There's Something About Movies - Movie Theaters

You have a date tonight, but there is a problem. Your date, while very good-looking, has as much personality as an unusually boring blade of grass, so you want to avoid talking if at all possible. The solution? Go to the movie theater and watch that movie you’ve wanted to see playing at the local theater. If your date starts to talk, just offer popcorn or say that you’re trying to pay attention to the movie. It’s the perfect night out.

History

Movie theaters have been around since 1896. The first public screening of a movie took place in April of that year at Koster & Bials music hall in New York City. The first actual dedicated move theater was Vitascope Hall, which opened in June of that same year. This was followed shortly by the Vitascope Theater in Buffalo, New York, which opened in October of 1896 with 72 seats available to the viewing public. Early movies were relatively short in length and despite the relative popularity of this theater, as a whole the industry only gradually gained in popularity during the first two decades of the 20th century. When full-length feature films were introduced, the popularity of movie theaters began to grow rapidly. The movie studios built their own chains of elaborate movie theaters but were forced to relinquish ownership in an antitrust case that went before the Supreme Court in 1948, United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.

Multiplexes

Most modern movie theaters are multiplex theaters, meaning simply that they have more than one screen. The first multiplex in North America was The Elgin Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario. It originally had one screen, but was expanded to have two in 1957. This first multiplex was created by Nat Taylor, who later began the Cineplex Odeon chain of movie theaters. Stanley Durwood, whose father was one of the founders of American Multi-Cinema (now AMC Theatres), pioneered the use of staggered start times in multiplexes, allowing for greater profitability of multiplexes since a single work crew could take care of all operations. This profitability led to multiplexes becoming the norm in the industry, with some movie theaters even qualifying as megaplexes because of their astounding number of screens – 20 or more.

IMAX theaters

IMAX movie theaters are characterized by their huge screens (more than 50 feet tall and 75 feet wide, with some even larger) and their amazingly high resolution, offering an experience that cannot be duplicated at home. IMAX theaters are almost a tourist attraction due to the unique experience they offer. Many of the theaters are used primarily for specially-filmed educational documentaries, but popular movies have been upgraded to be shown on IMAX screens as well, with many people willing to pay extra money to see movies such as Polar Express and the Harry Potter series on the largest screen of all. IMAX theaters are the ultimate movie theaters.