Homeland Security Descends On AMC Theatres Patron Wearing Google Glass

AMC Theatres has banned patrons from wearing Google Glass after Homeland Security yanked a patron wearing the device out of one of their Ohio multiplexes. Via the Guardian:

Writing anonymously on The Gadgeteer blog, the man explained that halfway into the screening at an AMC in Columbus, Ohio, he was hauled out by police and officers from homeland security's ICE unit, which monitors piracy. "A guy comes near my seat, shoves a badge that had some sort of a shield on it, yanks the Google Glass off my face and says 'Follow me outside immediately'," said the man, who was taken into a room for interrogation. His Glass had been switched off during the movie, and he was wearing it for its prescription lenses. "After a long time somebody came with a laptop and an USB cable at which point he told me it was my last chance to come clean. I repeated for the hundredth time there is nothing to come clean about and this is a big misunderstanding so the [ICE officer] finally connected my Glass to the computer, downloaded all my personal photos and started going though them one by one … Then they went through my phone, and five minutes later they concluded I had done nothing wrong." He wasn't apologised to, but was offered four free movie passes, which "infuriated" him.

AMC says they are "very concerned" about the potential for stealing movies via Google Glass. The Motion Picture Association of America disagrees: "Google Glass is an incredible innovation in the mobile sphere, and we have seen no proof that it is currently a significant threat that could result in content theft." (Tipped by JMG reader Kevin)

RELATED: As I mentioned here recently, I ran Miami-area theaters for AMC back in the stone age of VHS when movie pirates would occasionally bribe employees to smuggle new releases out of the projection booth for overnight duplication. It was quite the operation back in those days as the films arrived on six to ten small reels in two 50-lb canisters. Pirates, with the aid of an employee, had to break the film back down onto the small reels, take it elsewhere, splice it back together, then film it off their own screen. A couple of days later the tapes would appear at shops across South America. More often, however, they would just slip into one of our early matinees and make a shitty handheld recording off our own screen, a la Seinfeld. We threw them out all the time, but the local cops weren't very interested in making arrests.

AMC Theatres To Host National Screening Of Movie Featuring Anti-Gay Activists

On May 6th, AMC Theatres will host a one-time national screening of Irreplaceable, a movie produced by Focus On The Family. Among the anti-gay talking heads in the film is Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, who is perhaps best known for his campaign against the publication of gay wedding announcements in Jewish newspapers. Also in the movie is ex-gay torture advocate Dr. Miriam Grossman, the author of You're Teaching My Children WHAT? Other anti-gay figures that appear in the film include right wing talker Eric Metaxas and film critic/Prop 8 proponent Michael Medved.

IRREPLACEABLE follows one man’s journey to determine if traditional families are still relevant to our world. The documentary explores the importance of family with a diversity of experts who enlighten audiences on whether the concept of the traditional family is meaningful, or in fact outdated. IRREPLACEABLE asks families of all faiths and backgrounds to consider the questions, “What is a family?,” “Is today’s family dynamic in trouble?,” “Are families relevant in today’s society?,” and “Is my family worth fighting for in an era where divorce is so prevalent?”

JMG reader Jim reports that a brief trailer for Irreplaceable began playing in AMC multiplexes this week. Here's a longer trailer posted by the studio in October. You'll note that there is only a fleeting mention of same-sex marriage.

RELATED: The second-largest exhibitor in the United States, last year AMC was acquired by the Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group. The $2.6B deal made the Chinese company the largest movie exhibitor in the world.

Chinese Group Buys AMC Theatres

The nation's second-largest theater chain has been sold to a Chinese investment group. AMC Theatres has 5,048 screens in 347 locations across the U.S. and Canada. The AMC Empire 25 in Times Square is the nation's busiest theater.

A Chinese conglomerate has announced it will buy U.S. cinema chain AMC Entertainment Holdings for $2.6 billion to create the world's biggest movie theater operator. Dalian Wanda Group Co. said Monday it is willing to invest an additional $500 million to fund AMC's strategic and operating initiatives. Wanda said AMC's headquarters will remain in the Kansas City area and day-to-day operations will remain unchanged.

As I've mentioned here several times, I ran South Florida multiplexes for AMC from 1986-1993. It was the hardest job I've ever had, particularly when telling young management applicants: "You will work every Thanksgiving and every Christmas and will never have a weekend day off." But I still look back on that gig fondly. Mostly.

NYC Meets The $20 Movie Ticket

All these 3D/IMAX movies have pushed ticket prices to near $20 in NYC.

The cost of movie tickets is rising this weekend, with seats for the IMAX 3-D cartoon "How To Train Your Dragon" soaring to $19.50 for adults at one Brooklyn theater. And movie fans say it's Hollywood robbery. "It's pretty absurd that in this economy, they want to charge that much for a movie," said Yelena Mandenberg, 20, of Brooklyn. Some New York theaters are boosting the price for IMAX 3-D movies by $5 a ticket, according to a survey by analyst Richard Greenfield of BTIG. The jump wasn't that steep at the AMC Kips Bay on Manhattan's East Side, but patrons there will find a top price of $19.50 for adults and $16 for kids. That's $71 for mom, dad and two kids to see one film - not counting popcorn - up from the previous cost of $59.

Regular admission tickets at most houses in NYC hovers around $13.

RELATED: It should be noted that most of the "IMAX" theaters in NYC are what critics call LieMAX, regular sized auditoriums with slightly bigger screens and the IMAX aspect ratio. The only "real IMAX" house in Manhattan is the AMC Loews Lincoln Square. There was somewhat of a riot at the AMC in Times Square on the opening day of the most recent Star Trek after fanboys waited in line for hours only to find a regular house once inside. It appears that IMAX will license their name to anybody willing to make slight tweaks to the presentation.

The Star Trek IMAX Ripoff

Some Star Trek buffs are pissed after paying $17 to see the movie in IMAX at AMC's flagship Times Square megaplex, only to find a normal size screen. The flap really got rolling earlier this week when actor/comedian Aziz Ansari went ballistic on his blog, describing how AMC management refused to refund his ticket. The CEO of IMAX has weighed in, essentially calling Ansari a crybaby. IMAX has been "expanding the brand" into several normal sized theaters around the country.

Wikipedia has a detailed and complicated explanation of the technical aspects to an IMAX presentation, which requires that special cameras be used in the filming. Which weren't used for Star Trek, although the film was digitally remastered using IMAX technology "that eliminates grain, digital artifacts, increases contrast and brightness." But all that is hooey to folks who go in expecting the giant screen.