Happy Halloween from "At The Matinee"

At The Matinee wishes everyone a Happy (and safe) Halloween!

Screen shot of my portable 7" Haier TV, set to Svengoolie (portrayed
by Rich Koz).  This was taken back on vacation in 2013, since
our Hotel cable TV service did not carry the local Me-TV subchannel.

If you haven't heard, today is also Rich 'Svengoolie' Koz Day in the State of Illinois (through a recent house resolution from the Illinois General Assembly, to commemorate iconic Chicago horror host Rich "Svengoolie" Koz and his 35 years of showcasing classic horror features on television).  At The Matinee salutes Svengoolie (Rich Koz) on this momentous occasion!

SPEAKING OF SVENGOOLIE... HE'S BACK ON ME-TV (WJLA 7.2) IN THE WASHINGTON AREA! If you've read the previous post on WJLA preempting Me-TV's Saturday lineup for their new owners' sports service, it has generated a significant amount of attention.  Now, WJLA has listened, and has decided to stop preempting Me-TV's Saturday schedule (including Svengoolie)!  Channel 7 has finally listened, and they have moved the Saturday College Football games (through Sinclair's American College Sports Network) to the soon-to-be-defunct Live Well Network (Comcast 204/Over-The-Air 7.2).

Special thanks to Friend of the Matinee Patricia Lupoli for contacting the executives of Me-TV about WJLA's shenanigans to their simulcast of Weigel Broadcasting's nationally-known classic television subchannel.  Thankfully, classic TV (and film) enthusiasts in the Washington area will be able to enjoy Svengoolie uninterrupted on Me-TV for years to come!

Happy 45th Anniversary to Holiday Cinemas!

MDL Holiday Cinemas (October 2014).

At The Matinee celebrates the 45th anniversary of Holiday Cinemas (MDL Holiday Cinemas) in Frederick, Maryland.

Advertisement for the grand opening of
Holiday Cinemas (from the 
October 22nd, 1969 edition of The News).

The cinema opened on the night of October 23rd, 1969.  It was originally owned by the Weinberg family, who also managed the Tivoli in downtown Frederick (The Weinberg Center For The Arts).  The first film that was shown there was William Wyler's 1968 musical comedy, Funny Girl (based off of the Broadway musical of the same name, starring Barbara Streisand, Omar Sharif, Anne Francis, and Walter Pidgeon).

Holiday Cinemas was the first newly-built cinema venue in the Frederick area in over 43 years (after the Tivoli opened its doors in 1926).  The cinema venue on the "Golden Mile" was renowned for its unique "Rocker-Lounger" movie seats in the theater (as the ad on the right states- "an over-sized, permanently mounted rocking chair!")  According to Cinematour reviewer Paul Rosenberry, Holiday Cinemas has the distinction of being the first fully-automated cinema venue on the east coast.

In addition to the main theater, a private screening room (reserved private parties and groups) was also available until the theater was converted into a twinplex cinema sometime around the 1980's.  After the expansion of various cineplexes in the area (the Frederick Towne Mall twinplex, the Frederick County Square triplex, the Westridge Cinema 6, and the Francis Scott Key Mall triplex- which are all defunct), the Holiday would be relegated to screening second-run features at discount prices- which it still does to this day.

Throughout the years, Holiday Cinemas has been operated by several different theater entities.  After the Weinberg family sold the theater (they still own the property around the cinema), it was operated by R/C Cinemas of Reisterstown, Manos Quality Theaters, Neighborhood Entertainment, Inc. (which was a subsidiary of Cineplex Odeon), and Regal Cinemas.

I remember that in 2001, Regal was planning on closing the Holiday for good (possibly because the chain wanted to focus on first-run cinemas, rather than second-run cinemas).  The future for the Holiday looked bleak, until former manager Jack Loudin (who managed the theater during its Neighborhood Entertainment days) bought the theater, along with his son Mark, forming MDL Entertainment.  The theater reopened as MDL Holiday Cinemas in June 2001.

Regal would re-enter the Frederick market by taking over Westview Cinemas from R/C on Buckeystown Pike (that theater was built in 2002, and was sold to Regal after R/C's short-lived comeback to the area).  .

Though many of the cinema venues on the "Golden Mile" have come and gone over the years, Holiday Cinemas is still one of the prominent venues for motion picture exhibition in the Frederick area.  The prices are still reasonable, compared to the outrageous prices at Regal's Westview cineplex (which I still call the "16-plex" eyesore, in my view).

Another problem would occur for the Holiday.  If you've read the January 24th edition of At The Matinee you may have learned that the major studios decided to discontinue releasing feature films on physical motion picture prints.  The studios declared that all future film releases would be distributed on digital files to theaters (with digital projection equipment).

While this was no problem for major cinema chains to upgrade their theaters to digital technology, this was difficult for smaller, independent cinemas.  They either had to comply with upgrading to expensive digital projection equipment, or be forced shutter operations due to the transition from physical film prints to digital files.  MDL Holiday Cinemas had to act quickly, so that it could upgrade to digital projection.

The theater had to take out a loan to upgrade one of its theater rooms to digital projection, while they encouraged the general public to give what they could for a second digital projection system in order to showcase future second-run releases.  According to their website, it looks like that they were successful in getting the second digital projection system (thanks to funds from the general public).

For 45 years, Holiday Cinemas has been delivering the best in motion picture entertainment to area moviegoers.  Kudos to MDL Entertainment for showcasing (second-run) feature films at popular prices.  Here's to many more!

AND SPEAKING OF HOLIDAY CINEMAS... On the evening of October 30th, MDL Holiday Cinemas will have a double feature screening of two horror flicks from area director Edwardo Sanchez.  They include The Blair Witch Project (1998) and Sanchez's latest film, Exists.  According to the theater's Facebook page, Sanchez will be in attendance.

A "happy hour" (with cash bar) will take place from 6:00-7:00 PM.  The Blair Witch Project will start at 7:00 PM, and Exists will start at 9:00 PM (after a brief intermission).  A Q&A segment with Sanchez will take place after the double feature.  All proceeds from that evening's double feature showcase will go towards Frederick Memorial Hospital's Cancer Patient Assistance Fund and the JoAnn Garrett Foundation.

Reminder: Don't Forget to Vote in the upcoming 2014 General Election!

(Vintage Ad Council billboard for Voter Registration).
Source: Duke University Libraries

LAST DAY TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND IS OCTOBER 14TH: If you are a resident in the State of Maryland, and haven't registered to vote in the upcoming statewide General Election- please do so.  Regardless of party or political platform (Independent, Democrat, or Republican), every vote counts.  More information can be found here at Register Maryland.

ABSENTEE VOTING: Information for Absentee Voting can be found here (via the Maryland State Board of Elections).

EARLY VOTING: Early Voting (for registered voters residing in the State of Maryland) takes place from October 23rd to October 30th, and lasts from 10:00 AM-8:00 PM.  For the home office of At The Matinee (Frederick County, Maryland), here are the following locations for early voting (via the Frederick County Board of Elections):

Frederick Senior Center: 1440 Taney Avenue, Frederick, Maryland 21702

Thurmont Senior Center: 76 East Moser Road, Thurmont, Maryland 21788

Urbana Regional Library: 9020 Amelung Street, Frederick, Maryland 21704

I will have to participate in Early Voting, since my college (Hood) does not get Election Day off.

GENERAL ELECTION: The General Election in the State of Maryland takes place on November 4th.  If you are unsure about your voting precinct location on Election Day, the Maryland State Board of Elections has an online tool titled Voter Lookup, where you can look for your detailed voting precinct location.

As I look back at the statewide Primary Election (that took place in June), I was an interim election judge for the Frederick County Board of Elections.  I thought that it was an interesting experience, and I wish I could perform the same duty again in the General Election (due to Hood College not getting Election Day off).

Unfortunately, voter turnout was low during the statewide Primary Election,  I hope that more registered voters in the area will show up and vote (during Early Voting or in the General Election).  I just hope that turnout in the 2014 General Election will not be a repeat of the 2010 General Election (though I voted in the 2010 General Election, low voter turnout was present).

No matter what your political beliefs (or viewpoints) are, be sure to study the candidates and their platform before you head out to the polls during Early Voting (October 23rd-30th) or on Election Day (November 4th).  Get out and vote!

TO ALL REGISTERED VOTERS ACROSS THE NATION: Remember- every vote counts.  Don't stay home on Election Day.

A Public Service Message from At The Matinee.

Classic Hearst "Screen News Digest" Films Available on Internet Archive

Opening Title Card (circa 1965) for
Hearst's Screen News Digest.

Years ago, I remember that The History Channel* (before it became another tasteless "reality show" channel) showed classic Hearst Metrotone Screen News Digest short subjects during their early morning History Channel Classroom programming block.  In recent years, the vintage Screen News Digest shorts have been replaced with repackaged versions of the old History Channel program, History's Lost and Found (to fill out the commercial-free "classroom" block, just like what the network did with Screen News Digest).

The Internet Archive- along with the Bishop Dwenger High School Library has uploaded select issues of the vintage Hearst classroom newsreel series.  So far, six classic issues of Screen News Digest are available for viewing on the Internet Archive, and more editions (ranging from the 1960's through the 1970's) will appear on the site in the near future.

The series premiered in 1958, and my guess is that it was created as a response to Warner Bros.' News Magazine of the Screen-  which was a series of then-recent newsreel series that were reformatted for classroom presentation (from Warners' Pathé News unit, which was acquired by the studio in 1948- and was discontinued due to competition from television in 1956).  According to Geoff Alexander's 2010 book, Academic Films for the Classroom: A History- Hearst's classroom newsreel series was created by Jerome Foreman (who left Hearst's newsreel division in 1960 to form Allegro Productions, a company that is known for producing the Science Screen Report).

Many topics were presented throughout the series' run, consisting of current events or historical subjects. After Hearst discontinued their newsreel unit in 1967 (the same year that rival Universal Studios discontinued their long-running newsreel service), the producers of Screen News Digest relied on past stock footage from the Hearst Metrotone/News of the Day/Telenews library, in addition to new footage filmed by Hearst's television news bureaus.  The series migrated to color footage in the late 1960's, and ran until Hearst discontinued the series in the early 1980's- as videocassette recorders would replace 16mm film projectors in schools across the country.

I am very excited that the Internet Archive (in conjunction with Bishop Dwenger High School's library) is adding classic editions of the Screen News Digest series.  I just hope that they add the 1977 short, The Talking Machine: Tinfoil to LP- which commemorated the centennial of recorded sound (it was shown on The History Channel's "classroom" block many years ago).

*The History Channel (along with its sister network, A&E- which also showed the Screen News Digest shorts in the past) is a joint venture of Hearst and ABC.  Yet sadly, that channel (which has shortened its name to "History") has morphed into another boring "reality show" cable channel. Same goes for A&E (in my honest opinion).

Rant: Washington's WJLA-TV preempts Me-TV's Saturday Lineup

I was looking forward to watching the Saturday evening Me-TV lineup (after a long week). But on the evening of Saturday, August 30th- I was quite disappointed to see what was in place of Me-TV’s Saturday lineup. Instead, Washington area viewers were treated to "bottom-of-the-barrel" sports programming from this new start-up service- the American College Sports Network.

This has been going on every Saturday since then- and this blog writer is very disappointed in Channel 7’s preemption of Me-TV’s Saturday evening programming.  I learned that the local affiliate that carries Me-TV in the area, WJLA (ABC) decided to preempt a good chunk of the Saturday schedule- consisting of classic westerns in the afternoon and science fiction programs in the evening.

Viewers in the Washington are also missing out on Me-TV’s telecast of The Adventures of Superman, thanks to Channel 7’s new owners.  The main highlight of Me-TV’s Saturday lineup is iconic Chicago horror host Svengoolie (portrayed by Rich Koz), and his showcase of vintage Universal Studios horror feature films. Svengoolie is also preempted by Channel 7’s stale sports programming.

This is because of WJLA’s new owners, forcing the station to carry programming from their American College Sports Network instead of the great shows on Me-TV. Recently, WJLA (and its cable outlet, NewsChannel 8) was acquired by the controversial Sinclair Broadcast Group (which is based in Baltimore, and operates the American College Sports Network). This was part of Sinclair’s acquisition of Allbritton Communications’ TV stations (after Allbritton’s heirs decided to focus on their Capitol Hill rag, Politico). Sinclair has been on a massive buying spree over the years, acquiring TV stations left and right (all thanks to rampant corruption in the Federal Communications Commission, along with greedy Capitol Hill lobbyists- in this blog writer’s view).

It has been reported that similar situations have been happening on Sinclair-owned (or managed) TV stations across the nation. Not just on their stations that carry Me-TV, but on stations that carry other digital networks (through their stations' sub-channels). Many (including this blog writer) have written on WJLA’s Facebook page, suggesting that they restore the Saturday lineup on Me-TV. The only other way to get Me-TV (around ATM’s home base) is through the sub-channel of Baltimore’s WBAL-TV 11 (owned by Hearst). But unfortunately, ATM’s home base is situated in a “DTV dead zone”- and Comcast only carries the Washington stations’ sub-channels in the Frederick area.

It would be nice if another Washington area station would be interested in carrying Me-TV (full-time). In this case, it may be pretty unlikely- as the only non-network owned stations (in addition to Sinclair’s WJLA) are Gannett’s W*USA-TV 9 (CBS, with Bounce TV and WeatherNation on their sub-channels) and Tribune’s WDCW-TV 50 (CW- which carries Antenna TV and This TV on their sub-channels).

To paraphrase an old slogan that WJLA used - it looks like that TV 7 will no longer be “a part of my life", nor will that station be “on my side”- until they stop preempting Me-TV’s Saturday schedule.

In this writer’s opinion, the executives at Sinclair deserve to have rubber chickens thrown at them for dumping Svengoolie.

TELL SINCLAIR/WJLA-TV: “DON’T MESS WITH ME-TV!” At The Matinee’s proprietor has voiced his opinion to WJLA (through their “contact” section on the station’s website). Now it’s your turn to tell WJLA (or any Sinclair-owned station that carries Me-TV) not to preempt Me-TV’s Saturday programming:

WJLA-TV 7
1100 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, Virginia 22209
wjla.com/ Phone: (703)-236-9555

SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP
10706 Beaver Dam Road
Hunt Valley, Maryland 21030
sbgi.net/Phone: (410)-568-1500

September 10th: Battle for Net Neutrality

It's been awhile since something new has been posted on At The Matinee (due to overwhelming classwork/homework since ATM's author has gone back to college to expand his educational prospects).

This is in honor of today, which is called "Net Neutrality Day".  In the view of this blog writer, the internet should belong to everyone- not to a select few.  The internet shouldn't be in the hands of giant, corrupt corporations such as Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T.

Show your support by going to the website for Battle For The Net.  Again (in this blog writer's view), the internet should belong to everyone.

More from At The Matinee on Save the Internet day, which was held this past May...

ATM's Author Returns to College (and More)

From Facts About Projection (1975 edition). 

Since August 25th, the author of At The Matinee has returned to college to expand his educational prospects (and hoping that it will lead to a well-rewarding career in the area).

I am attending Hood College in Frederick, Maryland (thanks to a scholarship), concentrating on the Communication Arts major (in the field of Digital Media).  I'm confident that this will help me in my search for a rewarding career, and that I will be able to make many new friends over there.

Perhaps I could help establish some sort of "classic cinema club" over there, so that fellow students and I will be able to enjoy classic films the way they were meant to be seen- on the big screen.

To all fellow Hood students- welcome back (or "welcome" to first-time students), and read At The Matinee when you have the chance to.  Enjoy At The Matinee, and feel free to write in the "comments" section to let the author know what you think about this blog!

Harold Ramis (1944-2014), Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray,
and Dan Aykroyd in Ghostbusters (1984).

GHOSTBUSTERS RETURNS TO THE SCREEN: In commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Ivan Reitman's cult comedy classic (and one of my many favorite features), Columbia Pictures has re-released Ghostbusters (1984) to theaters across the nation, which began on August 29th.  Surprisingly, those in the Frederick area who haven't seen the film on the big screen before will now get the chance to (in an area where revival screenings are often ignored).

Yet unfortunately (in the view of ATM's proprietor), it is being shown at the overpriced 16-plex eyesore known as Regal Cinemas (for a limited engagement).  I was hoping that the digital revival screening of Ghostbusters would show up at MDL Holiday Cinemas, but according to their website (under the "coming soon" section)- the film isn't listed for future screenings.

Even though I would like to see it on the big screen (but not at Regal), I think I'll wait for Sony's Blu-Ray release of the film (not the one bundled with the ill-fated 1989 sequel) to come down in price.

AND SPEAKING OF MDL HOLIDAY CINEMAS... A locally-produced documentary film premiered at MDL Holiday Cinemas on August 28th, titled The Great American Wheat Harvest.  Produced by Conrad Weaver of Frederick-based Conjostudios, the documentary showcases several generations of hard-working harvesters across the nation, along with occurrences of triumph and tragedy in the profession.  The film has had positive reviews, along with financial backing from John Deere & Company.

The film will also be shown in Limon, Ohio; Guymon, Oklahoma; Garden City and Winfield, Kansas (September 5th); Grand Island, Nebraska (September 10th); Tulsa, Oklahoma (September 26th); and Mott, North Dakota (October 6th).  Portions of proceeds from ticket sales (from future screenings) will go towards helping the non-profit organization, Feed My Starving Children.

ATM REMEMBERS: At The Matinee remembers acclaimed actor and director Lord Richard Attenborough, who passed away at the age of 90 on August 24th.  Attenborough is best known for his 1982 cinematic masterpiece, Ghandi (featuring Ben Kingsley as Mohandas Ghandi).  The film won eight Academy Awards (including Best Director and Best Picture).  Attenborough was also known for his role in The Great Escape (1963, as Squadron Leader Roger Roger Bartlett- or "Big X"), and is familiar to modern film audiences for his role in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Jurassic Park (1993, as John Hammond).  Attenborough was knighted in 1976.