I Miss the Arclight

I have been to two movies since moving to Nashville. And I have gone to two different theaters. I have become painfully aware of how much the ambiance of the actual theater contributes to the overall experience of the movie. And how much the crappy ambiance can detract from it. I like to sit close to the screen in movie theaters for two reasons; most people sit in the middle or the back surrounding me with empty chairs in the front greatly reducing the chance that I am sitting next to a chatterbox or candy wrapping handicapped individual, and I like to be enveloped in the film. I like to sit so close that I forget I am at the movies. But when the theater sucks, it doesn’t matter how close I am to the screen. If that cloth collage of Charlie Chaplin is in my peripheral vision, it is all over. Who even likes those? So lame.

The first theater I went to was decorated in a lovely purple and green combo, complete with green neon lights running the length of the walls and ceiling. I felt like I was in “Tron” or 1991. I went down the stairs and into a hallway leading to my theater and was accosted with the most revolting smell. It was like a combo of popcorn butter, sweat, decades of foot traffic, and grime. Honestly, I would have preferred to step into a classroom with 25 fifth graders that just had PE. That is how bad it smelled. The theater itself barely shook off the hallway odor. I think I must have just started to ignore it. It greatly inhibited my emersion into “RED”. I went to this theater because it was in the cool part of town. Not really cool like “hip” but cool like “this is where the money is”. And it is completely surrounded by a remolded mall.

After that debacle, I decided that I would risk the theater closer to home. I mean, could it be worse? At least it was built in the last decade. Not much better. The smell wasn’t quite as repugnant. However, the projector was color challenged. Frequently throughout the film the color would be off and it registered most notably on the actor’s faces. They all looked like they had jaundice. Imagine Justin Timberlake with jaundice. Nobody needs to see that. BUT I DID! It really disrupts my experience when anything reminds me that I am in fact, watching a movie. I mean I know I am watching a movie. But when I get distracted by “Is that a really bad make-up artist making them all yellow?” instead of just thinking, “Wow. Armie Hammer turned out way hotter than I would have expected when he was 13”. (I used to go to church with him), well, that is lame.

All that to say, I miss the Arclight and its like-minded affiliates. I even miss the Laemmle theaters.