This docu about the New Bev Cinema in Los Angeles (now under management of technophobe Tarantino who made sure they play everything in 35mm) feels like a elitist whine-fest. It always baffles me that overly nostalgic people are actually demanding they're getting the unintended defects from an archaic medium. A 100 years ago when film was invented film stock and prints was the best thing they could come up with at the time and it did actually work well. But it also had some problems like being sensitive to scratching, wobbly unstable imagery, mechanical projectors who made a rattling sound, loss of resolution with each transfer or duplication. Now technology has advanced and we have digital cameras who can easily match film, digital projectors who give a clean stable image that doesn't degrade with each showing. Now we can actually show the film like it was intended by the director each time it's projected! Now these elitists are saying: it's not romantic, it's to perfect, inhuman. They are actually comparing human flaws (humans indeed aren't perfect) to a medium. To those people I say: the medium is NOT the message. Good films will be made no matter what medium they're on. If they had digital a 100 years ago they would have used that. We don't HAVE to conserve a 100 year old technology because it's important. It had it's time, now we have something better. Let's move on. A typical characteristic that also defines human evolution is that people always try to better themselves and the way they do things. If we didn't we would still be no better then the monkeys we evolved from. Progress is part of the human condition so why fight it?

So I wrote this because there was only 1 review here and frankly I thought it was an unfair and a bad review.

To start out with this movie gives the history of the New Bev. It tells how it got started, what happened when the owner died, and gives it some historical context and importance.

This is not just a film about 35mm films. It is a story of the theater itself. It's importance, it's place and it's purpose. It goes on to tell the story as to why this theater is important, and why people love it. It is no coincidence that QT bought the movie theater. He grew up watching movies there. It remains a favorite as there are tons of Q n A done there, and lots of celebs choose to go there to view older movies that they like and mingle with the non A list crowd.

There is some discussion of 35mm film medium in the doc. But let me put that into perspective for you since the last review seems to have missed the point. No one is claiming that people shouldn't use digital media. What is being said, is that there is a whole lot of 35mm film out there that people are choosing not to preserve due to the cost. They would rather let it be destroyed than keep that art. Those films are art, and that art should be preserved as once it is gone, it is gone forever. That the world misses something when the original works on 35mm are lost. That movies who will never make it to digital production will be lost. Furthermore, that films originally shot in 35mm should be shown to audiences in the 35mm, in the same way in which an oil painting shouldn't be redone in an acrylic for museums. The artists original work should be displayed as intended in the artists medium. That the dust and scratches of the old films and projector is part of the experience of that piece and part of the history of the piece.

This is actually a fairly well done doc, which is no surprise considering who is involved aka Kevin Smith. Smith is literally one of the coolest guys in Hollywood. Say what you will about his movies, he is a huge movie buff who appreciates the fact that other people love movies too. He tries to bridge that gap, and show that The New Beverly is a very special place where people can simply be movie buffs, and is a place where fans can connect to the Hollywood crowd who too are simply fans of the movies that inspired them. Creating a unique connect with the art in general. I actually really enjoyed the doc. It's educational, uniquely pop cultural, and informative. It helps raise awareness of preserving old films, and inspires people to explore their love of movies. Why I am not a huge fan of most of kevin Smith's actual movies, I do think the different projects he does where he is just being himself and promoting the love of film are his greatest contributions. Shows like this and An Evening with Kevin Smith are excellent docs and well worth the watch.

Interesting and touching documentary about the LA revival cinema the New Beverly which plays double features of classic and not so classic movies every night to masses of ardent fans, many who consider it home.

The people are nice, frequently eccentric and clearly passionate, the place and who it attracts seems great fun and the arguments around digital vs 35mm are well made. What's not to like.