04:00

I have a soft spot for disaster movies and no one makes them better (or worse) than Roland Emmerich who is best known for Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow.

His new film coming out in November deals with the end of the world as prophesied by the Maya. The teaser trailer was interesting, it showed a mountain monastery getting pummelled by a mountain high wave of water. The new trailer is currently only on Yahoo and it doesn't have an embedding function. The new trailer shows much more of the destruction but still doesn't show exactly what causes it. My thought from the teaser was a comet or something hitting Antarctica and instantly melting all that water. I think I'm still on the right track but it's maybe multiple objects?

A lot of people think the movie will be bad but I don't think anyone can say it won't be worth watching for at least the absolutely awesome looking special effects.

The scene in Independence Day where an alien ship blows up the White House is one of the most famous destruct ions in movies. There's a scene near the end of the trailer that may outdo that one, this one involves an aircraft carrier.

I'll be in line to see this opening weekend.

Answer to Comment about video/film projection.

2009-06-19T00:23:00.003-04:00

This comment was left on a post. I'm not sure if anyone reads the comments on older posts so I thought I would repost my answer as I think some will find it interesting.

QUESTION: This is a naive question on my part, but why are movies still in film format and not digital? I am sure there is a reasonable explanation, but it seems cumbersome to have huge reels to take care of.Also, with all the CGI and digital enhancing that goes into a movie these days, do they have to transfer everything to traditional film in the end to make the reels?

ANSWER: Video projectors that can make an image even close to the quality of film are still about $100,000. More if you add 3-D. The problem is there's not any real difference between film and video presentation to the general public and so there's no real advantage to the theatres to make the investment in new projectors. 3-D is really the only driving factor there.The Studios will save hundreds of millions of dollars by not having to strike film prints and ship them around but so far have been dragging their feet on helping the theatres convert. This doesn't make much sense to me.The other issue is going to be all the small theatres that can't afford to convert. Most movies are shot on film, converted to digital for editing then put back on film to show in theatres. Some films are shot with digital cameras. Eventually it will all be digital but how long that will take varies widely depending on who you ask. I think in about 3-5 years it will be hard to run a theatre that hasn't converted.

A Projectionist's Nightmare.

2009-06-14T20:02:00.005-04:00

I got this picture off a projectionist's forum. This isn't at Western Film, it's a print of Angels and Demons somewhere in Australia. That's the film all over the floor, where it's not supposed to be.

The piece of equipment in the middle is called a platter. It consists of three revolving discs about 4 ft wide. On the bottom one you'll see a film as it's supposed to look, nicely wound in a big spool with the beginning of the film in the center and the end on the outside.

When a film plays off a platter it pays out from the center, goes over some rollers, through the projector and back onto one of the other discs. It wraps around a ring placed in the center and ends up looking the same as it started, just on a different disc.

What happened here is somehow the film was not going back onto the platter but was just spilling onto the floor. There's several things that can cause this, mostly projectionist error but sometimes it can be a equipment problem. Even something like a momentary power drop out can cause this. That's why you'll always see the projectionist at Western Film go into the booth after the power blinks, even if the film seems to be running normally.

The scary thing is the average film is 12,000 ft long, that's a lot of film to try to wrap back up manually.

James Cameron's Avatar

2009-06-14T19:49:00.003-04:00

James Cameron is one of, if not my favorite directors. He's never made a bad film, even his weaker films are better than most movies and he has made several downright classics (Terminator 1 and 2, Aliens, Titanic.

His next film is Avatar which opens in the fall and supposedly will change the movie business again. I'm looking forward to it but I'm being sure not to get my hopes too high. No matter how good the movie is it will be compared to Titanic and how well that did. It's not a fair comparison as the combination of elements that allowed Titanic to be come the biggest grosser of all time will never be repeated. It's been 10 years and the movie business has changed. Titanic was still playing in theatres a year after it opened. I don't see that ever happening again.

One of the big variables with how Avatar does is the number of 3-D screens available. The movie apparently employs some of the highest quality 3-D ever done. But at this point there still only about 2000 or North America's 40,000 screens equipped for 3-D. The 3-D is so important to this film that Cameron says one of the reasons it took him so long to make this film was waiting for the technology to catch up to his vision.

The link is for a really interesting article at Totalfilm.com which summarizes what is known about Avatar which is surprisingly little. The movie comes out in 5 months but there's been no trailers, posters or even good stills. I think most of the illustrations in the article are from the video game, not the film.

I'll probably be in line opening night, how about you?

Next Week's Film May 12 - 18

2009-06-12T01:17:00.004-04:00

Next week was a weird week to book. The only new film that came off the first run screens was Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, however that Studio (Alliance) usually puts a week between first and second run so I initially wouldn't have been able to book it for next week. That left me in a bit of a scramble as I didn't have any other movies that I wanted to play. Nothing recently had done well enough to bring back. So I was going to have to play something I hadn't planned on playing. I was looking at these options.

TWO LOVERS: Not a high profile movie but a good one. I saw it at the Hyland and they kept it for a couple weeks. The showing I saw it at had a fair number of people. There weren't any prints of it available though.

WALTZ WITH BASHIER: This is one of those films I don't think will do well but I could get surprised by. However I decided not to take the chance this time of year.

ADVENTURELAND: a fairly good movie aimed at an audience who isn't here right now. (students), didn't do great in First Run though.

17 AGAIN: an okay movie aimed at an audience we don't really get a lot of, young girls. However it does star Zac Efron and did fairly good first run. It's also the highest profile so I decided to go with it and see what happens.

However in the end I ended up getting Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. The booker decided this was a good time to question the one week wait policy at Alliance. They had been inconsistent in applying the policy, doing it in some places with some movies but not in others. As a result we won't have to wait a week any more and I was able to book Ghosts. I did have to wait until Tuesday to get an answer which caused a bit of a reworking of the things the staff and I do on Monday and Tuesday nights.

Now watch the movie bomb, romantic comedies are usually a pretty safe bet for us.

The following week should be Wolverine, it's not playing anywhere first run as of Thursday. Fox also does the waiting bit but at least does it consistently. I'm pretty sure they usually only make us wait a week so Wolverine should be available. If it's not I'll probably try 17 Again as there isn't anything else new I see coming off.

Last Week's Movie May 5 -11

2009-06-12T01:08:00.002-04:00

I'm behind again, sorry.

The movie that finished tonight was Monsters Vs Aliens. I booked it last Monday, the only other choice was Dance Flick which I never planned to play.

During the summer we usually do matinees of any kid friendly pics. I also decided to do a late show of Monsters figuring some people would want to see it.

End of Week Update: This was one of those times when I was really off. Monsters did really bad. The matinees were dead and the late show was even deader. I'm quite surprised as I thought the film would at least do okay. I think a lot of it was the fact it finally got warm last weekend so people were doing things outside. It may or may not have been the fact it wasn't in 3-D. We only had a few people ask if it was then not see it.

We'll see how the next film does on matinees.

Next Week's Film May 28 - Jun 4

2009-05-28T01:04:00.003-04:00

There were three new films available for next week.

17 AGAIN: I've never really planned to play this film. I think it skews a little too young for our demographic, especially with school out. I'll keep it in the maybe file if nothing good comes off sometime in the next couple weeks.

MONSTERS Vs. ALIENS: I booked this in and then had a thought later, maybe it wasn't a good idea to put a kid's film up against the opening weekend of a new Pixar Film (UP). So I changed the booking and Monsters will play starting Jun 5th with a 7:00 show, weekend matinees and maybe a late show.

THE SOLOIST: I wasn't sure whether to play this but based on how Sunshine Cleaning and State of Play have done I think there's a good market for adult oriented dramas still. I think it will do well.

I'm hoping Wolverine comes off the week after Monsters plays. There's not much else I'm waiting for, maybe Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Star Trek will be a while.

100 classic movie lines in 200 seconds.

2009-05-28T01:02:00.001-04:00

Great little video someone put a lot of work into. I've seen almost all of these movies. There's a few of the older ones I would like to see at some point.

The Hangover- surprise hit of the summer?

2009-05-27T02:33:00.003-04:00

I first saw the trailer for this film a few months ago and thought it looked funny but nothing special. However buzz from screenings has been building and it looks like it may be a major hit.

Here's the trailer:

Here's some comments WArner reported from a screening in Toronto. There's a lot of them and pretty consitent. It looks like I'll have to put up a slide before the movie starts telling the audience there's something in the credits and not to bolt at the first sign of a credit.

At the bottom is funny little promo clip from Funny or Die. Hopefully the embedding works better than the last time I tried. The link below the player should work.

Some comments from the “HANGOVER” screenings Thursday, May 21(from Tribute contest winners across Canada) (there are about 90+)
Generally very very good!
================================================================================================== ====

It was so funny that I kept on laughing the whole way throuh. I definitely would recommend it to anyone. Loved it and I would watch it again in the theatres

This movie was awesomely funny and outrageous! The character that really added to the movie was the guy with the beard...don't we all have one of those in our lives?

very funny!

I was surprised by The Hangover - it turned out to be much better than I expected. Funny situational humor - at one point, it seemed impossible to resolve all of the loose ends, but it happened. Would recommend this.

This is one movie u actually have to stay to the end to see what really happens, absolutely loved it thanks again for the passes, Joyce

Yes, by far the funniest movie this year...not very often the whole theater is laughin. I may have to see it again as I was laughing so hard i may missed some jokes..

It was one of the funniest movies I have seen in years. We definitely have to see it again and will be recommending to all our friends.

So funny!!!

Worth going to if you want to have a good laugh. Loved the tiger and the whole story line. Some parts were x-rated, but on the whole, a very enjoyable and funny movie.

I laughed harder than I have in a long time - I was not disappointed!!! I have not stopped bragging about it to friends at work.

extremely funny, haven't laughed that hard in a long time

It was good. Really funny. More different from the other movies in it's genre than I expected. I did think the final scene was more graphic than it needed to be. They still could've got the point across with even half of the nudity in the photographs... or even none of it.

I thought it was pretty funny! Great cast and ridiculous storyline! Great laughs all around!

This movie was excellent. It was a lot of fun. The story is very well done. You don't know what to expect all along. Merci! Thanks for the free movie

This movie was hilarious. Every story had some kind of twist to it. I laughed so hard throughout the entire movie.

very funny and relaxing movie very nice

Super funny movie! Saw the advance screening and I'll probably watch it again once its released into theatres!

Some parts were funny, however, some parts of the movie were pretty dumb, I guess it will appeal to a very certain demographic.

Hilarious...had me laughing out loud, often. A little bit of a slow start..just to get the characters in place..then non-stop off-the-wall comedy!

Above average comedy. A lot smarter than Dance Flick, but that is to be expected.

The comedy built and built so that we laughed so hard my husband said it was a "Pee yourself funny movie". Everyone stayed to see the photos during the final credits and we were still laughing as we drove home.

I did not have high hopes for this movie, but it was hilarious. Some of the gross humour probably could have been left out, but it's worth seeing the movie if you want a good laugh. This movie is for anyone who thought Weekend at Bernie's was a scream.

It was very funny.

Quite funny

This was one of the best movies I have seen in a while. It was very funny, I especially loved the ending where they were showing the pictures.

The film was generally funny although there were some parts that dragged a little. I was very pleased during the film that it didn't take the "low road" by including lots of gratuitous sex and nudity for the sake of ratings. This was true unitl the closing credits when the photos of the lost night were shown. Out came the photos of strippers and oral sex. Very disappointing.

Crazy fun, I recommend this moving to every one who needs a good laugh!

Not laugh-a-minute, but the comedy is pretty even throughout. It's better than amusing and in the words of my brother, I wouldn't mind seeing it again or owning it on DVD.

A surprisingly funny movie about a plan to go awry gone awry. Very enjoyable.

This movie was absolutely hilarious, by far the funniest movie I have seen in a long time. The theatre was constantly filled with laughter. An excellent movie, and I would definately see it again!

Very funny. Wish they would have taken more time scrolling through the pictures at the end though.

Very funny . A kind of movie to forget life problems .

I enjoyed this movie immensely; it was hilarious and unpredictable. Each of the main characters' personalities played a role in the hijinks that these friends got into. Look for a significant cameo by Mike Tyson, and don't expect the chicken to be explained!

It was awesome, I enjoyed so many parts of this movie! Especially the tiger parts! haha!

It was hilarious, entertaining and long over due!!!!!!! I do not remember when last time I saw a good SUMMER type movie was.

In a world of murders, muggings, job losses, etc., it was a relief to watch a movie and be transported to a world of funny stuff. Thanks.

It had funny parts. The baby and tiger was awesome.

Hello, I really like this movie. Very funny and cleverly made especially since you only see waht really happened at the very end .

really funny. I liked how you only find out at the very end what truly happened in Vegas. One scene that was not really necessary was the one where they have the baby doing you know what... but other than that I enjoyed this movie very much. Thank you for choosing my name

Great Movie! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Light hearted, feel good movie. Put a smile on my face.

I went to the see the movie with my husband with not too high expectations but to our surprise we never laughed so much. Each actor portrayed their part so well. The story line was so interesting...trying to remember and retrace their steps to what happened in only 1 night was totally hilarious. Of course, the line What happens in Vegas...totally appropriate. I already recommended this movie to my co-workers. P.S. Baby is really adorable.

Thought the movie was very funny. Loved the little baby. Truly, enjoyed going.

when I first saw the preview for this movie I thought nah, it's just one of those stupid funny comedies. I have not laughed like that I'm a long time. It kept laughing throughout the whole movie!

very funny

I thought the movie was definitely one of the best I have seen in a while. It was remarkably funny, and it made me and my friend laugh alot. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I will most definitely be recommending this movie to all of my friends.

Incredibly funny! The story was non-stop twists that kept you laughing. Each scene was funnier than the last. Ed Helms from the Office played such a hilarious part...definitely a must see for any friends who've experienced one of those rough crazy nights!

I thought it was funny and quite believable considering the myths about Vegas!! lol

Pretty good!

It was the funniest movie I see in years. 5 stars

Very funny, laugh out loud movie. The fact that the guys have no memory of what they did the night before makes it unpredictable. Funniest movie I have seen in a while!

Very funny, I couldn't stop laughing. I am going to tell my friends to see this movie.

Pretty hilarious movie!

the movie is hilarious. Men hanging over with a baby with differents problems... Strongly recommended.. you won't waist your money at all

I expected it to be all Juvenile teenage boys jokes but was pleasantly suprised at the comedic content.

This movie is absolutely hilarious. Just when you think it can't get any worse, it does. It will have you rolling in the aisle with laughter. Truly, an enjoyable and fun movie to see.

Some very funny moments in the movie. My son enjoyed it more than I did. Maybe more a movie guys can identify with.

I had read that the movie tested very well and in advanced screenings and that the studio had already ordered production of the sequel, so I thought that I might be seeing a hidden gem. I found, however, that there were very few hearty laughs during the course of the movie and the most entertaining part came at the very end.

It has some funny parts - and was what I expected. Overall a good rental but I don't know if I'd come out and pay to see it in theatres.

the funniest film we have ever seen in 71 years!!

great movie!! very funny and the characters were fantastic! would pay to go and see it again!!

The Hangover is the funniest film I have ever seen in my 71 years, we went expecting not much, and laughed through the entire time, the film never lets up--you have a real winner here! Thank you so much for an hysterical evening. We are still laughing about it today!

Very funny movie! I think it will be good summer entertainment.

The most hilarious movie I have seen in a long time.Laughs from start to finish.

This movie was the funniest things I have seen in a LONG time. I laughed out loud until I cried. Actors were fabulous and movie was well directed. Good job guys. I would love to buy the DVD when it comes out to see all the bloopers. Just NON STOP laughing all throughout. I can't even pick my favorite moment because it was all too good!

This was the funniest movie that we've seen in a long time. It had surprise after surprise and you never knew what to expect next! Even the passing off of the tuxedos on the road was reasonable, but still unexpected! I would highly recommend this as a must-see and my boyfriend said after the movie that he would want it in his selective DVD collection.

Very funny. Although the premise has been done before, this was handled well, with just enough vugarity and filth to keep it interesting. The slideshow at the end was hilarious.

Laughted myself silly , had to wipe my eyes a few times . Please send me another pass to see it again .

Hilarious. Couldn't stop laughing. I had been looking forward to this since the first time I saw the trailer and it did not disappoint. Would recommend this to anyone that loves laughing. Mike Tyson singing? Nothing funnier. Will definitely purchase this DVD.

I find it great. The idea is original and we can not predict in advance what will happen. The guys are hilarious, I'm sure everyboday will enjoy this movie.

We thought this was a very funny film and I will not be hesitating to go see it again when it comes out June 5th.

We really enjoyed the movie and everyone was laughing from start to finish. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to see The Hangover. I will recommend to my family and friends. :)

It was good entertainment. There were plenty of laughs, not necessarily where you were doubled over with laughter, but it never dragged.The best part was how the characters kept leaping from one crazy situation to the next. The movie is not appropriate for children due to the extensive nudity.

I thought it was funny

My wife and I were lucky enough to view an advanced screening of this film and it was a riot! One of the funniest movies I've seen in a long while. Zach Galifianakis was hilarious from his first scene until his last. Not to say that the rest of the cast didn't do a bang up job, each were just as funny in their own right. Wolf-pack forever!

The cast, the plot,the trailer, what more can be said ! This is definately goin' to be a blockbuster,laughed my you know what off during the trailer.Really can't wait for this one,love a good comedy and this will for sure top the all time best list !

The movie is really good and funny to see. It's so cute. I suggest to go to see it. It's a good investment

HILARIOUS! The pictures at the end were the best!

The movie was funny with no political messages which I enjoy. A super summer movie that a lot of people both young and old will enjoy.

It was much better than I had expected it to be and I am so glad that I won tickets from Tribute. I will definitely be recommending this movie to my friends. Thanks, Tribute!

This was a super funny film. Its not very often that you laugh so hard that you can't stop. It touched all the right notes without being offensive. Was a great night out and I would recommend it highly for an evening of pure humour.

Hilarious and awesome

The movie was just what I needed that day! It was fun and one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. The hilarity just never stopped. And the audience was great too - adding to the fun with great infectious laughter! I'd recommend it to anyone!

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Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis from Between Two Ferns

Next Week's Film May 22 - 28

2009-05-22T03:24:00.002-04:00

There were only 2 new films available for next week.

OBSESSED: The movie did well overall but wouldn't do anything at Western Film, especially this time of year. I might have played it as a late show when the students were still here.

STATE OF PLAY: based on the results of the Sunshine Cleaning experiment (see previous posts) I should play this film. It did okay and has fairly good awareness and star power. Reviews were generally positive. It's more of an adult film which is what I should be playing this time of year. I think it will do well but not great.

I'm pretty sure Monsters Vs. Aliens will come off for the following week. UP! will bump it out of the 3-D theatres which is probably the only reason it's still playing, that and the lack of family films until Night at the Museum 2 and then UP! come out.

I'm planning to play matinees and a late show. The late show may not work but I'm hoping there will be some adults who don't want to see it with kids in the audience. Matinees of kid's films are a pretty safe bet. One thing that might get interesting. This will be the first film Western Film has played that was strongly marketed as being in 3-D and WF can't play 3-D. I'm curious how many people will show up expecting 3-D, not realizing that it takes special, very expensive, equipment to play 3-D that not every theatre has.

If Monsters isn't available I might have to get creative again.

Comparison between 2 movies for booking.

2009-05-22T02:56:00.003-04:00

One thing I keep mentioning is how the attendance and hence booking patterns for Western Film are different from almost any other theatre. To illustrate this I'm going to compare two films.

FAST AND FURIOUS- $70 million dollar opening (biggest April opening ever), $153 million total box office, 4th in a series, some fairly well known names although Vin Diesel and Paul Walker aren't as big as they used to be. High awareness. Did about $500 for the week at Western Film which is quite low for us.

SUNSHINE CLEANING-$219,000 opening in 4 theatres, $11 million total, original, not a sequel or remake, some lesser but still well known names but on the way up (Amy Adams, Emily Blunt). Low awareness. Did almost $800 for the week, still low but not bad.

Seems counter intuitive doesn't it? This is a general pattern at Western Film although it does have exceptions. The Dark Knight was still one of the highest grossing films at Western Film.

There's several reasons I think this occurs-
For many movies the audience who wants to see them go see them first run, this is why Western Film doesn't play horror films and most smaller action films. In many cases they don't want to wait until WF plays the film even if we are cheaper.

Part of it is timing, it depends on the time of year the film plays.

Smaller movies aimed at adults can do well here. Adults are more likely be willing to wait and/or want to see it for less money. Western Film is also less busy and crowded. Although I wouldn't mind seeing that change.

Smaller films often don't play in theatres much. Sunshine played for a couple weeks at the Westmount, F&F played at all the theatres in the city.

By the time WF gets a film word of mouth has spread and if it's bad it will affect us. The opposite effect can occur with good word of mouth for the smaller films that start in the bigger cities then spread out from there.

Being a University theatre our primary market is a more intellectual and discriminating group. They are more likely to take a chance on something that looks different. They are also less likely to seek out out only escapist fare.

The best example I can give is Hotel Rwanda. It was the biggest grossing movie at WF the year it came out however it did only $20 million in overall box office.

The Sunshine Cleaning experiment results.

2009-05-22T02:45:00.002-04:00

As written in an earlier post my decision to play Sunshine Cleaning the week that just ended was a bit of an experiment. There were no bigger movies to play and I didn't know how Sunshine would do as it had low awareness but good reviews. I heard 'never heard of it' a lot this last week. I decided to try it because with the lack of students I thought something more aimed at adults might do okay.

Result: The experiment worked. While it didn't go great overall it did better than a couple of the last films. It actually did a bit more than my most optimistic prediction. I can pretty much guarantee it did better than FIGHTING which was the only wide release film available.

Funny Promo for The Proposal

2009-05-21T02:51:00.006-04:00

This is a fun little clip to promote the movie The Proposal with Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock. I think the movie looks good and the advance word from screenings say it is. Language is NSFW but bleeped.

Update: The embedding doesn't seem to be working. Click on the text along the bottom to link to the video.

Sandra Bullock & Ryan Reynolds: Behind the Scenes of The Proposal from Betty White

A Star Wars fans revenge?

2009-05-15T03:24:00.001-04:00

This a fun little clip.

Star Trek is Awesome!

2009-05-15T03:03:00.004-04:00

I did something this week I haven't done in years. I saw the same movie twice, two nights in a row. I've been Star Trek fan since I was little and have been really looking forward to the new film.

I found the film exciting and a lot of fun. There were a couple places that seemed a bit forced (the guy in the water tube) and some logical inconsistencies ( how can a supernova threaten the galaxy?)

Overall the characters were good, the action was fun and the effects were flawless. There were never any of those moments where the effect is so obviously an effect it takes you out of the film. Wolverine had some of those.

Part of the reason I was it twice was I was checking out the new theatres at Westmount. I saw it on Sunday in one of the VIP theatres. It was cool but I was off center of the screen and it wasn't a real big theatre so I really noticed it. On the way out I talked to the manager who said theatre #1 of the regular cinemas has a 50 foot screen and almost 400 seats. I had to check that out! I figured Star trek would only play in that theatre for a week and Angels and Demons would take over on Friday. I went back on Monday for the late show and saw it in #1. That theatre is huge and the showing was impressive. I was able to sit in the exact center of the screen as I like it.

Some Star Trek fans are upset with the new film because it doesn't stick to the established canon. I don't think they could have stuck to the canon and made a film a lot of people want to see for a couple reasons.

-after 10 movies and several TV series I would imagine the canon is so twisted and complicated anything they did would contradict something. It would also severely limit the options for some of the characters.

-obviously since there is no TV series running and the last couple movies fizzled there isn't enough interest in Star Trek as it was to warrant making another film.

I'll probably watch Star Trek again when it plays at Western Film. I'm looking forward to the sequel. The characters have been reestablished so they can just go straight into a hopefully interesting story.

Next Week's film May 15 - 21

2009-05-15T02:49:00.003-04:00

There was only one higher profile film available for next week.

FIGHTING- It was a good film but I wouldn't have played it at Western Film even during the school year. Just not the kind of film we do well with. It's especially true right now considering how bad Observe and Report and Fast & Furious have done. All three appeal to a similar demographic and they just aren't around this time of year. This is always the worst time of the year.

I decided to try an experiment. Since the younger patrons aren't around I'll try something that appeals more to older movie goers. It's a good week to experiment as whatever I experiment with can't do much worse than what I've been playing and could do better.

I considered playing Waltz With Bashir but decided it was too serious and I was told by the booker it didn't play well anywhere in Canada.

I decided to try playing SUNSHINE CLEANING. It's apparently a good, funny film but has low awareness so I'm not sure what will happen. It played for a couple weeks at the Westmount, it must have done at least some business since they kept it for a second week.

I'm not sure what I'll do the following week if Monsters Vs. Aliens or something similar isn't available.

I don't think we'll have to wait too long for Wolverine considering the word of mouth and big second weekend drop. I'm still planning to play it as it is a big release and while it wasn't great it wasn't horrible either.

Building / Western Film hours.

2009-05-15T02:44:00.003-04:00

In response to a recent comment. During the summer the hours of the UCC building have been reduced but Western Film is still open as usual.
This is the first year that has happened. In previous year the building stayed open normal hours but since Campus Rec (the gym) moved into their new building there is no reason to keep the entire building open during the summer. Western Film is pretty much the only thing open on the weekends except the radio station.