Movies

I went to this old movie theater last night to see 'Funny Games US.' The only cash register was outside in an old booth and when I got there I didn't see anyone. Just as I was about to leave I see someone climbing down this metal ladder right next to the booth. He was a rotund Indian man. I almost felt as if I should ask him if they played Bollywood movies, but I doubt they do, even though they should. Besides it wouldn't have been pc.
The movie theater was a large room with some broken down chairs in the middle. Most were oriented towards the screen that seemed to require a good washing. It reminded me of the turbine at the Tate. There was an eerie smell of popcorn, which would not normally seem strange but none was on sale. The theater itself was deplorable, broken down, uncomfortable seats, a whirling noise. I was there early so I sat down waiting for the movie to begin. Nobody else came in. I was alone in this amazing theater.
The movie was a tour de force of sadism and horror, very fitting for the setting. As I left I felt the need to avoid everyone I met in the 'bad' side of Oxford.
The theater I usually go to has nice films playing and it is fairly comfortable. They have popcorn and beer and anything else you would expect from a movie theater. They also have a bar that has an open mic night every thursday. Its a nice yuppie place. The theater that I went looked as if it had been there since they started making movies. Originally movie theaters were a big deal. Simply to buy the equipment justified constructing a building to compete with an opera house. Even now when you go to the newer movie theaters there is a sense of majesty. Yet, in the golden age of cinema theaters were something to behold. The one I went to wasn't one of those. It was something that existed fro the sole purpose of showing movies. It shows a lot of different movies every week, I would like to see their archives. The grandiose theaters of the past sought to entertain before even seeing the film, they lacked the substance. The films of the era were able to enchant people merely with moving people and corny love story now thy have to work for it.
I like movies about how movies used to be. I like the idea that you did not need to do too much with the film to capture an audience. There is something so beautiful about grinding some down with aesthetic cliches. But not diving beyond the service of a film grows boring quickly. It becomes predictable and eventually hilarious. Something like Indi 4 uses the every idea of a cliche to poke fun at itself. Yet, these cliches once meant something. Also with the proliferation of tv the formulas that used to work, well became formulas. Once you are bale to quantify something it losses its charm. It is understandable and predictable. That is not to say that something that has these qualities is not charming in a different way. 300 for example used every trick in the book to work its way into the hearts of thousands and it was very successful in its endeavor because it was exactly what you were expecting.
Yet, when art becomes formalized it fails to force you to revaluate your perspective of the world, which at least in my humble opinion is the only benefit of art (there are also some societal benefits to art but that is a different matter). Without art making us realize more it becomes merely entertainment. Yet, sometimes it is not the art that changes us it is the place we see it or other such auxiliaries. Theaters were once art and now they have become soulless places. The theater I went to wasn't soulless, the ghost is still in the machine.

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