Don't know what event they had going on, but appears to have drawn quite a crowd. Saw the crowd exiting, and there's a lineup of cars waiting to get out of the lot.
I know they had a children's program this afternoon, but I'm assuming at this time of night that there was a different evening program?
Comments ... #
Sounds interesting. Tonight was a showing of Gone With The Wind as part of the Silver Screen Classics series.
Like I said, it appears to have drawn a real crowd.
Might have to check it out sometime! There is a movie schedule on the website.
(Oh, and the children's program I was thinking of is next Saturday.)
Goodness gracious. Gone with the Wind? Those people better have had sleeping bags. That movie is like 6 hours long. Guess the concession sales made a fortune. They could have served breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I finally got to enjoy one of the Silver Screen Classics, and plan to attend a great many more! I've been wanting to for some time, and had to wait until the new "season" of movies began. I have to say, rave reviews all around.
First, the theater is gorgeous. We're lucky to have it in our downtown. Second, the tickets were $5 at the door, and concessions are a steal. My only criticism would be that the screen is proportioned like a TV screen and not a movie theater screen, and the audio was a little lacking. The theater is designed for live productions though, so you can't really fault them there.
This is just one of many instances where I feel Toledo is doing a terrible job of selling itself. There are so many fantastic attractions and activities around town that you'd never know about if you didn't go searching. If they'd just buy some TV airtime or radio spots to get the word out to the general public, they could be packing the house for multiple movies every weekend of the year.
Johio83 - agree that this should be promoted.
Had I not happened to pass by the Valentine Theater that night and been curious to find out what was packing the house, I would have had no clue that they were doing Silver Screen Classics.
I showed the list to my husband, and we're considering attending one of the future shows.
Full schedule available here
Gone with the Wind *
The Philadelphia Story *
The Blues Brothers
Double Indemnity *
The Marx Brothers Double Feature:
Monkey Business & Duck Soup
Mutiny on the Bounty *
The Sting
The Maltese Falcon
The Birds
Breakfast at Tiffany's
It Happened One Night
Dirty Dancing
The Magnificent Seven
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
I'm actually thinking about going to a few of those movies myself. Tickets are pretty cheap. I may even be able to talk my grandfather into going with me for The Marx Brothers Double Feature.
posted by lfrost2125 on Jan 09, 2012 at 04:37:37 pm #
They've had a listing in the movie section of the Toledo Blade. They may have figured that people would look for movie news there. But it's a different sort of movie night -- nothing of interest for the multiplex crowd. It's nice to have a grand night out for so little money! Maybe some of the downtown restaurants could promote a special dinner feature on movie nights.
Georgio's is right there. Dinner at Georgio's followed by a classic movie in the Valentine Theater sounds like a nice night out.
(Or any of the other downtown restaurants, of course. Was just thinking Georgio's would be convenient for the moviegoers.)
P.S. That explains why I haven't seen the advertisements - I rarely check the movie section. Typically I only go to the movies if there is something out that my kids really want to see, and I usually pull up the showtimes on Rave's website.
... movie section? I don't think I've checked a movie section since the internet reached ubiquity.
posted by Johio83 on Jan 09, 2012 at 09:30:39 pm # 1 person liked this
Yeah, the advertising/promotion landscape is challenging to say the least. Since I never listen to radio and only rarely watch TV, had they chosen to spend money advertising that way, I would never have discovered it.
They may have created a whole new category of evening entertainment: cheap seats in a beautiful theater, a fun night downtown, watching antique films.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
omg... Mr. Creosote and the liver donation scene on the big screen....hoo boy....
posted by oldhometown on Jan 10, 2012 at 12:11:22 pm #
They don't appear to have an active Facebook page. A daily or even weekly reminder of their events would be nice. Considering TMA has almost 30k people who "like" it, I would imagine the Valentine could easily obtain at least 3k likes. They somehow do not see the value in free or nearly free daily or weekly advertising to a large crowd of people who have already expressed interest in their business.
Hint to the Valentine: Observe how other businesses use FB and get your own page to allow the Valentine to interact more with the people who patronize you. Bring whoever is in control of your advertising up to speed. It's a win-win for everyone.
posted by brainswell on Jan 10, 2012 at 12:37:08 pm #
Hey brainswell, I have a question for you. I've been to some social media events where F'book and Twitter have been discussed as part of a social media strategy.
"Experts" seem to agree that it's not a good strategy to just use social methods as another advertising vehicle -- that a business would get better results by doing something to add value to the conversation.
Examples would include sending out coupons that differ from what you get in the newspaper or in junk mail; invitations to participate in group discussions, soliciting creative testimonials, sponsoring contests, etc.
I signed up to follow a NW Ohio company on Twitter, and to my surprise they just send out one soulless blurb after another: "Buy our stuff! It's the best! People love our stuff! We make the best!" etc. -- multiple times per day.
It is kind of shocking to think that no one associated with the Valentine -- a creative, artistic venue -- has clued them in to how to use F'book for their schedule.
My question is: how does one diplomatically let an enterprise know that they are either misusing (or not taking advantage of) these marvelous, free tools that appeal to a large audience?
Hmmm... good questions. I'm no social media expert, but I would go about it this way:
Misuse: Send a message telling them you are unsubscribing from their updates because they feel like just another advertisement, are annoying, etc. Marketing people should be able to take constructive criticism.
Examples of good use of social media by a business are Swig (http://www.facebook.com/SwigRestaurantAndBar) and Grumpy's (http://www.facebook.com/GrumpysDeli) Both post their specials, pictures, etc. I am always checking Swig's beer list to watch for changes (in fact, changes to the list are half of my motivation to go there).
Nonuse: Ask them if they have a FB page or a Twitter, and encourage others to ask. If they are pestered enough, it will hopefully be addressed.
posted by brainswell on Jan 10, 2012 at 04:29:06 pm #
Just so everybody knows, after a week off, Silver Screen Classics at the Valentine Theater are back this Friday with Philadelphia Story! Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart... how can you go wrong? This was the role that won Jimmy his Best Actor award. I mean, the Oscar count for these three as a whole is staggering: a combined 5 best actors/actresses, a lifetime achievement Oscar, and an honorary Oscar.
Went to Blues Brothers last night....it was great. For $5 you get a really classy old timey theater and a movie. Grabbed box seats, it was like our own little party. Good crowd. Classic/older movies-but it puts the local megaplex to shame.
No issues at all with the screen size/sound.
Full bar? You bet. My only suggestion is a guy going up and down the aisles selling beer like at baseball games.
I have to chime in here: I LOVE this idea. The movies in a swell old theater like that are just great. Would I like a bigger screen? Well, sure. But the atmosphere here during movies is just right -- convivial, cozy. Plus a bar. What's not to like? Philadelphia Story was a blast. Love that movie, but seeing on a bigger screen in a theater made it all the better. Dear Valentine Theater: Even MORE great old movies, please!
PS -- Oh, and not just classic old movies. How about running some older "art" movies -- some of the great stuff that never played here in the first place. (I say older because I assume the first-run/newer release stuff is too expensive for you to run? I don't know anything about the licensing involved, but would just like to ask for some great but never-seen-in-Toledo flicks.
I believe the idea of the Silver Screen Classics at the Valentine started with them doing a Halloween day movie. Classic Monster Films with half the audience showing up in costumes made for a fun night. At the intermission they took people on stage for a best costume contest.
They passed out handouts and asked patrons what types of films they'd be interested in seeing in the future. I hope they continue or bring back the Halloween night showing.
Creature from the Black Lagoon was shown in 3D. Talk about a headache and eye strain with the old 3D tech. Old movies are great but old technology should be left in the past haha.
posted by MrGlass419 on Jan 29, 2012 at 10:59:45 am #
Caught the Marx Brothers double feature last night. Went to dinner at PizzaPapalis and then to the Valentine. It was my first time in the theater and everything seemed convenient. The movies were great and it was a very nice way to spend a snowy Friday night in Toledo, Ohio.
I do have one question. The box office ticket agent charged me $5. When I got to my seat, I noticed that the price printed on the ticket was $3. I suppose I should have asked, but.... even $5 was a bargain for such a nice evening and more than a few laughs from a couple of classic films.
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