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Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Film / Point 8 Blog / News The Wal-Mart of Cinema
Posted By Jeff Jackson on Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 1:09 PM
Not so long ago, Charlotte offered movie fans a decent variety of indie and foreign films, but these options have largely vanished. You might figure the economy is to blame or hypothesize there’s no market for those movies here, but that’s simply not the case. The problem can be summed up in three words: Regal Entertainment Group.
Regal has a monopoly on all the art theaters in the area. When they bought the Manor, Regal gutted the adventurous programming of Charlotte’s esteemed art house and kicked the Charlotte Film Society to the curb. The Manor’s knowledgeable staff used to select the films, but corporate headquarters took over that job. Sadly, the theater now has all the charm of a computer-programmed radio station.
The genuinely independent fare of Ballantyne Village Theatres used to offer a welcome alternative – until they were bought by Regal. Now they mostly feature the bland sort of art films that are suitable for someone’s grandmother. You certainly won’t see anything like the acclaimed heavy metal documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil or the new Jim Jarmusch crime thriller starring Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton. Too rarified for Charlotte, no doubt.
Film fans have long complained that Regal buys the rights to movies they have no intention of showing in Charlotte, simply to keep other chains from screening them here. Even worse, Regal refuses to deal with the Independent Film Channel, the essential distributor whose roster includes everything from smart action movies to lauded foreign films like recent Cannes sensation Anti-Christ to smaller movies by Hollywood directors like Steven Soderbergh. Because IFC makes their films available to subscribers of their cable channel for a fee, Regal says this cuts into their business. It’s hard to imagine how those few people possibly constitute a threat, but thanks to Regal’s monopoly, maybe IFC on Demand will become the best place for local cinephiles to enjoy some genuine culture.
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