Best Movie Theater The Loft Cinema
3233 East Speedway READERS' AND STAFF PICK: Most young movie-goers don't remember
a time when theaters were wider than a broom closet. With a trip
to The Loft, 3233 E. Speedway, the cinema lover will see
how movies were once commonly presented--in a large room, with
a large screen, with good images flickering in the dark. There
are actually two theaters here--a smaller upstairs venue compliments
the much larger ground level auditorium. Patrons will be amazed
that they don't hear the booming soundtracks of other movies sneaking
through the walls. This isn't a cookie-cutter theater, and the
movies aren't the bland, mall variety either. The understated
yet weighty need for theaters like The Loft is pervasive in an
age where we can wait 'til the flick comes out on video. If you
don't see it when it's at The Loft, you might be outta luck. Some
of The Loft's film fare doesn't fair that well in any market;
it's not necessarily because it's bad cinema--in fact, more often
than not, it's just not popular cinema. The Loft's buffet
of tasties often seduces the more obscure palates. It's lovers
of film rather than movie-goers who turn out at The Loft for some
quality time in the dark. A wide range of independent and alternative
fare fills the screens, with a focus on humanism perhaps the common
thread. Even the wonderfully disgusting annual Sick And Twisted
Animation Festival is humanistic, in a gut-wrenching spittle-driven
way. Try to find that at one of the ant-hill theaters. We dare
you. The New Loft has been here and it's been there, but thank
goodness it's still somewhere--and apparently here to stay.
