I actually went to Trilogy Tuesday, also, where I saw all three Lord of the Rings movies in one day, across 11 hours, with the extended version of the first two. That was nice and hardcore and well worth it.

Flack, there are specialty showings at some theatres out there, like 18+ shows or deluxe accomodation shows (plush seats, you can bring meals before the show, etc.), but they’re also few and far between.

For my own bit, there is a box-in-blast-radius theatre called the Showcase Cinema Woburn a few miles from my house, which is one of the rare cinemas in Boston that actually have late showings. Most business in Boston fear the anger of the Moon Goddess and flee into darkness away from Her Unholy Glow, but this place has post 11pm showings. So, for example, I went out and saw Jet Li’s Fearless at a 12:35am showing. I saw “Crank” the same way. Often, I’m the only one in the theatre. That’s worth $9 to me.

I stopped by the little theatre tonight to pick up a schedule. To my horror, the Cybercafe attached to it closed. I felt pretty sad about that, even if I’ve never needed one. It’s the point of the thing. But maybe nobody needs them anymore either.

If I had known then what big-screen TV and Netflix would do for catalog movies, I wouldn’t have wept for my little theatre, I would have set the fucking place on fire and pissed on the ashes. What’s better for old movies, a couple hundred rep houses scattered across the country, or a hundred million homes with DVD players? I first saw Mad Max at that little theatre, a shitty print of the laughably-revoiced US cut, and was glad to have it. And yet…would I have been able to see it restored, remastered and FINALLY un-dubbed twenty years later if the only place that could show it was that smelly little hole-in-the-wall theatre and its smelly brethren? Nope.

Seriously though, I can think of at least a dozen reasons why theaters are dying (and no, 9/11 doesn’t make the list).

Out of Delicatessen, Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro, The Hunger, Casablanca, She’s Gotta Have It, The City of Lost Children, What Time Is It There? and Seven Samurai, only She’s Gotta Have It isn’t available through Netflix. I can watch all those this month for less than it would take my wife to go to the theater (and that’s if we don’t buy any refreshments), and I won’t have to worry about some kid kicking the back or my chair or the inevitable cell phone going off during the film.

I think it’s like anything else. At first you support theaters because you like them. Then it gets to a point where you support theaters because you either like what they used to be, or like what they stand for. Eventually you just get to a point where you begin to realize why they’re failing, and nothing you can do short of revolutionalizing the entire industry will help.

I would totally support a theater that hired a guy who punched people in the face for talking during a movie.