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“Joker” arrested for stealing Batman memorabilia from Michigan movie theater

July 28th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Heath Ledger died for your sins!

The Smoking Gun reports that a 20-year-old man dressed as the Joker was arrested earlier today by police in Three Rivers, Michigan for attempting to steal Dark Knight posters and memorabilia from a movie theater lobby.

When I used to steal posters from theater lobbies, I never once considered dressing up as a character from the movie. Imagine me dolled up as Mongo from Blazing Saddles or sporting a Travis Bickle mohawk from Taxi Driver.

Police were called to a disturbance just after midnight and discovered the theater staff restraining Spencer Taylor, who was decked out in his finest Joker regalia. Taylor was booked on felony larceny and malicious destruction of property. Wait till the boys in Three Rivers Penitentiary get a load of him!

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Movie Theater ads are the most powerful promotional tool outside of the Internet

June 16th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Sometime in the late 80s/early 90s slide projectors became projection booth staples. As soon as the closing credits ended the houselights would go up half and a commercial slide show would occupy approximately half the screen until the next feature started.

The pre-show entertainment consisted of star bios (two sentences and four credits), concession stand slugs, stills from upcoming presentations and trivia geared for imbeciles. (Who played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz?) With only one carousel locked and loaded, if projectionists set it on “fast” early arrivals were given numerous chances to answer.

Long before these pre-show filmstrips, enterprising exhibitors would offer up their screens to local businesses to promote their wares. It was still a basic slide show, this time bumped up to 35mm. There would be a shot of the store (occasionally with its proud owners beaming at the front door) and a printed message to show their love for the community: “When a car hits another car, it’s an accident. When a car hits a child, it’s a tragedy. This public service message brought to you through the courtesy of Al & Edna’s Varsity Shoppe, home of the Chillicothe Bengals gridiron gear!”

Any Something Weird DVD worth its salt has dozens of these commercial spots buried in their special features sections. The only hardtop theater that I can recall actually playing one before the trailers was the Wilmette located just north of Chicago. The modest theater (made even more so when it was cut in half) still stands, although I’m not sure if they are still advertising their next door neighbor The Wilmette Chuck Wagon.

Even before digital projectors began nudging out the 35mm warhorses, booths began stocking video projectors in order to present on-screen advertisements. Gone were the stiff slides and corny music, and in their place slick video commercials, mostly for upcoming television shows. Hollywood, demanding higher quality (as well as the largest share of the audience) holds off on trailers which are shown just prior to the feature in either 35mm or digital.

Pre-show entertainment has always been with us in the form of shorts, cartoons and trailers. In the days of block booking, studios would only allow their product to accompany one of their features. M-G-M’s Lowe’s Theatres showed Tom and Jerry while Warner’s houses had Bugs and the gang open their shows. These were still forms of commercial advertisement, albeit much subtler and a whole lot funnier.

I’ll gladly watch reels of trailers, but my initial reaction to commercials before movies was unfavorable to say the least. While still not a fan (those high class beer adverts that open each Landmark Theatres presentation drive me mad), I’ve accepted them as a necessity to keep movie theaters alive. The money taken in by these ads goes directly to the exhibitor with none of it kicked back to the studios.

According to Variety, “New figures just released by the Cinema Advertising Council, a trade org repping 82% of U.S. screens, show a hefty 18.5% gain in revenue to just shy of $540 million in 2007, up from $455.7 million a year earlier.”

“More advertisers are using cinema more frequently, committing ad dollars ‘upfront’ for multiple flights as cinema has proven its value and efficiency as a sustaining medium,” said Stu Ballatt, head of the CAC. “Onscreen advertising combined with off-screen marketing in the theater can, literally, double or triple the impact a brand can make on the moviegoer.”

In the past two decades, what began as a slide projector propped up on a card table in the booth has become the second most powerful brander of advertisements this side of the almighty Internet. Sure wish that I had a piece of either Screenvision or National CineMedia, the two rival companies that control on-screen ads. If you have no interest in going behind the scenes on the latest TBS mini series, I suggest that you arrive at the multiplex just minutes prior to showtime. If not, don’t bother complaining because the alternative is your living room.

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