DESIGNER PROGRAM

The Coolidge’s Box Office Babies program delivers “bi-monthly, baby-friendly screenings of current features.” The Cinema in 70mm program offers screenings of classic, epic films shot on 70mm film, while the Science on Screen program (Kasell’s personal favorite) pairs documentaries and films with a scientific tilt with live lectures by scientific luminaries (the program has been such a success that the Coolidge was given a grant to help implement the program in other theaters). The @fter Midnight program provides local insomniacs with 11:59 p.m. showings of “horrifying, weird, camp, avant garde, tripped-out movies” like “Black Dynamite,” “John Dies at the End,” and “Carrie.” The list of special programs the Coolidge alone offers is formidable, and it represents another characteristic that sets independent theaters apart from an AMC.

The Somerville also boasts a varied calendar of events, but regularly ventures outside film. Erected in 1914, the theater first served as an entertainment house for vaudeville acts as well as stage shows and motion pictures. The Somerville is a for-profit theater but is family run and maintains prices comparable to those of their not-for-profit competitors. As befits the theater’s vaudeville roots, it periodically hosts live acts—bands, theater companies, and comedians have all appeared at the Somerville. The theater also serves as the locale for number of film and music festivals. This month, the Somerville will host the Boston Sci-Fi Film Marathon, and in March, the New World Klez Fest will grace its stage.

At the Brattle, breadth of programming is emphasized. It is not out of the ordinary for the theater to show “Casablanca” one day and the “All Bugs Revue” the next (in fact, this is what’s on tap this week). This reflects the theater’s commitment to remaining true to its roots. “We program based on some very essential parts that were put together by the people who originally opened the Brattle. They were trying to show films that covered every aspect of what film has to offer: highbrow, lowbrow, classic, new. [Our programming] has evolved in that we do more weird movies now: exploitation movies, B movies, cult movies,” Hinkle says. “We try to find the sweet spot, which is the best movies we can find—the most interesting movies we can find—that will also draw a decent crowd.”

PROJECTED BENEFITS

Hitting that sweet spot has recently become more difficult due to major changes in the film industry. Traditionally, all movies were printed on physical film and distributed to movie theatres in the form of film reels. This is no longer the case: slowly but surely, digital projection has overtaken film projection as the predominant means by which a movie is screened. Many distributors have stopped producing film reels, and theaters unequipped for digital projection have been faced with an ultimatum: fork over tens of thousands of dollars for a new system, or see the selection of films they are able to screen significantly reduced.

“The Brattle’s held out longer than others in terms of practically attacking this problem because we play such a wide range of movies, but we see the writing on the walls. It’s going to affect us within the next eighteen months,” Hinkle says. “This weekend we’re playing ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’ In a year and a half, it’s most likely that a film like that won’t be printed on film.”

Further complicating matters is a lack of consensus as to whether digital projection is actually better. Gravely is a staunch advocate for doing things the old-fashioned way. “It’s a real treat to see film on film,” she says. In her opinion, the softening effect of film helps create a sense of movie magic that is lost when a film is digitally projected. “You might as well watch it on a monitor,” she says.