My Quest to Raise the Bar for UltraStar

All right. So here’s the deal: I’m putting an end to my “Cinema Reviews” venture because I think the sheer magnitude of the project diluted its purpose. “Cinema Reviews” were meant to single out the problems of local San Diego Cinemas in the hope that they would be fixed. Instead, what happened–and I admittedly should’ve had the foresight to realize this–is that mentions of presentation-problems were lost among the abundance of reviews (which were mostly positive).

Even though I contacted many local cinemas to let them know I was watching them, I began to doubt that they would hear any complaints I might have because they would be impossible to find amongst the rest of the reviews. In the short period I have published “Cinema Reviews,” the main focus of my gripes has been local chain UltraStar Cinemas.

UltraStar is a relatively new local chain; it absolved many closed-Edwards Cinemas in the area about six or seven years ago. Since its development, UltraStar has expanded into the Inland Empire and Imperial Valley regions of California. I have experienced numerous presentation problems at two UltraStar-owned theatres in particular: the Flower Hill 4 and the Del Mar Highlands 8. The former, in the last year, has become a nightmare when it comes to 35mm presentations: aperture plates are misaligned, films are regularly scratched by a faulty build-up table, and dirt is present on nearly every frame of every print they show (remarkably, this is even true for the first showing on opening day of most releases).

But I still like Flower Hill, regardless. It brings a strong supply of art film to San Diego that would otherwise be nonexistent here. And it’s kind of hard to fault UltraStar projectionists for screwing up 35mm presentations because the company’s main gimmick–its selling-point, for certain–is its use of Pure Digital Cinema. Nearly all wide-releases are now projected via Texas Instruments’ DLP Technology, which isn’t as easy on the eyes as 35mm in my opinion, but is admirable for its ability to preserve picture-quality throughout a film’s run. (DLP vies to make scratches and dust on film-prints a thing of the past.)

And this is where my anger with the UltraStar Del Mar Highlands 8 comes into play. Recently, their projectionists have become miserable at presenting DLP presentations. I’m specifically referring to the digital-matting on said presentations. In numerous cases–Mr. Bean’s Holiday and The Nanny Diaries among recent ones–they have presented flat (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentations in scope (2.35:1 aspect ratio) format. The result has been two black bars (as you would see on your TV in a letterbox presentation, or appropriately at an UltraStar in a scope presentation [they still haven’t gotten their screen masking to cover up the black-space]) eating up the image at the top and the bottom of the screen. In the case of Mr. Bean’s Holiday, this meant subtitles being cut off in many instances. In The Nanny Diaries, it was less noticeable, but still notably took away from a hardworking cinematographer’s vision.

In all instances of this occurring, I have complained to employees at the location (sometimes multiple times). (Asking for a manager is a fruitless excursion in the multiplex industry; I know, I worked at one for 2+ years.) They have done nothing to improve the situation. For all I know, they didn’t even speak to the projectionist-on-duty about (or understand) my complaints.  Because I was ignored at the Del Mar Highlands 8, I decided to contact UltraStar’s corporate offices. I informed them of the problem, what needed to be done, and that I was publishing entries on this ‘blog exposing their poor presentation-standards. Again, I was ignored. Last night, I may have hit a breakthrough. I decided to take my complaints up the corporate latter. I wrote the following note to the folks at Texas Instruments’ DLP Division itself.

To Whom it May Concern:

I would like you to know that the UltraStar Del Mar Highlands 8 has been damaging the reputation of DLP presentations due to their poor projection standards. Twice recently, I have been to this theatre and flat (1.85:1) presentations have been digitally presented in scope (2.35:1), therefore cutting off huge portions of the top and bottom of the image. I spoke with employees at the location and contacted UltraStar’s corporate headquarters and received resolutions from neither source. I thought that I should inform DLP itself that their brilliant image-quality is being destroyed by this cinema. Thank you.

And thanks to the great folks at DLP, I received this response this morning:

Dear Daniel,

Thanks for sending this feedback on the UltraStar Del Mar. I will contact the headquarters directly to get the problem resolved.

Regards,

Angela Hooper

DLP Cinema Products

Texas Instruments

Hopefully, Texas Instruments is able to get the attention of UltraStar in order to ensure they do not continue to butcher the company’s innovative product. I look forward to seeing a flat presentation projected properly the next time I attend UltraStar. Maybe Texas Instruments will even get on UltraStar about the fact that they have not yet found a way to accommodate scope presentations with masking (therefore resulting in the presence proper black bars due to the wider image).

Why the Del Mar Highlands 8 is experiencing these issues, I don’t know. Maybe they are too lazy to change the digital projector’s settings from flat to scope. (A regular 35mm projector has two different lenses, which results in a flat image being compressed vertically when projected through a scope lens, making the problem clearly noticeable and the film unwatchable.) Maybe some stupid teenage projectionist thinks he’s being artistic by making the image appear “wider”–”widescreen” is a tantalizing term for people who don’t know what they’re talking about–when really he’s cutting into DOPs’ visions. Maybe they have received improper information regarding the aspect ratios of films.

But I want the problem to be fixed. I don’t want to have to boycott UltraStar. The chain is one of the few independently-owned ones left in San Diego County that show mainstream fare. Going to a Regal, AMC, or Krikorian megaplex has such a commercial-vibe that it ruins the experience of seeing a movie. I’d rather have a comfortable time at the theatre with part of the image cut-off than feel sterile while watching the full image. (The $5.50 ticket price with newspaper coupons and generous UltraViewer Club make the chain enticing, as well.) For UltraStar’s sake, I hope they remedy this problem. In my experience, it only exists at the Del Mar Highlands 8 location, but if it plagues the screens of other sites as well, I deeply hope that headquarters does a full-on investigation of all of the corporation’s theatres’ presentation-standards.

Good luck, UltraStar Cinemas. May the force be with you.

Now off to a screening at one of those aforementioned yucky, soulless megaplexes.