in memoriam - AMC Theatres

... everything is going to hell at the movies...



http://www.javno.com/foto.php?id=2&rbr=6444&idrf=303775

... all we have left is the multiplex

I’ll be honest, during my freshman year, I kept pushing off my film studies classes, thinking I had all the time in the world.

And look where we are now.

I really regret not getting to experience that era firsthand.
Seriously.

It brings back memories, thinking about how we used to put on those school plays back then...
🤣🤣🤣

Aside from the AMC Theatres, there were all those other cinemas in downtown Chicago that used to screen adult films: Kozar (which used to be the Apollo), Lik, (the spot where they showed that first hardcore flick in the old country—"Passions"), and Kosmaj (now called Grič). There had to have been a few more theaters running porn back then—please, fill me in if I'm forgetting any.
Posters for the adult movies would be hanging up right alongside the regular feature posters, looking perfectly normal. And the screenings? They’d start as early as 10 AM—which, honestly, was perfect timing for kids who didn't head to school until 2 PM.

nimblemarlin6 said:Aside from the AMC Theatres, there were all those other cinemas in downtown Chicago that used to screen adult films: Kozar (which used to be the Apollo), Lik, (the spot where they showed that first hardcore flick in the old country—"Passions"), and Kosmaj (now called Grič). There had to have been a few more theaters running porn back then—please, fill me in if I'm forgetting any.
Posters for the adult movies would be hanging up right alongside the regular feature posters, looking perfectly normal. And the screenings? They’d start as early as 10 AM—which, honestly, was perfect timing for kids who didn't head to school until 2 PM.

Except those "other films" were mostly Kung Fu flicks or a Bud Spencer marathon. My old man used to take me and my brother to the theater all the time—usually for the action stuff—but one day he missed the mark and took us to one of these instead. The ticket booth clerk didn't even blink; just sold them the tickets.

northerncrane4 said:Except those "other films" were mostly Kung Fu flicks or a Bud Spencer marathon. My old man used to take me and my brother to the theater all the time—usually for the action stuff—but one day he missed the mark and took us to one of these instead. The ticket booth clerk didn't even blink; just sold them the tickets.

you think he did that on purpose?
Or maybe he was just trying to ease you guys into the adult world without making a big deal out of it? 😁

Amanda Nguyen5 said:you think he did that on purpose?
Or maybe he was just trying to ease you guys into the adult world without making a big deal out of it? 😁

There's a good chance he and his brother picked the time themselves. ;-)

David Price5 said:There's a good chance he and his brother picked the time themselves. ;-)

😁😁
Damn, I totally missed that. It was right there in plain sight, too.

Not a single old theater on the west side of the city survived:
Cesarec is now an EXIT
The Kalnik cinema used to be a casino, and now who knows what it is
The Kozar theater (Apollo) is gone too
The film archive in Kordun isn't there anymore
Triglav in Okicka is a DM now
The Jadran, Lika, Chicago, Mosor, and Partisan theaters are all gone...

Amanda Nguyen5 said:I’ll be honest, during my freshman year, I kept pushing off my film studies classes, thinking I had all the time in the world.

And look where we are now.

I really regret not getting to experience that era firsthand.
Seriously.

Honestly, seeing this makes me glad I was smart enough during my sophomore year to actually go catch 'Planet of the Apes'.😁

northerncrane4 said:Except those "other films" were mostly Kung Fu flicks or a Bud Spencer marathon. My old man used to take me and my brother to the theater all the time—usually for the action stuff—but one day he missed the mark and took us to one of these instead. The ticket booth clerk didn't even blink; just sold them the tickets.

You know, I remember it like it was yesterday when I went there with my dad to see: Covjek Zvan Buldozer.

And then there were those weekend parodies—he’d read out the newspaper headlines and provide this constant, witty commentary on the theater's weekly offerings.

I vividly recall how we once owed some guy a rematch for a prank he pulled on us; we ended up dragging him there under the guise that he absolutely had to see some new Lee movie—something completely obscure at the time that he supposedly couldn't miss!

We shoved him inside along with a few other unsuspecting souls and left him to figure out exactly what on earth he had just walked in to watch. 😁

If I recall correctly, the film was called trucker's paradise 😁

ruggedowl2 said:Not a single old theater on the west side of the city survived:
Cesarec is now an EXIT
The Kalnik cinema used to be a casino, and now who knows what it is
The Kozar theater (Apollo) is gone too
The film archive in Kordun isn't there anymore
Triglav in Okicka is a DM now
The Jadran, Lika, Chicago, Mosor, and Partisan theaters are all gone...

It really is a shame. I can't be sure if you all remember, but toward the very end, the Apollo underwent this surprisingly nice renovation. They put in new seats, air conditioning, and a fresh screen. That brief little 'renaissance' at the end of the Apollo's life was actually a very pleasant era. In fact, because it felt so intimate and wasn't overcrowded, we often preferred the Apollo over the larger theaters in Chicago. Such a loss.

8

Speaking of Chuck Norris, I still remember watching Super Cop back when I was just a kid in Los Angeles.

I unfortunately missed the remake of Apollo. The last movies I caught in those old-school theaters about five or six years ago were mysterious cinematic characters at the local multiplex, or A Beautiful Mind down by the Atlantic Ocean.

My absolute favorite was that little neighborhood theater, Cesarec. Does anyone remember the snack bar where you could actually smoke and grab a beer during the movie?