Netflix Saves An Iconic Manhattan Movie House

The Paris Theatre, the last single-screen movie house in Manhattan, recently closed its doors. For a long time I'd thought about seeing a movie there but never got around to doing it. When the theatre closed, I thought my opportunity to visit was forever gone. Then I read in Time Out New York magazine (December 11-24, 2019, Issue 1177), that Netflix came to the Paris Theatre's rescue by signing a long-term lease.

Netflix, reported Time Out, will use the Paris Theatre "to stage screenings and special events." And since the Academy Awards only allows films that have had a theatrical release to be nominated for an Oscar, Netflix films will have a ready-made venue.

Now if we could just convince Netflix to take over the long-vacant Metro Cinema, located on Broadway and 99th Street, at one time a venue for art-house films. The Upper West Side was once the home to many movie houses. Now there are none. Bringing back the Metro Cinema would be a wonderful thing.

And while we're at it, maybe Netflix can also revive the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, which was located near Lincoln Center. It closed down about two years ago.

Watching Movies Inside A Train Station

Here's an interesting bit of New York cinema history that I recently learned about via an electronic message that appeared on a curbside Link NYC kiosk: In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, there was a movie theatre inside the world-famous Grand Central Terminal.

Numerous questions came to mind upon learning this: who operated the theatre?; where in the terminal was it located?; how many people did it seat?; was it ornate?; did the train noises disturb moviegoers?; were the moviegoers mostly commuters?; etc., etc., etc. I would love to have those questions answered.

No doubt it, like other theatres, was a single-screen venue; no multiplexes back then.

Who knew that Grand Central Terminal was large enough to house a movie theatre?

Movies Are More Important Than Upscale Amenities

Especially since the advent of television, movie theatres have tried all kinds of gimmicks to attract audiences--3-D, CinemaScope, Surround sound, Sensurround, etc. In today's super-saturated media culture, theatres are even more determined to draw audiences away from all of these distractions.

Stephen Field's column in the March 2018 issue of W42ST magazine underscores that fact. "I haven't been in a movie theater in NYC for quite a while," he admits,"and had never been to an upscale cinema before" until he discovered The Landmark at 57 West theatre in Manhattan.

Field describes the concession fare as being "a fair amount of the expected junk," but then points out the more upscale fare available such as "Two Boots pizza slices, Eisenberg Gourmet Beef Franks, and Bronx Pretzels."

He concludes the item by saying how comfortable the leather reclining seats were and that "I can't see myself ever going back to a typical movie theater again after being spoiled like this."

A true cinema buff doesn't go to the movies to be spoiled by any amenities offered by a theatre. It's what's on the big screen that matters. (It's very revealing that nowhere in the item does he mention what movie he saw.)

I've never been to The Landmark at 57 West. It is on my list of theatres to visit one day. But when I do decide to go, it won't be because of the amenities. My main concerns are that the theatre be comfortable but within reason and that it uses the best audio-visual equipment available when films are screened.

 And no amount of luxuries will dissuade me from going to "a typical movie theater." I love movies too much to ever let that happen.

More Movie Theatres Are Needed In Upper Manhattan

Sad to say, I never got the chance to see any movies at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas on the Upper West Side of Manhattan or the Sunshine Cinema farther downtown. Both theatres closed permanently about ten days apart in January of this year.

Since there is a dearth of movie theatres, especially on the Upper West Side and Harlem, maybe someone will decide to re-open the Metro Cinema on Broadway at 99th Street and the Victoria 5 Theatre on 125th Street. Both of those theatres have stood vacant for several years.

In fact, there are more film crews shooting on the streets of the Upper West Side and Harlem than there are theatres in which to show those movies. With the exception of the AMC Magic Johnson Theatres in Harlem, this part of town,unfortunately, has largely become a movie theatre desert.

Movies Around The Clock

In New York City, there are various establishments that are open 24 hours: supermarkets, laundromats, gas stations, newsstands, drugstore chains like Rite Aid, to name a few. But there are no 24-hour theatres. There are a couple of theatres in the city that have midnight screenings during the weekends, but that is not the same as having 24-hour screenings.

Some people may think that in this age of the Internet, DVD/Blu-ray disc players, cable and satellite TV that a 24-hour movie theatre is unnecessary. I disagree. There are times when at 2 AM cabin fever strikes and you need  to get out of the house. What better way to escape cabin fever than to catch a flick at the admittedly ungodly hour of 2 AM or 3 AM alongside other similarly afflicted patrons.

Showing movies (classic and contemporary along with short films) around the clock would help the bottom lines of many theatres as well as give movie lovers an opportunity to make new friends among fellow cinephiles, especially in the wee hours of the morning, thereby sparking cinema-related (and other) conversations.

That brings me to a photo I saw in an issue of the Christian Science Monitor Weekly magazine (December 22, 2014) showing a movie theatre in a Moscow suburb with several rows of beds. Beside each bed was a nightstand on top of which was a small lamp. This theatre, noted the caption, "replaced standard seats with bedroom furniture, including 17 double beds," all of which were supplied by the furniture retailer IKEA. An American movie theatre with such amenities might lure a lot of people to post-post-midnight screenings.

This 24-hour movie theatre idea is worth a try. And who knows, it might catch on nationwide.

Movies Alfresco Are Not For Me

This summer all around New York there will be movie screenings in the city's parks and on rooftops. Many of these events will be free (including the popcorn).

But I doubt that I will be an attendee. They would remind me too much of the drive-in theatres I went to when I was a child in Southern California. Watching a movie on a big screen under the stars never appealed to me. I've always preferred going to what Variety, the entertainment trade publication, has called hardtop theatres, with their plush seats, air conditioning, movie posters, and the smell of hot buttered popcorn and hot dogs.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the smell of grass, the chirping of birds, and the occasional gust of wind. But not while I'm trying to enjoy a movie.They would only serve as distractions.