Microcinemas Are Popping Up All Over Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES is rife with screening rooms dedicated to art, repertory and offbeat movies. Last year, Vidiots Foundation opened its first theater in Eagle Rock, Quentin Tarantino rejiggered the Vista in Hollywood to include a Video Archives Cinema Club and the Gardena Cinema leaned into a counterprogramming strategy. Every night, you can see a highbrow classic at the Academy Museum's upscale David Geffen Theater , where the sound and projection are state of the art. The American Cinematheque oversees three venues from Santa Monica to Hollywood to Los Feliz and packs screenings with filmmakers, actors and experts.
But what if your favorite weirdo movie is so niche that it's not likely to fill up all 516 seats at the Egyptian? You might look for it at one of the new microcinemas popping up. These tiny venues measure seating in dozens rather than hundreds and allow programmers the leisure of playing deep cuts for a discerning audience.
Who needs parking when you've got a late-night Benny Hill triple feature? You get all that and more at Soho Cinema Club , which runs everything from Super 8 mm film to CinemaScope, plus live magic shows, in a grungy shoebox-sized spot hidden away on a side street in Hollywood. The elegance of Chinatown's Now Instant Image Hall , which features an underground bar and bookshop, is surpassed only by the highbrow art house fare. "We're attracting an audience that might go to a gallery on Saturday night," says co-founder Ted Gerike.
