San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
California Streamin’:
Films that capture cineplex magic.
It’s possible that on the other side of the pandemic, movie theaters as an institution will be greatly diminished.
Sure, there will always be a market for gathering people together to see films and sell them popcorn, even as major production companies are increasingly betting on streaming services during the pandemic. The longawaited Save Our Stages Act, included in the latest COVID19 relief bill signed on Dec. 27, would provide $ 15 billion in aid to thousands of local venues across the country, such as indie movie theaters.
At the same time, in December, Warner Bros. announced that its 2021 slate of films would simultaneously release in theaters and on the streaming service HBO Max. Disney has already started doing this: its liveaction reboot of “Mulan” and Pixar’s latest animated film “Soul” both premiered digitally on Disney+.
Still, there is nothing like going to a real movie palace, a shrine to the idea of cinematic presentation. Not unsurprisingly, people who make movies love cinemas, too. Here are some of the best depictions of movie theaters in film.
“The Majestic” ( 2001):
Saving a cinema is the plot of this criminally underrated classical Hollywoodstyle drama directed by Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption”). Set in the middle of the Second Red Scare in 1951, a bright new screenwriter named Peter Appleton ( Jim Carrey) finds himself accused of being a Communist for attending an antiwar demonstration in college. With his career suddenly destroyed, he gets drunk on a drive down the coast and crashes in the fictional Lawson ( actually the Humboldt County town of Ferndale). Struck with amnesia, he is assumed to be a beloved member of the town who went MIA in World War II and is welcomed with open arms. He begins dedicating his life to helping restore the local movie house, the Majestic, which has fallen on hard times.
The wonderful thing about “The Majestic” is its zeal for recreating a sense of the importance of cinema. Not only does Appleton’s work revitalizing the theater mimic the restoration of the film industry after the horrors of McCarthyism, but also the idea of movie theaters as an essential aspect of a community is shown in how much the town rallies to the Majestic’s cause. There is a heart to the film that transcends the cynicism of Cold War paranoia and modern profitdriven entertainment.
Watch it: Rent it on various platforms including Amazon
Video.
“Cecil B. Demented” ( 2000):
If, on the other hand, you’d like to express rage at the current situation regarding the death of the movie theater, only John Waters’ (“Hairspray”) homage to cinematic terrorism will do. Partially inspired by experiences in Waters’ youth where local film reviewers in Baltimore would urge fans to storm cinemas if the projectionists messed up a screening, a gang of uncompromising film extremists led by Cecil B. Demented ( Stephen Dorff ) kidnap vapid Alist starlet Honey Whitlock ( Melanie Griffith). They force her at gunpoint to help them make a guerrilla movie where they wage uncompromising war on Hollywood and bad moviegoers. Eventually, Whitlock becomes an ardent disciple, happily helping them terrorize the set of “Forest Gump 2: Gump Again.”
This was the last of Waters’ dark, violent works, and it’s a marvel of directed anger. Demented, Whitlock, and the gang invade everything from porn theaters to driveins to the local mall multiplex for shots of them striking back at Hollywood, giving a loving look at the particular fans of each type of venue. At one point, a teen girl working the popcorn counter asks if they know Quentin Tarantino, at which point Demented empties a clip into the ceiling screaming,“no ad libbing!” Another member of the gang’s parents are deemed unforgivable enemies of cinema because they talk after the feature has begun. Did I mention that each member has a favorite director tattooed on themselves, including Spike Lee and Herschell Gordon Lewis? Or that Alicia Witt has a sexual encounter with a hamster? Or… you know what? Let’s not ruin the rest of the surprises. Watch it: Stream on Tubi.
“Cinema Paradiso” ( 1988):
Also known as “the one Italian film most people have seen,” there’s a reason that “Cinema Paradiso” has remained a classic. Pioneering director Giuseppe Tornatore and musical legend Ennio Morricone more or less revitalized the entire Italian film industry with this incredible tale of the
power of the movie theater. It follows a famous director named Salvatore Di Vita ( played as an adult, teenager and child by Jacques Perrin, Marco Leonardi and Salvatore Cascio, respectively) as he recounts his life growing up in the titular Cinema Paradiso in Giancaldo, Sicily. After striking up a friendship with the projectionist ( Philippe Noiret), Salvatore falls in love with both the theater itself and filmmaking. Over the course of his adolescence, Salvatore becomes an intrinsic part of the town, especially after Alfredo is blinded in a fire and Salvatore becomes the new projectionist under his old friend’s tutelage.
Like “The Majestic,” “Cinema Paradiso” deals in the politics of film. In this case, it’s the censorship of romance scenes that Alfredo has to cut under the direction of a local priest, which the projectionist secretly edits into a film of his own as a testament of love and beauty. It’s also an incredible comingofage story where Salvatore must leave behind the small town to pursue his destiny as a director but comes to understand how the community around the cinema shaped him as a man. You can feel the affection for the theaters where Tornatore discovered his own path in life. Watch it: Stream on Hulu and HBO Max.
“Popcorn” ( 1991):
As a horror film, “Popcorn” is a little meh, but as an ode to a certain kind of moviegoing experience it is simply second to none. The plot revolves around film student Maggie Butler ( Jill Schoelen) discovering a short film that eerily echoes her recurring nightmares of a fire and a killer chasing her. I cannot stress enough how this information is utterly unimportant.
What does matter is that Maggie’s film department decides to host an allnight movie marathon at a soontoberazed old theater as a school fundraiser. In doing so, they resurrect the gimmick movie experiences of the 1950s by directors like William Castle. In parodies of some of Castle’s most famous works like “The Tingler” ( 1959), the students rig up theater seats to deliver electric shocks or giant mosquitoes to fly across a wire during pivotal scenes in cheesy monster films. They even have a scene where a nurse at the theater entrance makes people sign a waiver in case they die of fright, something theaters did as a promotional bit for “Horror of Party Beach” in 1964. The entire setting of “Popcorn” is dedicated to the idea of watching a movie in as crazy an atmosphere as possible. Who needs 4K resolution when a giant mosquito puppet is literally whizzing over your heads? All horror movies should be legally required to be shown like this.
Watch it: Stream on FlixFling.
“Footlight Parade” ( 1933):
The theater industry will adapt. It has before, and sometimes it’s worth looking at the past to understand that. “Footlight Parade” shows some of the ways that the moviegoing experience changed even when the whole industry was still in its infancy. It stars James Cagney (“The Public Enemy”) as Chester Kent, a downonhisluck stage director who is reduced to producing prologues. These were live musical dance numbers that would happen before the picture show. Kent has to contend with industrial espionage as other directors try to steal his work, as well as seeing himself debased to such small productions after bigger success earlier in life.
What is truly fun about “Footlight Parade” is seeing how cinemas used to treat coming to the movies. At one point, live performers were still a big deal, whether it was prologue dancers or just pianists for the silent films. At every stop in this long history of the movie house, there has been crisis and panic, but also people overcoming those things to produce indelible memories. When this is all over, maybe the theaters will hire dancers again. Who knows? What we can be sure of is that this love for the institution is deep enough that someone, somewhere will find a way to make it thrive again. See you in the aisles.
Watch it: Rent on various services including Apple TV.