By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com
"Go to Danville to see `Jackass 2': a theater owner's lament
“The “closed” sign went up a few weeks ago on the flashy neon marquee outside the Lorraine Theatre,” in Hoopeston, Illinois, reports the ChiTrib’s Bob Secter. “But the 84-year-old movie palace on Main Street hasn’t played its last picture show. Business isn’t bad. It’s the movies that are wretched. “Both theaters in Hoopeston are closed … because of such poor film choices available,” explains a recording on the Lorraine’s customer hot line. “Go to Danville to see `Jackass 2.'” … Lorraine owner Greg Boardman “put his two screens here on hiatus rather than sell tickets to the gross-out and freak-out fare he said Hollywood distributors have made available in recent weeks. Boardman said he’d rather show nothing than such recent offerings as Beerfest, The Covenant or the Jackass sequel… “There’s just so much lousy material out there–people vomiting on the screen,” explained Boardman, 52, a local boy who now lives in California and uses the Internet to run the Lorraine from there. “I have one of the finest sound systems in the world, and I don’t want to waste it on such drivel.” When the town got its holiday from Hollywood, the manager of the Lorraine did too: two weeks off, with pay.” While he’s going to reopen with Open Season and Invincible, “he intends to shut down again if the quality of available films goes soft… There are plenty of action movies, the better to show off the rippling eight-channel digital sound system, a top-of-the-line feature rarely found even in big cities.” There’s a lot more heartening heartland detail at the link. The Lorraine Theatre website is here.
No, it’s not the movies that are bad (well, not THAT bad) but it’s the theater owner who isn’t bothering to look at the independent film choices available who’s bad. There are always smart and interesting choices available and I, for one, have no sympathy for people who are too lazy to go looking or for people who whine about Beerfest and its ilk for any reason.
Yes, there are lots of dumb movies but I know from experience that there are smart people who actually like those kinds of films along with their French imports and underground dramas. They have the right to enjoy those types of films without being insulted and snubbed for their choices.