"THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT" AND THE LIBERTY THEATER
Last night my wife and I went to see Wallace and Gromit in their latest movie. If you don't know who or what I am talking about, give yourself and your family a treat and go see it. It's a hoot. Wallace is a sweet but utterly clueless inventor with a passion for cheese. Gromit is his faithful dog - and clearly the brighter bulb of the two. They run a company called "Anti-Pesto" to rid their community of pests, in this case vegetable eating bunnies. In a humane manner, of course, which seems to mean keeping the little beasts down in their basement. When Wallace decides to brainwash the bunnies to hate veggies, something goes dreadfully wrong and he creates a monster - the Were-Rabbit! Gromit has to step in to save the day, as usual. This is all done with old-fashioned claymation, moving clay models a fraction of an inch to photograph each frame. Do that about a million times and you have a movie. Do it with genius and you have this movie.
We saw it at an under appreciated gem of Wilkes: the old Liberty Theater. Nothing fancy, just an old cinema on main street, one of the last. No mega-plex with sound systems capable of registering on the Richter scale. Just a simple little place like the old days. The problem was that half way through the movie the projector went haywire. First the frame began to flutter faster and faster until it was a blur, then went black while the sound got slower.... and s-l-o-w-e-r... and then came to a long slow halt. Things were beginning to get ugly with the five year old crowd until the technician got it fixed in the nick of time. If it is a problem with the film they can send it back, if it is a problem with the projector it could be a real headache for the owner.
I am not sure we understand just what the Liberty means to the community. Ever since the West Park cinema closed it is the only place to see a movie without a long drive to Boone (also reduced to one cinema) or to Jonesville (which has problems with its equipment also). Or, you can always drive down to Winston. But for a quick matinee with the kids, what could be better. And it is right here in North Wilkesboro. Cheap too.
But I have questions. There is at least one other abandoned theater rotting here in Wilkesboro. What happened to it?Is it because of videos, tape and DVD, computers and cable, that communities are losing their own downtown cinemas? Can the Twin Hamlets continue to support the Liberty? Can we ever get West Park back? Anyone out there have any ideas?
Last night my wife and I went to see Wallace and Gromit in their latest movie. If you don't know who or what I am talking about, give yourself and your family a treat and go see it. It's a hoot. Wallace is a sweet but utterly clueless inventor with a passion for cheese. Gromit is his faithful dog - and clearly the brighter bulb of the two. They run a company called "Anti-Pesto" to rid their community of pests, in this case vegetable eating bunnies. In a humane manner, of course, which seems to mean keeping the little beasts down in their basement. When Wallace decides to brainwash the bunnies to hate veggies, something goes dreadfully wrong and he creates a monster - the Were-Rabbit! Gromit has to step in to save the day, as usual. This is all done with old-fashioned claymation, moving clay models a fraction of an inch to photograph each frame. Do that about a million times and you have a movie. Do it with genius and you have this movie.
We saw it at an under appreciated gem of Wilkes: the old Liberty Theater. Nothing fancy, just an old cinema on main street, one of the last. No mega-plex with sound systems capable of registering on the Richter scale. Just a simple little place like the old days. The problem was that half way through the movie the projector went haywire. First the frame began to flutter faster and faster until it was a blur, then went black while the sound got slower.... and s-l-o-w-e-r... and then came to a long slow halt. Things were beginning to get ugly with the five year old crowd until the technician got it fixed in the nick of time. If it is a problem with the film they can send it back, if it is a problem with the projector it could be a real headache for the owner.
I am not sure we understand just what the Liberty means to the community. Ever since the West Park cinema closed it is the only place to see a movie without a long drive to Boone (also reduced to one cinema) or to Jonesville (which has problems with its equipment also). Or, you can always drive down to Winston. But for a quick matinee with the kids, what could be better. And it is right here in North Wilkesboro. Cheap too.
But I have questions. There is at least one other abandoned theater rotting here in Wilkesboro. What happened to it?Is it because of videos, tape and DVD, computers and cable, that communities are losing their own downtown cinemas? Can the Twin Hamlets continue to support the Liberty? Can we ever get West Park back? Anyone out there have any ideas?
posted by Clemens | 2:37 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home