Why I love my Local Movie House...

[Worf]

There are many reasons NOT to go to the movie house these days... Home Theatres, gas prices, crowds, unruly patrons of ALL ages, sticky floors. Yes there are myriad reasons to stay home and calcify. However I come not to bury the ole Flicker Farm but to praise it! Oh how do I love thee my local art house movie theatre (www.Spectrum8.com) let me count the ways!

1. Locally owned and operated. The owners are my friends and have actually shown movies I've suggested.

2. They have film festivals and guest speakers.

3. They show movies that should be seen on the BIG screen but aren't shown at the mall.

4. The clientel is much older and "generally more mature".

5. They have employees in the parking lot protecting your car.

6. You can get real cake there.

7. You can git REAL Coffee there...

8. You can git fresh popped popcorn with REAL, HEART CLOGGIN', CHOLESTEROL LADEN, VEIN POPPIN' BUTTER! Nothin' say lovin' like watching whole quarters of butter melting in the vat.

9. It's a converted movie house that's been there since the 50's and has saved the neighborhood from complete degredation and possible destruction.

For these reasons and many others... I drag muh butt to the movies. C'mon, tonights Friday, go out... see a flick.

Worf

 

[Rathdown]

C'mon, tonights Friday, go out... see a flick.

Worf

+1... couldn't agree more!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Exactly. Support your local indie house -- and if you don't, don't whine when there isn't one anymore.

We used to sell real butter -- but so many patrons complained it didn't taste enough "like butter" we had to go to what they were expecting it to taste like. A margarine generation seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given it but the sign reading "pure sunflower oil."

 

[DesertDan]

Ours is called "The Loft" theater. Great place!

 

[DNO]

It's the 'Fox' theatre in my neighbourhood. Great place.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

Here, it's the NARO. Cozy neighborhood theater that hosts festivals, foreign films, limited release films and Rocky Horror every Friday night - quite a jolt when you exit the 9:00 show on Friday and bump into the fans waiting to interact with RHPS for the umpteenth time.

Not an art house, but a great movie experience, is The Commodore.

And while I generally agree with the OPs list of reasons to love the local art house, I don't necessarily agree with #4. Invariably, whether I'm seeing the film at the NARO or the cineplex, the folks yakkin' away like they're on the couch at home are OLD PEOPLE, and by that I mean folks my age (54) or older. Younger people tend to settle down and watch the film but Aunt Lulu and Uncle Mort seem compelled to discuss the flick or pose questions to each other all through the film. Drives us nuts. At least at the Commodore the tables are far enough apart to avoid overhearing the other patrons.

 

[carranty]

My local 'Indie' cinema has inferior seating, inferior sound and a smaller screen than the larger big chain cinema, not to mention no popcorn whatsoever - and yet I still prefer to go there every single time. Why? Because they turn the lights out during the film! The amount of time the Vue (a big chain here in the UK) forget to turn off the lights is crazy, and even when they do they now always leave on some dimmer ones (for health and safety reasons I'm told). I just can't get completely immersed in a film if its bright enough to read a book! I love my local movie house!

And while I generally agree with the OPs list of reasons to love the local art house, I don't necessarily agree with #4. Invariably, whether I'm seeing the film at the NARO or the cineplex, the folks yakkin' away like they're on the couch at home are OLD PEOPLE, and by that I mean folks my age (54) or older. Younger people tend to settle down and watch the film but Aunt Lulu and Uncle Mort seem compelled to discuss the flick or pose questions to each other all through the film. Drives us nuts....

You're not alone there, drives me nuts too, though fortunately it rarely happens at my local cinemas. Won't really gets my goat though, it people using their phones to check emails or whatever. Here you are in this dark auditorium, only to see this small bright rectangle of light flash on every few minutes. Turns me stark raving mad :rage:

 

[Worf]

Here, it's the NARO. And while I generally agree with the OPs list of reasons to love the local art house, I don't necessarily agree with #4. Invariably, whether I'm seeing the film at the NARO or the cineplex, the folks yakkin' away like they're on the couch at home are OLD PEOPLE, and by that I mean folks my age (54) or older. Younger people tend to settle down and watch the film but Aunt Lulu and Uncle Mort seem compelled to discuss the flick or pose questions to each other all through the film. Drives us nuts. At least at the Commodore the tables are far enough apart to avoid overhearing the other patrons.

I wasn't going to mention this phenomena for fear of starting a flame war... it's the exact same thing here! I recently went to see "Beasts of the Southern Wild" at The Spectrum. Three errr... "generationally enhanced" ladies talked through the WHOLE DANG movie! Then had the termerity, the nerve, the gall to say loudly on the way out that "they didn't understand it." If it weren't for Puddin' holding me back I'da said something I'd have surely regretted in the morning. But I was raised old school, I was taught to respect my elders... whether they're deserving of it sometimes or not.

Worf

 

[LizzieMaine]

We get that "I didn't understand it" thing all the time -- and it's part of my job to stand in the lobby after the show and explain it to them. Even if I don't understand it myself.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Believe me, that phenomenon is not limited to older folks. I get the same thing watching a film or TV show with this one friend who's my age. Geesh, just shut up and watch the film! You'll get more out of it that way than by asking me who has never seen this film before either!

 

[Worf]

Exactly. Support your local indie house -- and if you don't, don't whine when there isn't one anymore.

We used to sell real butter -- but so many patrons complained it didn't taste enough "like butter" we had to go to what they were expecting it to taste like. A margarine generation seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given it but the sign reading "pure sunflower oil."

This madam.. is a sad... sad commentary... That glop instead of butter? Oh the humanity... My mind boggles!

Worf

 

[Worf]

Believe me, that phenomenon is not limited to older folks. I get the same thing watching a film or TV show with this one friend who's my age. Geesh, just shut up and watch the film! You'll get more out of it that way than by asking me who has never seen this film before either!

This you get from a "friend"? Sheesh sounds like grounds for banishment to me. Still I get the same thing from Puddin' at home sometimes. That's when I pause the show or movie and explain what I can. She's still trying to git her head around the fact that it was the Irishman in the box and that's why Margaret "lost it", not some random dead guy.

Worf

 

[Lily Powers]

We have 3 local, independent movies houses where I live. They show foreign films and and most indie movies. The popcorn is worth the price of admission, but alas, no REAL cake (really, Worf?! That's a treat!). My favorite movie house is the Stanford Theater in Palo Alto. It's a non-profit owned by the David Packard Foundation and is about 45-minutes away. Everyday cost for the double feature: $7.00. Large popcorn: $3.00. Cherry Cola: 1.00. There's a balcony, an organ that pops up from beneath the theatre's stage and the organist plays between the movies. Shows classic films and silents, all shown on the big screen (the way they were meant to be viewed and enjoyed) and to a crowd of like-minded movie fans. Haven't encountered any chatters really. Except for a friend who, when the opening scene of Paris in "An American In Paris" prompted her to go into a loudly whispered dissertation of the trip she and her mother took. I leaned over and sweetly mentioned something about duct tape and she quieted down and had a great time.

 

[Shangas]

Exactly. Support your local indie house -- and if you don't, don't whine when there isn't one anymore.

We used to sell real butter -- but so many patrons complained it didn't taste enough "like butter" we had to go to what they were expecting it to taste like. A margarine generation seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given it but the sign reading "pure sunflower oil."

Margarine is a cheap, revolting butter substitute. It should NEVER be poured on top of popcorn. EVER.

We don't have a local independent movie-house, but we support our local cinema, the Rivoli, by going there, whenever we wanna watch a film on the Big Screen. Its Art Deco charm just keeps reelin' me back in.

I can't stand people who talk during movies, unless we've made some sort of unspoken agreement that we will ALL be talking...whereupon it'll be okay. But otherwise, I don't wanna hear nothing, but the movie.

I have an aunt who loves watching movies with me and my cousins whenever they're staying over at our house. It's like a nightly event. But she CONSTANTLY talks during the films, and it drives my cousin nuts. I think he's a bit embarrassed about how his mother acts like that sometimes.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

We have 3 local, independent movies houses where I live. They show foreign films and and most indie movies. The popcorn is worth the price of admission, but alas, no REAL cake (really, Worf?! That's a treat!). My favorite movie house is the Stanford Theater in Palo Alto. It's a non-profit owned by the David Packard Foundation and is about 45-minutes away. Everyday cost for the double feature: $7.00. Large popcorn: $3.00. Cherry Cola: 1.00. There's a balcony, an organ that pops up from beneath the theatre's stage and the organist plays between the movies. Shows classic films and silents, all shown on the big screen (the way they were meant to be viewed and enjoyed) and to a crowd of like-minded movie fans. Haven't encountered any chatters really. Except for a friend who, when the opening scene of Paris in "An American In Paris" prompted her to go into a loudly whispered dissertation of the trip she and her mother took. I leaned over and sweetly mentioned something about duct tape and she quieted down and had a great time.

Sounds a lot like the Byrd in Richmond, right down to the Mighty Wurlitzer that pops up on stage.

 

[Lily Powers]

Sounds a lot like the Byrd in Richmond, right down to the Mighty Wurlitzer that pops up on stage.

Sounds like it and looks like it, right down to the Christmas Eve showing of "It's A Wonderful Life!" The Stanford sells out every year for that movie.

The Wurlitzer was indeed mighty on the night I saw "Wings," the 1927 silent which won an Academy Award (not yet "Oscar") for Outstanding Production. The organist was Dennis James, and he had great stories about the making of the movie and Charles "Buddy" Rogers. He had the original music sheets and played for the entire movie - it was truly an incredible experience. Does he play at the Byrd ever?

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

Sounds like it and looks like it, right down to the Christmas Eve showing of "It's A Wonderful Life!" The Stanford sells out every year for that movie.

The Wurlitzer was indeed mighty on the night I saw "Wings," the 1927 silent which won an Academy Award (not yet "Oscar") for Outstanding Production. The organist was Dennis James, and he had great stories about the making of the movie and Charles "Buddy" Rogers. He had the original music sheets and played for the entire movie - it was truly an incredible experience. Does he play at the Byrd ever?

I'm not sure - they have guest organists from time to time but Bob Gulledge has been the house organist for many years. In the past, John Baratta and Ray Brubacher have accompanied screenings of Lon Chaney's Phantom of the Opera.

 

[JonnyO]

It's too bad no one has been able to do anything with Proctors, eh Worf?

 

[Worf]

It's too bad no one has been able to do anything with Proctors, eh Worf?

I go to Proctors for plays and I even saw James Brown there. BUT while the ambiance is great for movies, it is a restored movie palace fer sure, the Spectrum is more intimate, has far superior snacks and when I want to make a suggestion or complaint I get to talk to the OWNERS... not someone managing the place for a board. I've done at least one benefit show to help Proctors out during its darkest hour... but the Spectrum is home to me.

Worf

 

[JonnyO]

Don't tell me you have forgotten about our very own, run down, Proctors haha