Lights Out
Let's have a moment of silence for four beloved Toronto repertory houses that run their final bills this evening -- victims, it seems, of an ever-shrinking DVD window that's made second-run cinema almost obsolete. As someone who has rep-house DNA running in his blood, I am sorely bummed out ... but I can still appreciate the farewell programming.
The Paradise is running "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" at 7 pm and "Thank You for Smoking" at 9, followed by a late show of "Koyaanisqatsi" at 11. Admission for the last screening is $6, and includes a free small popcorn. The popcorn at the Paradise was always pretty good.
The Royal's final bill is "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and "2001: A Space Odyssey".
The Kingsway has "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Casablanca", for the faithful.
And the Revue, ever a class act, has "The Wizard of Oz" at 4 pm, and then goes out with "Lawrence of Arabia" at 7:30.
They're all wonderful movies -- even the two recent releases at the Paradise are among this year's best -- and it would be nice to see them with an appreciative audience. (I remember attending the final show at the late, lamented Willow Theatre back in the day, when they closed with "No Way Out" and "Best Seller"; not great movies, either one, but both are forever streaked with melancholy to me now.)
But here's the thing: If you're anything like me, you just did a mental inventory of your DVD collection and considered how many of those titles are sitting on your shelf in pristine viewing condition, rather than in deteriorating 35mm prints with splices and poppy soundtracks.
And right there, that's why rep cinemas are dying: As much as I'd like to see "Lawrence of Arabia" in a theater again, I know I'll be a lot happier watching it on my projector from an upconverted SuperBit DVD -- the one with the color timing with which Robert A. Harris is happiest.
I think the way to save repertory cinemas is to radically reconsider the purpose they serve. Toronto residents may remember the Euclid, which switched from second-run programming to exclusive runs of weird, arty cinema and political documentaries, eschewing popular cinema entirely.
It's now a Starbucks, but at least it's the one where my wife and I had our first date.
But maybe that could work today. Imagine a rep house dedicated to provocateur documentaries and limited runs of specialty titles ...
... actually, that'd be Camera, and that's closed too.
Crap.
Technorati tags:
Repertory, Movies, DVD
1 Comments:
I doubt sitting at home alone with my DVD of 2001 could have possibly matched seeing the near-pristine print the Royal showed Friday night to a very appreciative audience. Besides, theatre popcorn is better than anything I can make at home. But yes, there just aren't enough good prints out there to build a repertory business from.
I think Camera failed because a) it was too far west and b) it was a tiny space with no 35mm capability. Why make the trek just to see a projected dvd, especially if the same title is playing elsewhere in an actual film print?
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