With news of the Three Penny theater closing down, the Biograph closed, how far behind can the Village theater be? At Clark and North, the Village has been a “discount” theater for years, but really it’s not much of a deal. You might save $2 on your ticket, but the chairs are crummy, sometimes in freezing weather the heat is turned off, and if you’re like me and the popcorn attendant spills popcorn all over your pants, assuring you that the oil and butter won’t stain, and not finding it neccessary to even apologize, let alone clean your pants, well then you probably wouldn’t make it a priority in your life to spread the word and save a neighborhood gem.
In the last few years they have shown nothing but crappy movies, many of them with “II” “III” or “IV” in their titles; the films often break or the projector shuts down in the middle of the movie (and there is an extended “imtermission” while they fix it); and on top of it all, you don’t even save much money by going there anymore. Back in the day, when I used to go there three or four times a month, ticket prices were $2.75 compared to $3.25 to rent a video at the Blockbuster on North Avenue between LaSalle and Wells (now some kind of salon). This was back in the day–10 years ago–when Blockbuster didn’t have much competition. It felt good to stick it to The Man by choosing the Village over Blockbuster. I haven’t been back to Blockbuster much since those days. But I have been to multiplexes, and other corporate-owned movie theaters because frankly going to those places is like putting on a pair of Rockports (ugly as sin but comfortable and reliable) compared to the Village’s long-past-due leather moccasins, which will ruin your feet.
I’m all for the little guy, but even the little guy has to show that he’s at least putting forth a little effort.