Dolby Cinema

Vidiot's sig line has been advising me to "See it in Dolby Cinema" for a while, but all of them have been in the far suburbs.

Well, they are building one I can get to - the AMC River East 21 near Navy Pier in Chicago. The part that is surprising is that they converted the 2nd biggest auditorium in the complex, Theater 10. I'm sure it was chosen due to it being closest to the kitchen and the bar for best in-seat service (which I have no interest in and view as a distraction.)

Anyway, when it opens, I'll have to check it out. Anyone paid the premium, and do you consider it worth it?

 

It's great, provided they don't cram Dolby 3D on you. I'm a big fan of flat Dolby Vision.

On the other hand, if you gotta see 3D, Dolby Vision 3D is the best thing out there by far because it almost overcomes the brightness loss of the dichroic-lens glasses. RealD and XpanD are worse.

The Dolby Cinema concept is exemplary, and it's about as lavish as an American theater can get in modern times. Great pictures, fantastic sound, comfortable seats... and they generally prohibit showing commercials before the movie (aside from trailers). All good things. But not cheap.

 

When I visited Arizona earlier this year, my Dad and I saw "Rogue One" at an AMC "Dolby Cinema".

I was pretty underwhelmed. Annoying red lighting at the bottom of the screen throughout the film - which seems to be typical of Dolby Cinema, though from what I've heard elsewhere, they may finally be doing away with it - and a good but not great presentation.

Other than the red light, there was nothing wrong with the DC presentation, but it didn't impress me.

There's a DC at an AMC very close to my house - I'll probably check it out one of these days to see if I just hit a "bad screening" in AZ...

 

I checked, and an evening show was $20 a ticket.

 

By the way, I can't resolve 3D, so it's utterly worthless to me. I can see out of both eyes, but like 12% of the population my eyes can't integrate the two into stereo. This latest resurgence of the 3D fad can't die soon enough for me. It's already died at home, come on an die in mainstream movie theaters already and crawl back into your theme park hole.

 

I'va had two Dolby Cinema AMC Prime experiences. Rogue One in Paramus and La La Land in Manhattan. Premium pricing got us in for matinee screenings. The kids and I were both impressed with the whole presentation. Rogue One's combination of vintage lenses and state of the art capture was a killer app for Dolby's enhanced dynamic range video.

I confirmed that AMC is adding a Dolby Prime screen in Bensalem, just over the northeast Philadelphia line.

The bad news is AMC is already diluting the brand with "Prime At AMC." The watered down version keeps the big screen and shaker seats, but loses the Atmos sound and stacked projectors.

My poor man's go to for a premium presentation is my local Cinemark XD with Barco 4K projectors and Auro 11.1 sound. Matinee All Day Tuesday is under $9. The mystery there is whether the theater is receiving 4K files.

Happy viewing, Michael

 

The current trend is to go with two Christie Laser projectors, which can get really, really bright (100 nits). They actually have a way of aligning them horizontally, not stacked per se.

 

Thank you for the correction.

 

Hell, no! I can own the blu-ray for less than that!

 

This particular location has stacked Sony 4K projectors for 3D in most of their auditoriums, pulling the polorizers out of the path for 2D presentations (I believe). I've seen a film with bass shakers, which AMC tested at their former premiere theater, the Mainstreet in Kansas City. It was the closest to their downtown KC offices, but they sold it to Alamo Drafthouse when they moved out to the Burbs. The Hurt Locker was astonishing with them.

 

The standard presentation at this location is so high, I have a tough time imagining how much better Dolby Cinema would have to be to justify the added expense.

 

It's a ploy.
Pure marketing.

 

...and all for what? "Wonder Woman"?!?

 

I can resolve it and I enjoy it. Why don't you want me to be happy?

 

I saw Wonder Woman last night and quite enjoyed it. But unlike The Hurt Locker, I didn't hear anything that I felt needed subsonics delivered to my butt. As pleasant as thought as Gil Gadot massaging my glutes may be, it's not strictly necessary.

 

If they ever come up with a system that doesn't require anyone to wear any glasses, and they don't charge extra, then we'll all be happy.

 

I've seen this presentation at the secret Dolby R&D theater near Hollywood & Vine, and their laser projectors display a really powerful, stunning-looking picture, at more than double the normal brightness of traditional theaters and with wider color gamut. What blew my little mind is that the blacks are blacker, so this is a picture with an incredible amount of contrast. Once you've seen a picture this impressive, it's very hard to go back to anything less.

Dolby Cinema: The Total Cinema Experience

They also have fairly tough specs on room noise level, acoustic isolation, even the amount of light in the room (including the Exit signs), sound levels, frequency response, the stairs, the angle of view, where the seats are situated, angle of view, and how and where the entrances and exits are located. This goes far, far beyond what THX did in the 1990s.

 

Possibly, but they LOVE charging extra.

 

You can't watch it so none of the rest of us should be able to enjoy it?

Hate to tell you, but I don't think 3D theatrical is going anywhere anytime soon. No, it didn't do well on home video, but it's still common in theaters and I don't see that changing...

 

Did I indicate that I somehow have the power to make 3D theatrical presentations disappear? Short of some all-powerful Djinn appearing and granting what most likely be my third wish, there is nothing I can do about it. So don't worry.

 

You expressed your passionate desire for the format to die - not exactly the same as saying "it doesn't work for me but if people like it, more power to them", is it?

 

Because I often am not given any choice! The only 48 fps showings of The Hobbit were also in 3D. I really wanted to see the higher frame rate (which I loved as Showscan). So, in addition to having to wear cheap, crappy polarized sunglasses over my regular glasses I had to wear an eye patch over one eye under the glasses. And to add insult to this injury, I was forced to pay extra for the privilege. If you can't imagine this, try it sometime, OK? You might find yourself like me, viewing 3D presentations as if you were trapped in a Friday The 13th movie, seeing 3D as Jason Vorhees, stabbing it in the chest over and over, screaming "DIE! DIE! WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE ALREADY!!"

Also, it's just unfair. Imagine if you had something else where 12% of the population was not welcome - like gay people.

 

No, gay people love 3D - you're wrong there!

Look, I'm sorry that you can't see 3D, but I still don't think it's right to wish for the format's death just it doesn't work for you. And it's really pretty rare when you have "no choice" - it's not like movies are released only in 3D.

Yes, there are some special cases like the HFR "Hobbit", but them's the breaks - don't see that as different than people who didn't get to see the HFR "Hobbit" because they lived in small towns that only got the 24 FPS version...

 

And in truth, that's what it's all about: finding a way to charge people another $3 or $4 for a ticket. But if that also gives you a much better presentation, then it's worth it.

I don't think it's a gay thing or a race thing or a man/woman thing -- I think 3D is bad simply because it adversely affects the picture quality. I'd have no objection if the picture was exactly as bright and the color was as normal as it was in a normal flat sscreening.

Bear in mind that 99% of today's 3D is all dimensionalized, created by a thousand low-paid VFX workers in 3rd-world countries. The 3D doesn't make the movie experience better -- it gives the theater (and studio) a chance to earn more money. I would argue that flat Imax (and similar "premium theater" experiences) gives you a much better overall presentation than 3D.

I can tolerate Dolby Vision 3D, but I've had some bad experiences with dirty lenses and alignment issues. I know the strengths and weaknesses of all the digital 3D systems, and they're all annoying for 2-1/2 hour action movies. I'm telling ya, it's just a profit deal.

 

It's reasonably priced at my usual Vue Dolby complex in Leeds at £10.29 evening shows.
£12.29 for the VIP seats.
Sometimes it's cheaper on slow days/afternoons.
They do look/sound good........except for one screen a few months ago that looked like some disgruntled customer must have thrown his refreshments at the lower corner of the screen!