Synopsis:
A movie about a movie theater? In a culture where digital movie presentation is taking over, OUT OF PRINT explores the importance of revival cinema and 35mm film exhibition as seen through the lens of the patrons of the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. Featuring interviews with a who’s who of influential independent film creatives including Patton Oswalt, Seth Green, Joe Carnahan and more!
What We Thought:
I’ve watched some really good film documentaries the past month and Out of Print is a fantastic addition. It reminded me a lot of VHS Massacre which I watched recently. That was about the decline of physical media and video stores. This is about the decline of actual film print and how digital media is killing smaller, privately owned movie theaters.
Even though I lived in Los Angeles for a few years, I never went to the New Beverly Cinema. Now I wish I had. It’s one of the few remaining movie theaters still playing 35 mm prints and has a diehard fan base including some very well known people.
The documentary is filled with a ton of directors talking about their experiences at the New Beverly. There’s also some footage of them being there. Joe Carnahan was there with Ray Liotta for a Q&A after a screening of Narc. Edgar Wright has had his films screen there and he got to pick some movies to play there as well. Kevin Smith is in it along with John Landis, Joe Dante and more. They all love the independent vibe and crazy regulars that show up.
The cinema has a loyal fan base including Clu Gulager. The actor best known for The Virginian calls the theater his new home. After the death of his wife, he goes weekly. Seth Green and Patton Oswalt also make appearances and discuss their love for the theater. After the owner died surprisingly, Quentin Tarantino stepped up and bought the actual building the theater was in so it could stay running. That’s awesome.
I also liked the fact that the documentary introduces the employees and regulars. I know Marion Kerr from Twitter so it was cool seeing her show up. A lot of the regulars have nicknames or distinct personalities. Same for the employees. It talks about how it got started showing porn and how it’s remained family owned for decades. It’s not just a place to see movies, it’s a family atmosphere for a lot of people.
It’s sad that as time goes by, we no longer have revival cinemas screening 35 mm films. Here in Boston where I’m from, we still have a couple of theaters that can screen actual film like the Somerville Theater and the Brattle Theater. I saw a 35 mm print screening at the Somerville Theater in March and you forget just how different it is.
Even though I’ve never been to the New Beverly, I know of it. It’s a hugely popular cinema for film nerds and those of us that love to talk about film. The people they got to talk about the theater in Out of Print speaks volumes for how popular the place is. Digital is cheaper to shoot with and it’s a lot easier to store, but there’s still something artistic about film print and everything involved with it from the way it’s projected to the way it’s stored. I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary as will every film nerd. Because of that, it is…
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
CAST & CREW:
- Joe Carnahan
- Kevin Smith
- Joe Dante
- Seth Green
- Rian Johnson
- John Landis
- Patton Oswalt
- Fred Dekker
- Lloyd Kaufman
- Richard Kelly
- Edgar Wright
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE:
- VHS Massacre
- De Palma
- Film Documentaries
The Nerds Templar 