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Arts and Entertainment
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Friday, 20 November 2009 01:54 |
By Nancy Backas
If you’ve lived in Rogers Park for more than a decade, you know the saga of the local movie theater located at 6746 N. Sheridan Road now renamed with a nod to its original moniker, The New 400.
When I first moved to the North Side in 1980, there were a number of local movie theaters. I used to spend my afternoons watching double features at The Varsity in Evanston. The 400 was another theater I frequented, as was the Adelphi Theater which was located at Clark and Estes.
While my friends and I enjoyed the cache of the old theaters, they were admittedly shabby, uncomfortable and often dirty. We used to joke that the rats ran over your feet which were sticking to the floor from spilled soda.
When the last owners of The 400 who had renamed it The Village North did their renovation, it was barely an improvement. The bathrooms were unsanitary, the theaters were not cleaned properly, the sound quality was poor and I often got vertigo watching movies because the screens were positioned so cockeyed.
They also tended to show movies geared to a much younger audience, movies I cared not to see. People apparently started calling it the Ghettoplex. I stopped going to the local theater.
That’s all changed now, I’m happy to say. Tony Fox bought the theater, put a ton of money into it and spiffed it up nicely. The seats are new and comfortable, the sound is good, it’s clean and the popcorn is even good. They are playing movies I actually want to see, too.
We went to see “The Men Who Stare at Goats” (a fine, funny movie, by the way) last weekend and I reveled in the fact that we could walk to the theater, spend less than at the big multiplexes, and support the neighborhood to boot. Also playing now is “2012,” “This is It” and “A Christmas Carol.”
It’s a great little area to hang out around before and after the show, too. My favorite independent used bookstore, Armadillo’s Pillow, is across the street, as is the music store Flatts and Sharpes. You can catch a bite to eat at The Rice Table next door or pick up a quick jolt of caffeine at Starbucks two doors down.
It’s a fine thing to have a local movie theater. It’s an even finer thing to enjoy the experience. If you haven’t checked it out yet, put on your walking shoes and take a stroll down the street. Let’s support Mr. Fox who was willing to put some cash and trust into our corner of Chicago. |
