Small city movie theaters.

[CoE]

I live in a small city in Indiana, and I'm pissed at their movie selections.

They almost refuse to show any movie with any artistic merit. They keep Without a Paddle in the theater for 4 weeks, but only show Million Dollar Baby for one and a half?

If I want to see something that isn't exactly a blockbuster nor a movie that anyone over the age of 6 would enjoy, I have to drive 30 minutes to see said movie.

Their false advertising pisses me the fuck off too. They had a poster for Finding Neverland in the lobby under coming soon, and it never the fuck came. They have Sin City posters all over the walls, and if come April 1st it doesnt play, I'm gonna walk in there with guns-a-blazin'.

[Moviefan02000]

I feel your pain, my theater didn't get SAW or HERO until the second weeks they came out. They're so weird, they don't get movies that are released in like 1500 theaters (THE JACKET) but will get stuff released in 50 theaters (BEFORE SUNSET).

[bigred760]

I now live in Atlanta, but when I first started high school, I lived in a small town in Virginia where the only theatre showed two movies at a time. Sucked big time.

My advice: move to a big city where there are theatres EVERYWHERE - like Atlanta. :D

[BorderEevilIII]

I think its WHO thats is scheduling the movies....
So I ASSUME this theater is a multi-plex?
Also ASK them if movies like Sin City is gonna be screened at the theater or not..... Doesn't hurt to get the heads up on upcoming releases... :D

[TheDeadWalk]

Originally posted by BorderEevilIII
I think its WHO thats is scheduling the movies....
So I ASSUME this theater is a multi-plex?
Also ASK them if movies like Sin City is gonna be screened at the theater or not..... Doesn't hurt to get the heads up on upcoming releases... :D

No, it doesn't sound like a multiplex. Small cities have theaters with only one-two or at best three films at a time. Mine only has three once in awhile, only because they show the adult R film at 7:30 after showing the disney show all afternoon in the same theater.

These small theaters might be getting crapped on and not being sent their films properly. I don't think without a paddle is going to generate a hell of a lot of revenue for four weeks...

They might be getting all that they're given...

I kind of like the strategy of my small-town theater, every four weeks ALL FILMS are G or PG rated at best. That way, they get a break from cleaning up teenage jizzum, and only have to sweep up popcorn and m&ms.

[Damone]

Originally posted by CoE
I live in a small city in Indiana, and I'm pissed at their movie selections.

They almost refuse to show any movie with any artistic merit. They keep Without a Paddle in the theater for 4 weeks, but only show Million Dollar Baby for one and a half?

If I want to see something that isn't exactly a blockbuster nor a movie that anyone over the age of 6 would enjoy, I have to drive 30 minutes to see said movie.

Their false advertising pisses me the fuck off too. They had a poster for Finding Neverland in the lobby under coming soon, and it never the fuck came. They have Sin City posters all over the walls, and if come April 1st it doesnt play, I'm gonna walk in there with guns-a-blazin'.

I know exactly what you mean. I grew up about 30 minutes away in a town about the size of Seymour and the theatre there was the same way. I remember getting all excited when "Jedi" came out and they didn't show it until about 4 months later.

They recently closed up after a 10 screen theatre moved in. I had thought one of the reasons they went out of business was because they really didn't seem to make much of an effort to update the place. The last story I heard that finally caused them to shut down was due to an issue with whatever distribution place they got their movies from. It was said that the movies they wanted they couldn't get (it was only a 3 screen place) because the money to be made was with the bigger cinema.

How much of that is true I don't know. That was just the story that was floating around.

[MacReady]

Originally posted by CoE
I live in a small city in Indiana, and I'm pissed at their movie selections.

They almost refuse to show any movie with any artistic merit. They keep Without a Paddle in the theater for 4 weeks, but only show Million Dollar Baby for one and a half?

If I want to see something that isn't exactly a blockbuster nor a movie that anyone over the age of 6 would enjoy, I have to drive 30 minutes to see said movie.

Their false advertising pisses me the fuck off too. They had a poster for Finding Neverland in the lobby under coming soon, and it never the fuck came. They have Sin City posters all over the walls, and if come April 1st it doesnt play, I'm gonna walk in there with guns-a-blazin'.

I know exactly how you feel. I also need to drive for 30 minutes. There's also the fact that it only gets stuff that has really hbig realeses. We never got Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Minds. There's also the problem that there is only one screen in the theater, meaning you can only watch one movie. Finally you must also take into account that we just got Million Dollar Baby several days ago.

I can't wait to move to Ottawa (should be this summer) so I can watch obscure pretentious art movies in the special theaters and watch films the very day they are released.

[Fisting Ackbar]

Another smalltown schmoe reporting in.

I probably shouldn't complain too much since my 2-screen theater is only a 5 minute walk from where I live and the prices are relatively inexpensive, but a lot of times they wait a few weeks before playing a certain movie (after it's done well at the box office to ensure profit), and they seem to try to avoid playing R-rated movies as much as possible, despite that they don't check ID's so anybody could still get in.

Having been in Amsterdam this winter with many theaters and a huge selection to choose from eased the pain somewhat, but for the next 6 months I'll probably be S.O.L. most of the time.

[bob]

I'm with bigred-move to a big city.

I can't remember any recent release, commercial or indie, that I haven't been at most 35 minutes away from.

[The Heart Collector]

Do you think the general population of your small Indiana town would go watch Million Dollar Baby for more than 1 and a half weeks?

Running a theater is a business, not a service to the artistic-minded community.

[CoE]

Originally posted by TheDeadWalk
No, it doesn't sound like a multiplex. Small cities have theaters with only one-two or at best three films at a time. Mine only has three once in awhile, only because they show the adult R film at 7:30 after showing the disney show all afternoon in the same theater.

These small theaters might be getting crapped on and not being sent their films properly. I don't think without a paddle is going to generate a hell of a lot of revenue for four weeks...

They might be getting all that they're given...

I kind of like the strategy of my small-town theater, every four weeks ALL FILMS are G or PG rated at best. That way, they get a break from cleaning up teenage jizzum, and only have to sweep up popcorn and m&ms.

My theater is, in fact, a multiplex. Just a horribly shitty one.

[Fisting Ackbar]

Originally posted by bigred760
My advice: move to a big city where there are theatres EVERYWHERE

I definitely plan to at some point, but it sadly isn't as easy as I would hope.

Running a theater is a business, not a service to the artistic-minded community.

Couldn't agree more, but it's still frustrating to have to put up with mainstream crap when you know others have better options what to watch.

[Cronos]

my local theatre only gets the films that are major releases and bound to get people in, luckily i can get a life to the nearest city (35 minutes away) whenever theres a smaller film or one thats not likely to draw the crowds but even then they dont get everything, i was really pissed off when neither The Machinist or Casshern were playing there

[blankpage]

Originally posted by MacReady

I can't wait to move to Ottawa (should be this summer) so I can watch obscure pretentious art movies in the special theaters and watch films the very day they are released.

First stop for you: the Bytowne!

[JCPhoenix]

Originally posted by blankpage
First stop for you: the Bytown!

yup, totally agree...Bytowne is the place to be...I love it :D

When I first moved out from the small town I lived in most of my life (Deep River which is two hours north of Ottawa), it was awesome having so many choices in films...I also think if I didn't move out to Ottawa, I'd never have *truly* gotten into films...besides the fact that it was an Ottawa friend who first introduced me to the movie which first got me into films, the wide selection also helped speed along the process of conversion into a film fan :p.

Though the one thing I did miss about the small town was how cheap it was to rent movies...I remember renting new releases for 3.50 or less, and sometimes it was 3.50 for 2 movies...even in Deep, we used to rent lots of movies, but the selection was much more limited and there, art films were not much in stock.

There was also no theatre in Deep (it was a town of about 4200), you had to go to the neighbouring Petawawa for the crappy theatre, I believe it was near Silver Dart that had I think two screens. And if you wanted to go somewhere with a bit more selection, you had to go to one of the malls in Pembroke, which was about 25 minutes drive away. But both theatres had relatively small screens and I went back to visit my friends once a couple years back and we went to the one near the Silver Dart arena to see Black Hawk Down...ugh, the sound was so bad I missed like half the dialogue...

In any case, Bytowne rocks for any documentaries, art films, foreign films, or even sometimes, older classics. It really is an awesome place...I bought a membership there I think the second year I lived in Ottawa, and while I didn't go that often, there were always lots of movies playing there I wanted to see, and occasionally they played there before anywhere else in Ottawa (I believe it was the first to pick up City of God as well as Crouching Tiger - which had a lineup several blocks long...)...it's a great experience as well, it's a one screen theatre but I really like the atmosphere more than say, any Famous Players theatre (though they have superior screens and sound...and I love them for big action movies, etc).

Again, the only problem is lines, etc when there's a big movie - ie: when I went to see Motorcycle Diaries last year, I think I was there around 30-40 minutes early and the lineup was already almost a block long...but for the most part, it's pretty good about this. I went to see Ghost World and Gosford Park and had no problems with lineups so it just depends on the movie and the amount of hype surrounding it generally. Just if you plan on going to see a film that looks like it'll prove to be a "big" art film with tons of people, it'd be best to go really early if you all want seats around each other. Though I rarely (if ever) go to Bytowne to see a movie with a friend...there's the mainstream movies and theatres for that.

[blankpage]

Yeah, the lineups at the Bytowne do suck. I remember when Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon came to town, and the line was indeed several blocks long. It was also during winter in its prime. Damn, it was cold. Still worth it though. :D

I also love the Mayfair. Awesome rep theatre. The lobby is purty damn small, but the theatre inside is pretty sweet. So, if you miss a flick...you can always go to the trusty ol' Mayfair.


BTW, I live in a small town outside of Ottawa. We have a few video stores around, but the selection is only good for new releases really. So, I have to make the 25 minute trek to the city, but I don't mind. I've done it so many times it just feels natural now. Whenever I rent movies it's from Blockbuster (one MacReady actually told me about after I asked), and sometimes getting them back can be difficult, but I usually do okay.