The Finch Formerly Known As Gold

30 December 2005

When Vin Diesel just won't do

While Oklahoma City isn't the cultural wasteland you've been told, there's a definite dearth of art-house motion-picture fare here: only the AMC at Quail Springs and the Harkins in Bricktown even bother with smaller films, which means that if they pass on something, you have to hope that it's picked up for a couple nights by the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, or that it plays in Tulsa.

The Oklahoma Gazette reports that the new Warren Theatre planned for Moore will devote two of its 20 screens to art films, which, if it comes off, will alleviate this problem.

And if it doesn't, here's an idea from Delaware:

[In an] arrangement between the Rehoboth Beach Film Society and The Movies at Midway, the 14-screen multiplex that is the premier movie location for Delaware's Cape Region .... beginning January 6, 2006, Theater 14 will be the home of the RBFS' Art House Theater. The RBFS will handle the programming for this screen, with a mission to bring to the Cape Region the best of independent, foreign, and other worthy films that might not otherwise be available around here.

Now that's ingenious. (Our thanks to Fritz Schranck, who serves as a member of the RBFS board.)

Posted at 7:50 PM to Almost Yogurt


Charles, You are so right about this. It is a sad situation. Based on these articles from 2003, I thought Harkins was going to offer more independent fare:
http://www.greateroklahomacity.com/complex/newsroom/story.asp?id=171
http://www.okcbusiness.com/news/news_view.asp?newsid=2802
The Museum of Art actually does a very decent job with their line-up of films, but they are limited by their non-profit budget.

Actually, without question the two best places in the region to see Independent and Art House films are THE ANGELIKA theaters in Dallas and Plano. I prefer the Plano location:
http://www.angelikafilmcenter.com/plano/default.asp
Strangely, they are now playing films on three out of the four screens that you can find at AMC at Quail Springs. (I am guessing it's a quirk due to subject matter.) The Mockingbird Station location in Dallas, which won the Dallas Observer Readers' Pick for Best Movie Theater for 2005, has five screens. I love The Angelika. They have one in NYC In Manhattan as well:
http://www.angelikafilmcenter.com/newyork/default.asp

Now, if we can only get ONE SCREEN devoted to these films, that would be great progress. Let's hope Harkins or Warren steps up to the plate. It sounds like Warren is serious about it, but that means waiting a year. At any rate, it's long overdue. In the interim, I'll still visit OKCMOA and make my Dallas trips to The Angelika.

Posted by: MikeSwi... at 12:35 AM on 31 December 2005