Bijou, Paramount, Loew's, Fox -- the names themselves conjure up rich carpeting, heavily curtained prosceniums, and gilded carvings. Though the glittering movie palaces of the past have for the most part vanished, their appeal endures, and today they are being built anew on a more intimate scale. This illustrated book affords an unprecedented look at the magnificent private theaters created throughout the United States by New York-based designer Theo Kalomirakis.Twelve years after the Greek-born, movie-mad Kalomirakis came to New York in 1974, he built a small but fully realized movie theater -- "the Roxy" -- in the basement of his Brooklyn brownstone. Today he custom-designs sumptuous private cinemas complete with neon marquees, ticket booths, and foyers for an exclusive clientele, blending exciting architecture and interior design with state-of-the-art technology.Kalomirakis combines his clients' tastes, memories, and fantasies with the splendor and spirit of the past. Showcased here are a businessman's sentimental gift to his wife and a famous actor's retreat from the limelight, along with other stunningly original creations. Kalomirakis' theaters provide a feast for the senses, and the stories behind them offer a peek at the most privileged lifestyles.

Since the mid-eighties, more audiences have been watching Hollywood movies at home than at movie theaters, yet little is known about just how viewers experience film outside of the multiplex. This is the first full-length study of how contemporary entertainment technologies and media—from cable television and VHS to DVD and the Internet—shape our encounters with the movies and affect the aesthetic, cultural, and ideological definitions of cinema. Barbara Klinger explores topics such as home theater, film collecting, classic Hollywood movie reruns, repeat viewings, and Internet film parodies, providing a multifaceted view of the presentation and reception of films in U.S. households. Balancing industry history with theoretical and cultural analysis, she finds that today cinema's powerful social presence cannot be fully grasped without considering its prolific recycling in post-theatrical venues—especially the home.

Francesco Casetti believes new media technologies are producing an exciting new era in cinema aesthetics. Whether we experience film in the theater, on our hand-held devices, in galleries and museums, onboard and in flight, or up in the clouds in the bits we download, cinema continues to alter our habits and excite our imaginations. Casetti travels from the remote corners of film history and theory to the most surprising sites on the internet and in our cities to prove the ongoing relevance of cinema. He does away with traditional notions of canon, repetition, apparatus, and spectatorship in favor of new keywords, including expansion, relocation, assemblage, and performance. The result is an innovative understanding of cinema's place in our lives and culture, along with a critical sea-change in the study of the art. The more the nature of cinema transforms, the more it discovers its own identity, and Casetti helps readers realize the galaxy of possibilities embedded in the medium.

In the 21st century, more and more people go out'' to the movies at home. Theo Kalomirakis reigns supreme the world over as the leading creator of custom-designed theaters and one-of-a-kind entertainment environments. In this book are preserved fifteen of these incredible spaces with superb colour photographs and descriptions of the technology that make this revolution in entertainment and design possible. While Kalomirakis' extravagant creations are for wealthy clients, they also serve as inspiration for home owners who want to integrate cinema quality with home comfort on a more modest budget.

Alone, the second wacky comedic murder romp for Hollywood film detective Valentino, from award-winning author Loren D. Estleman Valentino wants to keep The Oracle, his beloved run-down movie palace, from being condemned before it even reopens, but murder keeps intruding into his otherwise quiet life. At a gala party held in memory of screen legend Greta Garbo, he's having fun until the host, a hotshot developer named Matthew Rankin, tells Valentino about a certain letter from Garbo to his late wife. She and Garbo had been...close. Such a letter is of great interest to a film archivist like Valentino, but the the plot thickens when Rankin tells Val that his assistant, Akers, is using this letter to blackmail him. Val is appalled by the thought of blackmail...but that letter sounds juicier all the time. Returning to Rankin's mansion after the party, Val finds Rankin sitting at his desk with a pistol in his hand, looking at Akers's dead body on the floor. Valentino's in a quandary. He'd love to see that letter, but he can't. He's gotten his girlfriend—who works for the police—in trouble, so his love life is, pardon the expression, shot to hell. Worse yet, the building inspector has kicked him out of his unfinished living space in the Oracle, so he takes his life in his hands and moves in with his eccentric mentor, the elderly, insomniac Professor Broadhead. No love, no sleep, no letter—life isn't fair! At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.