Page 6 - CinemaRecord Edition 3-2003 #41

Regent Brisbane Opera On The Screen
To the casual eye all seems normal High definition digital is bringing
at the Regent. The entrance includes a unusual opportunities to a cinema near
coffee bar with tables and chairs - you. The latest is opera (almost) direct
nicely cosmopolitan - while the main from the great companies of the world.
foyer, inspected one midday in July, Village at the Jam Factory and
was buzzing. The only sense that times Southland and Hoyts at Chadstone
might be changing was the numbers of have screened productions from Teatro
people snapping pics in and around the La Fenice Venice, and the War
foyers. Memorial Opera House San
To those with long memories there Francisco, while the Nova in Carlton
is a disconnect between the sign ‘Birch, takes broadcasts from the
Carroll and Coyle’ over the staircase - Metropolitan Opera, New York.
the company no doubt proud to have In time-friendly countries the operas
this temporary acquisition - and the are streamed in real time, but here they
unchanged timber sign with gold are delayed.
lettering in the same foyer which reads Palace Still Growing
- Hoyts Regent Theatre, Tenants
When Icon Film Distribution
Directory. The theatre is scheduled to
(owned by Mel Gibson and his business
close in December.
partner Bruce Davey) purchased the
NEW SOUTH WALES five Dendy cinemas last year, the deal
George Street Goes Digital did not include the jewel, the Kino
Dendy in Collins Place. Instead, the
All 16 screens in the George Street
landmark art house has entered into a
Cinemas are now showing electronic
partnership with the Zeccola family’s
product.
Palace Cinemas. The deal will bring to
3D facilities have also been
25 the number of Palace screens across
installed in a couple of cinemas.
Melbourne.
Several makes and models of digital
- Various sources
projector and servers are under
evaluation in the complex. Open House
The 35mm machines are still there, A new cinema for Melbourne - at the The Plaza Ballroom beneath the
held in reserve. Museum! Regent was one of the now rarely seen
- AMMPT Newsletter, July. locations open to the public at the
inaugural Open House on Sunday 22
VICTORIA On Show - The History Of the July.
The Melbourne Story Moving Image As a venue the Plaza has come full
A new exhibit at the Melbourne In May 2007 when CATHS toured circle. Intended as a ballroom, it
Museum, Carlton Gardens records the The Australian Centre For the Moving opened as a cinema and became a
history of Melbourne. Since the 20th Image (ACMI) the organisers lobbied public favourite.
century is well documented on film, the for an exhibition on cinema history, When the Regent and Plaza closed,
exhibit includes a small cinema with a focus on Australia's contribution. the years of neglect turned the
showing extracts from newsreels, Whether this plea was a spur to basement space into a subterranean
travelogues and cinema advertising action is unknown, but work on a lake. Today it is fully restored and
from the 1900s to the 1950s, all permanent exhibition is well on the managed by Jason Marriner of Marriner
relevant to the ‘Queen City of the way. While several film history Theatres group.
South’. galleries exist, ACMI's will be the first
The venue caters for events such as
CATHS supplied one image for the to include all aspects of the moving 500-seat dinners, ARIA Awards and
lobby; the foyer of the Capitol decked image: where it came from, what it is weddings. Even so, a lot of people walk
out for a 1938 western. The little and how we interact with it. The plan is past every day with no appreciation of
cinema is not a copy of the Capitol,but to open the exhibition in March 2009. what is down those steps.
it is a charmer nonetheless, with an art - The Age 21 June 2008 Eight locations were open for the
deco interior. day. Other theatres open were the
The exhibit is part of a permanent Regent and Capitol.
display. Entry is free for Seniors Card
This first Open House was
holders.
organized by the Future Focus Group
of the Committee For Melbourne. “We
want people to re-examine and engage
with the city and be inspired by the
work they see”, said FFG spokesperson
Tim Leslie, of Bates Smart Architects.
- The Age 19 July 2008.

6 2008 CINEMARECORD