AMC Says ‘Almost All’ U.S. Theaters Will Reopen in July

G

groveChuck

U-matic Member
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/business/coronavirus-amc-movie-theaters-reopening.html

"In just three weeks, Hollywood is scheduled to restart its supply pipeline of new films.
“Unhinged,” a $33 million Russell Crowe thriller, will arrive in theaters on July 1, followed in mid-July by Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” a $200 million-plus mind bender.

The question, however, is whether people — even while watching movies in well-sanitized theaters with limited capacity — will feel safe from the coronavirus, the spread of which rose to a worldwide high on Sunday, as measured by new cases.

Some states are requiring cinemas to limit capacity to 25 percent, at least initially.
Groups will be seated at least six feet apart in a “checkerboard” style.
Some cinemas may designate arrival times for ticket buyers to reduce last-minute crowding at concession counters.
More theaters will allow patrons to order concessions with their phones.
Seats will be sanitized before each showtime; California officials asked theater owners to consider using disposable seat covers.

Theater employees will be required to wear masks. Moviegoers may only be encouraged to wear them."


I know there's the whole "Is the 'theater experience worth it?" question debated extensively here.
But, would you go?
 
Yeah I wouldn't go under these circumstances. Doesn't seem worth it when you can rent new releases online for a similar price.

the better question is if teenagers will go, and I bet they will since they're less risk-averse and also personally invulnerable to the virus
 
As much as I love going to the movies, I won't be the guinea pig. I'm going to wait several months before I go. Probably won't go into a movie theater until 2021. Why risk it? A friend of mine died of Covid-19, two were hospitalized and in critical condition, and a bunch more (my brother included) were very sick but well enough to ride it out at home.

Movies can wait.
 
I'd go for Tenet...Not much else coming up. But I live in an area with no current cases.
 
I'm not so much worried about catching CV at the theater as I'm not going to put up with those restrictions. I have a certain seat, give or take a spot or two, where I'm going to/want to sit and masks and eating popcorn and drinking don't mix. Kind of like this stupidity of some places saying if you eat inside at a restaurant you have to wear a mask, except when you're eating... Guess what dumb @$$es, I'm constantly drinking and eating when I'm in a restaurant and I'm not going to take a mask off and put it back on after every sip of my drink. I'll tolerate some of this dog & pony crap on jobs because I'm getting paid, but not the other way around. I'll continue to watch movies at home on my 120" 4K projector with 5.1 surround sound. And my popcorn is always fresh and I'm never out of what I want to drink.
 
People might go to a sporting event despite Covid related inconveniences but movie theaters will struggle. They were facing competition from the streaming services before but Covid probably killed them off for good.

PS. Technically speaking, they could place plastic dividers on the backs of the seats and hand rests, while pumping ozone into the screening room. It'll minimize the risks of transmission but most states won't allow such arrangements.
 
DLD said:
People might go to a sporting event despite Covid related inconveniences but movie theaters will struggle. They were facing competition from the streaming services before but Covid probably killed them off for good.

PS. Technically speaking, they could place plastic dividers on the backs of the seats and hand rests, while pumping ozone into the screening room. It'll minimize the risks of transmission but most states won't allow such arrangements.
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It was announced today that NASCAR will slowly open back up to (a VERY limited number of) fans in the stands starting this Sunday in Homestead(up to 1K military personnel) and then next weekend in Talladega(up to 5K fans). But none tonight in Martinsville.
 
This is a purely economic move (obviously). Nothing has changed with the virus, and with all the protests and the economy restarting, it’s likely we will have never flattened the curve; only delayed the spike.

As much as I want to see Tenent, I’ll be watching it when it’s available at home.
 
Re: Tenet, I want to be excited. But I was so disappointed by Interstellar and Inception. Other people liked them more than I did, but they felt so bloated and convoluted to me. I feel like Nolan needs limitations to work against. Memento was such a brilliant film, as was The Prestige. I haven't seen Dunkirk yet, though.
 
Memento and Prestige are awesome, I’m hoping tenent recaptures some of that cerebral filmmaking. I liked Inception, but I’m hoping Tenent is better and blends the smarts of memento with the budget of his modern work. Enjoyed Dunkirk and Interstellar but good to see Nolan back to the style and premises that made him famous.

Mind bending premise of a heist film using the manipulating of time? From Nolan? Sign me up. Even if not his best, at worst it will be good.
 
Dunkirk Spoiler - If you like to watch a: a son try to make tea for some guy he doesn't know on a boat, b: Two guys work their way past other soldiers to get jelly sandwiches on a boat, c: Watch some guys in planes worry about running out of fuel while you go deaf from the loudness of the move, Dunkirk is for you.
 
Run&Gun said:
It was announced today that NASCAR will slowly open back up to (a VERY limited number of) fans in the stands starting this Sunday in Homestead(up to 1K military personnel) and then next weekend in Talladega(up to 5K fans). But none tonight in Martinsville.
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At Homestead, a heatstroke is more likely that Covid. (it's getting a bit toasty out there)

As to Dunkirk - a typical WWII soldier was dirty, unshaven, mad at his predicament, hungry and, above all, sleepy as hell. Was that in the opening shots of "Dunkirk"? No, it showed some pretty boy in an ironed uniform, with perfect teeth and even more perfect BMI.

This is a WWII look (looks like somewhere in USSR)

s-l1000.jpg

And so is this. (file too large for embedding but a great photo of what looks like a German (Austrian) Gebirgsjäger (Mountain troops) in his baseball style hat.

https://www.forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/german-cleaning.jpg

A US paratrooper in France from 1944. Same old, same old.

http://www.fight-squad.com/469-thic...ier-trooper-northern-france-1944-wwii-420.jpg
 
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I’ll be going to back in July. With the exception of the big franchise releases I took nephew to , The last dozen commercial theatre screenings I attended only had a couple of people. I tend to go to mostly matinees. My area in Indiana has about 300k population and tons of screens but dismal theatre attendance. I will probably hold off on the local art house/cinema center screenings as they tend to be well attended in a smallish theatre.
 
DLD said:
As to Dunkirk - a typical WWII soldier was dirty, unshaven, mad at his predicament, hungry and, above all, sleepy as hell. Was that in the opening shots of "Dunkirk"? No, it showed some pretty boy in an ironed uniform, with perfect teeth and even more perfect BMI.
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Interesting photos. I feel like people used to have stronger bone structure. Maybe our diets are worse and our soil nutritionally depleted. Or maybe I'm crazy.

Out of curiosity, what did you think of 1917, which I haven't seen yet either? (Different war, granted)
 
ahalpert said:
Interesting photos. I feel like people used to have stronger bone structure. Maybe our diets are worse and our soil nutritionally depleted. Or maybe I'm crazy.
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I think we're just fatter. You can't see bones if they're covered in fat. Before WWII most people were malnourished. The school lunch program in the US started because the military was so alarmed by the number of weak, malnourished recruits that came in. Now we've swung in the opposite direction. Fast, processed food and corn syrup with its easy calories has been shoved down our gullets for so long we've become unhealthily fat.
 
ahalpert said:
... Out of curiosity, what did you think of 1917, which I haven't seen yet either? (Different war, granted)
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I started watching it and thought that a celebrated opening sequence was quite detrimental to the narrative. In other words, it was style over substance andI didn't think much of the style either.

Here's why - in real time, one can see how short the length of the trench was. Real WWI trenches were much longer - a division was expected to cover over 3 km (~ 2 miles for the non-metric Americans ... for reference, in WWII, some German divisions had to cover 50 km on the Eastern Front ... that's right, 12,000-15,000 troops having to cover some 30 miles of front line).

The trenches themselves were deep and narrow. A late e-friend of mine was a 19 year old MP at the Remagen Bridge in 1945. The Germans were supposed to blow it up upon retreat but somehow the charges malfunctioned and the US Army captured it intact. Subsequently, the Germans tried to destroy it by any means possible - artillery, bombers, guided rockets. My friend said that, had it not been for the German built trenches - about 7 ft deep and 2 ft wide - nobody on the receiving end would have survived. He lost a portion of his hearing there. I asked, "Hasn't anyone taught you to crouch, cup your hands over your ears and take a deep breath when you heard an incoming shell?' Well, apparently, not. But those type of trenches would have made for crappy visuals. They were dark.

And often flooded (depending on the time of the season)

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l0RYjO_gp...+the+flooded+trenches,+Soviet+Union,+1943.jpg

And I could go on. But here's a quick read.

https://kidskonnect.com/history/wwi-trenches/

Batutta said:
I think we're just fatter. You can't see bones if they're covered in fat. Before WWII most people were malnourished. The school lunch program in the US started because the military was so alarmed by the number of weak, malnourished recruits that came in. Now we've swung in the opposite direction. Fast, processed food and corn syrup with its easy calories has been shoved down our gullets for so long we've become unhealthily fat.
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In 1942, before the American supplies began to be delivered into the Soviet Union via the Land Lease, an average Red Army soldier had a size 29 waist.

A few years ago, I was talking to my mom about her travails as a refugee in the near Urals. She was a young girl, aged from 8 to 11 (1941-44). She said, "We basically starved for three years ... on the positive side, I've never heard of anyone being diagnosed with diabetes". Then she said, "When we were given an American chocolate, we were ecstatic. That's what saved us". Chocolate tasted good but, more importantly, it had calories.
 
Regarding bone structure, take a look at photos from the 1930's or earlier. People were rail thin compared to today.

Regarding soldier's clothing and looks, I just happened to re-read my father's WWII memoirs two days ago. During the 101 days of combat his division served (they were required to serve 101 days before they were sent to the rear lines as reserve to take a rest), he never took off his uniform, except to get a shower once per month. But then, the stench of dead bodies overwhelmed everything, so the stench of live bodies was not so much of an issue. If you ever smelled a rotting body, you know what I mean. There's nothing worse.
 
As to filming war films. I read this as a teenager many years ago and I believe it was about "They fought for their motherland", a 1975 WWII film by a celebrated Soviet film director Sergei Bondarchuk (1920-1994, Academy Award Best Foreign film winner 1968 for the "War and Piece", Golden Globe winner as an actor playing "Pierre Bezukhov" in the same film). When filming, Bondarchuk got his selection of stars but then it dawned on him that that's what they looked like - well known film stars, not real WWII front line troops. And he knew what the authentic look was supposed to be, having served himself at the latter stages of WWII. So, he ordered those guys to go on a march, dig some trenches, do some pushups in the dirt. He said, a few days later, they were close to looking the way he wanted.


Conversation between an NCO and a cook.

--------------------------------

And what do you think you're doing here?

I am digging a foxhole.

Who told you to do that?

No one. My own initiative.

You're a cook!

A cook is a soldier too.

There are enough soldiers around. But there's only one cook. And, if he's busy digging himself a foxhole, what are the soldiers going to have for dinner?

----------

and so on. semi-realistic.
 
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