I graduate in May, so I should be worrying about my thousands of dollars in student-loan debt. Instead I stress over another question: after I leave Ithaca, where am I going to see movies? I tend to like films that are critically acclaimed but don’t necessarily perform well at the box office. This brings me to Ithaca’s smaller, independent theaters: Cinemapolis, Fall Creek Pictures, and Cornell Cinema. I’m afraid that wherever I end up after graduation, I won’t have as many options.
I frequent the arthouses not just because they show better movies, but also because of their intimacy. It’s comforting when the cashier knows me by name and doesn’t have to speak to me through glass. And where else can you still get an old-fashioned ticket as a stub as opposed to a computerized printout?
The venues themselves are just as personal. One of the three theaters at Fall Creek (which is run by the same owners as Cinemapolis), resembles a living room. This small size lends itself to the communal experience of watching a movie; patrons aren’t impersonal members of a large audience, but instead belong to a tight-knit group and aren’t shy about striking up a conversation. While these theaters may not have great sound quality, massive screens, or stadium seating, the movies they show often don’t require any of these trappings. (Early in 2009, however, both Cinemapolis and Fall Creek will move to a new location on Green Street, with five new screens offering state-of-the-art technology.)
I’m also drawn to the unpredictability of these theaters. During a mid-October viewing of Frozen River at Fall Creek, in a bizarre life-imitating-art moment, the film melted and the projection room filled with smoke just as a character on screen was fanning smoke with a towel. This is why I love small movie houses: it’s never guaranteed that the film will actually survive the screening.
While I’m cramming in as many movies as I can at these cinemas, I urge my fellow students to check them out. If nothing else, the reasonable ticket and refreshment prices should be enough to get you there. In fact, this may be why I’m not as worried about my looming financial crisis; my debts would be a lot worse if I had gone to the mall every time I wanted to see a movie.