How to see an atypical, non-blockbuster, not-your-average-Hollywood film in Knoxville
by Paige M. Travis
After a summer of sequels, remakes, and supreme hype, the average movie-goer has been overwhelmed, exhausted and probably generally disappointed by the season's cinema experience. The Matrix Reloaded was less than thrilling, Seabiscuit was a pleasant surprise, but the high points of Hollywood's offerings were, well, just average in the scope of cinema at large.
Movies are entertainment, and they are art. They are poems, stories, novels, turned into moving pictures; they are live theater put on film; real life tweaked and reflected back at us, or pure fantasy that takes us out of this world completely. Mainstream, big-budget motion pictures don't always tell the kinds of stories that resonate with us, clarify our lives, thoughts and experiences. Sometimes, when a film's creators aren't concerned with recouping the $100 million spent on big-name actors, special effects and major promotional campaigns, they can make a film to express something meaningful and make a difference in people's lives. Something that lasts longer than the two hours a viewer sits in the dark theater.
Knoxville has its share of theaters that deliver mainstream blockbusters on a daily basis. But where can someone look for a dose of atypical, non-blockbuster, counter-Hollywood cinema? Here's a guide to finding those unusual films that can sometimes turn out to be remarkable.
Go to Downtown West
Downtown West is Knoxville's hub for low-budget, foreign, limited-distribution films. Kevin Keller is the film buyer for Downtown West. He's been in the movie business for 30 years, starting as an usher and working his way up to vice president of film for Regal Entertainment Corp. With the help of another film broker and an art and specialty film consultant in Portland, Ore., Keller chooses which films will flicker to life on Downtown West's eight screens. The next step is to negotiate with each film's representatives—either the studio that made it or independent distributors—and coordinate the schedule for when the film can come to Knoxville. Regal leases the film for a certain length of time, usually two to three weeks. Then, depending on how many people see the film in that time, the studio will either want the film to stay at DW to draw more viewers or to move to a different theater in another city.
"The studios ultimately decide where the film's going to go," Keller says. Film buffs who grouse about certain films' late arrival in Knoxville may be assuaged by this news: Keller uses Regal's status as a major theater chain as leverage to get films sooner.
"Knoxville generally would rank as a small city and have the films farther down the path," he says. "But since Regal's here, and we have national exposure, we try to get Knoxville moved up in the queue, so to speak. We actually get films a lot sooner in Knoxville proportionally to a city of the same size somewhere else."
Regal's vice president of marketing and promotions, Dick Westerling, says Downtown West's eight screens—more than are usually found at art theaters in cities of Knoxville's size—make Knoxville attractive to studios as a destination for their films. Last year, when Chicago, Adaptation and About Schmidt were up for Academy Awards, Westerling received calls from Regal theaters in other cities asking when those films were headed their way. They were already showing at Downtown West. To create such a theater has been Regal's goal.
"It was a very conscious decision by [Regal] that we felt we wanted to develop and nurture a cinema such as Downtown West Cinema Art in Knoxville," Westerling says. "We wanted more product, more than just commercial fare to be shown in Knoxville. So we made some significant commitments from financial resources and personnel resources to develop this concept and turn what was formerly a commercial theater into an art house."
Since the Cinema Art brand was created in 1999, Regal has established more than 50 such theaters in 17 states. Downtown West had already been programming alternative films before that time.
Keller says prints of non-commercial films aren't always easy to track down, and there are limited copies of each film. Where a huge release like The Matrix or Terminator might have as many as 7,000 prints to send to theaters across the United States, a small art film might only have 12, which is why it takes a while for one of those reels to land in Knoxville. But, Keller says with confidence, "If there's a film out there it usually gets to Knoxville eventually."
Don't count out mainstream theaters
Whereas a mainstream blockbuster depends on the gross of its opening weekend to determine whether it's a hit or not, art films rely on the buzz, attention and the resulting demand that builds once the film has already opened or screened at a prestigious film festival. A recent example is My Big Fat Greek Wedding. "The best grossing film in the city of Knoxville in July 2002 was Greek Wedding at Downtown West," says Westerling. Nationwide, the film, which cost $5 million to make, was at theaters from April 2002 to April 2003, grossed $241 million and had more viewers in its fifth month at theaters than at any other time during its run. Most films are on video five months after their box office debut.
If critical and popular acclaim pushes an independent film into the limelight, mainstream commercial theaters will want to screen it. Recently, Bend It Like Beckham and Whale Rider popped up at theaters all over Knoxville, after having run for several weeks previously at DW. And Oscar buzz can often cause studios to make more copies of a limited run film and increase circulation to give more obscure films a chance to be seen by more viewers outside the art film market.
Stay up late
While you're unlikely to find an indie or art film screening at Halls Cinema 7, you will discover (or rediscover) an almost disappearing experience: the midnight movie. Outside of the drive-in or the occasional late-night, school's-out, summertime screening of a blockbuster at a cineplex, the midnight movie is a rarity these days. Chosen for its appeal to teenagers, the fringe element or night owls, the midnight movie is typically scary or cultish. Think The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Reefer Madness, Halloween or some other creepy picture perfect for midnight viewing.
For several years, Halls Cinema 7 has hosted midnight movies on Fridays and Saturdays. It started as a tie-in with a radio station that would host the event, drawing people from across the area to see late showings of the theater's regular stable of films. This summer, with the release of Rob Zombie's House of 1,000 Corpses, the midnight movie with a scary theme has made its return.
General manager Jack Stiles explains that while reels of the standard midnight movies like Rocky Horror or Texas Chainsaw Massacre have gotten too difficult or expensive to attain, the small studio that handles House has been willing to lease a reel for midnight showings.
"We got the opportunity to book it here since we're the only theater in town that does regular midnight shows on the weekends," Stiles says. "It's the special niche we create to stand out. You do whatever you can." Halls Cinema 7 is an independent movie house, not part of a chain like Regal or Carmike. A film broker in Atlanta does the leasing for Halls Cinema, plus independent theaters in Rogersville and Sevierville. Stiles says the situation has its perks. "You're at certain disadvantages because you're small, but then you have the advantage of running the business not totally locked into a philosophy that a studio might insist on." Since House of 1,000 Corpses just came out on DVD, Stiles has negotiated to show 28 Days Later as a midnight movie.
Keep an eye on unlikely venues
The UT Film Committee programs films that screen in the University Center each semester: art films on Wednesday, blockbusters on Friday and Saturday, and foreign films on Sunday (occasionally projected in 35mm in the Clarence Brown Theatre). The committee's goal is to "be a student organization giving back to the UT community," says the board's secretary Bethany Chaffin. "We try to provide quality films at a more college-friendly price, hopefully films people might not see otherwise or that they would like to see again." Admission is $1 for students, $2 for the public at the University Center and $2 students and $4 for the public at the Clarence Brown. Newer films are projected from DVD or VHS format, and films available on actual celluloid can be projected by committee members. With only so many nights available to program each semester, Chaffin says they can't show all the films they'd like. "Voting is always preceded by a long discussion, and something always gets left out," she says. Faculty advisor Deborah Hackney said she encourages students to create a schedule that's varied and appealing to the student body. In addition to a horror week in October, and a football week in November, this year's schedule includes a Fan Appreciation Series that draws directly from suggestions made by moviegoers. Suggestions are accepted via email ([email protected]) or through the evaluation sheets handed out at screenings.
Occasionally, visiting filmmakers screen their work at UT in Room 109 of the Art & Architecture building. The best way to find out about such events is to read the movie listings in Metro Pulse, look for fliers on campus or consult event schedules in The Daily Beacon and the Campus Entertainment calendar. On Sept. 11 & 12, UT will host the touring program of the 41st Annual Ann Arbor Film Festival, a selection of awarded and highlighted works from the festival of independent and experimental film.
A few years ago, the Knoxville Museum of Art programmed and hosted a film series. Classic, foreign, low budget, experimental, independent and regional films played on weekends in the museum's auditorium, sometimes accompanied by talks by the people who made the films. When the series was discontinued, movie-goers lost a great opportunity to see films they can't see anywhere else in town. Recent adaptations of the KMA's mission will bring film back to the museum, says Sherry Stiles, deputy director for programming.
In fact, the first installment of the SubUrban series of contemporary art is work by British video artists Nick Relph and Oliver Payne.
The museum will be working with Bradley Reeves, a media archivist for East Tennessee State University with a background in film preservation. Reeves will use his network of filmmakers to procure films for screening at the KMA. Stiles says any programming will likely focus on films of regional interest, such as films directed by Clarence Brown or Stark Love, a 1927 picture filmed on location in the Great Smoky Mountains.
To be truly surprised by an irregular and unpredictable film series, head to The Pilot Light on a Sunday night. Films chosen for their obscurity, humor, cult following or how well they pair with a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon are usually videos or DVDs projected on a screen behind the stage. Dark and a bit grungy, the experience is reminiscent of seeing movies at the old Terrace Tap House. Films, both local and touring, have screened at the Pilot Light, including works by local filmmakers Renee Sanabria and Joe Christ, a collection of shorts brought by Appalshop, a non-profit arts organization from Kentucky, and short films by Bill Brown, whose Confederation Park screened at the Ann Arbor Film Festival in 2000.
Just down the street, the ThInQ Tank screens films nightly on its back wall. The offerings tends to be mainstream fare, but club owner Scott West said he has spoken to Glen Glover of Euphoric Productions, the company that produces Valleyfest, about devoting Wednesday nights to locally or regionally produced films to tie into the recently established mid-week Knoxville Music Showcase.
Down the road in downtown Maryville, the Palace Theater screens older classic films and westerns. Its upcoming schedule includes Night of the Living Dead on Halloween, and Bing Crosby's White Christmas on Dec. 26. Call 983-3330 or go to www.palacetheater.com for further information.
Go to local film festivals
Knoxville has a surprising number of film festivals. Annual events include Valleyfest, a festival for small-budget films and videos made by first-time or up-and-coming filmmakers. This year's festival was held in April as an official Dogwood Arts Festival event. The event traditionally features a night of Tennessee films, which have included screenings of Pinmonkies by Larson Jay, a preview of Trek Nation, a film by Scott Colthorp of Atmosphere Pictures, and Gina, An Actress, Age 29, by Paul Harrill. The 2004 Valleyfest is still "up in the air," says festival organizer Glen Glover.
This year, the UT Student Film & Video Festival (formerly the Cyclops Video and Towanda Richards Film festivals) will be whittled down to a one-night affair in December. In previous years, the screening of works made by students in the Media Arts program has lasted up to five or six hours, which is more than even students could absorb.
"We wanted to diversify the program and make it more manageable for the general public," says media arts instructor Paul Harrill. He anticipates that the program's students will choose some of the films and faculty will select others.
Starting Sept. 7, the International House at UT will hold an International Film Festival with four films screening at John C. Hodges Library in September, October and November. The films are Village of Dreams (Japanese), The Crime of Padre Amaro (Mexican), Rabbit Proof Fence (Australian), and Baran (Iranian). Admission is free.
Another festival that had become a Knoxville tradition is the Jewish Film Festival, which marked its third year in 2002. Sandra Parsons at the Arnstein Jewish Community Center said there are currently no plans for a film festival in 2003.
Be an active film-goer
If you know what you want to see, ask for it. Regal's Kevin Keller uses the feedback from movie-goers to help make decisions about which films to bring to Downtown West. He receives emails via the web site (www.regalcinemas.com) and phone calls requesting certain titles and kinds of films. Those people, the ones who communicate their art film needs, "are our customer base," Keller says. "They're pretty vocal about getting their requests in, and that's fine. We encourage that." The UT Film Committee also takes requests into account as they make their yearly schedule.
Bring a film yourself
If you've been an active film-goer (see above), and the film you want to see still isn't going to play in Knoxville, you have some options. Find out if the film is available on video format, and if it's rentable from a local video store, the Knox County Public Library system, or even an online source like Netflix. The media services department in the John C. Hodges Library has an impressive collection of film and video art available for individual viewing.
For really obscure independent and experimental films, check out CanyonCinema.com, a San Francisco company that catalogs works from the 1930s through the present. Fees depend on the film rented, the length of the film and how many people will view it. In most cases, the cost would be too much to justify only one person seeing it. But if a club or organization rented a film, the cost could be spread out among its members. Another source for films is The Film-Makers' Cooperative (www.film-makerscoop.com) in New York City.
Through the magic of the Internet, you can always attempt to contact the filmmaker yourself to see if he or she will sell you a copy of their film or be convinced to screen his/her film in Knoxville. Lots of films have their own websites. If the film has been shown at a festival, the festival's site may include a sources page that names the distributors of each film. Contact that distributor. In some cases, it's the filmmaker himself. Maybe he wants to visit East Tennessee. Maybe you have a couch he can sleep on. Wilder things have happened. (By the way, if you bring an independent filmmaker to town for a screening of his work, let Metro Pulse know.)
For people who feel like there's something missing from the basic Hollywood film (like plot, soul and creativity), it takes some looking to find what else is out there. That something else is out there, right here.
August 21, 2003 * Vol. 13, No. 34
© 2003 Metro Pulse
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