For the last 11 years, the Independent Film Festival of Boston has brought a little slice of Hollywood to Bean Town. As a resident of the Greater Boston area and a pretty big film buff, I totally appreciate it.
I got tickets to go to the opening night film, The Spectacular Now, which began with an introduction of the people in charge, including their newest member, the Boston-bred actor, Casey Affleck. One member introduced the theme which is all over their programs and websites: “More Than Just Movies.” He explained it pretty simply (and I paraphrase), “It’s not just about watching movies, it is about being together to watch movies.” It is an especially poignant theme considering the events that plagued Boston a week previously.
It also points to an ever changing cinema marketplace. People aren’t really going to the multiplexes anymore, as far as I can tell. The only things that seem to make any kind of money are sequels and movies based on preexisting stories with their own enormous fanbase (Harry Potter, Twilight, et al), and every once in awhile there’s a Golden Compass or a John Carter that wastes a few million trying to get to the coveted billion mark. There also seems to be a hell of a lot more bombs than their used to be. Maybe that’s because the market is flooded, but people definitely seem to staying home.
People are just sick of the prices. Sick of the mumbling and the kicking of the seat. Sick of the babies and infants being brought to midnight showings of R-Rated movies (true story) and worst of all the glowing smartphone screens. Nowadays, people have big screen TVs with surround sound. If there is a distraction, they have a pause button. If they are hungry, the snacks are far cheaper. The indie scene sees this change and has started distributing movies directly to iTunes and cable provided Video On-Demand services. Considering I drive back and forth to Boston while living 40-50 minutes away from the city just to see a movie that only made it to 100 theaters, I do appreciate the convenience, but I still miss the theater going experience.
Right after college, a number of my friends stayed in Boston instead of returning to our hometown like I did, and then another one of my friends moved to North Carolina. These were the friends I would usually go to the movies with and could occasionally talk into going out of the way for a movie. With all of them kind of in the wind, I didn’t go to that many movies, and it started driving me a little nuts. Than Inglourious Basterds came out. It was a movie I had been waiting for some time. The first time Quentin Tarantino talked about the awesome concept was right after Kill Bill, at least the first time I heard about it. I decided to go to the movies for the first time by myself. I never wanted to do it before because that just seems weird. But then I thought, “It’s a big dark room where no one is allowed to talk. What do I need company for?” This is a trend that seems to be growing as I am seeing more and more individuals instead of couples and big groups of friends.
The Somerville Theater
Clearly, the theater going experience has changed now that the rooms are closer to empty than full. I like movies anyway, so I still enjoyed the usual cinema elements. I didn’t know what I was missing until I saw The Spectacular Now. The Spectacular Now is a dramatic movie, but it has a lot of funny parts. Instead of laughing by myself (as I did when I watched Moonrise Kingdom with like 2 other people), the whole theater was erupting with laughter. When a moment of shock and awe happened, the whole room jumped out of their skin. The guy next to me got some serious air. I honestly thought he was going to end up in my lap. I suddenly understood the proverbial “deafening silence” when the characters had their emotional breakdown. The ambiance and energy of the crowd made the movie better, unarguably.
The reason this worked is the movie had a single screening and was the kind of movie that would attract only the ones who really cared about going to the theater. That is really the only option left I think to save this awesome experience. The giant first-run multiplexes seem to be dying a slow death that small bags of popcorn for $5 are not going to save them from. I’m interested to see how the AMC and Regal theaters’ dispute against Disney plays out. This could be the beginning of the end if Disney gets their way. Thankfully (and in the most cliched way possible), artists will always make art. The internet will most likely become their new exhibitor, but there will always be those people trying to preserve the movie going experience. I wouldn’t be surprised if small theaters like the Boston area’s Somerville Theater, Coolidge Corner Theater, and Brattle Theater start popping up all over the country if they haven’t already.
