Thing 65: The Old Town Theater

The Boyfriend, his Roommate and I strolled down King Street on a Friday night. It was after dinner but before bedtime, and we weren't quite sure what the next move was. We passed under a brightly lit marquis advertising 3:10 to Yuma, starting in three minutes, and thus we entered the Old Town Theater. What a quirky place to stumble upon!

We bought our tickets at the counter, and were asked if we'd like any refreshments. Beers? On tap? Yes, please. We wondered aloud whether we would be late for the movie, then shrugged it off since we were only a couple minutes behind and all we'd do was miss the previews. "Oh no, not here," said the woman who had sold us our tickets and was now pouring our Red Hook IPAs. She had bright red hair and a Germanic sounding accent. "No commercials, no previews, not here. But don't worry -- they know you're coming and they're holding the movie for you."

Oh, right. How silly of us.

We took our beers and hustled up the stairs to the balcony. No wait, I mean Theater 2. Because clearly this movie house used to be a single screen with a balcony, like the Uptown, but has since been converted into two screens. Which meant that Theater 2 had the feel of a balcony, but with a really close screen. They also seem to have added some homemade stadium seating when they converted it from one screen to two, because the seats were at a really steep incline and my feet didn't touch the ground when I sat back in my seat.

The woman at concessions was not lying. Just as soon as we chose our seats and sat down, the movie started. It started right away, no previews, no advertising. When was the last time you saw a movie without previews? It's been awhile, hasn't it? I don't know if I've ever seen a movie without previews. I'm a fan.

3:10 to Yuma was great -- a completely self-aware Western movie that was satisfying in spite of its conventions and stereotypes. Not satire but...post modern is the only description I have, but I am embarrassed by how pretentious and trendy that makes me sound.

At any rate, during the quiet moments of Yuma, we were treated to Jodi Foster's voice, who's movie was playing downstairs in Theater 1. They apparently neglected to soundproof the two theaters when they split them. If this sounds annoying, it somehow wasn't. It was kind of charming and silly instead.

This theater is weird, but I like it. It has character, a quirky personality. In a sea of identical multiplexes, this theater waits for you to take seat, skips the previews and serves you beer. A satisfying, if slightly offbeat, movie experience all around.