And yes, I know it's Sunday but Mondays are a bad day for me to spend time on my blog. There's that thing called work I go to sometimes.
As often as I find frustration with being in Detroit, I also find areas where I am lucky to live where I do. For instance, we have four venues for independent and art house movies within forty minutes from us. It's a rare film we don't have a chance to see and I know that's not true for everyone out there.
Most of the audience at these art houses are over fifty--well, really over sixty so the future of these films in Detroit concerns me but for the moment, I am very satisfied. When we arrived here in the seventies, it was considerably harder to find these films except at the Detroit Film Theater, part of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
We see at least one movie a week at a theater. Seeing them at home on DVD is far less satisfying to us. I need the smell of popcorn and sticky floors to be transported. I could do without the people talking behind us but...
How does your town measure up for foreign and independent movies?
8 comments:
oh patti i am so jealous...would love to have such a theater close. we live a five-minute walk from the multi-plex, which makes the kids very happy, but the movies i want to see generally come and go before I have a chance to get to the theater 45 minutes away...although this year some great flicks were in mass distribution so that was some solace.
I'm not much for dvds but I do find it kind of fun to download episodes of shows from itunes and watch them on my mac in my office. it's so darn cozy in here, i'll probably get to where i never leave except for diet cokes...
Hi Patti,
Lest it sound like I am bragging, I live in New York City most of the year, so a half hour ride on the railroad can pretty much get me to whatever is around.
I am doing My Town Monday this week, because Monday is Saint Patrick's Day and in New York (as well as in my family) that is a major event. I am going to try to post before midnight.
I am learning so much through the My Town Monday posts. I think it was a stroke of genius on Travis's part.
Terrie
The Ritz Theaters in Philadelphia, and their former suburban sibling now run as the Showcase at the Ritz Center in Voorhies, NJ, along with the Clearview Bala Theater and the failing theater rescued by Bryn Mawr College, and the various revival societies around Philadelphia keep us pretty well apprised...the Showcase even has free parking and half-decent strip-mall restaurants.
These theaters would fail one test, though...they mostly keep the floors clean. Wonder of wonders.
Terrie-Never mention NY to me. It will send me into fits of jealousy.
Yeah, I like the posts too. Such a disparate group of places.
Sophie-Seemed like you had a great time at LCC. I wish I could have gone. Bouchercon is too big for me.
Todd-I spent every Saturday of my childhood taking the S bus and subway downtown to see movies in those beautiful theaters. Guess they're gone now. Did catch a film at one of the Ritz theaters two years ago.
Well, the S Bus is gone, too. But the oldline SamEric Theater, the last survivor of the old lush Center City theaters (though the Bala is an example of an old-style Nabe, balcony and all), keeps threatening to be be revived.
No S bus. How do people get to the subway from that section of Philly then? Maybe the H? I think I took that too.
Patti: My current town only has a multiplex that caters to the dumb and dumber locals.
To get to an indie house, I gotta drive 40 miles - and I used to be willing to make that trip before I started back to school (driving 70 miles in the opposite direction) but that indie theatre is quite upscale with beer, wine, and gourmet snacks at the concession stand.
I hear ya on movies not being the same on the small screen at home, but I also find that between people talking to each other, or yaking on their cell phones in any type of theatre makes me think twice about wanting to watch a movie on the big screen.
That multiplex thing gives me second thoughts about retiring. If I retire some where it will have to be to a bigger city.
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