AMC Empire 25: I think I really want to visit this place one day...

Photo by bretchburg

A friend of mine had talked about the highest grossing theaters in this nation. And such a theater is located in NYC and I asked a friend of mine about the busiest theater in NYC and he didn't mention this place. Also he kinda of just dismissed the idea of a 24 hour cinema as being as seedy as the pr0n theater we saw in Taxi Driver.

In any case this just has to be a monster to administer day in and day out. A slow day would would still be busy compared to many theaters in this country outside of this part of NYC. MAN! This article was from 2011, BTW.

It's just past 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 13, and at least a dozen people waiting to be let in are peering anxiously through the glass doors of the AMC Empire 25 on 42nd Street in Times Square. One man is pacing the lobby, having slipped through unnoticed when an electrician entered.

The doors open, and the customers quickly buy their tickets, disappearing up the network of narrow escalators leading upstairs to five levels of auditoriums. Two buy tickets for the indie comedy Win Win, and three tourists from California are going to see the animated Hop. An elderly man says he's hard of hearing and wants the loudest auditorium sound possible. He's in luck; there is both an Imax and an ETX theater, AMC's version of Imax that vibrates with bass. Today, Hanna, an arty action pic, is the ETX offering.

Most multiplexes in the U.S. don't open until noon and, if they did open earlier, would be hard-pressed to get any traffic. But early openings are all in a day's work for the Empire, which accommodates more than 2 million moviegoers annually. It's been the top-grossing theater in North America for years -- a surprising fact, even within the film business, given that it doesn't have bells and whistles like reserved seating or high-end dining. Not to mention that 42nd Street is best associated with the surrounding Broadway legit theaters (and, of course, the often seedy history of Times Square).

The story of how the Empire -- which has gone from Broadway theater to burlesque house to shuttered operation -- came to be the U.S.' busiest theater is emblematic of the resurgence of Times Square and New York City's tenacious ability to reinvent itself. Beyond its singular success, the Empire offers a profile of how the modern multiplex -- albeit one on steroids -- operates. Individual movies are assigned screens based on their drawing power, and the number of screens can change quickly from one day to the next. To maintain cost-effectiveness, staffing is constantly adjusted based on projections about how upcoming movies are expected to perform. And even orchestrating the concession lines is a near-science.

When I finally do embark on my NYC adventure this is going to be one of the many places I should visit at that point. My goal was to do a TV taping and then see some of the architecture and possibly even go to Harlem. Perhaps I should do this before my next visit to LA. :)

BTW, visit the AMC page for this venue here!

This is really old news but we have a new Pope!

[VIDEO]I'm two days late but hey better late than never. This blog was around when the now retired Pope Benedict was elected Bishop of Rome in 2005. He retired earlier this year and now the Roman Catholic Church and Vatican City now has a new leader and his name is Francis I.

BTW, in the speculation as to who will be the next Pope could be an America. Well this Pope is American, except he's from Argentina. Meaning he's from Latin America.

I do wonder from the time of the white smoke to the unveiling how long did it take for Francis to change from his regular Cardinal uniform to his Pope outfit?

What $20 gets you from 1998 to 2012...

I found this graphic at the FB page Culture of Black Chicago. It basically illustrates what a $20 bill could get you as far as groceries. As it turns out from 1998 to 2012 increasingly you get less groceries for $20. Perhaps you might get 5 items for that amount by 2012.

This comment probably explains what is going on in the ensuing 12 years:

it's only gonna get worse if folks don't wise up and get involved in a business that's gonna greatly increase their income. Nobody is holding the FED accountable for this mess. Anytime you continue to print money and flood our economy with paper that's not backed by anything real, you cause inflation. gas & food prices rise.

Now this causes me to do research on economic issues. In the circles I converse with online they complain a lot about inflation and fiat currencies. They wish for a return to the gold standard.

I wish there were some stats that accompanied this illustration.

IL Channel: Do the Movies Advance or Distort History

[VIDEO] Last month at the Oscars Lincoln took away some awards mainly for best actor for Daniel Day-Lewis and also best production design. All the same it was a great movie to watch and we're still talking about that film.

The Illinois Channel - a C-Span style network that provides gavel-to-gavel coverage of Illinois state government and policy events - even jumps into the discussion of Lincoln. As we should all know the 16th President of the United States is considered a state hero. While there are many who may not be big fans of his time as President there are many who continue to look up to him. That is whether or not you may agree with his role in abolishing slavery or what not.

In any event, there was a panel at the Union League Club of Chicago where amongst others screenwriter Tony Kushner discusses how the film was written and produced. As a matter of fact Kushner was nominated for an Oscar for best adapted screenplay of Lincoln. This shall be an interesting discussion.

I'm looking forward to watching this whole video which lasts a little over an hour!

ALSO for your reading pleasure my posting after watching Lincoln on New Year's Eve!

VIDEO: The K-12 Implosion

[VIDEO] I'm tempted to post this to my other often neglected Shedd School blog. Just concerned that the content of this video would turn off people who hopefully have the same questions about the education system as I do. Although in my case, no kids so there are no real worries for the system on my end. It's just that the goal for our young people is for them to get the best education no matter who provides it.

I've often expressed my frustration with my experience with the public schools especially high school  - GO FALCONS! Still my view of the system isn't entirely marred as my time in elementary school is still remember fondly. It lead me to an important philosophy in life, there are going to be ups & downs.

All the same, this video bounces off of a book The K-12 Implosion by Instapundit blogger Glenn Reynolds. A case is made that our education system still has aspects of the Industrial Revolution style-education embedded. One-size-fits-all can't work anymore as there are many different vocational/career paths out there in the 21st century.

Of course this doesn't mean the schools aren't trending in that direction. It's possible that they're just not doing that good of a job. Whatever the case may be what should a 21st Century education system look like? How can we truly revamp a 19th century system?

Like I stated already I have no children, however, the young people toiling in school today needs access to opportunities that will last them a lifetime. What this means is that we want them to pursue the many opportunities that will be available to them in the 21st century. Let us hope today's education policy experts are able to steer the system in that diraction.

LA Times: Bill Moody, 'Paul Bearer' dies

Well this caught me by surprise!

Bill Moody, 58, who entertained WWE fans for years as the spooky manager "Paul Bearer," died Tuesday evening.

Moody debuted in the WWE as Bearer in 1991, managing the supernatural Undertaker. Bearer was a former funeral director who guided Undertaker to the WWE title, until turning on him to start managing Undertaker's brother, Kane.

Moody left WWE as a full-time perfomer in 2002, but had returned sporadically since then. The cause of his death was not immediately known.

"WWE is saddened to learn of the passing of William Moody, a.k.a. Paul Bearer," the company said in a statement.

No pun intended, but may he rest in peace. I say no pun intended because in the beginning this was the Undertaker's catchphrase. Below in the [VIDEO] is some of Paul Bearer's finest moments in the WWF (get the E out!).

VIDEO: "Giant in the Sun" Northern Nigeria 1959

[VIDEO] This documentary is close to 20 minutes. I have yet to watch it, but I will share this description:

A production of the Northern Nigeria Information service in 1959 presents "Giant in the Sun" a short documentary showing the foundation laid down for the development of the Northern region just before Nigeria's independence in 1960.This is believed to be one of the earliest coloured film documentary shot in Nigeria and one of the best to come out from Africa.Nigeria will surely survive and recover her past lost glory by effectively and efficiently utilizing her abundant human and natural resources.

I post this realizing that as a man of African descent, this blog generally doesn't talk about Africa a lot. Perhaps when things in Africa are bad do I start talking about it. It's probably about time to look at the good things of Africa, even if those good things were in the past.

In 1959, Nigeria wasn't yet independent from the British Empire. I would be very curious what this film documents of the time before independence.

Hat-tip Instapundit!