A Night at the Movies: From Art House to "Microcinema"

This article by Rebecca M. Alvin was very interesting but had a underlying sense of nostalgia.  Alvin starts off by explaining that most of the art houses closed by the mid- 90's as a result of videotapes and the ease of watching films in the comfort of one's own living room.  However, certain films that were harder to attain, like foreign and independent films, remained in the few art houses that were still open.  Alvin then talks about the difficulty of defining what is and is not considered labeled an "independent film."  Some major factors in the disappearing of art house cinemas are due to the financial issues that makes programming independent films risky, the grown of home entertainment systems, and the final is the intertwining of mainstream and art-house audiences.

Although a majority of microcinemas have disappeared, there are still "makeshift" theaters in many communities. Some are in cafes, basements, bars, or like the Aurora Picture Show, in churches! Even in Wilmington we have a few small microcinemas. Thalian Hall puts on "Cinematique" which has a older audience so it tends to be more "mainstream independent" films. However, James Kreul shows more rare independent films every Monday night in the second floor of a local bar in downtown Wilmington called The Opera Room. Not only is it not in a historic theater like Cinematique is, but it a makeshift theater where they simple put up a screen and close heavy curtains to block the sound from the bar downstairs. No matter where the independent art house films are being shown, the environment of watching and discussing them is what creates the full experience!