Booth Bijou Garage Theater (1 Viewer)

[Mark Booth]

The Booth Bijou will feature an awesome pairing in December!

Both are personal favorites. We watch 'Love Actually' every holiday season and look forward to sharing it (again) with our friends (we showed it back in 2013). 'Bridget Jones's Baby' is better than the original and one of my 5 out of 5 films for 2016!

Mark

 

[Mark Booth]

I've been neglecting my topic. The Booth Bijou is alive and well. Lots of movies have been shared over the last 6 months. We are showing 'Zootopia' and 'Hidden Figures' later this week.

The Booth Bijou received some upgrades this past week. Our Blu-ray player was acting up and in the process of searching for a suitable replacement, we bit the bullet and said what the hell... The Booth Bijou is now sporting a sparkling new Panasonic DMP-UB900 4K Blu-ray player and a shiny new Pioneer SC-LX801 A/V Receiver to go with it. We are finally able to enjoy our small collection of 4K Blu-ray titles in our living room theater. The UB900 also does a terrific job of upscaling standard Blu-rays too.

The secondary HDMI output from the SC-LX801 will continue to feed the Booth Bijou Garage Theater's 1080p projector. Someday, we'll get a 4K projector for out there too.

To control it all, we also added a Harmony Elite remote control with RF/Bluetooth/Wifi hub. I've already got it all programmed for the commands I need to fulfill my job as projectionist #1 in the Booth Bijou.

If anyone in the San Diego area is interested in a great deal on a 2008 Pioneer VSX-94TXH A/V Receiver, please let me know. It's in perfect condition and complete with original box (and original remote that has barely been used).

Mark

 

[Mark Booth]

The portable A/C unit we use at the Booth Bijou broke down last week. The plastic blower wheel for the hot air exhaust blew apart inside the unit during 'Rogue One'. It happened during a battle scene and for a second or two we all thought the racket was part of the surround mix. This is the second time that blower wheel has failed. I've ordered a replacement wheel but I'm going to replace it and give the unit to a friend. For the Booth Bijou, I ordered a different brand that is rated to be one of the quietist 12,000 BTU portable A/C units available. It's rated 5 db quieter than our current unit. Hopefully, the new unit won't have the same issue. If anyone is in the market for a portable A/C unit the brand I recommend you avoid is Haier.

The new A/C unit arrives on Monday, just in time for our selections this weekend!

This theater operation stuff is getting expensive! However, I should mention that our guests insisted on paying for our new popcorn machine last year. They suggested we put out a container for anonymous cash donations toward the new popcorn machine. Over the course of about 6 Booth Bijou events the donations totaled $850. Nice!

Mark

 

[Mark Booth]

The new A/C unit arrived. As it turns out, the failure of our older Haier unit was a blessing in disguise. The new Danby A/C is SIGNIFICANTLY quieter than the Haier (both are 12,000 BTU) and it moves a lot more air. The exhaust tube on the Haier is 5" in diameter while the Danby sports a 7" diameter exhaust tube. I can see the exhaust fan wheel down inside the Danby and, while it is plastic, it is larger and much more substantial than the Haier wheel. The plastic is literally 3-4 times as thick. I don't expect a failure. The blower wheel for the cold air is larger and more stout too. Comparatively, where the Haier blew cold air like a firm breeze, the Danby blows cold air like it means business. And it's quieter while doing it. Amazing.

In addition, the new Danby unit's remote has a LCD screen that shows the current settings for the unit. I won't have to look across the room to see the set temperature as I did with the Haier.

The only negative is the Danby's case is solid white. I am planning to get some black self-adhesive vinyl and cover the case surface area that faces the room to help prevent it standing out like a sore thumb.

Oh, the Danby was $70 less than we paid for the Haier (4-5 years ago). I purchased it from Costco online:

https://www.costco.com/Danby-12,000-BTU-Portable-Air-Conditioner.product.100342118.html

If you need a portable A/C, I highly recommend this Danby model!

Mark

 

[John Burton]

Love looking at the pictures of your space. As a guy who used to work in a movie theater, I know presentation is key to a great night of movie watching. Looks like you've got that part down. Congrats!

 

[Mark Booth]

Boy, I've really neglected this topic, here's some updates.

We planned an Oscar Party in the Booth Bijou but my wife and I came down with a nasty cold and we had to cancel. We were going to show 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' before the Oscars so we've rescheduled it for this coming weekend. We are pairing it with 'The Shape of Water'. That way, our guests can decide for themselves which film they'd pick for Best Picture. We're showing 'Water' first because, frankly, I think 'Three Billboards' is the more entertaining film and deserves the feature spot.

The following weekend we'll be showing 'Coco' along with 'The Greatest Showman'. I'll be buying the digital version of 'The Greatest Showman' on March 20 (I'll eventually get the 4K Blu-ray too). The interest in this pairing is very high with a "sold out" theater (22 guests) and 5 people on a waiting list.

A future pairing (sometime in April) will be 'Misery' and 'Get Out'. Beyond that, we are looking forward to showing 'The Last Jedi', 'Molly's Game', and 'The Post'.

Mark

 

[Mike Frezon]

We're showing 'Water' first because, frankly, I think 'Three Billboards' is the more entertaining film and deserves the feature spot.

The fix is in!

I feel...manipulated.

 

[JohnRice]

Neat deal all around.

 

[Mark Booth]

The fix is in!

I feel...manipulated.

Of our 20 guests, 4 of them have chosen to skip 'The Shape of Water' and are arriving for just dinner and 'Three Billboards'. Those 4 have already seen 'Water' and they don't want to see it again. I guess that tells us something.

Mark

 

[Mike Frezon]

Of our 20 guests, 4 of them have chosen to skip 'The Shape of Water' and are arriving for just dinner and 'Three Billboards'. Those 4 have already seen 'Water' and they don't want to see it again. I guess that tells us something.

Make them sit in the back when they get there!

 

[Mark Booth]

A new piece of movie memorabilia for the Booth Bijou living room theater.

It was a gift from one of our friends (and a Booth Bijou Garage Theater regular). It's a genuine 16mm Disney Studios film can. The label is original except for the film name (that area was originally blank). Our friend asked me which Disney animated film was my favorite before he presented us with the gift. I told him Beauty and the Beast and he created a label for the blank area. Nice!

I hung it above our disc collection storage area with other theater decorations.

Mark

 

[Mike Frezon]

That's a really nice addition, Mark!

 

[JohnRice]

Mark, it's hard to tell from the pic, but is that 16mm or 35mm?

 

[Mark Booth]

Mark, it's hard to tell from the pic, but is that 16mm or 35mm?

16mm.

Mark

 

[Mark Booth]

All of our guests said they liked 'The Shape of Water'. But all of them agreed that they would have picked 'Three Billboards' as Best Picture.

Coming this weekend to the Booth Bijou, 'Coco' and 'The Greatest Showman'.

In early April we will be showing 'Misery' with 'Get Out'. We ran the trailers for those two films in the pre-movie entertainment last night. A couple of our guests said they'd be skipping the night we show those two. I have a feeling we might have a light crowd that night.

Mark

 

[Mike Frezon]

A couple of our guests said they'd be skipping the night we show those two. I have a feeling we might have a light crowd that night.

Their loss.

Did they say why? The subject matter? I know my wife doesn't like those types of films, in general. But even she appreciates Misery.

 

[Mark Booth]

Their loss.

Did they say why? The subject matter? I know my wife doesn't like those types of films, in general. But even she appreciates Misery.

They said the trailer for 'Get Out' made the film appear to be too frightening for them. I explained that the trailer overdoes the fright factor. After seeing it (finally), I don't feel 'Get Out' is scary in the classic sense of scary. It's not a horror film in the classic sense.

I urged those friends to join us anyway.

A couple of others said they didn't want to see 'Misery' again because it creeped them out the first time.

Mark

 

[Mike Frezon]

They said the trailer for 'Get Out' made the film appear to be too frightening for them. I explained that the trailer overdoes the fright factor. After seeing it (finally), I don't feel 'Get Out' is scary in the classic sense of scary. It's not a horror film in the classic sense.

I urged those friends to join us anyway.

Well......

After I saw it, I really had the desire for my wife to see it. She HATES horror movies, gory movies, and even thriller and suspense movies. She also doesn't really tolerate action films too well.

So while I look back upon Get Out as an interesting exercise and twist on a suspense film ("what's going on here?") I KNOW there are too many sequences--especially the conclusion--which would put me in the doghouse for a VERY long time if I convinced her to watch based on my recommendation.

So, a word of warning...you are flat out right that it's most definitely NOT a horror film in the classic sense...but that doesn't mean that the horror elements that ARE in the film won't be enough to turn off those sensitive to those sorts of things.

At least that's my impression on it.

I look back and see the humor in it...and the joy of discovery as the plot plays out. But that's not what my wife would be thinking back on if she ever sat through it. And I'd be watching my next film on our portable DVD player out in the dog's house!

 

[Bob Bielski]

They said the trailer for 'Get Out' made the film appear to be too frightening for them. I explained that the trailer overdoes the fright factor. After seeing it (finally), I don't feel 'Get Out' is scary in the classic sense of scary. It's not a horror film in the classic sense.

I urged those friends to join us anyway.

A couple of others said they didn't want to see 'Misery' again because it creeped them out the first time.

Mark

Nice setup. First time I have seen this post. I was wondering if I might just copy your use of curtains. I am going to have a theater-living room in my house and am going to have an open floor plan so the curtains just might help when watching movies. I used to use black velvet behind my Proton 625 back in the day. It has the highest light absorption. My wife of course hated it but if I had my way I would watch movies in a completely black velvet room and all the lights would go out when the display was on.

 

[Mark Booth]

Nice setup. First time I have seen this post. I was wondering if I might just copy your use of curtains. I am going to have a theater-living room in my house and am going to have an open floor plan so the curtains just might help when watching movies. I used to use black velvet behind my Proton 625 back in the day. It has the highest light absorption. My wife of course hated it but if I had my way I would watch movies in a completely black velvet room and all the lights would go out when the display was on.

Thanks! Our "curtains" are just inexpensive black flat sheets from Target. They work remarkably well to give the garage a custom theater feel.

Mark