Typically, when you go to see a movie, someone associated with the theater has seen the film, or knows someone who has, or can vouch for it, somehow. But with The Experimental Experiment at Silent Movie Theatre, no one on the theater staff knows really anything about the films being screened prior to the first frame flickering. Ballsy? Mad? All of the above?
Cinefamily, that adventurous team of cinephiles behind the Fairfax landmark, have, quite literally, opened up a film catalog and selected a night of screenings based on...well, on the description, basically. We're intrigued by the criteria the staff used. Did the description and title delight them? Amuse them? Intrigue? Frighten? If you've ever chosen anything by a short summary -- say, a shirt from a clothing web site, or a class at college -- you know sometimes what is described and what actually arrives/happens are two entirely different matters.
After that, chance and spontaneity and audience opinion takes over. Cinefamily combed the catalogs and made the picks but the people watching the film will give the movies warm cheers or the royal raspberry. If a flick is especially popular, Cinefamily may put it on the schedule at a later date.
We've always wanted to program a theme night at an art house. "Cabins" being one theme. "Gelatin" another. "Gelatin consumed at cabins" a possible third. Perhaps this might be our only chance to watch along with theater staff and make our viewpoint known.
The Experimental Experiment
Tuesday, December 9, 8PM
$10
Silent Movie Theatre, 611 N. Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles
323-655-2510
