By Gary D. Rhodes. Multi-theatre construction is the latest thing.” – Mel Lebewitz, Northwest Cinema Corporation, 1972 Build them and they will come.” – Jeff Forman, Buena Vista Pictures, 1996 In 1970, a film magazine pointedly asked readers, “Whatever happened to the singles?” The question wasn’t about dollar bills or […]
When Jaws Premiered; or, the Hottest and Coolest Weekend on Record
By Gary D. Rhodes. The great flood-gates of the wonder-world swung open.” — Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851) Friday, June 20, 1975. Newspapers report the assassination of mob boss Sam “Momo” Giancana. Gerald Ford authorized his campaign to start fundraising for his presidential bid. Postal workers picketed in Washington, D.C. The House […]
Windows to Survival: Veljko Vidak and Emmanuelle Felce on Cinéma Laika
By Jonathan Monovich. I used to spend a lot of time behind windows looking at a nearby river and the people walking by. Little by little, the windows became my screen. At this time, the only way I was able to survive Karkkila was to spend as much time as […]
Big Day for a Small Finnish Town: Cinéma Laika
By Jonathan Monovich. Vidak/Felce’s film serves as a meaningful exploration of the role that cinema and movie theaters play in our lives.” Driving through the wooded roads of Karkkila, a small Finnish town, Emmanuelle Felce tells Veljko Vidak “I could live here. You can be in deep nature, beautiful nature. […]
Movie Theaters Need to Win Us Back
By Gary D. Rhodes. Movie theaters must do more work to ensure that we are seeing unique content, not films that are already streaming or will be within a few weeks. And this means being clever, because movie theaters can show far more than just movies. (Thank you, Taylor Swift!)” […]
Cinematic Healing: Fallen Leaves (Kuolleet lehdet)
By Jonathan Monovich. Fallen Leaves implies that cinema, and the love that it fosters, saves lives.” In Ingmar Bergman’s Through a Glass Darkly (1961), it is said that when the thought of love and God being the same is made “suddenly the emptiness turns into abundance, and despair into life. […]
Let the Glory Flow – Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace
Elias Savada
October 28, 2019
By Elias Savada. April Wright likes to get the word out about grand things. As with Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the American Drive-In Movie (available on Amazon Prime and iTunes), her thoughtful 2013 ode to the outdoor moviegoing experience, she has offered up another loving, exhaustive tribute to […]