QUESTION: Now that Cinemark has taken over for UltraStar at the Imperial Valley Mall, I have a question: If we have tickets that we purchased at Costco for UltraStar, will they still be honored?
I gave many out for Christmas gifts and I know they have not all been used.
I am quite concerned about this. — Anxious Gift-Giver, Imperial County
We absolutely love the UltraStar Cinemas ticket purchasing deal offered at Costco (two tickets for just $13 last time we checked) so we can understand your concern over this issue.
When Cinemark officially formally took over the Imperial Valley 14 theater last Friday, there were many issues that cropped up, including a changeover from pure digital video and audio to 35mm film as well as the ticket issue that you described.
So we called up Cinemark’s marketing office and got a hold of spokesman James Meredith, who was reassuring to say the least.
“We absolutely will honor those,” Meredith said of the Costco “gift” tickets. “We’ll honor any previous gift cards or certificates as well.”
It seems that Cinemark, the third-largest movie theater chain in the United States, doesn’t want to step on any customers’ toes, claiming a seamless transition as one of its goals.
“We really look forward to our business in the Imperial Valley,” Meredith said. “We’re very excited.”
Of course, that may not appease all moviegoers who had become accustomed to the digital experience offered by UltraStar, something that will probably not be coming to Cinemark for some time.
“When the theater was bought by Cinemark, UltraStar’s agreement with a digital projector vendor came to an end and the vendor wanted the equipment returned,” Meredith said.
“While we research an alternative digital solution, Cinemark will continue to offer our quality experience through our 35mm projectors,” he said.
To contact PROBE, send your question by e-mail to probe@ivpressonline.com or by standard mail: Imperial Valley Press, ATTN: PROBE, 205 N. Eighth St., El Centro, CA 92243.
" I went to the movies the other night and I notieced that Cinemark didnt have any prices posted. Also I noticed that they no longer serve frozen lemonade. The movie was really good you cant even tell that its not digital. People just need to stop complaining and be glad that we have a pretty nice theater unlike other cities. "
ricocafe99 wrote on Feb 26, 2008 7:52 AM:
" We went to Vatage Point Saturday night @ 9:05. The previews had noticeable black lines fom the top to the bottom of the screen. I was hoping thast they would not be on the movie but they were. Honestly I was on eof the people who did not think there would be much of differnce in the quality but I was very wrong, 35 mm quality is noticably less than digital. During the movie there were at least 3 times that the movie paused and then completely went out for almost 10 minutes. The movie then resumed to the finish. We all complained to the management and to their credit they refunded by giving us 2 free passes each. I know they changed to 35 mm because the lease agreement with the digital provider ended and that they had 35 mm projectors in stock to use therefore using them as a cost cutting measure but I hope that they will change back to digital when they see that there are less people going to the movies and the problems with 35 mm start costing them rather than saving them money. "
pinomatus wrote on Feb 21, 2008 8:51 PM:
" 283300 your trippin. i dont think you would pay to see a movie and then walk out cause it wasnt digital. i went on monday and it was fine. bunch of whiners around here. get a life. "
283300 wrote on Feb 21, 2008 7:49 PM:
" We went to the movies the other day and walked away because I felt that we are going back to the dinosaur days of 35mm film. I did like the digital movies and miss it. El Centro (Imperial Valley) has always been thought of as "behind the times". Well this just goes to show you that even though we finally got a very nice mall, we have also gone backwards.... "
pinomatus wrote on Feb 21, 2008 4:47 PM:
" went to see a movie and you cant even tell the difference. "
cinoreah wrote on Feb 21, 2008 2:21 PM:
" ummmmmmm...that would be 35mm......
Saw my mistake just as I hit send "
cinoreah wrote on Feb 21, 2008 2:19 PM:
" Has anybody been to the movies to see a movie on the dinosaur 33mm? If so, how was it? "
wriststrong wrote on Feb 21, 2008 10:44 AM:
" Well, I think that they are doing the right thing in honoring the tickets. If there is a deadline to use them, then it should be presented to the public. If it is... then there should be no complaints when the time comes. "
me2 wrote on Feb 21, 2008 9:41 AM:
" The Costco UltraStar tickets will be valid 6 months from the takeover date. So basically you have until July to use them up. "
ricocafe99 wrote on Feb 21, 2008 8:34 AM:
" well at least an explanation for the conversion to 35 mm is encapsulated in this article. "
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NESSA wrote on Feb 26, 2008 12:12 PM: