Ancient Web: Cinema Sightlines Mourned the Lost Art of Moviegoing
Cinema Sightlines is TJ Edwards's illustrated, opinionated guide to movie palaces, projection standards, audience manners, and what modern multiplexes lost.
Part of the Ancient Web Collection.
TJ Edwards is not merely disappointed by bad movies. He is disappointed by the buildings that show them: small screens, exposed speakers, glaring exit signs, and a complete shortage of velvet curtains.
The site calls itself a collection of views on the moviegoing experience. Its main menu moves between cinema etiquette, memorable theatres, the roadshow era, private screening rooms, theatre museums, and particular venues such as the El Capitan, the Crest, and the Avalon.
In The Evolution of Moviegoing, Edwards describes growing up in a small town, then moving to New York and deliberately crossing the city to watch films in grander theatres. Later in Los Angeles, he found that the places where films were made did not necessarily offer superior places to see them.
The theatre was once part of the show
His argument is about showmanship. Movie palaces once employed ushers, carefully controlled lighting, movable curtains, newsreels, live music, and a sense of occasion. Edwards contrasts that with automated multiplex projection and a plain black-box auditorium, where watching the same film at home can feel almost interchangeable.
The essay examines the mid-century responses to television: Cinerama, CinemaScope, VistaVision, Todd-AO, 3-D, and even Smell-O-Vision. He regards the eventual decline of 70mm presentation and the spread of multiplexes as losses in theatrical experience. Those assessments reflect his preferences, not a neutral statistical study of movie theatres.
The site also includes an account of its own purpose. Edwards says the original idea was to review cinemas the way restaurant critics evaluate restaurants, hoping better public scrutiny might improve the show. He makes no claim to be an infallible authority; his interest is grounded in attending and remembering the experience.
The principal essay carries a 2007 and 2012 copyright notice. The old multi-pane navigation, image links, and forum references preserve a distinct era of personally curated film websites even though some sections have been updated.
Many film databases tell us which movie played. Cinema Sightlines asks whether the theatre made watching it feel special.
Read Edwards's moviegoing history and browse the theatre features.
Part of the Ancient Web Collection.
- Categories: Ancient Web
- Tags: #Architecture, #ancientweb, #filmhistory, #cinemas