It's so funny!!
I can clearly recall the time when all trips to the movies were in two parts:
Part 1: 90 or so minutes comprised of
-- newsreel
-- trailers
-- cartoon(s)
-- a movie that ran probably 60-70 minutes known as a B movie
Intermission & food served to your seat by young men wearing funny uniforms with big trays of junk food supported by a strap around the back of their necks
Part 2:
-- the main movie you actually came to see.
For my parent's generation there was also live entertainment during intermission at the big cinemas.
4
We had a chance to get a similar movie theater on the upper west side. The long-vacant (and still sorely missed) Midtown Theater, with a fab landmarked exterior, was supposed to be developed into a food-and-beverage-at-your-seat theater. There was a problem with the liquor license, the community was told. How is that an insurmountable obstacle? Our loss.
3
"Audiences at Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn will get much more."
That was written in the singular. There are now two Nitehawk Cinemas in Brooklyn. Does this apply to both? Or just the original one?
1
This is great. I hate "trailers", a euphemism for commercials for movies. When I go to the movies I try to show up just before the feature presentation begins.
1
@MIKEinNYC
Trailers? If it were only just trailers! (Though granted, those can get tedious, especially when theaters run several of them before the start of the show, which can seem endless). In fact, in addition to trailers, most of the multiplex chains these days are also running endless pre-show commercials, in the full old-timeyTV sense of the word, usually for junk food and soft drinks. Plus infomercial trivia about TV shows and movies, and - well, it's endless. By the time the movie starts, the patron is usually annoyed and frustrated with the bombardment of banal promotions & witless commerce. It really is unpleasant to sit through all that garbage. I hate going to commercial multiplexes, and the reality is, I can avoid the commercials by just staying home. Yes, the grand irony: I am exposed to more commercials going to multiplex theaters than I do simply staying home and watching Netflix, Hulu or Prime. On top of which, theaters make me pay for the privilege. So what's the point?
5
Let's not overlook the Santikos Bijou Cinema in San Antonio, the city's only art house and the only film theatre in the city to display the same kind of fare discussed in the article. It's a breath of fresh air. Moreover, all proceeds from viewers, including concessions, at all Santikos theatres go directly to the Santikos Foundation, a non profit organization that works hand-in-hand with the San Antonio Area Foundation, sponsoring a host of charity projects benefitting the entire community. Hence, I don't begrudge that $6.00 tub of popcorn or $5.00 brew.
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