Alexandra Martin | Entertainment Editor
Going to the movies, a popular pastime since the Nickelodeon debuted in the early 20th century, is not only about the movies themselves but the whole experience. For most, attending a movie as a child was the first glimpse we received into the adult world. However, with the rise of Netflix, Hulu, on-demand and the increasing popularity of Redbox, along with the untimely demise of Blockbuster, watching a movie seems to have lost some of the magic that it once had.
Instead of going on a first date to the local theater and drowning the butterflies in your stomach with too-buttery popcorn and Coca-Cola products, people would rather save the $20 and “Netflix and chill.” But one theater is sticking it to the man and retaining the roots that remind us of our first experience watching a movie on the big screen.
Those familiar, dimly-lit, slanted walkways, dancing soda and candy previews and the intimate seating arrangements still remain intact at Salem Cinema, a three-screen theater located on Broadway Street.
It’s more than just a place to make a person nostalgic for youth and to see an overpriced cinema remake of a movie that came out thirty years ago.
As part of the Manhattan Short Film Festival, Salem Cinema screens movies from Sydney, Moscow, Kathmandu and Vienna providing a most unique experience for any Friday night out.
Furthermore, the Salem Cinema is beyond being merely a business out to make a profit. The cinema also participates in a program called “Reel Change,” which allows non-profit organizations to borrow the reels that the theater screens to raise money for causes in the Salem area. Some such causes are: The Straub Environmental Learning Center, Salem Audubon Society and Marion-Polk food share.
The Salem Cinema, also known as High Street Cinema, opened in 1982 and is the only locally owned and operated theater in the greater Salem area. It strays from the straight and narrow, bringing cinema’s alternative side to life: showing independent, art and foreign films such as Wind River, Viceroy’s House and Deconstructing The Beatles: SGT. Pepper, to name a few of the far-fetched titles now playing. It is an ideal place to get a taste of the past while enjoying the leisure of attending a silver screen feature film.
Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu
