Film Exhibtion in Baltimore- June 2008

As a moviegoer in Baltimore city, I am aware at times only dimly of the national film exhibition picture. I see what is showing and opening here, and the series of events that led to that reality is often obscured.

I have attempted to pay more attention to the machinations that lead to what is opening on Friday at a theater near me as a natural extension of keeping this blog. I admit that my thoughts on these matters is biased, but I try to keep perspective.

Earlier, my razzing of the Landmark Harbor East for playing all mainstream Hollywood films was reflective of my desire to see the edgiest films out there play Baltimore. I am one person, one ticket, and it is clear that I am not the average filmgoer in many respects.

Still, it saddens me to see interesting films come and go without a Baltimore bow. Even without the Landmark, Mister Lonely's shot at playing Baltimore was slim at best, and a probable loss for whoever showed it. I will move on and rent the DVD when available (more on that below).

But back to Landmark going 100% Hollywood mainstream . It was a sad and interesting moment, but one that I now see is reflective of national trends. It is becoming clear that there is no clear "summer indie hit" this year.

Having worked in the popcorn trenches for five summers now, I can see that we just don't have a Fahrenheit 9/11, March of the Penguins, or An Inconvenient Truth in the marketplace. Even if the Landmark never happened, this would be a hard summer for smaller films in Baltimore.

Is this an after-effect of the writer's strike? Is it that several of the studio indie houses (Warner Independent, Picturehoue) are being shuttered? It is hard to say, as these films must have the right mixture of box office return, word of mouth, and critical praise to really hit the mark.

It is interesting that the only film we have close to that, The Visitor, played the Landmark perhaps too early to catch on and was pushed out by the usual Blockbuster-mania at the Senator, only to wind up slowly and steadily playing at the Charles, where is continues to have legs months after beginning its run in Baltimore. I wonder if this will happen with other films as time goes on in the new realities of film exhibition in Baltimore.

One other interesting, jarring note: Baltimore's Comcast digital cable has added the Independent Film Channel to its line-up. which is welcomed. However, it is odd to see many of the same films that just played or are playing at the theater down the street (The Flight of the Red Balloon, Paranoid Park, among others) available On Demand for a fee. In fact, I have just discovered that I can satisfy my Mister Lonely jones for $6.99 at this very moment. Is this the future of film exhibition in Baltimore, and, if so, what is the role of movie theaters in all of this?