Dublin cinema screen sizes

Tony EH · 05-10-2015 1:40pm #1

So, some of us are thinking of going to see 'The Martian' tonight. The choice has come down to this.

The Lighthouse or Cineworld.

Now, I like the Lighthouse, but the problem I have with it is that her screen sizes are too small to show films that are shot in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, which 'The Martian' is (as are most "big" releases these days). The Lighthouse screens are 1.85:1, IIRC. This means that when the lighthouse is showing a film shot in a 2.35:1 ratio, they have to "shrink" the projection to fit the entire picture in. Kind of like what you see when you watch a film at home on your 16:9 television, with the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.

Cineworld have screens in both 2.35:1 and 1.85:1. The problem here is that they don't tell the punter which screens are which, so it's pot luck. But usually the "big" releases are shown on the larger screens.

Personally, I think that cinemas should state what ratio their screens are on their websites, because its bugs the life out of me when I go to see something shot in 2.15:1 and it's shown on a smaller 1.85:1 screen. I saw 'Jaws' a few years ago in the Screen cinema projected like that and it annoyed the balls off of me. It was like watching a Blu Ray at home.

Now, something like 'Taxi Driver', shot in 1.85:1 is perfect for being shown in the Lighthouse or the IFI, because the old "academy ratio" is made for such screens and fill the whole screen.

Does this bother other people? Or am I the only one? I suppose most people going to see a picture in the cinema wouldn't have a clue what the difference is between 1.33:1 (old films and TV), 1.43:1 (IMAX), 1.85:1 (widescreen) or 2.35:1 (cinemascope).

johnny_ultimate · 05-10-2015 2:11pm

As far as I know there aren't many 1.85:1 screens around Dublin - certainly not ones that will be showing The Martian (if there are some I'd hope they'd be reserved for appropriate films). Wider screens are the standard I'm pretty sure everywhere - it's much easier and more comfortable to screen a 1.85:1 film (or narrower) on a 2.35:1+ screen than it is the other way around, so that's the default.

Fairly confident all the Lighthouse screens apart from Screen 2 are widescreen, so don't worry there, same with the Savoy. I tend to have more aspect ratio gripes with Cineworld, because they don't have the 'adjustable curtains' you have in other theatres, which makes anything below 2.35:1 seem awkward on the screen, with huge grey space on either side. Most of their screens are widescreen so not an issue in this case, but I tend to think it's a far inferior cinema to the Lighthouse / Savoy anyway (and substantially more expensive) so avoid it most of the time.

Edit: I see The Martian is screening in Lighthouse 2, so if you're concerned you're probably better going elsewhere.

Tony EH · 05-10-2015 2:17pm

Aye, the "adjustable curtains" used to work well in the cinema in the Square out in Tallaght.

I thought Cineworld used this approach too? It's been a while since I was there.

One of the screens in the Lighthouse...deffo 1.85:1.

https://encrypted.google.com/maps/place/Light+House+Cinema/@53.3486869,-6.2789777,3a,75y,75.18h,75.85t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sfFi8JGVXlUAlYge05o1Lug!2e0!3e2!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DfFi8JGVXlUAlYge05o1Lug%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D189.0155%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x2804bbdf4b8f4317!6m1!1e1

I remember seeing 'Flash Gordon' there and it was a "shrink to fit" solution.

Didn't care after a while, cos we could bring our beers in.

.

Tony EH · 05-10-2015 2:19pm

BTW johnny, can you delete the other two duplicate threads on this subject? Don't know what's going on with the site lately. It needs a web exorcist.

johnny_ultimate · 05-10-2015 2:20pm

Yeah edited my post there, Screen 2 is the only 'higher than wider' screen in The Lighthouse, and that's where The Martian is screening tonight anyway. It's still a very nice screen IMO, but you're better going somewhere else if it's going to frustrate you.

Cineworld doesn't have curtains at all anymore (at least in none of the screens I've been in over the last few years), which is an absolute curse during the film festival particularly. I've seen 1.33:1 films there, and it just doesn't really work.

Tony EH · 05-10-2015 2:28pm

Ah right. Thanks for the tip. I guess that I've only seen films screened in cinema 2 at the Lighthouse so. :pac:

God...a 1.33:1 film on a 2:35.1 screen would drive me bonkers.

Technocentral · 05-10-2015 5:11pm

Tony EH wrote: »

So, some of us are thinking of going to see 'The Martian' tonight. The choice has come down to this.

The Lighthouse or Cineworld.

Now, I like the Lighthouse, but the problem I have with it is that her screen sizes are too small to show films that are shot in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, which 'The Martian' is (as are most "big" releases these days). The Lighthouse screens are 1.85:1, IIRC. This means that when the lighthouse is showing a film shot in a 2.35:1 ratio, they have to "shrink" the projection to fit the entire picture in. Kind of like what you see when you watch a film at home on your 16:9 television, with the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.

Cineworld have screens in both 2.35:1 and 1.85:1. The problem here is that they don't tell the punter which screens are which, so it's pot luck. But usually the "big" releases are shown on the larger screens.

Personally, I think that cinemas should state what ratio their screens are on their websites, because its bugs the life out of me when I go to see something shot in 2.15:1 and it's shown on a smaller 1.85:1 screen. I saw 'Jaws' a few years ago in the Screen cinema projected like that and it annoyed the balls off of me. It was like watching a Blu Ray at home.

Now, something like 'Taxi Driver', shot in 1.85:1 is perfect for being shown in the Lighthouse or the IFI, because the old "academy ratio" is made for such screens and fill the whole screen.

Does this bother other people? Or am I the only one? I suppose most people going to see a picture in the cinema wouldn't have a clue what the difference is between 1.33:1 (old films and TV), 1.43:1 (IMAX), 1.85:1 (widescreen) or 2.35:1 (cinemascope).

I saw it in 14 in Cineworld yesterday at 3.50, hate 3D so we saw 2d version, screen size and projection excellent, capacity crowd was quiet except for 4 asshole mid teen Dublin heads, were in middle part of cinema talking and laughing nonstop , usher moved them to the front, where we couldn't really hear them but they were annoying people there so were thrown out eventually (about an hour in). Why do idiots like that go to non action/super hero films?

Tony EH · 05-10-2015 5:42pm

I don't know why anyone would go to the pictures to talk.

We're heading to see it in Screen 9.

Technocentral · 05-10-2015 5:43pm

Proper film fans don't, but immature idiots with no interest in smart films do.
Projection filled screen exactly BTW.

Technocentral · 05-10-2015 6:08pm

Tony EH wrote: »

I don't know why anyone would go to the pictures to talk.

We're heading to see it in Screen 9.

Enjoy, its a modern masterpiece and Ridleys best since Blade Runner (best film ever made imo).

Technocentral · 05-10-2015 6:11pm

Tony EH wrote: »

Ah right. Thanks for the tip. I guess that I've only seen films screened in cinema 2 at the Lighthouse so. :pac:

God...a 1.33:1 film on a 2:35.1 screen would drive me bonkers.

Yeah, I hate watching 4/3 blu rays on my HD TV, if only someone would invent an adjustable surround that fits over tv to simulate academy ratio, I'd buy it! Of course would be v difficult to get one that would fit different makes of, say, 42inch TVS.

Ageyev · 06-10-2015 3:13am

2.35:1 and 2.39:1 is called Cinemascope or just "scope". 1.85:1 is just called "widescreen" or used to be know as "flat" to old-school perfectionists.

Afaik none of the Dublin cinemas use the black masking anymore - Screen 1 in Savoy probably does. The mechanism to raise or lower the masking curtains was linked to the projector so that when the lenses switched between wide (adverts were often in wide as standard) and scope the curtains also move but this system was always prone to breaking and you could end in a hot spot if some of the screen was blacked out by the masking and wouldn't budge.

The cashier at the box office should know which screen a film is showing in and maybe if it's a larger one so if its not too busy you could ask or maybe even ring ahead (perhaps during office hours if you have the cinema's office number).

Very few films are academy ratio anymore - IIRC what you're calling academy ratio was 1.66:1 I thi k The Artist might have been the last film shown in this format.

You Mirin? · 06-10-2015 3:46am

On this topic, where will be the best place to watch The Hateful Eight in Ireland? It was filmed in 70mm so hopefully we have at least one decent screen in this whole kunt of a country that can provide what's basically still one of the best cinema experiences

Ageyev · 06-10-2015 5:16am

IFI in Temple Bar definitely a projector for 70mm.

From Hateful Eight wiki:

. The film will only be released in 70 mm film format on Christmas Day before being released in digital theaters on January 8, 2016.

It also says that only 40 screens worldwide are guaranteed to project it in 70mm film.

johnny_ultimate · 06-10-2015 10:35am

Ageyev wrote: »

Very few films are academy ratio anymore - IIRC what you're calling academy ratio was 1.66:1 I thi k The Artist might have been the last film shown in this format.

Academy ratio is 1.33-1.37:1, and while it's probably a stretch to call it common, it certainly makes reasonably regular appearances. The Grand Budapest Hotel would be the most high profile to have used it recently (albeit with some infrequent use of other aspect ratios for formal and narrative reasons), but it has also been used in films like Meek's Cutoff, Tabu, Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank and Wuthering Heights, and perhaps most fetchingly of all in Ida. Xavier Dolan has displayed a particular fondness for it, and went one further with the (mostly) 1:1 Mommy recently.

As for Hateful Eight, IFI is the only 70mm screen in the country. Based on the access they've had to 70mm prints for recent titles like The Master (no 70mm screenings at all) and Interstellar (several months after general release), I wouldn't hold my breath for a release day print there.

Tony EH · 06-10-2015 11:18am

Technocentral wrote: »

Enjoy, its a modern masterpiece and Ridleys best since Blade Runner (best film ever made imo).

So, yes. A thoroughly enjoyable film and projected on the correct size screen. Which is just as well, because the attention to detail is superb.

I can take my pedant hat off now.

If I have any criticisms,

it's that I didn't really feel much sense of danger for anybody. There was never a moment where I thought that Matt Damon wasn't going to make it and I think that not showing that Mars has half the gravity of Earth was a bit of a short coming.

You know, it's funny with Scott. When I see that you said it was his best since 'Blade Runner', I was about to take you to task on that. He's held in great esteem by a lot of people, but looking at his back catalogue, there's not actually a lot of films of his that I can say I love from 1982 onwards. 'The Duelists', 'Alien' and 'Blade Runner' are all great films, but I could pass on everything after that except maybe 'Gladiator' and 'Black Hawk Down'.

But over all, 'The Martian' very good picture. Well worth seeing in the cinema and probably worth adding to the collection at home too.

Sad Professor · 06-10-2015 5:35pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

As far as I know there aren't many 1.85:1 screens around Dublin - certainly not ones that will be showing The Martian (if there are some I'd hope they'd be reserved for appropriate films). Wider screens are the standard I'm pretty sure everywhere - it's much easier and more comfortable to screen a 1.85:1 film (or narrower) on a 2.35:1+ screen than it is the other way around, so that's the default.

Based on my own experience, I would have thought the opposite. 1.85ish screens seem far more common. (They show 2.35:1 films letterboxed but most people probably don’t notice.) Even more so with newer cinemas, with 1.78:1 being the current tv standard and Digital IMAX favouring the taller 1.85 ratio as well. I only notice genuine 2.35:1 screens in older cinemas.

Chain Smoker · 07-10-2015 1:07am

I've never had any issues with 2.35 in the Lighthouse, can remember seeing Blue is the Warmest Colour in one of the smaller rooms and it was a really pleasant surprise just how big the screen felt in the room. The Lighthouse is a really fantastic cinema imo, love the layout, the screens, the general vibe of the place, it's my favourite thing about Dublin. Only things I could complain about are that the cafe hasn't much of an atmosphere of its own and there are points in the layout where it feels like the space goes a bit too minimal and has no kind of purpose at all (Yes, I'm talking about that area under the seating for Screen #1, or is it 2?).

In regards to Grand Budapest Hotel and Mommy, I really appreciated the use of multiple aspect ratios and kind of hope more people try experimenting with it.

Skerries · 07-10-2015 10:37am

Tony EH wrote: »

You know, it's funny with Scott. When I see that you said it was his best since 'Blade Runner', I was about to take you to task on that. He's held in great esteem by a lot of people, but looking at his back catalogue, there's not actually a lot of films of his that I can say I love from 1982 onwards. 'The Duelists', 'Alien' and 'Blade Runner' are all great films, but I could pass on everything after that except maybe 'Gladiator' and 'Black Hawk Down'.

try Kingdom of Heaven Dir cut as that is way better than the theatrical release

Tony EH · 07-10-2015 11:10am

I have that. But, it's a film that just doesn't work. There's a lot to admire and I like the opening section and some others throughout. But, it just leaves me cold.

Dublin cinema screen sizes

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