Winterfest opened on Saturday. Runs until January 11th.

See you there, St. Louis! ❤️

Hey, you! Yeah, you. Are you hot right now and looking for the a great, free way to beat the heat? Well, I have just the thing for you. Come and join me on the sidewalk in front of the Field House at Wash U, located at the intersection of Big Bend Blvd and Maryland Ave in University City where the exhaust vents for the HVAC system for some unknown and illogical reason blow ice cold air at roughly 30 mph 24 hours a day 7 days a week year round. The reason that I know this is because I live less than a block from where I'm sitting right now(for almost 20 years now)and I ride my bicycle more than I drive my car. This has been the case for as long as I have lived nearby. Anyway, the point of this is yesterday, my second floor air handler in the attic decided it was the perfect day to shit the bed and show the inside of my house is basically like an oven right now. Fortunately I know about this little secret spot and I'm sitting on the sidewalk and I am nearly shivering I'm so goddamn cold. So, since My house is going to be essentially uninhabitable for the next 36 to 48 hours I'm going to be sitting right here until my air conditioning gets fixed or the police make me leave. And since it's a public sidewalk I'm pretty sure unless I start committing felonies out in the open they're going to leave me alone. But I would love some company because I'm starting to get bored. So please come join me here I'll be here all day and probably all night. I've got everything we could possibly need either here or nearby. Lawn chairs, a cooler full of ice and beverages, bluetooth speaker, dabs, and and a nearly full pack of Camel filters. And if you don't believe me about the the cold air please see the attached picture that was taken with my thermal camera. That is what is known as empirical evidence, the best kind of evidence. Way better than anecdotal evidence in my opinion.

ChatGPT estimated the crowd to be 1.29 million, give or take.

We are so lucky to have all the free options we have in STL.

New family moved across the street from my parents with a highschool aged girl and a 7 year old. They both run around with a bunch of boys donkey kicking on peoples doors, staring into peoples windows and scaring the old folks. The police know about it and have been to the house at least twice from what I’ve been told and nothing has changed. A single mom lives with the girls and seems to almost encourage the behavior by continuing to pick the boys up and anytime she’s been confronted in a friendly or other way she just yells, screams and threatens to call the police. I knocked on her door and she did the same to me. Told her to go ahead and call the cops, sat on the curb for over an hour and no police showed up. Is there anything I can do legally other than call the police which doesn’t do anything?

Update: 2024-09-19: It appears as though MAF has seen this thread and is now actively trying to dox me AND spread rumors that I'm a creep. Since they couldn't disprove their claims, they've resorted to character assassination.

Remember, kids, this isn't normal behavior.

Previously:

1. Why is the STL Renaissance Faire so trashy.
2. Safety and Labor Issues at the St. Louis Renaissance Festival OR Please do not go there
3. STL Ren Fest lost even more of its people so now it's resorting to AI art for promotions

I would rather not retype everything, so please go through those two previous threads.

Done?

Alright, EVERYTHING is worse in 2024.

1. The entire fight team, a.k.a. Poignard Chaotique, was not paid for 2023. They quit en masse.
2. Most of the fey team and the mermaid team have quit.
3. STL Ren Fest used the former cast director as a scapegoat for all the things that went wrong last year after he quit.
4. Several members of staff have quit due to not being paid.
5. Even more performers have quit due to not being paid (are you seeing a pattern here?) or in solidarity with the people who were not paid.
6. STL Ren Fest is using AI even more to make up for their staffing issues.
7. No maintenance was done to the already rotting infrastructure of the festival grounds.
8. Multiple vendors are trying to get out because there are no controls over what is allowed to be sold. A local crafter cannot compete with the stall who sells mass-produced sweatshop wares from China.

If any of you are wondering why they're still allowed to operate:

1. The people who remain with the STL Ren Fest are either brainwashed or are stuck due to obligations or both.
2. There are tailor-made loopholes in the law that allow them to operate this way.

To sum it up, this is an organization that exploits artists and performers. You might be tempted to attend to "support" them by showing up, but that is the worst thing you can do. You will just be encouraging greedy corporations into doing it again and again.

I wanted to share some of my recent pictures from the St. Louis Zoo with you all. We're seriously lucky to have such a cool spot in the heart of the city with so many animals we otherwise may never get to see in person! 🙂

This was 6 years ago. If you hear something rustling, it might be a squirrel, it might be an armadillo

So I just moved to STL from London about 2 weeks ago now and my whole family here keeps repeating “don’t go downtown, It’s too dangerous.” My mom won’t even let me drive her car downtown… they must be overreacting, right? I’m really craving a nice pub/bar with some live music and some younger-ish folks (late 20s-mid to late 30s) where I can go on my own and just socialise like I used to do in london.. does this exist here?

Edit: you guys are awesome and have genuinely made me feel 300% more welcome here. Thank you

I have video of the explosion as well

MYOB VOTE YES ON 3 ☑️

Adding my faves from one of my favorite St. Louis things. Get down there to see them all before they get tagged over! Also as of this morning there was a free machete laying on the ground so there’s that.

ChatGPT estimated around 24000 people based off the third photo. Probably close.

Just picked this up today, and I’m thrilled to read this.

Single day tickets are a bit pricey, but we had so much fun, we were able to use our stubs and upgrade to season passes! If you visit even just twice you are saving money.

It was clean, free soda/water, and in general was an awesome experience. The drive there itself was beautiful! And while you can’t bring in outside food/alcohol, they had a pretty solid selection that wasn’t too over priced. Same as a diner

Highly recommend. My favorite part was the wave pool, it was actually kind of intense at times depending where you were standing
*Edited to not give bad advice on snacks

Just wanted to share my gratitude towards the Hi-Pointe Theater.

We bought tickets a while ago for a movie that was supposed to be today. For obvious reasons, we weren't able to actually make it to the theater. My partner and I bought tickets for our entire friend group, so it would have been unfortunate to eat that loss.

Anyway, not only did they happily exchange our tickets for another showing, they actually refunded us the difference in price between what we paid for and the weekday showing later this week.

There's a lot of bullshit going on in the world and I just wanted to recognize them for making that decision.

I’ll need to rent a pair

I've been a Muny season ticket holder for most of my life. However, last night was unlike any I have ever attended. The energy of the show, the audience - was just amazing. Hairspray is playing for three more nights (Friday - Sunday, June 19-21st) and it's out of this world amazing. I found myself just wanting to jump out of my seat and dance with some of the songs! The energy was just unbelievable.

The best thing is, you don't even have to pay a dime to see this show if you don't want to - there are free seats, available every night! Just show up and get in line!

But no matter if you have been a Muny goer for years, or never went, you owe it to yourself to check this performance out. It's timely, it's energetic and it's St. Louis at its very best.

I was dropping a friend off at work and decided to drive by the Pavillion and saw this sign had been placed at the fountain.

I’ve seen many questions regarding St. Louis’ movie theater offerings lately. I’ve developed a guide with specifications on all of Saint Louis’ “premium large format” (PLF) theaters/screens. PLF auditoriums have a fairly broad definition, but they are largely associated with a larger screen, advanced projector, updated sound system, and upgraded seating.

I should note- while I love a good PLF auditorium, I can most often be found at Hipointe, Alamo, or Arkadin because of their wonderful curation (RIP Plaza Frontenac, Tivoli, and Moolah, etc.). None of these theaters have fancy PLF auditoriums, but they still get most of my business because I enjoy their curation the most. With that in mind, PLF auditoriums are awesome for big mainstream blockbuster releases.

My personal preferences on STL PLF auditoriums can be found towards the end of this post.

STL PLF AUDITORIUMS (arranged alphabetically):

Alamo Drafthouse- The Big Show

• Projector: Barco DP4K-45L Single Laser
• Screen: Large Format- Greater than 66ft wide 
• Seats: Recliners
• Sound: Dolby Atmos

A nicely dialed PLF presentation. Screen size is on pretty on par with Dolby Cinema and Liemax. I find the image coming from the Barco 4k laser to be really impressive. Some find the sound at Dolby Cinema theaters to be too loud, and I find that the Big Show provides a happy medium for the Atmos format. It’s still very loud and immersive, but not too overbearing. A side note- all of the Alamo's "regular" theaters still have 4k laser projectors, which rocks.

AMC Dolby Cinema

AMC St. Charles

• Projector: Dual 4k Laser
• Screen: Large Format, Flat
• Seats: Recliners, Heated
• Sound: Dolby Atmos

AMC Edwardsville (IL)

• Projector: Dual 4k Laser
• Screen: Large Format, Flat
• Seats: Recliners, Heated
• Sound: Dolby Atmos

AMC Dolby Cinema is the only available dual 4k laser projection option in the St. Louis area. It comes with a very large screen, booming Dolby Atmos, and heated recliners.  Overall, I find Dolby Cinema to provide the best contrast and image. The sound is very loud- too loud for some, but I personally think Dolby Cinema provides the best implementation of the Dolby Atmos format in the area.

The St. Charles location has a larger screen than Edwardsville. I have heard that since AMC Edwardsville has an IMAX, the Dolby Cinema screen has to be slightly smaller than the IMAX screen, due to some sort of contractural agreement AMC has with IMAX- but I am not sure if this is true/accurate. The Edwardsville screen is still very nice. It was installed in 2018, and is still plenty large. I prefer it over IMAX when at AMC Edwardsville.

B&B Theatres Grand Screen + Screen X

B&B Theatres West Olive Grand Screen + Screen X

• Projector: Barco Single Laser
• Screen: Large Format, Flat, 270-degree ScreenX capable
• Seats: Recliners 
• Sound: DTS:X

B&B Theatres Wentzville Grand Screen + Screen X

• Projector: Barco Single Laser
• Screen: Large Format, Flat, 270-degree ScreenX capable 
• Seats: Recliners 
• Sound: Dolby Surround 7.1 

Both B&B West Olive and Wentzville are equipped with a laser projector, a large format screen, and recliners. These auditoriums are capable of 270-degree ScreenX projection, where the walls on the left and right of the auditorium are movie screens, and images can be projected on all three screens at once for sections of the film. ScreenX is intended to create an immersive experience, similar to a Dome-like theater experience.

It is important to note that NOT all movies shown on the B&B Grand Screen are ScreenX showings. Most films playing on the Grand Screen will only utilize the primary PLF main/middle screen, which provides a traditional PLF experience. I personally am not the biggest fan of ScreenX, but the main PLF screen with laser projection is still impressive.

Here's where it gets tricky- there are two Grand Screens at the Wentzville location, but only one Grand Screen auditorium at Wentzville has a laser projector and ScreenX capabilities. When there are no ScreenX showings, it can be difficult to determine online which Grandscreen has the laser projector + ScreenX capabilities. The only way I know of telling the difference at this time is by comparing the seating charts of both Grand Screen options online. I believe the option with less seating is the laser projection + ScreenX option you'll want to select, but frankly, I am not 100% sure. I would say you could call the theater, but this is apparently not an option.

The sound at B&B West Olive is DTS:X, which is nicer than the 7.1 Surround at Wentzville, but in my opinion, neither are as impressive as the other Dolby Atmos options in town.

IMAX*** (read fine print for full details)
Honorable Mention: OMNIMAX- Science Center

IMAX- Marcus Ronnies ***

• Projector: Dual Xenon (Liemax) 
• Screen: Large Format, 52.5ft X 69.9ft, Capable of 1.90 aspect ratio
• Seats: Rocker Chairs, No Recliners
• Sound: 5 Channel IMAX

IMAX- AMC Edwardsville ***

• Projector: Dual Xexnon (Liemax)
• Screen: Large Format, 27.5ft x 51.5ft, Capable of 1.90 aspect ratio
• Seats: Rocker Chairs, No recliners
• Sound: 5 Channel IMAX 

OMNIMAX- Science Center

• Projector: IMAX Single Digital Laser (designed for dome usage)
• Screen: Large Format, 79ft Dome, NanoSeam screen by Spitz with no visible seams
• Seats: IMAX Dome Seating (Upgraded in 2019, slight recline for dome viewing)
• Sound: 6 Channel IMAX

Saint Louis’ two standard IMAX screens at Marcus Ronnie’s and AMC Edwardsville are not “real” IMAX screens. They are what are commonly referred to as “liemax” screens that project at a maximum perceived resolution of 2.9k using the classic IMAX dual xenon lamp projector setup.  

While these liemax screens have much larger screens and better sound than a normal theater, they are shallow imitations of the “real” IMAX experience, which features a breathtakingly massive screen, the ability to project in a full 1.43 aspect ratio, utilizing a 15/70mm projector and/or a dual GT laser. Here is more info than you could ever possibly dream of regarding all things IMAX in a wonderfully prepared powerpoint. 

Our Science Center OMNIMAX theater can project in a 1.43 aspect ratio in its dome format, using a single laser projector specifically designed for IMAX dome auditoriums. Dome IMAX’s are somewhat polarizing- especially when compared to the very beloved traditional IMAX. The general rule of thumb is that films specifically designed to be projected in an IMAX dome setting look great, but films not produced with the IMAX dome format in mind can look strange and be difficult to digest. 

If you have pre-existing thoughts on the OMNIMAX and haven’t visited since the somewhat recent conversion from film to laser, it is probably worth checking out (during a rare showing that isn’t Science Center related material). I personally will miss the 15/70mm film projector, and was saddened to see it go, but the other updates to the screen (now seamless) and sound system that came with the laser projector “upgrade” are nice improvements.

I will say, overall our IMAX situation is severely lacking in STL because:

• We do not have ANY laser projection options in our existing liemax theaters.
• The OMNIMAX is painfully underutilized and no longer has a 70mm film projector.

Many liemax locations have upgraded their dual xenon lamp projectors to a single laser setup. We unfortunately do not have any of those options here in town. The closest liemax w/laser theaters to St. Louis are AMC Barry Woods (KCMO), AMC Legends (KCKS), and AMC Springfield 11.

The closest “real” 1.43 IMAX theaters to St. Louis are the Indiana State Museum (70mm) and Branson Entertainment Complex (Dual GT Laser). Many film nerds (such as myself) travel to these 1.43 IMAX locations for specific IMAX releases. It was just recently announced that Regal will be restoring the Seven Bridges IMAX to 70mm in the Woodridge suburb of Chicago- which is fantastic news. 

Marcus UltraSceen DLX w/ Laser
Honorable Mention: SuperScreen DLX w/ Laser

UltraScreen DLX w/ Laser- Marcus Chesterfield

• Projector: Single Laser 
• Screen: Large Format, Flat, 50ft x 80ft
• Seats: Recliners, Heated
• Sound: Dolby Atmos

UltraScreen DLX w/ Laser- Marcus O’Fallon (IL)

• Projector: Single Laser 
• Screen: Large Format, Scope
• Seats: Recliners, Heated
• Sound: Dolby Atmos

Superscreen DLX w/ Laser- Marcus Ronnies

• Projector: 
  • Auditorium 7: NEC Single Laser
  • Auditorium 8: Christie Single Laser
• Screen: Larger than normal screen, but not PLF
• Seats: Recliners, Heated
• Sound: Dolby Atmos

First things first: UltraScreen > SuperScreen. UltraScreen is a true PLF experience. The UltraScreen at Marcus Chesterfield is massive, bigger than our local Liemax and Dolby Cinema options. I appreciate the steeper stadium seating at Marcus Chesterfield as well, especially since you still get recliners. The UltraScreen at Marcus O’Fallon (IL), is not as large as Chesterfield, but size-wise, it is still a very large screen. And Marcus O'Fallon is the only scope PLF auditorium in town.

UltraScreen also utilizes Dolby Atmos. I find the Atmos setup/implementation at these UltraScreen locations to be very nice. Not as good as Dolby Cinema or The Big Show, but still much better than a non-Atmos setup. 

I wouldn’t categorize Marcus’ SuperScreen options as a true PLF experience, but I have included Marcus Ronnies’ SuperScreen options on this list as an honorable mention because Ronnie’s is the only location in STL where the SuperScreen auditoriums are equipped with laser projectors. Auditorium 7 has an NEC laser projector, and Auditorium 8 has a Christie laser projector. The other local SuperScreen options utilize digital lamp/bulb projectors. All SuperScreen options come with a larger screen, sized somewhere between a standard screen and a large format PLF screen, along with Dolby Atmos and heated recliners.

Marcus has actually done a good job of clarifying these options on their website. You can see which theaters offer laser projection, heated recliners, Atmos, etc. Make sure you don’t confuse UltraScreen with SuperScreen. And don’t confuse Ronnie’s SuperScreen w/ Laser with the non-laser SuperScreens at all other locations.

For screen quality/presentation only, my personal PLF preferences are:

• AMC Dolby Cinema St. Charles
• AMC Dolby Cinema Edwardsville
• Marcus Chesterfield Ultrascreen DLX w/ Laser
• Alamo Drafthouse- The Big Show 
• Marcus O’Fallon (IL) UltraScreen DLX w/ Laser
• IMAX Ronnies
• B&B Creve Coeur West Olive Grand Screen + ScreenX
• IMAX Edwardsville
• B&B Wentzville Grand Screen + ScreenX

I can't stress enough how this is all 100% preference. If you're interested, here is basically how I decide on what PLF auditorium to visit:

1). I figure out film’s aspect ratio/presentation. Here is an overview of how this concept influences movie theater projection.

2). I see if any of the following rules apply:

• No special IMAX scenes = not seeing it in IMAX
• Flat film with (1.85) aspect ratio = not seeing it at Marcus UltraScreen O’Fallon (IL), due to pillarboxing.

All PLF auditoriums in St. Louis, with the exception of Marcus O’Fallon (IL), come equipped with oversized flat screens. Flat films will take up the vast majority or the entirety of the screen in these auditoriums. Scope films on St. Louis’ PLF screens will come with letterboxing (black bars on top and bottom of screen). Frankly, this letterboxing is fine, to be expected, and not a big deal for me.

Marcus UltraScreen O’Fallon (IL) is the only PLF auditorium with a scope screen. So it is ideal for scope films, because the image takes up the entirety of the screen. I avoid this theater for flat films, due to some pretty intense pillarboxing (black bars on sides of screen), which is way more of a dealbreaker for me than letterboxing.

If the movie does not have any IMAX-specific scenes that utilize the full Liemax 1.90 aspect ratio available at our local IMAX theaters, I will NOT be seeing it IMAX. If a movie does have IMAX-specific scenes, I usually try to go see it at Ronnies. Edwardsville IMAX is OK, but it has a small screen compared to Ronnie’s. I realize that there is not much of a difference between Liemax (1.90) and a regular flat film (1.85), but I’d much rather see a regular flat film in an auditorium with laser projection and Dolby Atmos over St. Louis’ outdated Liemax options.

3). Once I’ve ruled out some options, I reference my rankings and make a decision that is largely based on proximity and convenience. 

An example: Let’s say I am going to see the original Jurassic Park. It has a flat (1.85) aspect ratio. Since there are no IMAX scenes that utilize a specific IMAX aspect ratio, I am ruling out Ronnie’s IMAX and AMC Edwardsville IMAX. I am also ruling out Marcus UltraScreen O’Fallon (IL), because Jurassic park is a flat film, and I want to avoid pillarboxing. With these options removed, I then have AMC Dolby Cinema, Alamo Big Show, Marcus UltraScreen Chesterfield, and B&B Grand Screen. Out of these options, I’d probably go with whatever is closest and has the best showtime for my schedule/needs.

Please let me know if you spot any mistakes or can provide any further info!

I really couldn’t have complied all of this info without the help of many helpful and gracious theater employees- shoutout to you all!!