Coming Friday: Downtown cinema

By Cameron Kittle
Staff Writer

July 07, 2009 10:50 pm

—

Robert Newton is a human encyclopedia of movies.

He's been a film critic since high school. He even has a rare "Revenge of the Jedi" Star Wars poster framed on the wall, one of the limited set of posters that came out before George Lucas changed the title to "Return of the Jedi."

Now, Newton's expertise is literally coming to a theater near you.

He's the managing director of the Cape Ann Community Cinema, which has moved from its old seasonal location at the Gloucester Stage Company in East Gloucester to a new permanent downtown home at 21 Main St., above Mystery Train Records.

And the new downtown cinema officially opens for business full-time Friday.

"We certainly enjoyed being in East Gloucester," he said, "But just by virtue of moving downtown, business will trickle in and further enable us to be here forever."

The new location went through a week of testing with the showing of the animated film "Sita Sings the Blues" in the 2,700 square foot room, and Newton hopes the new place will build on the success he's seen since the cinema's opening in October 2008. Newton signed a long-term lease last week that will run at least 10 years, he said.

The idea of a downtown cinema is already drawing good reviews.

"I think it's great; they'll bring some life to Main Street in the evening," said Bob Hastings, executive director of the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce. "I know he's got an eclectic taste in movies, so it'll bring a nice boost to downtown."

Gloucester's lone movie theater is the Gloucester Cinema, which features first-run films on Essex Avenue in West Gloucester.

"There haven't been movies downtown in 20 years," Newton said, "and it's about time they returned."

Admission for regular films at Cape Ann Community Cinema will be $9 for adults, $7.50 for seniors and $6 for members. Newton said he will also show ballet and opera presentations every other week as special events, with tickets for those showings to be $17.50 for all seats.

The new theater has a projector to show all movies in high definition, either by digital copy or Blu-ray DVDs, on a 14-foot screen on a wall that was painted with a special color — a blend of white eggshell and silver tint — that Newton mixed himself.

The cinema makes its own popcorn in a classic machine, but Newton also orders a vegan-friendly product called "herbal corn" from Little Lad's in Portland, Maine, to give his audience a wider variety. To top it off, Newton has 12 different popcorn seasonings — from traditional butter to cinnamon, Parmesan and even jalapeno — laid out for customers to sprinkle on their snack for free.

"We take our popcorn and our movie watching pretty seriously," Newton said.

The surround-sound speakers were set up Monday and there are three large couches and plenty of comfortable chairs, including a few recliners, all around the room. Newton said the theater seats 75 in its current arrangement, although he plans to bring in more couches and chairs as time goes on.

The former function hall still needs to have its side walls and ceilings painted a midnight blue or a dark purple for the best viewing experience, Newton said, but everything will be finished by the cinema's grand opening in late September.

The theater will open with the independent film "Julia," which came out in March 2008 and stars Tilda Swinton as an alcoholic who kidnaps a young boy and tries to gain a large ransom. Newton said he thought Swinton was "awesome" and said her performance makes the film a worthy opening act for the new theater's location.

"It's well received, recommended by viewers and critics alike," Newton said.

Previews have taken on local meaning at the cinema, too.

Newton has been showing slide shows of antique postcards from the Cape Ann area before show time, drawing upon his grandfather's collection of more than 1,000 cards that he had acquired from all areas of the world.

"One of the benefits of a place like this is you have to answer to your patrons," Newton said. "Community is literally our middle name and we make this their space because it is their space."

Cameron Kittle can be reached at gt_reporter@gloucestertimes.com

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