-By Andreas Fuchs

As Film Journal International enters the last round of our “Class of 2009” review, we come across a theme that has been evident throughout the series: Movie theatres are an integral part of the communities they serve and make amazing contributions to local culture. While this has always been the very essence of our industry’s success, we’d like to highlight three new prime examples.

With their first theatre delivering a highly anticipated gift on Christmas Day to the people of Davidson, North Carolina, Our Town Cinemas (OTC) reflects that message and community mission in its very name. “In the golden age of movie theatres, the ’40s and ’50s, most small towns in America had their own movie house,” notes Robert Lauer, partner at ADW Architects. “As the industry grew, multiplexes became the standard. The idea that bigger is better was the marching order for designers. The small-town movie houses could not compete and most of them died.”

The lucrative move towards malls and the teenagers that came with the multiplexes, Lauer contends, “left out a more sophisticated population that enjoyed going to the movies as an event and appreciated the art of the film. The movie palaces of old were more than just a place to see a picture but also became a gathering place for people to meet and enjoy the company of friends and neighbors.”

This is exactly what OTC managing partner Curtis Fainn, a former executive at Eastern Federal Theaters (part of Regal Entertainment Group since 2005) and independent film buyer, had in mind two years ago when he came to Lauer with “this idea of a small-town venue.” Founded by Lauer and Fainn along with Kosta and Dino Pappas of Vrettos Pappas Consulting Engineers, “Our Town Cinemas wants to recapture that golden time and create a state-of-the-art venue that is uniquely suited for each small town,” Lauer says. “It is too early to announce any future locations, although we are actively talking to building owners and/or towns in the Southeast United States. Initially we want to be methodical with site selections until we get one or two under our belt.”

As with the four screens in Davidson, ranging from 50 to 100 for a total capacity of about 300 seats, “the auditoriums will be smaller in size and number,” Lauer explains. “The setting will be more intimate then your standard ‘monster-plex.’ Moviegoers have a choice of seating arrangements from ‘traditional’ theatre seats to leather-backed executive-type chairs that swivel, rock and can be adjusted up or down to suit the individual’s comfort—all on tiered platforms, of course, and featuring custom-designed and locally manufactured bistro-style tables. Along with standard theatre concessions, Our Town Cinemas will offer an assortment of food types provided through trade alliances with other local establishments, such as the favorite pizza shop in town.”

OTC’s collaborations have quickly become “a boost to the community’s economic development,” Lauer observes, “providing another income source with some establishments and driving more traffic during the evening hours for other businesses.”

Partaking in the community is of equal importance to Ted Bulthaup of Hollywood Blvd.—especially when it comes to bringing the glitz and glamour of movies and their stars, not to mention food and filmic delights, to either one of his two Chicagoland locations. The latest, Hollywood Palms Cinema Bar & Eatery, opened on Sept. 9 in Naperville, Illinois, with 3,000 swivel seats and house capacities ranging between 100 and 300. The decidedly colorful themes of the red, gold, green, blue, brown and purple auditoriums are Chinese, Egyptian, Mayan Jungle, Under Water, Hollywood and Animation. The black auditorium is dedicated to the Castle of the Wicked Witch. “No cinema of ours would be complete without a nod to…The Wizard of Oz.”

Something of a wizard himself, Bulthaup took the old Cineplex Odeon/Nova, which had been operating on and off under various owners since 1998, and turned it into an atmospheric delight replete with Tiki gods and Chinese temple dogs, Afghan tribal columns and Indian archways. “We tore off the front and rear of the building, with major space expansions of the lobby, washrooms,” he says of the $15 million investment, adding around 20,000 square feet (1,900 sq. m.) overall. As the back of the existing structure “received a full kitchen, food and beverage storage, offices and a private screening room,” the old lobby grew into a four-story-tall glass atrium that features the expected palm trees and a splashing waterfall.

Hollywood Palms also deserves an honorary citation following last month’s inaugural FJI “green” section. Bulthaup “flew down to the nurseries of Miami” and personally selected “two semi-trucks full of lush tropical plants.” The Hollywood website invites visitors to “look out for Bamboo, real South American Coffee Trees, Hibiscus, Bougainvillea, Fig Trees, Mangroves, three species of Palm Trees (watch out for falling coconuts) and more from as far away as the Middle East, the Philippines, the Congo, Madagascar and the Amazon.”

Closer to home, “the Naperville Community has warmly embraced us,” confirms Angelique Brunsman, director of marketing and public relations. And that includes the mayor and members of the town boards as regular patrons. “We have already held charitable events for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation connected to our grand opening and held what turned out to be Chicagoland’s largest blood drive ever with LifeSource.” The presence of BooBoo Stewart, one of the young stars of the upcoming Twilight Saga: Eclipse, certainly helped boost the collection of 500 units.

“Additionally, we opened with just enough time to host the second ever Naperville Independent Film Festival’s closing ceremony. It was attended by Roger Ebert, who likes Hollywood Blvd. Cinema so well,” Brunsman enthuses, “that he decided he’d do a book signing that same night at Palms.”


Moving east, the six-screen, 850-seat, all-stadium Beacon Cinema marks the return of movies to downtown Pittsfield, Mass., after a 15-year absence. In a telling reversal of many a cinema that went by way of retail, this $22.4 million complex is actually the result of a former department store getting a cinematic makeover. (The 1918 Kinnell-Kresge building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and was designed by the same architect who built the town’s Colonial Theatre.)

In addition to retaining spaces for office, restaurant and store uses, Stephan Green of Clark & Green Architect-Design fitted the stadium-raked cinema auditoriums over three floors. Since the movies and expanded content are DLP Cinema powered by Christie CP2000-ZX projectors with two Dolby 3D systems—all installed by Integrity Entertainment Systems—the state-of- the-art data network from two control rooms also includes security, phone and Internet, as well as digital menu boards, signage and poster cases.

“It took us ten years to complete the project, including the planning, design, gutting and rehabilitation of the existing structure,” admits Richard Stanley, Beacon Cinema’s managing partner and owner-operator of the Triplex in nearby Great Barrington. “Our cinema is the final major piece in the puzzle to spur downtown revitalization—a shining Beacon for the community, one might say.”

Looking at the fantastic events surrounding the Nov. 20 opening, all the time and effort were well worth it. Preview celebrations and the midnight premiere of New Moon were captured on YouTube, along with video tours provided by The Berkshire Eagle and iBerkshires.com.

After hearing “all the enthusiastic comments from happy moviegoers”—some 30,000 guests during the inaugural six weeks—Stanley declares, “The community has truly embraced the Beacon.” With the flexibility afforded by “taking the wider view and going all-digital,” that includes sporting and special events, as well as “corporate and business activities increasingly taking place in a theatre environment,” Stanley now sees himself “not only in the cinema business but in the entertainment industry.”

How’s that for a smart career move for our graduating class of 2009? Congratulations to one and all who have built great new gathering places for people and pictures.

From the Hollywood Palms website:
“The Green auditorium is a lush tropical Mayan jungle. The floor-to-ceiling temple wall is of cut stone covered with vines, moss and lush green tropical vegetation along with the usual variety of snakes, iguanas, butterflies, toucans, parrots and oh by the way, huge stone sculptures of Mayan Emperors and Quetzalcoatl, the feathered Snake God. There are also two huge 24-foot-tall carved Mayan Screen Guards, flanking your favorite movies!

“The Blue auditorium is really down under. No, it’s not Australian; we are saving the kangaroos for the next facility. We mean down under the sea. After you walk through the sharks and under the lobsters, you’ll see our 800-gallon salt water reef aquarium with many varieties of pretty fish. Proceed directly into the auditorium itself and you’ll find you’ve joined the fish—sitting with the sharks, octopus, jellyfish, tuna, eels, turtles, dolphins, more sharks, stingrays, roosterfish, starfish, crabs, triggerfish, grouper, more sharks and ohhhhh barracuda! No swimming, just sit there quietly and enjoy the movie. Be careful, popcorn floats.

“The Gold Auditorium is our own little corner of Egypt, but without all that messy sand. Enter through our tomb and into our Egyptian Palace featuring the Royalty of the Nile—Tut, Ramses, Cleopatra and Nefertiti. The Gods are here too—Horus, Thot, Khnum, Isis, Renenutet and Anubis, all covered with gold and guarded by the giant Sphinx. And the Ark isn’t lost anymore—it’s right here in movie-land where it belongs. Bring your Mummy.”