Shed a tear as yet another arthouse cinema closes

It is with a very sad heart that I read that The Maple Theater in Bloomfield Township has closed. This after the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak was torn down almost two years ago. It was a sad day for local cineastes then and it’s a sad day again – two major blows within two years. That leaves people in the wider metropolitan area with  just the Detroit Film Theatre at the DIA. There is of course Cinema Detroit, which has also been downsized, and now housed in Planet Ant Theatre in Hamtramck. And of course, WIFF’s monthly schedule in Windsor. But for Detroit, it’s a major blow for independent theatres and screening of arthouse movies. I have long time memories of both theatres, often attending one or the other on a weekly basis, sometimes with friends, on dates or alone. For “The Main” I’d drive from my apartment in downtown Windsor, up I-75, then take 11 Mile to Main Street and the corner parking lot in Royal Oak. Sometimes we’d frequent Royal Oak’s robust dining scene before or after. I remember one time heading home from a film on 11 Mile and being stopped by a cop for speeding. “Would you do that in your own country?” the officer said. Thankfully I didn’t get a ticket. When the Emagine Royal Oak multiplex in The Main's backward opened about a decade ago that created more parking problems with a partly shared lot. And as the commercial and condo complex built up around The Main, this increased congestion and a further strain on parking. Among the last times I attended the cinema I parked blocks away on residential streets. Meanwhile I also loved the more modern Maple (one time Maple Art Cinema), also three screens, because of its interesting suburban vibe in the Bloomfield Plaza shopping center, which often had a cool restaurant or bar, one of the city’s best known Jewish delis in Steve’s, and in recent years a Trader Joe’s. I one time got a Montreaux Detroit Jazz Festival poster by Andy Warhol & Keith Haring framed at Frames Unlimited, still at the plaza. And incredible history: What is now an Andiamo’s restaurant on the parking lot was the Machus Red Fox, the last place where disappeared Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa was seen. From Windsor, it was a long haul drive up there: the Lodge to Telegraph and several miles up to West Maple. Claim to fame: I remember seeing Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom in line once. Sometimes, I would see a film late on a Sunday night, driving on near deserted freeways back to Windsor and getting home by 1 am, when I had to be up just a few hours later for work. One of the first times I drove there, in early 1991, I remember returning on I-96 near the Ambassador Bridge, tuning into the news and learning that Operation Desert Storm, the allied repelling of Saddam Hussein’s forces from Kuwait, had just begun. Oh, memories, memories.

I almost fell out of my chair when watching the new Ripley eight-part series on Netflix. Among the trigger warnings at the beginning of the series were “language, smoking, violence.” Smoking? Well, I never!

Good news! Jewish film fest changes not in response to threats

This is good to know. After a lot of speculation in light of world events, the 21st edition of the Windsor Jewish Film Festival has not changed its dates or venue due to any threats or security reasons but simply for decisions that it made on its own. The event is usually held mid-Spring but now will run June 17-20. The venue was also changed from its longtime home at Devonshire Mall to downtown’s Capitol Theatre. WJFF programmer Joe Schnayer said it was “time to mix things up” with a new location. “The Capitol brings a new energy, a new ambience and showcases downtown Windsor with lots of great restaurants and attractions nearby.” The change in dates is only because the Capitol, city-owned and operated by the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, is a busy venue and these were the next closest dates available. “The Capitol Theatre had several other events in the months of April and May (when we usually have our festival) so June was the best option for our festival this year,” he said. But, in light of the Israel-Hamas War and now the attack by Iran on the Jewish state, Schnayer said there will be extra security. “To ensure the safety of our guests and volunteers, the Windsor Jewish Film Festival will have a greater security presence than we have had in the past including a police presence throughout the festival.” Despite threats elsewhere such as in Vancouver and Hamilton “very few cities actually cancelled their festivals,” Schnayer said. “A few have postponed and Hamilton had to move to a different venue but very few have cancelled altogether.” He said the festival will continue as a public event. “It is important to our festival and our community that we continue to share Jewish culture and history, regardless of external factors.” Schnayer said 10 films will be on tap from North America, Europe and Asia.

I finally watch The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973), one of the two most seminal popular horror films coming out of the poist-0war new Hollywood, the other being Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, which I also have never seen. Scary? A couple of moments, after which when I turned on a hall light after a bathroom break, for good measure. But the actual horror part of the film took a lot of building up to get there. Otherwise, we see scenes of a quotidian world where actress Chris MacNeil (a very young Ellen Burstyn – she’s now 91!) goes about her life in Georgetown DC. I’d forgotten Bergman’s preeminent actor Max von Sydow as Father Merrin, the all-seeing Catholic priest, has the titular role. The tumult in daughter Regan’s (Linda Blair) bedroom looked pretty real. But I still wonder why movies can’t get fake blood - looking all too much like tomato ketchup – right……The next night I watch an entirely different film by the same director, Deal of the Century (1983) starring Chevy Chase, Gregory Hines and Sigourney Weaver, a comedy about an incompetent arms dealer (Chase) who stumbles upon, well, the arms deal of the century. It’s a send-up of the international arms trade and would make a good pairing with Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove (1964). And while I laughed along, in light of what’s going on in the Middle East right now, I also in part doubted the film’s message. Without that triple layer of Israeli defense, backed by US and Arab allies, last night, Israel would have been utterly devastated today by Iranian missiles and drones today.