All language subtitles for 2014 Out of Print (Julia Marchese)

- And now,
ladies and gentlemen,

time for the show.

Once again,

thank you for coming
to our theatre tonight.

Have an enjoyable evening.

- If you're okay watching
a movie on your phone,

then just stop watching this
now.

- I think what makes
this movie important,

is it's using
the medium of cinema

to essentially address a problem
within cinema.

- Make a movie
about a movie theatre -

that's so meta,
it's fucking sick.

(beat-heavy music)

(funky music)

- The importance
of revival cinema in culture

is it's really no different

than a conventional museum.

- The sense
of revival means giving life -

and this is, uh, this is life,
it's giving not...

the movies don't need that,

they're already set,
they're going, eternal -

the life they're giving
is to the viewers.

We are the ones
who get a chance

to see something
we wouldn't see anywhere else.

- The idea
of movies being resurrected,

I mean, this is one of the things
that I love about a revival house -

a movie that can continue
to live,

or can have a new life.

I think that's just money
in the bank, that's fantastic.

- I've never been more moved

than running
a Charlie Chaplin film this year

and watching audiences respond
exactly how they responded

all those years ago.

How his movies
still transcend time.

It's beautiful.

Revival houses remember that,

they remember that they're
supposed to touch your heart.

- I'm a child of revival cinema.

When I was in high school,

I would get on the bus
to New York

to go to the New Yorker Theater,

where they ran the most fabulous
old double bills.

And it was long before home video,
there were no places to see these films.

Now the argument is,
now we have more films

available to see on video
than we've ever had before.

And it's true.
There are more films available

than there ever have been
in my lifetime.

But the problem is that A,
you have to know what they are,

someone has to point you to them
and say,

"Look, this is a movie worth
your time."

The other thing is, many need
to be seen on a big screen.

Even the cheapest pictures
were made

to be seen on the big screen
and that experience

is not the same as watching it
even at home with two friends.

- We're telling a story
about the New Beverly

as a character

within his bigger story
of the end of a format.

- I think the New Beverly
is a really a perfect example

of a revival cinema because
we've been around since 1978,

and because we're in Hollywood.

So there used to be
so many theatres in Los Angeles

and, one by one,
they've all died.

We still have a few revival
cinemas left in Los Angeles,

but not as many as you'd think

for a city
that revolves around film.

And the thing
that makes me really nervous

is you have a place
like the New Beverly,

where it should be packed
every night,

because this is a town
full of film lovers,

but it's not.
So if the New Beverly

can't survive in Hollywood
of all places,

what hope do we have
for other revival cinemas

around the country or the world?

- What is absolutely true

is that the best way
to see a movie

is in a movie theatre.

And that is why I think
the New Beverly is successful.

- Watching a movie there

with an audience
that's really into the movie

is better than any theatre
I've ever been to in my lite.

- It feels
like this great party,

like the frat house
without the douche-baggery.

- It's very much
like chicken soup.

If you're feeling sick
and you wanna feel better,

you come to the New Beverly
and you feel better.

- And it's a family business.

You see the same folks,
the staff is small.

It's like literally going
from your home to another home.

- I picked my first apartment

based on proximity
to the New Beverly.

- It's a little gem enclave
in L.A.

that there really isn't anything
like it.

There are some competing
venues that do good work,

and also have a community vibe,

but there's something
about the New Beverly

that just rises a little above.

- I found the rep house

I'd always dreamed
of being able to go to,

and it was the New Beverly.

- It's just perfect.

- It's definitely
a '70s movie theatre.

You get that vibe
the moment you walk in.

You get the ticket
that you tear off,

the old-school concessions,

and the place looks like a place

that's been around
since the 1970s

Even with the upgraded seats,
which is beautiful,

because they're not even
brand-new seats,

they're seats from
an older theatre from the '90s.

They're great,
and it's fantastic,

but I just love that.

Even when the marquee
was upgraded,

it's upgraded to look
exactly like it used to

when it was brand new.
- It's a constant.

It always has this sort
of well-worn feeling about it.

I love going there.
It's kind of reassuring.

In a sense,
you could call it a temple.

It's a temple to movies.

- One of the very,
very, very few

who are not eating
out of anybody's hand.

They are totally independent.

- So it's always been
kind of a little haven for me,

and this great little escape,
tar away from the multiplex.

It has a very special place
in my heart.

- It was an extension of film
school, going to the Beverly.

- As a high-school dropout,
it was film school for me.

New Beverly's where I learned
about movies.

- If you date me
for any period of time,

it's only a matter of time:
We gotta go to the New Beverly!

- If I win the goddamn lottery,

I would give it all to keeping
the New Beverly Cinema going.

- Quite literally the one place
that I could go

and felt like I belonged
and I wasn't alone.

- It's nicer to see a movie
at the New Beverly

than it is at some crappy
multiplex.

It's got charm.

- Eight bucks
for a double feature? On film?

And it's projected right -
hopefully,

if I'm doing my job right -
that's a good deal.

- The ticket prices
at the New Beverly are awesome!

Why, I can get a full night's
worth of entertainment

for me and my friends and family
for less than $20.

- You pay eight bucks
for two films

and you step into this community

that is whatever
you want it to be.

If you wanna come in,
order a drink, go sit down,

watch the film and leave,
you totally can.

If you want to chat it up,
meet new people,

talk about it with the owner,
with the staff, you can.

- And standing outside
the New Beverly

is sort of, you know,
where the film geeks are.

Sort of in between the movies
or after a midnight,

at 2:00 in the morning,
there's people still standing

out in the street
talking about films.

That's a community, you know.

- It used to be common and
doesn't exist in the same way,

and not just the location
or the style,

or the types of things
that it shows,

but there's a spirit
and a culture,

an experience about it,
that is unique,

feels very safe and familiar
and very celebratory of film.

- I also think it's really
interesting that the clientele

asks me what I think
of the movies all the time.

I can't think
of another movie theatre

where it would even occur to me
to ask the girl

giving me the popcorn
what she thinks of the film.

- It is the entire
cinema experience,

because you have 35 film,

you have
that organic connection to it,

and you're experiencing
being in an audience,

in those seats,

surrounded by that chatter,

and the smell of the popcorn,
and you've got your drink.

That is the movie-going
experience,

and that's why you go
to the New Beverly.

(music)

- I love the New Beverly
because it's independent

and stands for everything
I believe in.

It's kind of anti-establishment,

and owned by a family,

and cheap,

and not about consumerism.

It's really about
the love of film

and a community of people
who love film getting together.

I moved to Los Angeles in 2001,

and I almost immediately found
a New Beverly calendar.

And the calendar's so incredibly
groovy and old school

and just spoke to me immediately
and I saw it

and said, "This is where I have to work.
This is the place for me."

And the first time I went,

I asked Sherman Torgan,
the owner, for a job.

I asked him for a job every time
I went back for five years.

- I was there every time
she asked for a job.

Sherman tried to brush her off.
She was very insistent.

- Eventually he caved

and he gave up
one of his own shifts for me.

And right after I started
working there, he said,

"Why did I not hire you
five years ago?"

I said, "I don't know."

So I started in May of 2006,

and it's been fantastic.

(music)

In 1929, the building
that the New Beverly was in,

7165 Beverly Blvd, originally
opened as Slapsy Maxie's,

which was a nightclub opened
by Slapsy Maxie Rosenbloom,

who was a famous
boxer at the time.

- And, in fact, Martin & Lewis
did their first gigs in LA.

In that same building.

- It went through a bunch
of different changes

from the '40s through the '70s.

There were some live theatre
that was done there.

At one point it was called
the Capri Riviera, a split,

which meant the theatre
was split in two,

there were two screens.
The theatre's so small,

I have no idea
how they did that.

- I've been going
to the New Beverly

since I came to LA.

I have to confess
that when I first came to L.A.,

the New Beverly
was not a revival house,

it was a porno house.

And my excuse is that
I was actually reviewing porno

for a trade magazine
called Film Bulletin,

back when we used
to review things like that.

Pornos were particularly
fun to write about.

You could be so snarky.

- In 1970,
it became the Beverly Cinema.

Now, the Beverly Cinema
was a porno house.

The landlord at the time,
his name was Howard Ziehm.

- Howard had been
this porno director and producer

who'd done Flesh Gordon,
which is actually a great movie.

He basically realized: Man,
I'm making these porno movies

and I'm sharing the profits
with the theatre.

And who knows how they were
cheating at the box office.

So he basically said,
"I'm gonna buy my own theatre

and book my own porno movies
so I get 100% of the profits."

Around '77 or '78,

the LA Times stopped taking ads
for porno theatres,

and so suddenly
his business just dropped.

And so that's when Sherman
decided to take it over.

- Sherman Torgan
and some partners bought it.

And because the marquee
says Beverly Cinema,

he didn't wanna pay
to replace the marquee,

so he just changed
it the New Beverly Cinema.

- It became revival house,
and this was an era where,

in Los Angeles, there were a lot
of revival houses and prints.

Of course, this was Hollywood,

there were studio prints
to be had.

It was pretty much
a movie-lover's dream.

The New Beverly was always
a somewhat smaller venue,

but the projection was good
and the people really cared

and it was very intimate.

- Sherman Torgan
was simultaneously...

a father figure,
a fellow traveler,

a culture warrior.

- Sherman Torgan,

this...

smiling homunculus
in that scratched-up window.

He's like something out
of a Dan Clowes comic strip.

- He was here
every single time I came here.

- I would go
to see something there

and Sherman would be
at the box office,

then you'd walk in,
Sherman would come around

and work concessions as well,
like he was the only person.

- He always had
that weird energy of, like,

I'm getting to put on a show
and show movies tonight.

- And he was a wonderful person

and really committed
to what he did.

And even on the periods
when he was down,

because the theatre
wasn't doing very well,

he'd start making those noises:
"Maybe I should pack it in."

I always would give him
the pep talk,

but I kinda felt
that deep down inside,

he didn't really mean it,
'cause what would he do?

I mean, this was his life.

- He actually knew how to run
stuff up in the booth, too.

We'd have stuff break down
up in the booth,

and Sherman might be, like:

"We gotta stop the show
and we gotta do this."

And Sherman'd say fuck that
he'd grab this new...

take the old projector head off
and put a new one on,

slap it on, and say, "Let's go."

- Back when he was a hippie,
he'd just fuck with the system.

He had great stories about how
he'd get say a jaywalking ticket

and would insist
on going to a trial with a jury

just to fuck with the system.

- One time a customer
had come to the counter

and been really rude to me
and I went up to Sherman,

and was, like: "God,
that guy was such an asshole."

He said,
"He can't talk to you like that.

Tell him to fuck off
and get out."

That's like Sherman
in a little capsule for me.

- I started going in '95,
this was the summer of '99,

I'm buying a ticket
for yet another double feature.

"I thought you'd be showing me
a screenplay by now."

And that was the moment -
and he wasn't trying to be mean,

but it was like: "You don't need
to come here as often."

You need to stop hanging
around the high school,

you've graduated.
Go out and do other things.

...In the zoo.
In your nightmares.

In the deep.
In your favorite horror movies.

But not in your living room,
on your TV.

- There will never be anything
that gives you the beauty

and the enveloping sense
that actual 35mm film does.

- It is actually about a mental
connection that we have

with those images
that are dancing on the screen,

because they are real.

They actually exist, on film,

with a light going through it,

with the shutter
dropping in front of it,

the sound of celluloid
going through a projector

and going over the spindles

and coming up
on the take-up reel,

That is part
of our movie consciousness.

Pfffff...
You make that sound,

and everybody thinks
of the movies.

- Someone who can actually
project 35mm properly,

you know, it's a dying breed.

There aren't too many left.

- I get a lot of comfort from
knowing there's a projectionist.

There's a maestro,
there's someone who knows

more about it than I do,
in a weird way,

You know, it's the comfort.
It's like a bus driver.

Nobody ever gets on the bus
and thinks:

This bus driver is gonna like...
No, you don't think that.

Maybe if the projectionist is
and the bus driver are...

- You have totally lost me.

I have no idea
what you're talking about.

- No, it's like having
a tour guide,

somebody who's just sort of,
you know,

kinda gonna hold your hand
along the way.

- Aw...
- When I'm not on set with you.

- I'm gonna keep doing this
for the rest of the interview.

It's gonna get awkward
at some point. Go ahead.

- My niece and nephew
don't get the concept.

Like I showed my niece
a piece of film and I'm, like:

"Look, light shines through this
onto a big screen.

That's how it works. "Ah!"

- If somebody walks you
through how a projector works,

and they say:

- As the films moves
through the projector,

it first enters
the picture section.

In this section
is the projection lamp,

which is
a very bright light source.

This light is concentrated
on a single frame of the film

by a condenser lens.

The brilliantly illuminated
frame of the film

is then projected
by the projection lens

onto the screen.

As the film moves
through the picture section,

it stops momentarily
on each frame.

Next, the film enters
the sound section.

Here,
an exciter lamp passes light

through the soundtrack area
of the film.

Sound waves cause the light beam
to vary in brightness.

This makes the photo cell
produce electrical pulsations,

which are then amplified
and fed to the speaker.

- And that's how you watch
a movie!

(funky music)

I had no idea how weird
projectionists were

until I started hanging out
at the New Beverly.

Like, projectionists are
a specific type of... person.

- Just don't think
we're good with people.

- Yeah,
they need to socialize more,

get out of the booth.

- That's why more projectionists
are like alcoholics,

or gone mad,
or... really weird.

They're really weird.
And I include myself on there.

- I think you become crazier.

- It's a stressful job.

I would have
New Beverly nightmares.

- The job of a projectionist

is to make their job
as invisible as possible.

- If the sound goes off
and they have to say...

or focus,
they know I'm there then.

I don't want them to know.

I wanna just keep everything
going right.

Even making the lights go down,

just dim
while they don't even notice it.

You don't want to know
somebody's projecting this,

you wanna enjoy yourself,
you wanna get lost in the story.

- I don't think anybody has
as much fun when they're working

as somebody who works
at the New Beverly.

- I often think: Where else
would these people work?

- There's two people who work on
the floor and a projectionist.

Like three people, per night.
That's it.

- They're just nice.
Except Matt.

What's up with him?

He smells like Fritos
left in the sun.

It's really weird.

- Wocka!
- He's someone who loves movies,

but is very serious
about his movies.

- I'm not a very customer-
service-oriented type of guy

with a customer-service job.
But it works - it's the New Bev.

- He's the Hitchcock connoisseur
of the New Beverly.

- Being a big Hitchcock fan
growing up,

I watched everything on VHS.

So it really wasn't
until the New Beverly

that suddenly
I could see them for real.

And you watch something
like The Birds

and it's a whole
different movie.

- Marion, my best friend,
also works at the theatre,

is sweet as pie, a smart cookie,
and loves movies,

and has loved the New Beverly
as long as I have.

- Marion... who's an actress,

writer and director.

- Very professional. Prim.

- Lookin' hot while she's, like,
filling my drink order.

- She's so beautiful
and so talented,

and she can really do it all.

- I've met filmmakers, actors,

that I've admired
for such a long time.

I've got to screen movies that
are some of my favorite films.

- I am Henry.
I have been a projectionist

at the New Beverly
since approximately 1981.

- I love Henry because he always
looks slightly perplexed.

He loves music. Any movie:
"It's composed by so-and-so."

- I am retired.
I am no longer projecting.

I am projecting
at the New Beverly.

- Vinny's our main projectionist
and he is just a goofball.

- Usually the funny stuff
happens to everybody else,

and I come down and then
they tell me what happened,

I say, "That's funny. Ha-ha."

Then I go back
and run the movies.

- Has one of the most endearing
traits of madness

that I've ever seen in a person,
which is quacking.

- Vinny makes this duck sound.

- He just walks around quacking.

- He kinda walks by you,
goes "quack."

I'm not sure what that's about,
but it does it all the time.

- Quack, quack, quack.

- I think
he's been doing it so long,

it's become like a subroutine
of his existence

where he will be quacking
and not even realize it.

- It's probably something
from the autism spectrum.

- Quack. Quack.

- He also likes to pit
Matt and I against each other,

as far as who makes
the best popcorn.

Because he constantly tells me
I make the best popcorn.

"Seriously, it's really good.
I tell Matt, but it's you."

Then he tells Matt
the exact same thing!

- Does he? Sonofabitch.

- You do.

- Michael Torgan,
Sherman's only son,

took over the business,

so he is now the owner
of the theatre.

- He does all the pick-ups
and drop-offs of film,

he books everything,
he does all the concessions,

he's printing the calendars,

so he has a lot of
responsibility on his shoulders.

- Michael has done
a tremendous job

of keeping
his father's legacy going.

- The day-to-day stuff
is all Michael.

- Michael Torgan:
equally brilliant,

wonderful curator,

a totally different personality,

but courageous
and incredibly inspired.

And it gives me joy every time
I come to the New Beverly

and get to hang out
with Michael.

- And I can see Sherman
in Michael.

I can see that he likes to let
the program speak for itself.

- You know, he's responsible
for a lot of people

being exposed to a lot of movies

that they wouldn't necessarily
seek out on their own.

- Michael's about best boss
I think I've ever had.

I have an easy job
because Michael works too much.

- He's great and super chill.
And he reminds me of Moby.

- My kids love the place,

especially my oldest daughter.

Michael Torgan gave us
the run of the place.

He let us throw

her 10th birthday party
at the New Beverly.

And I get choked up
thinking about it,

because it means a lot to me.

And, uh... to think
that somebody would care enough

to create that kind
of experience for a little kid,

uh... that's...
I'll never forget that.

I don't have to think
of another reason

why the New Beverly
is important to me.

- That's the tiny
New Beverly family.

(light music)

- There's a magic alchemy
that happens with an audience,

when a whole bunch of people
are watching a movie

and following a story,

that's unique, I think,
to all other arts.

Because
it's a communal experience,

where you're actually having
the same emotional responses

at the same time.

- There's a reason
they're called crowd pleasers.

It's because the audible
reaction of an audience

is... is very infectious.

- You need
that audience interaction

to make certain things funny,

like Marx Brothers,
Buster Keaton, Jackie Chan.

You got a room full of people
laughing,

it's like a chemical reaction
between people,

where one person starts laughing
and the next...

- If I'm watching a horror film,
it's much more scary

if I can feel the 200 people
around me are just as scared,

rather than I'm by myself.

Or if the ending's really sad,
everybody else is crying.

Just amplifies the experience
of what the film is.

- All those emotional reactions
are muted

when you're in the man cave
and you're by yourself

and you're watching
some huge screen,

no matter how good
the sound and visuals are.

- To have people kind of
in league with one another,

in emotional sync,

is unique in society,
and movies provide that.

Even if it's a bad movie,

if people are laughing
because it's cheesy,

it's still kind of bonding
people together,

and I think that's the magic
of that medium.

- When I started taking movies
around to festivals

and seeing the same movie
over and over

with different audiences,
you really realize

how different a personality
every single audience has.

- I feel like when you go
to the multiplex now,

there's a real lack
of consideration.

People don't care about movies,
their fellow audiences members.

It's so hard to go now
without somebody texting,

or somebody talking.

There is nothing
that makes me more angry

than someone ruining
my movie experience.

I have almost gotten
into a fistfight.

I take it really seriously.

- I'm a maniac
about people talking.

I see the light of a cellphone,
I lose my mind.

- 'Cause it's our little house.
(ringing)

- Is that you?
- Didn't turn off my cellphone.

Fired!
- I always turn it off in the...

- This is appropriate.
- It's actually your girlfriend.

- You're fucking with our movie
experience, literally.

- Put your fucking phone away.

- I once tweeted
through a movie,

and didn't read the reactions
till afterward.

I felt I was so clever.
Afterwards, it was two hours of:

What kind of prick are you,
tweeting through a movie?

And I was: "Oh, shit, I forgot!"

- If you have a texting section
in a movie theatre,

you should also have
a sterilization section,

and they're sterilized
so they can't have kids.

And then you go:
"Okay, that's the tradeoff."

You wanna text during a movie,
we get to sterilize you.

It could be a state-run thing.
I'd sponsor it.

- The New Beverly,
we don't have those problems.

'Cause people are thereto see this movie
and they're really into it.

- What's wonderful
about the New Beverly

is the camaraderie that forms.

- They absolutely adore cinema.

- They're the most enthusiastic
audience you will ever find.

They appreciate the work
that goes into making a film

better than any other audience,
I think.

- And that really does something
for what you're seeing on screen

and brings it alive and adds
this other dimension to it.

- The New Beverly crowds
are just genuine,

they're thereto have tun,
they're thereto love cinema.

Uh, that sounded
super pretentious.

- A lot of the people there
are filmmakers,

or stars of films and so forth,

who have incredible stories
to tell and have known...

You're looking at a film
by Peckinpah,

they've worked with Peckinpah.

When I go there I always learn
something I never knew before

about the movies I'm watching.

- I would describe the clientele
of the New Beverly as...

people who make me nervous.

- When you go
to the New Beverly,

you have to figure in time
for people-watching,

because it's the best place
in the city to see people

who are like you,

except you can judge them
as weirder than you.

And they're not,
they're totally as weird as you.

- It's wonderful
to just go somewhere

where everyone's like you
and you're accepted.

- Frankly, we are a large group
of weirdos.

- Fringe-dwellers
come drifting in at times,

and what have you,
but that's cool.

Kind of like a party
to which everyone's invited.

- I have slightly lower-brow
tastes than you do,

so I go to a lot of the more...

grindhouse-y, genre-y kind
of programs.

You still see the crusty folks.

The ne'er-do-wells showing up
for those screenings.

- No.
(laughter)

No, I... I don't, no.

- We're all different kinds
of freaks, but we're all freaks,

and love each other
and have tun together.

- If it was give itself
to any kind of formality,

it would ruin the vibe.

- My dream was
that you would know my name

when I walked up
to the New Beverly.

- It's a little creepy.

- Yeah, my dream was
that it would be like Cheers,

was that somebody...
"Hey, Noah.

Hey, welcome.
Good to see ya."

And when that started to happen,
I felt like I belonged.

- Yeah, I really feel I've kinda
reached where I wanna be.

- Regulars show up every day
regardless of what we're showing

'cause they just wanna
be at the theatre.

- Colourful characters
around town, and you can, uh...

you feel a little bit special
being able to have that kinship.

- I spend a lot of time at the
New Beverly and it's kind of...

I'm kind of attached
to the place.

Definitely,

if it's showing something
I haven't seen before,

I try to make a point
of going to see it,

unless I have
good reason not to,

because that's the environment
I like. And it you like that,

then you should support
that kind of environment.

- I've been known to plan
my time around the New Beverly.

- You can't write this stuff.
There's Scruncher, popcorn lady.

- Who comes in, an hour late
into the movie every time,

and she will buy a popcorn
and then she will take her fist

and push the popcorn down
into the bag

as much as she possibly can
and then make us refill it.

- No matter how high you fill
the bag full of popcorn,

she will find a way,

find little air pockets
and mash it down.

- She's a doozy.
- I've filled that thing.

"She's not scrunching
this time."

And then, nope,
she finds a way to scrunch.

- This old man,
we call him Zombie Man,

and he would, in the movie,
make this noise periodically.

It would always be the most
touching scene in the movie,

and he'd go:
(heavy sigh)

And everyone would laugh.

He would do this periodically
throughout the movie.

Then he would fall asleep,
but he would fall asleep

slumped over the chair
in front of him, like this.

And people would come out
to the lobby and be like:

"Um, I think there's a dead guy
in the back row."

And we'd be, like: "No, no,
it's just Zombie Man."

He's not dead,
he's just sleeping."

- There's a guy
who would come in

who would tell me a lot
about his diabetes,

and order a Diet Coke
and then proceed to order, like,

six different kinds
of candy bars.

And then would come back
an hour into the movie

and ask for more candy-

but had to get a Diet Coke
'cause he has diabetes.

At some point I'd ask Michael:
"Should I cut him off?"

I feel like a bartender.
"No, you've had enough, sir."

Yeah, it's an amazing group
of people.

And then behind them,
Matt Dillon will walk in.

It's a really
eclectic clientele.

- Well-Dressed Man,

this youngish man who comes in

who is always dressed
to the nines.

- I was raised by movies.

- He's got a fedora,
his three-piece suit,

his pocket watch,
his handkerchief,

his gloves, his trench coat.

Looks like he stepped out
of 1940. Just amazing.

- He speaks very properly,
so he makes you.

So: "Good evening.
How are you doing this evening?"

I'm, like: "I am doing fine.
How are you doing?"

Why am I talking like this?

- And always pays for everything
in $2 bills.

- And he only pays in $2 bills.

- People like a $2 bill.
It brightens up their day.

They think it's special.

It's worth a lot more than $2
to them.

- Corky Baines.

A former roadie for Iggy Pop,
who was a hardcore drug addict,

then had three heart attacks
and then found Buddhism.

And he's like super permafried,
but he is so nice,

like the sweetest, sweetest guy,
and he loves this place.

- I'm Corky
and I come to the theatre.

I go on Sundays a lot,
'cause I'm riding the bus now,

so I'm a Sunday guy now.

And I come in and I walk in
and I make sure right away

I start checking things
out of my old habits

and make sure
the seats are good.

- He was struggling
with his weight a bit,

and was a hardcore soda junkie,

so I had to start
weaning him off.

When he'd come to ask me,
I'd be, like: "Hmm..."

He'd ask for like a large soda
and I'd give him a water.

He'd be, like: "No, but I..."
I would just stare at him.

Then he would take the water.
Eventually he'd learn

that when I was working,
he wasn't allowed soda.

I can give him his popcorn,
he could have a candy bar,

but he's only allowed
to have water with me.

- Yeah,
'cause I'm a little overweight.

In the old roadie days,
I was real thin,

but since
I'm not touring a lot...

And she said no more sodas
on Sundays.

So this is I think
it's almost two years now:

No Soda Sundays.
(chuckling)

- Freddie. He used to drive
for Orson Welles.

- I'm Freddie. I'm a regular
at the New Beverly,

and I've been coming
to the theatre...

two or three times a week
and over a 30-year period.

- The great thing about Freddie

is he's constantly
bringing us newspaper clippings

of things
that are film relevant,

like if somebody dies,
he always cuts out -

almost in a serial killer way -
these clippings,

and then posts them
on the glass doors.

- She saw me with a clipping
out of the LA Times,

"from the obit, and she said,
'Who died this time?"

- He's at the back
of the theatre every night,

and if you can't get an
interesting piece of information

out of that guy...
you're just not listening,

because he's fascinating.

- One of our regulars,

who's the sweetest man on Earth,
his name is Clu Gulager,

and he has been an actor
professionally since the '40s.

He had his own television show
called The Virginian.

- This guy is a legend
unto himself.

- Where else are you gonna go
to a movie theatre and talk

to somebody
as awesome as Clu Gulager?

- The last seven or eight years,

I have considered
the New Beverly my living room.

- He gives you a good insight
about films,

'cause he's got
a great point of view.

- He is a true cinèaste.

- The day that Clu Gulager
told me

he was a big Harmony Korine fan,
I about fell over.

- I see between 15, 16,
17 films every week

at the New Beverly.

- Every time he gets in there,
he sits down,

puts his little piece of paper
over his seat

to keep people from sitting
by his seat,

or the two seats next to him.

- I've saved the seats
to the left and to the right

for the filmmakers
and the people

who want to ask
filmmaking questions

so this is this is a very
prioritized area of the theatre.

- Clu's all the way over...
stage right.

- No, I didn't!

- Yes, and we named a seat
after him in the Beverly,

the Clu Gulager seat.
I put the tag on the seat.

- I don't know
of too many theatres

that actually dedicate a seat.

- What happens
when someone sits in Clu's seat?

- Shit goes down.

- To have that seat
and to be honoured by folks,

you know, you say,

"It's only because
you were an actor,

a big-shit actor."

No, it went beyond that.

We at the theatre
I don't think we think that way.

I think we think
in terms of people.

And that's
what made me feel good.

- It's bittersweet with Clu,

because when his wife was alive,

they used to come
to the Beverly Cinema

on a on a regular basis,
sitting up front and all that.

He was devastated when she died
and he told me...

he did say,
"This is my new home now."

- Raison d'être.
That's my reason for living.

When my wife died,
I had no reason for living,

so I chose that.

The New Beverly.

It's not really a substitute,

but it worked for me.

I've gotten a lot of friends...

from sitting in the dark.

I've gotten Frank Capra,

I've gotten John Ford,

Marcello Mastroianni,

François Truffaut -

all kinds of wonderful,
interesting friends.

And I've gotten a lot
of good friends, also,

in the lobby.
Good, close,

very dear friends.

And they will be dear friends
to me until I die.

(music)

(music)

- Music to the ears
of the hungry.

The sizzle of a mouthwatering
hamburger.

Fresh lean beef
done to a golden brown,

couched in a soft bun
and garnished to taste.

Man, that's hunger heaven.

And you'll feel
like you're heaven sent

when you get one
at our refreshment stand.

- You know, we get all kinds
of film fare there,

everything
from Judgement at Nuremberg

to The Blood Farmers.

How's that for a segue-way?
(laughing)

- It's the most fantastic
programming in cinema

I've ever been around -
and I've really been around.

- The way the New Beverly
has always been programmed,

with the double features,

with the consistency
within the double features,

the idea
that you're going to get

a crash course in a filmmaker,

in an actor, in a writer,
or a style.

- You can drag someone
who's never seen

a Preston Sturges movie
and say, "Here, this is great."

Here, this is Billy Wilder,
this is Howard Hawks,

"this is Buster Keaton."

- There are some places

that are super-duper pretentious
revival-y places -

"We're playing only silent
Polish shorts from the '30s."

But there's other places where
they go to the other extreme:

"We're all crazy heads
blowing up,

Dennis Hopper's in everything"
kinda places,

where you're only going
to see movies ironically,

and the New Beverly
strikes a really nice balance.

- I love the way
this is put together.

Look at that. That always goes
on the cork board right there.

- You unfold it thus.
- You put it on your fridge.

- So they would have
a different colour every month,

so you get this rainbow effect
when you have them all

stuck on your fridge
at the end of a year.

Double features,
and they just lay it out -

calendar style, if you will.

- I've seen the calendar
from 1970,

the very first calendar
that he did,

and it looks exactly the same
to the calendars we print today.

- The New Beverly calendar,
it's like the golden ticket.

Every time I see it,
I say, "Oh that's the new one."

it's just fun to leaf through
the pictures and descriptions.

I take great joy in that.

- When I walked into the New Bev
and looked at the calendar,

same feeling I had:
Ah, warmth that comes over you.

- After a while,
it's like an addiction.

You look at it and go:

"How in the world
am I gonna make it through July"

without seeing that?

And when you miss it,
it does feel like withdrawal!

Like: "Oh, no!!"

- I love collecting them.

It's just such a piece
of history itself.

There's never gonna be
that exact programming

for a month ever again.

- Going to the New Beverly
on a normal night is great,

but going when there's
a guest programmer is amazing.

- The way it works
is that somebody,

either a director or an actor,
will program for a week or two,

and they'll program
all the double bills.

And they're movies that have
either meant a lot to them,

or they've never seen before,
and usually they'll bring

special guests
to help them intro the movies,

or to do a Q&A afterwards.

- March and April of 2007,

Quentin Tarantino did a two-
month run of grind-house movies,

and these were mostly
from his personal collection.

- That's almost like
he's showing you the DVD extras

ahead of the fact
of his next film.

- In 2007,
we had a double feature

of Shaun of the Dead
and Hot Fuzz,

and Edgar Wright contacted us
and said,

"Can I come down and talk?"
We said, "Of course you can."

It went fantastically well,
it was sold out,

and Edgar was really generous
and lovely.

He and I got to talking. I said,
"You should come and program

some of the movies you love."
And he said okay.

So that December of 2007,

Edgar Wright programmed a week
of his favorite movies.

And these movies were ones
he loved watching, growing up,

and movies that had inspired him
to be a director.

- Which was amazing,
'cause it was a great way

to see a lot of the films
that I loved on the big screen,

sometimes for the first time.

And also, the great thing
about Los Angeles

is that you can get
pretty good guests.

It's a treat to see
The Monkees's film Head

on the big screen.

It's even better to have
Mickey Dolenz to talk about it.

Or to show Bugsy Malone
and Phantom of the Paradise,

and get Paul Williams
to come and talk about it,

American Werewolf in London
and getting John Landis to come.

It's like a dream come true.

Doesn't matter how many
times you've seen a film,

or how well you know it,
it will never be as good

as watching it
with other people.

In fact, there are some films
I've watched here,

when doing my season,

that I feel I will probably
never watch again,

'cause it will never be as good
as that screening.

- One of the coolest things
that happened

was when Edgar had his show
and David Lynch showed up.

That was crazy!
Edgar showed Wild at Heart.

I was so excited 'cause
I hadn't seen it in a long time,

and Laura Dern was there,
which was really, really neat.

- We have a back door
that guests can come in

through the back door
and surprise everybody.

So Laura Dern comes in and says,
"I brought somebody with me."

- And then: "Oh, wait,
there's someone in the back."

"This can't be safe." And then
fucking David Lynch walks out.

- À la Twin Peaks, just emerging
from some sort of nether verse.

I didn't know there were doors
behind that curtain.

Either he had been there
the entire time,

or he was able to teleport.

- People go crazy in the cinema.

Like huge like standing O.

- Then he was all cool
and just chatted about movies,

and was so normal and relaxed
and we were all just like...

- Oh, now I'm doing a Q&A
with David Lynch.

I am not prepared for this
at all.

- It was the first time
I'd ever seen Edgar tongue-tied.

- The first question
that came out of my mouth

when I was trying
to interview David Lynch

was just complete nonsense.

(laughter)

Some people had gone out
for a smoke or something to eat

between the films,
one of whom was Richard Kelly.

- That was... that was tragic.

I go on Twitter and I find out

that Laura Dern and David Lynch
showed up, out of nowhere,

and it was just this
mind-blowingly great Q&A,

with my hero David Lynch,
and I was, um...

getting Italian food
down the street.

- He texted me furiously later,

saying, "Why didn't you tell me
David Lynch was gonna be there?"

I wouldn't have gone
to get something to eat.

I said,
"I didn't know he was coming."

And I've never met him since.

It's literally like
he came from the red curtain,

went back through the curtain,
and I've never seen him since.

- It's always exciting
to see what...

the director's pick.

- 'Cause you look at the list
of movies and go: Oh, wow,

no wonder this guy's so great,
or this guy's such a loser.

- If someone that you admire
says you should see this movie,

I think it really gives you
a better incentive to go see it,

that's part of what the guest
programming series is tor.

- That was one of the best weeks
of my life, actually.

Being able to choose films
I've always wanted to see

projected for the New Beverly,

having a week's worth
of my favorite films.

I mean, I loved it.

Christmas came early
for Stuart Gordon that year.

- It's very exciting
and a dream come true

to be able to pick the movies.

And what they don't tell you
until you get to program,

is that you get to pick
the trailers too.

And there is a massive library

that comes
from the network of friends

that support the New Beverly.

- I remember when Patton Oswalt
was a programmer,

and, boy, they were right on it.

The Pelham 123/
Charley Varrick double bill,

that was awesome.
Who else is going to book that?

- The main focus of the
programming I've done so far

is I'm showing movies
I wanna watch with an audience.

They're movies
I've either seen by myself,

or I've seen them years ago
in the audience,

and I loved the experience
and I wanna see it again.

- Yeah, I got to program a week
of con-man movies.

And uh, yeah,
I did not feel worthy.

We had fun, we did a musical
performance before one of them,

and I did a PowerPoint thing

and talked a little bit
about the movies

and showed a little short
before each one.

- How can you not be thrilled
by your movie selling out

when they tanked when
they were originally released?

- What the New Beverly
allowed me to do

is not only see my films
in 35 mil,

but also connect
with the audience

that grew up with the films.

And it's been a terribly
rewarding, uh... process,

and I... I'm very very grateful.

- I was really impressed
when Carnahan and Liotta came -

Narc and Smokin' Aces, right?

- Smokin' Joe.
- Smokin' Joe.

- To watch it like that,
with that group of people,

is to be
in this wonderful time capsule

and to step back
and you can be a viewer.

- It was really cool to see Joe

talk about...
their perspective on movies.

And Joe said something
that I think about all the time.

- That completely changed
my perspective

on looking at his movies,

which are these sorta macho,
you know, dude movies,

where you feel like
there's a winner and a loser.

- That was pretty special,
'cause you're seeing it

with a group of people
that are so appreciative,

and it's never disappointed me
in that way, the New Beverly.

I've never had a bad crowd,
I've never sat with a bad crowd,

and I've never screened a film
with a bad crowd.

And invariably you always
get the best questions.

- When you're in a place
where you're with this crowd

who's all excited and waiting
for this movie to start,

then the director of this movie
walks up,

or the star of this movie
walks up to introduce,

it's just gonna heighten
your experience even more.

Then you're watching the movie
and something comes up,

and you're like:
"Why did this happen?

Well, can ask them afterwards."

So it just kind of adds
to your experience

and makes it something more
than just a passive experience,

where you're just sitting
and watching a movie,

then you're going home.

You're talking to people
and to the director about it,

so it becomes a way more
interactive experience,

- Q&As, in the rest of the city,
are, like, snobby,

and it's:
"Look how much I know,"

"Oh, I'm so important
to the world of cinema,"

and they make you
want to kill yourself.

At the New Beverly

it's someone
that's every bit as big a nerd

as you are nerding out.

- The New Beverly,
it's fun, it's just fun.

It's so informal.

- And the directors there
are always very accessible.

It's not like they're gonna be
whisked off

into their limousine
or something.

They're gonna be there
and hang with you.

- There's something
about walking through the doors

of the New Beverly
that's the great equalizer.

- What's really nice
about this theatre is people...

I think maybe
because of the size of it,

so people
are a little more candid.

- And it's awesome.
They will go: "No."

It sucked to work with that guy.
He showed up drunk and late."

And you're, like:
Yes! Drunk and late! I'm in!"

- It's inspiring: it reminds you
why you do what you do

and also why you're fortunate
enough to do what you do.

This is what it's all about,

is the movie, the crowd,

and that connection
and that experience.

- With mustard and relish,
you're guaranteed

- With mustard and relish,
you're guaranteed

a mouthwatering satisfaction!
Mm!

And now he slips his costume on,
a beautiful golden bun.

There's his cue - blink!-
to go out on stage!

He's a natural!
He's the rage!

Meet this personality
at our refreshment counter!

Treat the family!

- I mean, the theatre,

when Sherman was running it,
the whole time,

he was always about to quit
and give up,

because it was losing money
and it was a nightmare to run,

and, you know,
attendance was drooping,

'cause people wanted
to watch DVDs at home

instead of having
the group experience.

- I think he had
just about given up.

And I, for one, don't blame him.

- I gotta stop.
- Sure. Okay.

- He was always real cool.

You know,
he let you come in the theatre,

and he'd go:
"Cork, can you fix this?"

I'd go: "Yeah." 'Cause I always
had tools with me.

And I'd fix the bathrooms
or I'd fix something.

He was always real nice to me
and you know it was real good.

And then when we buried him,

I threw in a bunch of New
Beverly flyers in with him.

"Here, here's next week's show."

- In 2007, Sherman Torgan
died unexpectedly.

He had a heart attack
while riding his bike.

- It's devastating whenever
something like that happens,

and when there's somebody
as cool as Sherman...

I'd had other bosses, you know,
actually pass away,

and I'd never really felt it
as much as when Sherman went.

- I remember
the day before he died,

I'd been at the theatre to watch
a pirate double feature,

and as I was leaving,

Sherman was sitting
on the stairs.

"See you tomorrow, Sherman,"
And he said, "Absolutely!"

And that was the last time
I ever spoke to him.

Sherman's death was really hard
for me in a lot of ways.

He was a friend
and he was a fellow employee,

and he was someone
I looked up to.

The thing that Sherman's death
made me feel is... unfairness.

He had done something
so wonderful with his life,

and was loved by so many people,

and started something
so fantastic,

and... he was taken away.

And that was really,
really painful,

something
that really affected me,

and made it hard to work
at the theatre for a while,

but also made it great
to be there where he had been.

- There was just a huge amount

of flowers and tributes
and candles outside

and it was a beautiful display
of the love

that people had for this man
and this theatre.

- When Sherman passed away,
that really had, I think,

more of an impact
than we probably ever suspected

because he created something

that was so important
to all of us.

- I remember thinking...
this is... they're gonna...

- It's gonna be over, yeah.
- It's gonna be over.

Like, it's...

Because he was the New Beverly.

- I don't think
we had a lot of hope

that the theatre
would stay in business,

because it really
had gotten to the point

that Sherman was running it
as a labour of love,

and I don't know
if he was even making money.

- You don't get into repertory
to become rich.

You do it because you love what
you do and you love the films

and you love the people
who come to see the films.

- The landlord, Howard Ziehm,
sold off the theatre

days after Sherman died,
without asking the family.

He sold it to some people

who were going to turn it into
a Chipotle and a Super Cuts,

which is about the biggest knife
you could stab

into the death
of the New Beverly.

- 'Cause Sherman was the owner
of the theatre,

not of the property,
the land of the building.

That's one of those, again,
things that people

have trouble
separating in their minds

Most businesses,
it's in a plaza, a strip mall.

They don't own the strip mall,
they own the business,

they rent the hole in the wall.

You know,
it's the same kind of thing,

the New Beverly
rented the building.

Even though it was designed
as a movie theatre,

it could've been anything else.

- We really didn't know
what was gonna happen,

we didn't have the capital
to buy it,

and of course Michael, his son,
was devastated,

and not in a state to be dealing
with this kind of business plan.

- We were all kind of...
really expecting the worst,

but, luckily,
Sherman came to the rescue.

- We found the original contract
that Sherman signed with Howard,

and luckily it gave us a right
of first refusal,

so that way, Quentin Tarantino,
who'd been coming to the theatre

since he was a youth
and loved the place,

was able to step in
and buy the building

out from Howard
and the Chipotle guys.

So, essentially, Quentin
Tarantino saved the theatre,

because we were going to close,
and he stepped in and saved it,

and made sure the New Beverly

would stay the New Beverly
forever.

- There's the business
that's in the New Beverly,

and then there's the landlord.

The landlord's very supportive
and we all love him, thank you.

- They kinda kept it, I think,
low-key intentionally,

and also... 'cause it's still
the family business.

And then Quentin was able
to come in and contribute,

which has been wonderful,

and it not only gave the theatre
a facelift,

but also gave the theatre
some new energy

and it exposed it
to more patrons.

- I felt like that was really
the breath of fresh air

that the theatre needed
after Sherman's death

that kind of gave you hope
it was gonna be okay.

- I think that it Sherman
were here today,

and he could see
what happened after he was gone,

and how the place continued,

the people that stepped up
to help the place continue,

and the incredible job his son
is doing now in his absence,

I think he'd be really happy
and really proud.

- I'm gonna have a pizza
and popcorn and ice cream!

- I'm gonna have a pizza
and popcorn and ice cream!

- And I'm gonna have a burger
with fries and a soft drink!

(both): Yum! Yum! Yum!

- In November 2011,
we received, at the New Beverly,

a letter from one
of the major studios

who announced
that at the end of 2012,

they would be stopping
production of 35mm prints.

This was something that made me
very, very nervous,

because although
it didn't affect us immediately,

I could see down the line
and how it would affect

revival cinemas
and the New Beverly.

What I did was,

I created a petition,
not to tight the studios,

but to ask
for their cooperation.

I knew I couldn't change
the digital changeover,

I can't stop that,
that's beyond my power.

What I was trying to do
was to ask the studios,

during this conversion,
to remember

that there are revival cinemas
and lots of people

who really care what format
they watch their movies on.

And ask them to let their prints
that are already printed

and archived
remain available

for revival cinemas
indefinitely.

I put it up online and it got

a tremendous amount of press
and a lot of support

We got over 10,000 signatures
within three months,

from all over the world,
from 60 different countries.

It was really fantastic to see
all these heartfelt comments

from people saying
how much 35 meant to them,

or how they were a projectionist
and they lost their job.

It's a really, really widespread
and personal thing.

- I couldn't have signed
the petition fast enough,

because the tact that people
don't count film

as an important thing to save
is bewildering.

That makes as much as sense as
someone walking into a museum,

taking Mona Lisa off the wall,
breaking it across their knee,

and saying, "I have
a digital picture of that."

It makes no sense.
It's infuriating.

I can't believe that film stock
is held to a different standard

than other mediums of art.

It's exactly the same.

And I understand that there's
a time and place for finances,

for seeing the cost
that storing film incurs.

I get it. But find a way
to save these things.

You're never gonna
get them back.

You're never going
to get back a print

of a small movie made in 1942
that no one's ever seen

and nobody wants to see on DVD.

You're never getting that back,
there's no way to recreate that.

And everything that
all those people worked for -

everything that camera operator,
that director, that extra,

that craft-services person
worked for together - is gone.

It's completely gone.

And just saying that
sends a chill down my spine.

- It's not like this petition
is going to be submitted

to somebody who will then
do something about it,

but it starts
this dialogue going

in kind of the sphere of people
who care about this stuff.

And it gets people realizing:
This could actually go away,

and this thing could actually
end up affecting my ability

to see these films the way
they were meant to be seen.

- Yeah, I think you hit people
where they live.

- The finality of it,

that the studios
are taking this step

of cutting off
sending prints out,

that kinda snapped a lot...
I know it snapped my head up.

- Obviously,
it's costly to store them,

and it requires a lot of space,
and so on, but again,

so do a lot of things
that aren't as important.

And I just think

this is about preserving...
historical documents.

- It's kind of the end of film
more than just the end of 35.

It seems we're in danger
of losing something

quintessential about it
without even realizing it.

- First-run and revival
single-screen theatres

are barely squeaking by
these days,

let's be honest.

To ask them all to upgrade
to a digital projector

is a huge thing.

Digital projectors cost anywhere
from $75,000 to $200,000.

And if you're a family-run
one-screen theatre,

you're not going to have that
immediate capital to do that.

And I know
that a lot of small theatres

haven't been able to make
this changeover, they're dying.

- The studios, especially
those that have active libraries

are refusing to ship 35mm prints

and in some cases
even junking them,

because they don't want
to be bothered with it anymore.

And that's ridiculous.

To deny theatres like the
New Beverly or the Cinematheque

the opportunity to show a film
is nonsense.

Film should always be available
as an exhibition medium.

- I think it's important
for places like the New Beverly

to preserve that ethos,
because it gives someone

an opportunity
to witness it in present day,

as opposed to seeing it
in a museum

as a reference
of a time gone by.

- What is gonna be troublesome
is the notion that studios

don't want to circulate
existing 35mm prints.

- There's an audience,

and the studios just see this
as small potatoes

and not worth their while
but it doesn't cost any more

to cater to that audience.

- Nobody is against digital.

When I see a good-looking
digital presentation,

I'm just as wowed
as when I've seen

a good 35mm presentation.

Let it never be suggested

that this is supposed to be
an either/or.

This is supposed to be
a you and me.

- I'm not saying we shouldn't
ever show anything in digital,

but what I'm saying is,
just don't get rid of 35mm,

don't let this past die,

because it's part
of film's history.

- A tiny number
of the silent films exist

because the studios
destroyed them

to get the silver
out of the negative.

They didn't think
they were worth money.

Unless you could re-release it
or something.

It's a miracle
that some films exist, period.

- Nobody expected silent films
to go away.

The idea was that silent films
and talkies would co-exist,

like black and white and colour,
flat and scope, 2D and 3D,

and film and digital
should be allowed to 00-exist.

- Filmmakers and audiences
should have a choice.

- This is a particularly
terrible situation,

because they say you can
just run it on digital,

but we all know the only movies
that are gonna be put on digital

are gonna be Casablanca
and The Wizard of Oz

and all the movies everybody
has seen and are famous.

But the kind of movies
that revival houses live on -

the quirky independent movies,

the offbeat B-pictures,
those kind of things -

they're not gonna be
available on digital.

And they're either gonna
have to not show those pictures,

or they're gonna go
out of business.

And I really am afraid
that the studios don't care.

- Every single time
we go to a new technology,

things are going to be lost

They didn't transfer everything
from 35 to VHS.

And everything from VHS
didn't necessarily go to DVD.

So to count on the fact
that there will be

a full accountability
of a catalogue,

top to bottom, transferred
to digital and everything,

no, that's foolish;
that's just never gonna happen.

- It's not some idea that:

Oh, you're anti-digital
or something.

No, it's what
we can absolutely lose.

- I have seen Michael post signs
up in the booth that says

this is the only print
of this film,

and it is not out on DVD
and not out on VHS.

Then I'll watch the film,
and it's amazing,

but you know this movie
by some random Japanese director

is never gonna transferred
into a digital print

that they can ship around.
No way.

So what happens to that movie
if 35mm goes away? It dies.

- A lot of times you'll see
movies out of print;

they'll never be released.

- How do you see these films

if not for places
like the New Beverly?

- The connection
to the New Beverly

and the connection to film
are too interlocked.

They can't be... pulled apart.

- The problem
with revival theatres

is particularly acute,

because, uh...
they've long since relied

on studio prints
and collector prints -

you know, prints, 35mm prints.

And I understand
that when they pony up the money

for people's theatres
to go digital,

part of the deal is they agree

to get rid
of their 35mm equipment.

So, uh... a number of studios

have simply stopped
Supplying the prints.

They have the prints,

they just don't want
to encourage their use.

I think they really would
just like 35mm to go away.

- There's an agenda

to make this digital revolution
complete,

because it's vastly
economically advantageous

to film financiers
and distributors.

- Now we have a duelling...
Well, it's not a duel anymore,

it's a battle
and it's more or less lost

But we have 35mm vs. Digital.

And as we know
the studios have been trying

to get rid of 35mm for years,
because of the bulkiness,

and you have to rewind it,
mail it, pay for it,

and you have the projectionists
and all that.

And it's a comparatively
cumbersome formula

compared to getting a thing
in a box

and putting it
in a digital projector.

And this all happened
very quickly.

Everybody knew
this digital thing was coming,

but I don't think anybody
quite realized

how fast it was gonna happen,

and how at the expense of 35mm
it was going to be.

There are many plusses to 35mm,

one of which is that, uh...

it is the way movies were seen
from the beginning of movies,

and there's something
more romantic

about shadows on a screen
than there is

looking into a box
with ones and twos in it.

- You look at film that's been
around for over 100 years

and has really
never changed formats,

there's a reason
it's been around so long.

It's something really stable,
and it you have it in a location

with the right humidity
and temperature,

it's gonna last
a really, really long time.

Digital at the moment
is changing formats

and upgrading so fast
that we have no idea

where it's gonna be
in five or 10 years.

- Every day we find out:
Oh, gee,

my computer is now out of date,
my software is out of date,

my cellphone is out of date...
You can't keep up with it.

And it's like a financial
commitment that we've made

that we have
to keep assimilating

newer and bigger technology.

That's very much the reality
in the movie theatres as well,

because every time
digital technology is in place,

three months later, they say
now it's time for an upgrade.

Those guys aren't paying for it.
We're gonna pay for it.

And that's it. You got that...

35mm projector

you got that 35mm print,

that's like
the Rock of Gibraltar.

It's there, it's unchanging,

and it doesn't come down
and hit all of us on the head,

or it makes it too expensive
for us to go to the movies.

- If it was a different format,
people would be a lot angrier.

What if we say we're not gonna
make printed books anymore,

You can have them on a Kindle,
and they'll come out like that,

but bookstores: no more,
no more printed books.

People would flip.

And I think
this is very similar,

because it's no more
physical prints.

- It's like looking
at the Mona Lisa,

or Monet's Water Lilies,
on a piece of paper, that big,

that's not
what the artist intended.

And I think the an of cinema
is really important,

because it is an an.

As soon as it becomes this
disposable piece of flotsam,

then we might as well
just cash it in.

- I know as a filmmaker,

my movie is different
if you watch it this big,

or this big;
or on your iPhone, this big;

than if you're watching it
in a cinema projected correctly.

- My fear with digital is,
does it go the way of the MP3?

Are we just squashing everything
into this mid-range,

and we've lost the high end,
the treble, we've lost the sub,

you know,
we're not hearing that anymore.

You need only listen...
put on an old album,

and you realize
the sound quality

is so much more superior
to what we have now, but, again,

we've been led down
the primrose path

of digital
is the way of the future,

and that's the only way to go.

I don't wanna see that happen
with movies.

- Yes, they are.
The final stage of the process

was seeing the DCP,
then the different film prints.

The one struck straight
from the digital out,

and the one struck from
an internegative made from that.

- Oh, yeah, God, you could tell.
It was night and day.

So the DCP,
the digital of Looper,

looked pretty much exactly
like the digital version

we were colour-correcting.
It looked fine.

The film that was directly out,
'cause, at first,

they split-screen it
with the digital.

And when they first do that,
your eye automatically says

that film one looks tucked up,
because it's jittering a bit;

because of the registration,
it's a little bit crunchier.

Then they take the digital away
and your eye adjusts to it,

and... suddenly it becomes
the version that you favour.

It looks like a movie.

It looks like the thing
we grew up watching.

It's got a life to it.

- It's a fairly tragic situation
tor, um... posterity,

because there is no such thing
as digital posterity.

- You should only convert
to digital

if it's a valid
exhibition medium.

Films need to be preserved
on film,

and that will never change.

And anybody who thinks digital
is some kind of a storage medium

is an idiot
and really fooling themselves.

There are movies that were shot
in the early days of digital

where the original media
has already become corrupted.

- And the sad fact is,
I think that most people

don't care about these nuances
that we're talking about.

And maybe they shouldn't care
about them.

If they're getting
the information

and they're engrossed
in the narrative

and they fall in love
with the characters,

I'm sure this is splitting hairs
for them.

But for those of us that enjoy

the part of the process
that is the craft part,

this is what craft is about.

There's this romance now
on your iPhone and stuff,

for Hipstamatic and Instagram
and all these things,

that are aping
lo-fi image-making

because it's not just nostalgia;

there's something to be said for
not seeing everything clearly.

There's an appeal to things
that are pristine and new,

but for me, personally,
there's a far greater appeal

to things that show...

the wear of time.

If the image is too perfect,
too slick, too beautiful,

there's nothing evocative
about it,

there's nothing human about it.

- Some of what is appealing
about seeing older movies

is the feeling that they've been
around for a while,

and here's the evidence.

The print itself has a history
to it, it's not just the movie.

- If you wanna see a movie...

by a filmmaker
who shot a movie in film,

you should see it in film.

- It's the push/pull
of the old world

and the New Jack way
of doing things,

you know what I mean?

Um, but I think side by side,
I still prefer film.

- And it's an endless argument,

but it all goes to the value

of revival houses
and 35-mil print

and keeping film alive.

Because if you don't see film
projected in a mil projector,

you'll never have the sense
of what that presence is.

It's very, very hard
to describe,

but there's a beauty
with 35-mil

that's gone with digital.

That's gone with digital.

- Hey!

(sound effects)

They're ready, folks!

(old-time music)

- It's one thing the first-run
community doesn't understand

about the repertory world,

is that it's really
a brotherhood.

You know it's not competitive.
Everybody pulls for everybody.

And in Los Angeles, if you walk
into the American Cinematheque,

for example,
you will see calendars

for the New Beverly
and the Nuart

and the Cinetamily
and every other theatre as well,

because we all pull
for each other,

because everybody helps
the other.

It's not a cut-throat
kinda deal.

- The Prince Charles
is like a cinema

that's right in the middle
of London.

It's just off a side street.

It's this older cinema
which shows second-run movies.

- The Prince Charles
is the absolute twin

to the New Beverly,
across the Atlantic sea.

Beautiful rep house
and they do it like the New Bev.

Double bill,
have fun with it and shit.

Good times.
(music)

- I work
at the Prince Charles Cinema,

and I'm the PR manager
and repertory programmer.

My family don't think
I have a real job.

When I told them I put films on,
they're like that just happens.

Without further ado,
please put your hands together

and welcome to the stage
Julia Marchese.

(cheering and applause)
(Julia and audience): Hello!

My name's on a fucking marquee
in London,

so my mind's really blown
right now.

I'm making a movie
called Out of Print.

It's about the importance
of revival cinema and 35mm,

and about how repertory cinemas
all need to band together,

and Paul was nice enough

to ask me to come over
and program,

so I wanted to include this
in my documentary

to show that all cinemas
kind of love each other.

- Having you here
is having someone

>who shares the same love
and passion

for repertory cinema
that I have.

And for me,
meeting those people is a joy.

The New Beverly
is a very famous theatre.

You pay attention to what people
are programming around you

and programming
around the world.

Because it's nice to see
these are happening everywhere.

Sometimes you can get
caught up in thinking

you're the only one doing it,
and that can be a little, like,

fighting against this tidal wave
of mainstream cinema.

But knowing there are groups
of little guys out there

doing the same sort of thing,
you're your own gang.

The New Beverly doesn't need
to be in London

for us to admire
each other's programming.

I don't feel competition

with regards
to repertory programming.

I think it's very much
a bit of a club,

and I have friends
who are programmers

and there are always opinions,

and everyone's looking
at what everyone's doing,

but at the end of the day,

if someone screens something
that I wanted to screen

and they do it first,
I'm glad someone's screening it.

- That would be interesting
to try and enforce over here.

If they made us get rid of that,
we wouldn't be able to show

80% of the rep stuff we show,
because they just don't have it.

We built our audience
on showing older films,

and you don't want to lose that.

Going digital and 35
on both screens,

we probably wouldn't be open.

Because the industry's changed,

not necessarily one
that we wanted to make.

But since doing that and
bringing these newer films in,

we felt even stronger
about our roots and our history,

which meant we didn't get rid
of the 35mm projectors.

In fact, we upgraded both.

If there was a 35 option,
we'd take it.

But we do seek out prints,
we do our best every time

to put a print on because
the audience responds to it.

We screened To Live and Die
in L.A. last week.

It was a pretty busy house.
As soon as it started,

the guy behind me gasped
and went: "Oh my god",

it's an original print!"
You don't get that with digital.

I understand the need
for digital now,

but you don't get that spark
in someone's eye when it starts.

When I go and see a film,
I wanna see a film.

I'm fully accepting
that very rarely will I see

a new release on 35-mil,
but I don't wanna lose

the history
of the films I loved,

grew up on, to digital.

I understand some films
don't exist on prints anymore,

having a digital copy of it is
the only way this film's alive.

And that's tine.
But it there is a print,

I don't see any reason why
you're not screening that print.

Why would you not wanna see
all those pieces of history?

Every speck of dust on a print
is a piece of history.

And I know people like us
get very romantic about it,

but that's the whole point:
like, film is romantic.

Like, completely.
It's creating a world in front of you

that you just lose yourself in.

I think when you watch a film
and see the marks and scratches,

it's all part of the history
of that film.

It's been made, gone out there,
lived beyond production

and the life it's lived
sticks to it,

and you see that
every time it screens.

- I think our current generation
of filmmakers

are clearly looking to the past

They show up at theatres
all over playing old films.

I think the next generation
of filmmakers,

if they don't have that,

then who are they gonna
be looking to?

What are their influences?

What's gonna be driving them
to make movies?

Are they gonna be inspired by,
you know,

whatever $300-million
explosion epic,

or is he gonna be influenced

by, you know,
that quiet, intimate picture

that discusses real issues
that potentially

could affect the way we think

about our country and the world?

It seems like
we're pointing towards

a really bright future for film,

and for filmmaking.

And consequently, film-going.

But it's something
that is, like, not set in stone.

If anything, it's probably more
fragile than it has ever been.

- Just 'cause it's dying
doesn't mean it's dead,

doesn't mean you have to let it.

"What a shame, look at it die.
Why won't anyone help it?"

You can help it. Go out there.
Bam! Eight bucks.

I don't think that was eight,
but I'm bad at miming,

which is weird,
'cause I played Silent Bob.

Um, you put down
your eight bits,

and you've supported,
you're part of the solution.

- You're helping pay
for the storage

and the preservation
and the maintenance

of the print
you're about to watch.

- I want the New Beverly
to be around

for another 20 years
or another 30 years,

because I wanna take
my children there.

I want them to be able to watch
Cary Grant on the big screen,

and to see Charlie Chaplin,
because it's just an experience

that cannot be replicated
at home.

It's a communal experience.

That's what movie-going
has always been made to be.

- It doesn't really matter
if the New Bev is showing 35,

it's showing digital,
it it's you standing there

holding up film
with a candle behind it,

I'm still gonna be there.

- It's magic.

And it's something
that should be with us forever.

- It's like home, you know.

- It doesn't take
a lot of people

to keep a revival theatre going,

it just takes the faithful.

- It's an amazing experience
if you know it.

If you don't know,
you will be glad you went.

And you're supporting
something so much bigger

than just Rear Window
on a big screen,

you're kinda supporting an idea.

But as our world gets bigger
and bigger and bigger,

it gets, I think, more confusing
and more difficult to understand

how the individual
can contribute to this cause.

And I think it's as simple

as showing up
to the movie theatres.

There is something powerful

about people
showing up in numbers.

When you have a packed house,
that says something,

that sends a message:

this is a place
that is worth protecting.

So that's the first
kind of easiest step:

if there is a theatre like that,
you should be going.

And I think, collectively,

we could save
revival-house movie theatres

and radically change
the course of movies.

- Went to the New Beverly
on a Friday night

to once again watch Casablanca
with a group of strangers,

and we're watching
the movie and everyone...

clearly no one was seeing it
for the first time.

We're all just there.

It's like going
to a church service.

I know the liturgy here,
let's just go through...

the Roman Catholic mass
right now.

And Rick is saying goodbye
to Ilsa on the runway,

and he literally starts...
getting on that plane,

and then the film snaps
and the screen all goes white.

There was first this moment of:
"Oh, man! Of all the places."

Then there was kinda laughter,

like: "Of course
it would break right there."

And while they were up there
trying to fix it,

everyone in the New Beverly
that night,

on a Friday night, half-full,

we all started whistling
As Time Goes By

until they fixed the film.

And I just feel like,
in this transition now,

from going to see it in theatres
to now it's filming,

we're just gonna have to keep
whistling As Time Goes By

until they fix it again,
and it goes on for a while.

We're just gonna
have to keep doing that.

Like that's the version,
in my head,

of how you survive
the transition.

- Now, we haven't discussed
the Old Beverly, have we?

We've not said anything
about the Old Beverly.

I think the Old Beverly
deserves some attention,

because she was hot.

- Take one!

- Aye! Jeez!

- I'm sweatin' like a crack
whore with rent due.

- Want it louder?
(both): Ah!

- Put your finger in there.
No, don't do that.

- Ah! Jeez.

- Maybe now
the fucking director's ready,

we can start this thing.

(crash)
(Julia): Oh...

- That was very expensive.

- The New Beverly is like, uh,
a mission, right,

in the sense
of an old Spanish mission

on the California coast

- I like to show up
to my features

in a tube-top little ensemble.

It's got rainbows on it.
Sugar sweet!

You can YouTube me
at "rainbow tube top."

- The New Beverly
is like a primordial soup.

- Security level...
Ah, I can't even speak properly!

- Prolesytizing?

- ...projections.
No, through... projection?

- Prolesolytizing?

- Projec...
(Julia laughing)

- Hello,
gluttons for punishment.

- Brain freezing up.

- Flames... side of my face.

- That's why
I'm not gonna have kids.

I just don't wanna watch
that much, like,

experimental improv theatre.
(laughter)

- And have Bogdanovich
on a bean bag,

talking about...
The Last Picture Show.

Who wouldn't love that?

- Ah!

- Can't even make a proper joke,
folks.

- They're making dinosaurs?!
Oh, my God, let's go look!

Why aren't we filming that?!
That seems way more exciting!

- Gently.
- I'm trying to watch the movie.

- If a tree falls in the forest,
does it make a sound?

And if a movie is not seen,
does it exist?

And if you say something
and your wife isn't there,

are you still wrong?

- I'm little Clu Gulager,

and I'm a regular
at the New Beverly Cinema.

- That's me.

Hot Dog Gulager.

- And click.
- Eee!

- I think she had me confused
with George Peppard.

- Sorry.
(laughter)

- Gotta do something
about that fly.

- Hi.
(indistinct chatter)

- Nice.

- Thank God no one was rolling.
- Mark.

- You don't see Martin Scorsese
blowing his nose, right?

- I'm sorry, keep rolling,
keep rolling, keep rolling.

Go, go, go, go!

"Huh?"

- I can pop and lock,

and then whaaaaaat?

♪ Pausing for plane
pausing for plane ♪

♪ This is the musical number
in the movie ♪

- Helicopter are exciting
in their own way.

- Get in the choppa!
- Helicopter...

- Hold for the helicopter.
- I'm on a roll here, guys.

- Are we okay with the plane?
We need to pause for the plane?

Fuck you, plane!

(imitating chopper)

- It's just like
Hearts of Darkness.

(laughter)

- You can dub the planes in.
You should just put the planes.

If you have a plane
on your track,

just make sure you put a couple
more planes in different places

so people think
it's all part of the show.

- There you go.
- Free advice.

- You're right, in all fairness,
fuck me, guys, for sure.

(all making strange sounds)

(burping)
- Excuse me. Sorry.

(laughter)

Testing.

(burping)
- We burped at the same time.

(laughter)

(dumb laughter)

- I like that one.
That was good.

- And what's my relationship
with the New Bev? Mostly sexual.

- That was it right there.
- That was good.

- I have nothing further to say.

- Will I watch this film?
I doubt it.

(old-time music)

- And now, folks,
it's time to say good night.

We sincerely appreciate
your patronage,

and hope we've succeeded
in bringing you

an enjoyable evening
of entertainment.

Please drive home carefully
and come back again soon.

Good night.

Subtitling: CNST, Montreal