Micro-Brews Add Good Taste To Movies
The new Magic Lantern Cinema is up and pouring.
Pouring micro-brews, that is. The new owners of this landmark Spokane cinema were granted a liquor license last week, so the place is now Spokane’s first cinema-pub.
As part of a Spotlight service to readers, I went to the Magic Lantern on Wednesday night to answer the following question: Is it a good idea to mix movies and beer?
The verdict: Burp.
No, seriously, the verdict is: It has its charms.
My biggest fear was that there would be a bunch of beer-swilling loudmouths talking through the movie. On the contrary, the audience was unusually quiet, although there was a good reason for that. There was only one other person in the audience. Apparently the masses have yet to discover the joys of brew-cinema.
My other fear was that a beer, combined with a dark, warm place, would have me snoring within minutes. That might have happened with a Merchant-Ivory adaptation of a Thackeray novel, but not with Oliver Stone’s “U-Turn,” which was hyperactively annoying.
Actually I was quite thankful for my Alaskan Amber, there in my handy arm-rest cup-holder. The beer helped me get through this wretched mess of a movie. With four or five more, I might have even liked it.
Actually, I think a cinema-pub can be a nice relaxing evening out, assuming that the owners can book the right kinds of movies and assuming that the audiences don’t get too relaxed.
Movie, brew, plus comedy
By the way, the Magic Lantern will introduce live comedy beginning Tuesday.
The comedy juggling act of Morgan Preston and Eric Haynes will perform at 8 p.m. For $6 ($2 over the regular movie price) you can catch a movie-comedy doubleheader, which includes either the movie before or the movie after. Next up: Comedian Leif Skyving from Sweden, on Dec. 2.
One other Magic Lantern note: Only two of the theaters are being used for movies. The third and smallest theater is being converted into a pub with TVs for music and sports.
TCI changes coming
TCI, Spokane’s cable TV provider, has a number of lineup changes coming on Dec. 18, the biggest of which will be of intense interest to Chicago Cubs fans.
WGN, the Chicago superstation, is moving to the Limited and Expanded Basic lineup, meaning that virtually all TCI subscribers will get it automatically. Right now, customers have to pay extra for it as part of the Select Service package. It will move to channel 20.
In addition, two new channels will be added to Expanded Basic, which is the package ordered by 95 percent of all TCI customers. Those two new channels will be: Movie Plex, a 24-hour commercial-free movie channel on channel 45; and the Fox News Channel, Rupert Murdoch’s 24-hour news station on channel 51.
The Golf Channel, one of the two or three most requested new channels in this market, will be added to the Select Service package on channel 64.
Starz!, a movie channel, will be added to the premium (pay) package on channel 69.
To make room for these additions, the following channels will be dropped: EWTN (a religious channel), HBO-3, Viewer’s Choice 5, and the Sneak Preview channel.
In addition, Playboy and Spice will disappear on Dec. 1 as TCI uses those two channel-spots to test a new Digital Cable service that should arrive in the next month or two. Playboy has been dropped forever; Spice will come back on the Digital Cable service.
New rates, too
Of course, these TCI changes come at a price, even if a small one. On Jan. 1, the Expanded Basic price goes up 81 cents to $21.81.
The Limited Basic price goes up 27 cents to $6.63.
KHQ will be an early-riser, too
Last week KXLY-4 announced that it will soon be the “only station in the Inland Northwest” to start the news at 5 a.m.
The people at KHQ-6 were amused by this, because they had made plans weeks ago to move the start time of “Q6 News Today” to 5 a.m. However, they had not yet announced it.
So here’s how it stands: “Q6 News Today” will start at 5 a.m. on Monday, and KXLY’s “Good Morning Northwest” will start at 5 a.m. on Dec. 1.
“Peter Pan” nears sell-out
The Spokane Children’s Theatre’s revival of its stage version of “Peter Pan” has already sold out every single one of its five public performances and its six school performances, Friday-Dec. 5.
This is an amazing feat, since all performances are at The Met, which seats 760 people. This means that 8,360 tickets have already been sold.
If you want tickets, there’s still some hope. A reduced-price preview, on Thanksgiving night at 7 p.m., still has some $5 tickets left. Call 328-4886 to snatch them up. Don’t wait too long.
The cabaret goddess
One final note: Paula West was sensational last week at Dempsey’s Brass Rail Cabaret.
Comparisons to Ella Fitzgerald were not exaggerated.
, DataTimes MEMO: Spotlight is a weekly column of news and commentary on the arts and media. To leave a message on Jim Kershner’s voice-mail, call 459-5493. Or send e-mail to jimk@spokesman.com, or regular mail to Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.