May 05, 2006
AMC Goes Art House
A story in a recent edition of the Washington Post notes that the AMC Theatres chain is devoting 72 screens in 39 American cities to the new "AMC Select" booking policy. The move clearly intends to position these screens with art house-caliber films, especially documentaries, which have been the staple of Landmark Theatres programming in recent years, along with lower-budget, small-focus narratives.
A quick glance at AMC programming at current STL locations, shows that films like "Killer Diller," "Akeelah and the Bee" and "Thank You for Smoking" are alredy in rotation on mutiple Select screens in St. Louis, including runs at the Creve Couer, Chesterfield, Crestwood Plaza, Esquire and West Olive.
Draw your own conclusions on the cinematic tastes of our burg, what with five local theatres going into this program.
What will this mean for the Landmark Theaters in our area? Will it mean less funds going toward their great establishments? I hope it doesn't result in less business for them. They're great theaters.
Posted by Lily Bleu on Fri., May 5, 2006 at 1:29 PM