Toronto RioCan Hall | 145.2m | 42s | RioCan | Hariri Pontarini

It's like the big issue currently in Oakville where the town has tried to designate a Golf Course as heritage.. You can't designate a use as heritage, only structures.
 
Northern Light said:
Edit to add: The City really needs a new dedicated Art House Cinema. Tiff doesn't cut it because they have only 3 good quality screens; and because, by and large, they don't run a full schedule of any one film for any length of time.
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TIFF does cut it. All five cinemas are fine, two are just smaller. The smallest, #5, which started with crappy chairs, was upgraded a few years ago. The projection and sound in all of the cinemas is top notch. First run can go for months at the Lightbox, depending upon how many people are showing up, (Moonlight and Call Me By Your Name both had five month runs, for example) although weeks is more typical. Repertory can run for an extended period too, if, again, the film is a big draw, as was the case with 2001: A Space Odyssey last year on its 60th anniversary.

Once it's safe to reopen the cinemas again, you can add the Paradise on Bloor at Dovercourt to your list as another art film house, and occasionally the theatre at the AGO is used for art house flickery too… but no cinema is going to run art films for extended runs if audiences don't show up for the films. If you care enough, you have to show up for one of the few screenings there are, and bring two friends, and have them bring two friends, and have them bring two friends, and have them bring two friends, and have them bring two friends,…

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interchange42 said:
TIFF does cut it. All five cinemas are fine, two are just smaller. The smallest, #5, which started with crappy chairs, was upgraded a few years ago. The projection and sound in all of the cinemas is top notch. First run can go for months at the Lightbox, depending upon how many people are showing up, (Moonlight and Call Me By Your Name both had five month runs, for example) although weeks is more typical. Repertory can run for an extended period too, if, again, the film is a big draw, as was the case with 2001: A Space Odyssey last year on its 60th anniversary.

Once it's safe to reopen the cinemas again, you can add the Paradise on Bloor at Dovercourt to your list as another art film house, and occasionally the theatre at the AGO is used for art house flickery too… but no cinema is going to run art films for extended runs if audiences don't show up for the films. If you care enough, you have to show up for one of the few screenings there are, and bring two friends, and have them bring two friends, and have them bring two friends, and have them bring two friends, and have them bring two friends,…

42
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I love TIFF; been a supporter for a very long time.

I'm simply saying the amount of quality space they have to schedule product isn't as much as we used to have or as much as I would like.

#5 at the LightBox is tiny; more screening room than cinema, not at all immersive.

I'll meet you 1/2 way on #4. LOL

Looking forward to supporting the Paradise again as well.

But somewhere here, I have a list of all the movies I saw in....hmmmm, 1996. (in cinema)

Something like 60.

No more than 20 were Hollywood fare; the rest were foreign/foreign language, Canadian, or American Indy.

I'm not including what I saw in TIFF in that list.

I'd be very hard pressed to find that much foreign/arthouse product in today's market.

Back then in addition to Carlton/Cumberland, The Hyland had a big thing for releasing Britpics.

That was the year of Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Jude, Breaking the Waves, Lonestar, Kenneth Branaugh's Hamlet, Kolya and so much more!

All of those had mainstream cinema screentime, for weeks!

Sigh.

I miss that, and I miss some of those venues too! The York on Eglinton, The Uptown, The Hyland, The Hollywood, The Eglinton, The Runnymede, The Cumberland......
 
How many square metres is the current Scotiabank Theatre? Will it be replaced as a Scotiabank Theatre by Cineplex again? I really don't like Cineplex, and wish we had another chain in Canada. They do not take care of their existing theatres at all. The lighting has never been fixed properly at this complex from when Famous Players owned it.
 
Article on the financial difficulties of the movie theatre industry during these times. I'll definitely miss the Scotia Bank theatre, as it remains my main go-to choice for watching movies. But if there were to be a time to fast track this development, then it would be now.

www.cnn.com

AMC Theatres has 'substantial doubt' it can remain in business

AMC Theatres, the world's biggest movie theater chain, said on Wednesday that it has "substantial doubt" it can remain in business after closing locations across the globe during the coronavirus pandemic.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com
 
AlbertC said:
Article on the financial difficulties of the movie theatre industry during these times. I'll definitely miss the Scotia Bank theatre, as it remains my main go-to choice for watching movies. But if there were to be a time to fast track this development, then it would be now.

www.cnn.com

AMC Theatres has 'substantial doubt' it can remain in business

AMC Theatres, the world's biggest movie theater chain, said on Wednesday that it has "substantial doubt" it can remain in business after closing locations across the globe during the coronavirus pandemic.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com
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AMC was never profitable in Canada as indicated by the closing of their Kennedy Commons and 10 Dundas Theatres. They only had a handful of theaters but are an afterthought now.
 
interchange42 said:
Who knows where that's heading over the next while…
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Theatres are probably going the way of book stores and record stores. There will be some but not like it used to be. Home streaming is the choice of more and more people.
 
Edward Skira said:
Theatres are probably going the way of book stores and record stores. There will be some but not like it used to be. Home streaming is the choice of more and more people.
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I see it a bit different because book stores and record stores are a place to buy a medium that you then bring home to enjoy but you go to the movie theatre because they have a superior audio and video. A book is the same whether you read it at the store or at home.

Movie theatres are a bit closer to concerts or theatrical plays except the 'talent' is their AV equipment. I'd see movie theatres going away when technology for home theatres can provide a close enough experience to the theatres. Who knows, maybe in home VR will actually pick up.
 
Home laser projection is the way of the future - check out the cinebeam products by LG. In the meantime, I think having more smaller cinemas throughout the city is better than trying to make the suburban multiplex format work downtown. Varsity is a great example of this. Good size, modern sound and AV, but intimate and accessible. I'd rather see 2 to 3 new Varsity sized cinemas than a new jumbo multiplex.
 
The Scotiabank Theatre's laser IMAX screen is one of the best in the entire world. Losing it would be a huge loss for Toronto, as it would mean no more viewing 70mm IMAX films in their proper aspect ratio unless you go to the Cinesphere or Mississauga. We're talking Dark Knight, Ghost Protocol, Force Awakens, Interstellar, and Wonder Woman 1984. You can't replace this theatre with just any other screens and call it the same thing.
 
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