This was not the ambiance I ordered!

[olivermoss]

There is a cheap*, mostly second run theater that already has The Backrooms film. (*Cheap by current standards, expensive by the standard of days not too long past) I'd never been in Cinema 21 because it looks sketch as hell from the outside, I never see a line there even for popular showings and the block it's on is also rough. It's in a nice area, but that one specific block is markedly different.

Anyway, I went in and it was nice, clean. Old seats and old movie posters. The concessions area had people working there who seemed to be enjoying their jobs. I was kind of digging the idea of going to a rough, run down theater to watch The Backrooms, but the vibe was opposite. It was all well cared for with a sense of history. They ran ads for local businesses and showed trailers mostly for horror movies before a horror movie.

I'll post about the movie itself separately

Comments

[dine]

never heard of Theater 21 - where is it?
I instantly flashed to Cinema 21, which I adored for decades. haven't been there in a very long time, but it's definitely a throwback

[olivermoss]

Oops, had the name wrong! Cinema 21 pops up when I google 'theater 21' so I never made the mental correction. It's really cute and they just finished some community funded renovation of balcony seating that must have been for the other screen. Old chairs, but comfy ones.

I was worried it was going to be like Cinemagic, or at least how Cinemagic used to be. I went when they still have that ceiling leak and the air was thick. I assume that finally got fixed.

[mistressofmuses]

Kind of nice that it turned out to be quite nice, but yeah, not quite the vibe match that a more run-down venue would have been!

[olivermoss]

I went in a long sleeved shirt expecting it to be musty like Cinemagic used to be. I assume Cinemagic finally got it's roof leak dealt with. IDK, I'm not going back there!

Cinema 21 was cute and cozy! Cheaper tickets and muuuuuch cheaper soda