Yeah. I really wanted to watch "No Country for Old Men" on Gay Street, but was disappointed. (and still haven't seen it.)

I attended the (extremely) crowded Friday 10pm showing of Iron Man. Please, citizens of Knoxviews, heap your scorn.

We want to get folks downtown, not bore the piss out of them.

The preferred movie link wouldn't open in OS X.

But, I ask you, would you honestly go to a movie at 9:30 on a Sunday morning? They rent the theatre out on Sunday morning to a congregation that doesn't have a building. It happens in theatres all over the country both at urban sites and suburban sites. Get over it.

If you don't like what they are showing, write them a letter, call them, picket the theatre, picket their headquarters, boycott. Do something proactive, but don't whine to folks in general about what they do on Sunday morning. It doesn't accomplish anything.

Pam Strickland

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." ~Kurt Vonnegut

Yeah. I really wanted to watch "No Country for Old Men" on Gay Street, but was disappointed. (and still haven't seen it.)

Disappointed in what? Any particular reason you didn't go?
~m.

I think this may be the link he was trying to reference.

My understanding is that the portion of the building occupied by the Riviera is leased to them. My assumption is that they can sublease the space (or its use) as they see fit.
~m.

Yes, it would be great if we had a 77-seat art house cinema downtown. And perhaps we will, especially now that downtown has become the undisputed regional heavyweight (cue Vince McMahon) for entertainment (Tennessee Theatre, Bijou Theater, Riviera Theater, Market Square Stage and its many performances, WDVX Blue Plate Special, Theater Central, Valarium, Preservation Pub, World Grotto, Blue Cats, Rossinni, Saturday Night on the Town, Shakespeare on the Square, Worlds Fair Park Performance Lawn, Tennessee Amphitheater, Main Lawn, KMA, Pilot Light, Saturday Night on the Town, and the list goes on... sorry for those I didn't include).

Perhaps rather than bemoaning our lack of such a venue, a better use of energy would be to point out the example and try to rally support for such a development here. With live performance venues of all size and manner, why not recorded performance venues of varying size and stature as well? Surely we can capitalize on the momentum we have in terms of drawing visitors downtown for a varied experience that both appeals to the masses and shows off our uniquely compelling attributes? And perhaps such a facility could be multi-purpose, with local acting groups, musical acts, churches, and others could make use of it as well. Unless your real objection is to any church's use of the space. And that's another matter entirely.

>Perhaps rather than bemoaning our lack of such a venue, a better use of >energy would be to point out the example and try to rally support for such >a development here.

Huh? Where's the fun in that?

Cincinnati has something like what you're wanting. It wasn't downtown exactly, but near UC. The Esquire theatre would show independent films (and some mainstream) and there were some nice restaurants nearby and a Graeters ice cream shop.

Meanwhile, a number of your Old North neighbors and others are transforming Happy Holler into several interesting arts and performance spaces - encouraged, in part, by the redevelopment plan that I believe you spent a good bit of time arguing against.

Btw,

If you want a little more info about what's happening in Happy Holler:

(link...)

Time Warp Tea Room, a coffee shop and music venue, Club XYZ and Taoist Tai Chi Society are already flourishing in the neighborhood. In February 2007, Jill Tennant opened Central Chic, an eclectic antique store in a building owned by Daniel Shue. Shue has been responsible for much of the development in that area, including another project slated for a fall 2008 inception.

Matt Morelock, WDVX employee and local musician, recently partnered with Josh Sidman, Rita Cochran and Cherie Piercey to open a new business, called The Parlor, in two of Shue’s buildings at 1206 and 1208 Central Avenue. The larger of the two spaces, 1208 Central, will be a music venue and restaurant. The Parlor will feature mostly acoustic musicians, and the restaurant will offer a bagel breakfast, sandwiches at lunchtime and a full dinner menu, and dinner shows for the evenings starting 
at 7 or 8 p.m.

“Knoxville just doesn’t have a very suitable venue for [WDVX] Blue Plate Special-type performers,” says Morelock. “We have great bar stages, and we have the great Laurel Theater and other larger venues, but there just isn’t a middle-sized room for these types of performers that isn’t a rock venue. When people ask what kind of music it’ll be, I say it will be kind of like ‘Blue Plate P.M.’

“We’re courting the huge audience of music fans in Knoxville who don’t go to any of the venues because the shows all start so late.”

The adjacent space, 1206 Central, will house six teaching studios for private instruction (student recitals will be the opening acts at many of The Parlor shows), a used, vintage-recycled instrument store, an instrument repair and renovation shop, and Morelock’s office. Morelock anticipates a September opening...

An indie cinema would make an interesting addition. The former theater space is already spoken for, however:

(link...)

And for more about the developer (a sigma chi, no doubt):

(link...)