Metro Pulse/Cover/Art Town

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Introduction

Teatime with the Maestro
Kirk Trevor confronts rumors, Knoxville's peculiar audiences and the 21st century

The Screen House Effect

Shadows and Light
An electronic look into Laestrygonians, theater, world premieres, and Knoxville

What's going on?
Check the following schedule of local arts and cultural events.

Film in Knoxville in the year 2000

by Heather Joyner

Knoxville's tastes in terms of motion-picture venues have changed over time. Perhaps we've become more sophisticated. Perhaps.

When my family moved to Knoxville 30 years ago, drive-ins were the big deal. In fact, one of my first memorable experiences here was at the Chapman Highway Drive-in, watching Midnight Cowboy (which my parents mistakenly thought was a western and deemed appropriate for a small child). The July 1, 1970 issue of the Knoxville News-Sentinel advertised features such as Run, Angel Run and The Losers on back-to-back screens at The Twin-Aire, Easy Rider at The Cinema Drive-in, and A Man Called Horse at The Family Drive-in. The Chapman Highway Drive-in, not corrupting little girls with Midnight Cowboy that week, plugged its triple-billed Steve McQueen Night.

Comparable movies could be seen at The Skyway, The Knoxville Drive-in, Cole's, or The River Breeze. Unless you include The Bijou Art Theater and The Gay Street Cinema with their naughty flicks, only six "hard top" theaters competed with the eight outdoor venues: the Capri Cinema, Capri 70, and Fox Theater on Kingston Pike, the Park Theater on Magnolia Boulevard, and the Tennessee and Riviera Theaters on Gay Street. All in all, the city had a whopping 17 screens in 1970.

Now, the Knoxville area has approximately 125 screens. As impressive as that sounds, they present many of the same movies and cannot compare with the grand facilities pre-dating today's stripped-down multiplexes. On the other hand, the auditorium explosion means that at least a handful of locations in any given week might be showing something you haven't heard of, something that may surprise or enchant or shock you. What Knoxville has to offer in terms of big-screen bang depends a lot on what you expect for your buck.

Ask someone the difference between a "moviegoer" and a "filmgoer" and he or she might say that the latter is a person who'd not miss Ingmar Bergman's latest, even if it were titled Through A Dark Glass Very, Very Slowly. Beyond the theater itself, a filmgoer is perhaps perceived as more likely to own an electric coffee grinder, drive a Volvo, or listen to Charles Mingus. The movies—er, films—one chooses to watch are, after all, considered a measure of one's cultural savvy. Likewise, the number and type of movie venues a city has helps determine its rating on that ever-elusive hipness scale.

I, myself, think that the more exposure the average Jane gets to decent film fare, the more discerning she'll become. And compared to decades past, she's no longer limited to viewing films in a traditional cinema setting or on network television. But despite the plethora of movies available through cable, via satellite, on videotape, etc., there's still much to be said for seeing a film on the big screen. In that regard our present options are often curiously limited.

Douglas Gomery, an occasional writer for The Village Voice and author of the essay "If You've Seen One, You've Seen the Mall," has observed that the cramped and sterile conditions we currently endure in the name of entertainment are more like the nickelodeons that preceded famed movie palaces. He says, "Nicknamed nickelodeons in honor of their low prices, these were small, uncomfortable makeshift theaters, usually restaurants, pawnshops, or retail shops made over to look like a scaled-down version of the vaudeville theater...I am not sure everyone can become as nostalgic as James Agee when he recalled, 40 years after the fact, his childhood experiences of 'the barefaced honky-tonk and the waltzes of Waldteufel, slammed out in a mechanical piano; the searing redolence of peanuts and demirep perfumery, tobacco and feet, and sweat; the laughter of unrespectable people...'"

Take away the piano and tobacco and what we have now is not much more sophisticated than what Agee wrote about. Spending an evening at The Tennessee or at Maryville's Palace Theatre is about as close as we can get to what was once referred to as "an acre of seats in a garden of dreams."

But beyond the ambiance, what are our choices in this sea of stadium seating and digital sound? We have, of course, the usual Hollywood fodder. But there are some interesting alternatives to consider. Knoxville-based Regal Cinemas' "Cinema Art at Downtown West" has picked up where Homberg's former Terrace Theater left off, offering foreign and "offbeat" films on eight screens. The Cinema Grill in the old Terrace location features second-run movies but also shows sporting events and hosts bands as well.

Regal plans to resume the annual Valleyfest Film Festival next March. Plus there are other Regal-related festivals on the agenda. And the Knoxville Museum of Art has resumed presenting films on the second weekend of most months despite scant audiences.

Screenings organized by the Knoxville Film and Video Co-op round out programs in place at UT's University Center and Clarence Brown theaters (for decades selected by student committees with roughly 20 members and paid for with student activities fees). The number of showings at UT has been reduced in order to afford more expensive films, not—as you might fear—because of lagging attendance.

All this in a town where supposedly few cable consumers have requested either the Independent Film or Sundance Channels. According to Comcast's Director of Marketing Bob Wright, there's no space for such channels at the moment. Wright described various "digital tiers" to me and said that although those channels "will probably come in—at least one of them, possibly both of them—as the system is rebuilt [and additional analog channels are launched over a period of two years], the addition would be based on customer survey input."

In the meantime, Knoxville cable's five sports and two shopping channels outnumber non-premium movie channels in the realm of TV.

An article by Bruce Orwall and Gregory Zuckerman in a recent Wall Street Journal details Regal Cinemas Inc.'s megaplex woes. They report that the nation's largest movie chain has incurred $1.9 billion in debt but has no intention of starting bankruptcy proceedings (unlike Carmike Cinemas Inc., United Artists Theatre Company, and Edwards Theatres Circuit Inc., all of which have recently filed for Chapter 11 protection). Too many screens and bad location choices have apparently threatened the industry. Fortunately, "Cinema Art" in Knoxville is reportedly doing well.

Regal's Alternative Marketing Coordinator Robby Arrington, in charge of 50 different markets throughout the United States and a liaison for 38 film festivals, says, "Attendance [at "Cinema Art"] has been surprisingly good, leap-frogging numbers-wise with the Farragut location. The theater has done very well, and I don't see that changing anytime soon." Regal already sponsors the Nashville Independent Film Festival and plans involvement with a French film festival there in the near future. The company also has its eye on Asheville. And with next spring's Valleyfest, with a Jewish Film Festival (scheduled for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday beginning Oct. 28), and with a UT student film festival in the works, Regal is clearly committed to Knoxville.

Valleyfest, now planning for its third year, will offer corporate cash and other awards to filmmakers at a Sunday banquet after days of screenings (following a kick-off party March 14). For those interested in submitting their work, a fee of $30 is due upon the Nov. 31 submission deadline. Late application (by Dec. 31) requires an additional $20 in fees. Information is available on the Valleyfest web site: http://www.valleyfest.com. A festival pass will cost $50 and includes all events except the banquet.

Euphoric Productions' Glen Glover, who alongside festival director Donna Maxwell and publicist Melinda Wolff serves as Valleyfest's programming director, says their publicity is mostly via the Internet and that judges are drawn from area artists and industry professionals. He says, "The number of festival entrants this past May was up 100 percent from the first year and may well increase again. There'll be some cool stuff. Like two evenings with more adult, more experimental films that we put in a category called 'Film Is A Four-Letter Word.'"

Glover would like to see the KMA host part of Valleyfest. He asks, "Why not...it's the museum of art, and film is an art...why not be involved with them?" For more than a year the KMA has been showing films one Friday, Saturday, and Sunday each month (excluding December, and Saturdays this month and next). Sitting in her office wearing shorts, a yin-yang necklace, and Birkenstock sandals, KMA program coordinator Annalee Bohon explains that the museum's Time Arts Committee has been trying to figure out which direction to go with their various series dating back to August of '99. During the first six months, the KMA tried presenting different film genres to get a feel for audience response. Unfortunately, attendance has been patchy, despite hundreds of people requesting information via e-mail. Only Aardman Animation's Wallace and Gromit shorts and Fritz Lang's Metropolis attracted more than 80 people.

I suggested to Bohon that KMA showings perhaps need more publicity (although there are printed flyers, calendar listings, and sidebars in Alive After Five ads)—and that the museum might lack an identity when it comes to screening films. Bohon says she welcomes suggestions from community members (at 525-6101, ext. 229). When I asked her about a rumor I heard that Fellini's Nights of Cabiria was cut from the selection committee's list because it's about a prostitute, Bohon told me the committee —with "heavy UT representation"—is eager to appeal to a wide range of Knoxvillians. She said, "We need to find a niche. Because this is a new idea and our membership is so broad, we want to show films not appearing elsewhere without offending anyone at the outset."

As for Valleyfest, the KMA's participation is subject to annual budget limitations.

One group not barking up the KMA's tree is one organizing the upcoming Jewish Film Festival. When I ask UT assistant professor of sports management Martin Lewison if I should call the "Cinema Art"-connected event a film series, he jokes, "If you have crudités, it becomes a festival." Lewison says that he initially hooked up with Regal when he wanted to know if they'd show the film The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (who, as the first major Jewish sports star, "spat in the face of the 'master race' in Hitler's Germany").

Lewison eventually joined forces with UT History Professor J. P. Dessel and Art Professor Moema Furtado to set the wheels of a festival in motion. In addition to the Hank Greenberg film, we'll have a chance to see The Comedian Harmonists (about a German vocal group famous in the '20's and '30's), an Israeli film titled Yanna's Friends, Kadosh (meaning "holy", about a childless couple), other features and a variety of shorts. A movie buff with his own film noir web site since 1994 (search Google for "Martin's film noir web site"), Lewison has also written 30-something plot summaries for a British internet movie database, including one on the TVA-related documentary The Electric Valley.

Another local web site of note is that belonging to the Knoxville Film and Video Co-op at http://www.korrnet.org/kfvc. I attended one of the KFVC meetings on a recent, rainy Sunday night along with 10 other interested individuals. In a large circle at the Pilot Light on Jackson Avenue, we discussed financial concerns and a field trip to visit Appalshop (a community arts co-op based in Whitesburg, Kentucky). The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was shown at 10 p.m., and other Sunday screenings will take place in coming months. Stop the Bombs will be shown for free at 9:30 tonight (Oct. 12) at the Tomato Head Restaurant on Market Square. Socially relevant documentaries such as those reviewed last month in Metro Pulse are also scheduled.

So there we have it. At least some of it. We've come a long way since 1970 in terms of access to "alternative" film fare. Who knows where we go from here?