Carlton Cinema is shutting down... and opening back up again

[barrytron3030]

I read in the Globe last week that when the engineers went in after Cineplex pulled out they had stripped everything out of the complex right down to the urinals and light bulbs. How ridiculous.

it's true. i knew someone who worked there. cineplex really wanted to gut the place. i suppose, since they knew that a competitor would likely be moving in, they wanted to destroy the place. in all honestly, cineplex can eat my innards. the giant corporation that it is had no idea how to run a personable art-house cinema. the carlton, to cineplex, simply became an unwanted cost. rainbow will certainly do a better job running and promoting the place. this is a prime location. this is a movie town. i eagerly look forward to returning to his temple of film.

 

[LenzrBen]

It's too bad, I had some nice memories with my dad at the Carlton. Even with all this back and forth I think it's going to take a while for them to try and get back to where they once were. It'll take a full service marketing campaign by Rainbow just to get moviegoers convinced Cineplex didn't completely tarnish the theatre. I agree with barrytron though, this is a movie town and I think we can expect the Carlton to return to glory once more.

 

[Arob]

I saw Koyanisquatsi there , twice

 

[Geekaroo]

Magic Lantern's Carleton Cinema is now Open

By null at 2010-07-23

 

[kitestate]

i visited the new carlton on sunday night to see exit through the gift shop (a wickedly amusing flick). the cinema looks essentially the same structurally (obviously) but definitely tightened up their look. nothing aesthetically too pleasing or too offensive, but familiar enough to this frequent visitor

of interest to UT'ers are the newspaper articles and ad reprints that they have displayed on the walls showcasing the various iterations of the theatre on the site.

love the small cinema experience. here's hoping they continue to rep the rep stuff

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I haven't been yet but a good friend of mine who is really picky about cinemas (and presentation) was very positive about his two experiences there. New screens, much improved projection, digital sound, upgraded seats (similar to AMC he says) and a fresh looking lobby are among the highlights of the new Carlton Cinemas. It's pretty limited what they can do with the place given the space but in his opinion what they did in there exceeded his expectations. Now they need to bust the bank and get a sign out front so those passing by know what's playing inside.

 

[wonderboy416]

Would this not be a good opportunity for Rainbow cinemas to bring in a new crowd? I'm assuming it's still there right next to the St Lawrence market. They have plenty of screens and always seemed to pull in a good crowd for the blockbusters - however a number of shows I've seen there only had a couple of spectators. Why not have a few of the auditoriums run these type of movies?

Oh wow I'm a profit! I'm so happy that this is working out. That sign has got to go... Magic Lantern can do tacky better than anyone else (just look at their assortment of shorts they run before the feature). Hopefully it gets the proper treatment soon.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

The Carlton Cinemas finally gets a funky new sign and marquee

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

 

[barrytron3030]

Looks great. And it's even better to see that they are still showing a Woody Allen film!

 

[Eug]

I haven't been yet but a good friend of mine who is really picky about cinemas (and presentation) was very positive about his two experiences there. New screens, much improved projection, digital sound, upgraded seats (similar to AMC he says) and a fresh looking lobby are among the highlights of the new Carlton Cinemas. It's pretty limited what they can do with the place given the space but in his opinion what they did in there exceeded his expectations. Now they need to bust the bank and get a sign out front so those passing by know what's playing inside.

Good to hear. One reason I stopped going there was because the theatre itself was quite low end. It's nice to have a fresh looking lobby, but more importantly it's mandatory to have a decent sound system, good quality projection, and comfortable seats. The old Carlton had none of the above.

Let's just hope the theatre can get good prints.I still remember seeing 30 mins of a movie in one theatre and then walking out and asking for my money back. It was a good quality theatre, but the print was so bad it was laughable.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Let's just hope the theatre can get good prints.I still remember seeing 30 mins of a movie in one theatre and then walking out and asking for my money back. It was a good quality theatre, but the print was so bad it was laughable.

That's usually not the cinemas fault, it's the distributors. Often independent films are moved from city to city and the same limited number of prints really make the rounds. The other problem is the Carlton most often plays films after they've played several weeks, sometimes months at a first run cinema so the print has begun to wear and get dirty. Finally, the quality of stock that films are printed on in the past 15 -20 years is pretty crappy. On occasion important films will be printed on better quality stock and sometimes processed at reduced speeds at the lab, but that's not very common outside of Toronto Film Festival or important exclusive engagements. You'll even notice the difference in these prints, the colour is richer, the focus is somewhat sharper and often the image is steadier. In the next 3-5 years this won't be much of an issue as most cinemas will all be digital by then.

 

[nfitz]

Did the Carlton have to get new projection equipment? I assumed Cineplex left nothing behind. Is the new equipment not digital?

 

[Dan416]

Have to say I dislike the sign. The font remind me of Windows 3.1/95 and Word 2.0/6.0